Monday, November 29, 2010

Animalist artist Kate Morris opens her first show at Cerezo's Bar - Cafe - Gallery

Kate Morris, co-founder of CAT--Canillas Animal Trust--feeds ferals.
Kate Morris takes center stage again--not as musical theatre diva, choir director or Royal British Legion Chaplain--but as visual artist in her first exhibition now showing at Cerezo's Bar & Cafe and now gallery in Canillias de Albaida, displaying an array of impassioned pastel drawings and paintings of animals: dogs, cats, mules, horses, donkeys, lions and tigers.

Launched unofficially mid-November in Cerezo's new gallery and the second exhibitor there, Kate's work reveals her soulful passion for capturing personalities of animals in her In Memoriam show, remembering animals dead and alive.

From photographs Kate skillfully interprets with calculating precision. But one thing she sees as central to her animal portraits, the eyes.

For years, Kate and husband Eric, permanent residents of Canillas de Albaida, homed rescued animals: today the tally is 6 dogs and 24 cats. Kate converts ferals into lap cats, cares for ailing kittens and quietly finds homes for some of her rescuees.

The official opening, complete with a special menu of food and beverages and live music, is set  to begin about 8 p.m. on 9 December at Cerezo's in Canillas.

This Russian blue feral cat is Wizard. Kate names all cats she feeds.
The official opening, complete with a special menu of food and beverages and live music, is set to begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday, 9 December.

Animal telepathy and visual channeling comes easy for Kate, a self-taught artist. Kate communes closely with the animal world and now has taken it inside herself. "This has been a very prolific time," Kate said about her burst of creative energy since she lost Tiny Tim, a black cat she rescued from certain death as a kitten, nursed back to good health only to see die tragically this July.

Although she had been drawing cats and dogs for a couple of years and made herself a home studio, it was Tiny Tim's death that propelled her to a new level of awareness, a new chapter in her evolution as an artist.

The same day Tiny Tim died, stricken with grief and anger, she slid into her own world . Kate saw herself more clearly as she stared at a blank A3-sized paper. And then she brought Tim back to life on with charcoal and pastels, so vivid, so riveting she had to put it away. She has not revisited it yet but this suffering and grief, like a wave of kinetic energy, motivated her to draw and paint as never before, she says.

These are a few of her A3 size drawings for sale at Cerezo's Bar - Cafe - Gallery. Most of her work she seeks is commissions and again, half of all profits goes to CAT, which over the past three years has live-trapped and neutered more than 110 cats in the Canillas area.
                                                     

                                                                                 
As I was writing this, Kate called me distressed: Someone has stolen a number of her original animal drawings and paintings from our weekly charity rastro we set up next to the church in Competa. It happened yesterday, Sunday, 28 November as we were selling new and used clothes, gifts, used books etc. Kate has been displaying and selling some of her animal art at our mobile Sunday market.                                                                    

This is a sick form of flattery or way of appreciating Kate's work. Anyone seeing original work by Kate Morris should contact her or me at stefanvandrake@gmail. com.




Kate stresses that CAT needs funds to continue its work of neutering and feeding feral cats in and around the village.  To contact Kate, call (034) 952-553-070 or e-mail her at gatobeneficia@hotmail.com.

This is a perfect time to commission an original pet portrait from between 25 and 100 Euros unframed, plus shipping; she has Pay Pal.

Please order an intimate original portrait of your favorite animal companion and help a struggling artist and a struggling animal charity. Her prices are extremely reasonable.

Rock on and practice peace and love. Also, see my videos at: http://bit.ly/h1vruw


Stefan, the ArtTraveler(TM)

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