Napster is deeply honoured to have two of his prints hanging in the waiting room of the Muskoka Animal Hospital. He is also very grateful to the staff and Dr. Earl for taking care of his dental emergency earlier this year, allowing him to return to his sunbeam on the back of the couch completely pain free and comfy.
Napster has received word from Eyes on Animals that they now have their Christmas cards at the printers (and translated into both Dutch and German!)
They work with the Mennonite Central Committee, doing really amazing work. Both they and Napster shared a mutual admiration moment, for those who work to make lives better any way they can.
Think of a land of opposites -- of volcanoes and glaciers, hot springs and cold arctic waters, sweeping landscapes and narrow gorges. A land of northern lights and almost no trees... Iceland.
Napster always finds it exciting when he gets to add another country to his list. He keeps a world map, and has us stick in a pin for every country where his art has been purchased. So he was just delighted this week to sell to Jarvis, who's heading back to Hong Kong tomorrow!
This is his first sale into Asia, so it is pretty thrilling. This adds to his current list, which includes Granada, Barbados, USA (including Hawaii), all of Canada from coast to coast, England, France, Switzerland, New Zealand...It's been a busy week for Napster, as he moves into new international markets -- but those are for other posts. This one is all about the beautiful city of Hong Kong, and his first Asian sales. He never dreamed, when he embarked on his artistic career, that his work would travel so far afield.
This is a rare glimpse of Napster at work. Last week, he painted, by commission, a work for the Zyba family. Emily chose the colours, and all the kids helped to prepare the palette (on Napster's favourite Windsor Derby plate with gilt edging. He is very fond of that plate)
Alison then held the plate within easy reach of the famous tail.
Kyle got the job of holding Napster on his shoulder. In which chapter he learned that sometimes it is the tormented artist who produces the very best work. With so many kids petting him, and laughing around him, there were moments when the claws came out -- but then so did the best brush strokes.
Nicholas held the paper at a convenient angle, to allow for the free flow of the tail strokes. Napster added some details onto the painting smock that Kyle was wearing, with a flurry of activity. The cat paints swiftly -- we think he already has the vision clear in his mind before he dips his tail in the paints, but it is hard to be sure.
Within a matter of a few minutes, abetted by cheering from Samantha and Brooke, much entertainment for the adults, and a great experience for his enchanted assistants, Napster produced Zyba the Peacock, a glorious work that catches the sudden snap of the upflung peacock's tail, along with delightful detail in the face and beak, and careful attention to the golden crown feathers.
We don't suggest his work is better... nor that it is worse. And we hope that this child continues to paint with such joyous abandon and innocence long after the World has infringed on her childhood. We'd like to own this particular image painted by Aleita -- we just don't think we can afford those pricetags...
When you start life living wild, you don't always pay sufficient attention to your health needs. By the time Napster came to us, he carried the marks of a rough and tumble existence -- scarred ears, broken teeth. Sue, who rescued him from the wilderness, had already taken care of the necessary vaccinations and interventions. He arrived here healthy, if with a lot of character.
When the area was still red and sore looking a week or so later, Napster found himself bundled off to visit the vet. Now, sadly, car ravel and vet visits are not really high on his list of favourite activities. The staff at the Muskoka Animal Hospital are excellent, and try very hard to make him feel right at home, but, well, it is a vet clinic. It smells of medicine, and worse, it smells of strange dogs. He was grumpy about the whole thing.
There are at least 808 library cats on the planet. Cats living happily in libraries, contributing to the quality of experience. Cats, laps and books just naturally go together.
Napster had a print at the Animal Shelter for Huntsville fundraiser last month. It did very well, That's good. Napster started out as a wild cat without a sofa to call his own, so he knows what it's like for a stray.
Art knows no boundaries, it seems.
Napster is celebrating the sale of three prints (and some cards) to a Veterinary Clinic in Maui, Hawaii.
Pretty exciting stuff. Coming so closely on the arrival of his letter from St. James Palace, and the formation of his Swiss Fan Club, it's almost more than a cat can take.
