From Brewskie Butt, official spokescat of Art Adventures Studios…

Hello All! Brewskie Butt here! You have heard the radio announcer–I am the Canton Arts District‘s favorite cat! Come see me at Canton, OH’s First Friday (Feb. 9, 6-10pm) wearing my Ki-meow-nos in celebration of the big Kimono exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art! Or at least see pictures of me–I will be watching the festivities from my window perch. My person BZTAT will be selling pictures of me and other art at Art Adventures Studios at 336 4th St. NW. You can get your very own Ki-meow-no key chain! Raise a paw and give me a Meow-out as you visit the greatest arts district in the country!

Art Adventures Studios
Buy Artwork and Gifts by BZTAT
Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OH
near Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.

Updated 7/18/09

My cat paintings are usually very personalized, displaying feline creatures with highly individualized character. People often comment that they “know” the subjects of my paintings, reminiscing about felines who have touched their lives in some way. I generally use a brightly colored palette with a wide range of deep, contrasting colors.

The paintings in my “Anonymous Feline Spirits” series, however, are different. These cats are very nondescript and impersonal, and the palette is restricted to just a few colors. These cats look ghost-like with no distinguishing characteristics. They are anonymous spirits instead of “knowable” beings.

The difference is purposeful. I wanted to use this series to go a little deeper into an animal welfare issue rather than simply painting some fun cat paintings, as I usually do.

As blessed as I am to have four wonderful felines who share their home with me, I know that there are many cats who do not have homes. Many cats roam the streets or countryside after being dumped by careless people or by being born to un-neutered and un-spayed feral animals. Rather than develop spay/neuter programs that would successfully manage and reduce feral cat populations, many communities adopt barbaric trap/kill programs that actually perpetuate the problem of “nuisance” animals. My community is one of those.

Each day, a number of cats are picked up off the streets of my city Canton, OH, and these cats typically are destroyed immediately by so-called animal welfare officials. Few people know or care about this practice, truthfully. The cats are anonymous to us, and we like to pretend that they are not being extinguished from our world. But they are being extinguished, and it is totally unnecessary.

Allowing spayed and neutered cats to remain in designated colonies is a much more effective manner of managing a city’s feral cat population, as it allows the cats to chase off interlopers, and it inhibits further population growth. Yet communities tend to disbelieve this counter-intuitive concept, and they dedicate precious resources to trap/kill programs instead. Rather than giving cats a chance at quality life, communities tend to take a hard line with homeless cats, rendering them as unknown lost spirits instead of allowing them to remain viable living creatures.

Not only is it cruel to the animals, it is useless in the process of containing the feral cat population. When one cat is taken off the street, many others take its place. With spay/neuter programs and contained cat colonies, however, the population controls itself.

As I have recently become more aware of the efforts of local and national animal rescue groups, I have been moved by the lack of regard shown to feral and other stray cats by our communities. I have felt a pain in my heart for the unnecessary loss of domesticated animals, and I have felt outraged by the lack of responsibility that civic leaders have shown in managing the problem of homeless pets.

My sense of loss and outrage inspired these paintings. The anonymity of these painted felines confronts us with the truth of our avoidance of the issue. My hope is that others will relate to those feelings and appeal to their civic leaders to address this problem proactively.

The “Anonymous Feline Spirits” series is a group of four acrylic on wood paintings, each approximately 12″ X 20″. They are on display at Art Adventures Studios in Canton, OH and can be purchased here.

Art Adventures Studios
Buy Artwork and Gifts by BZTAT
Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OH
near Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.

From Brewskie Butt, official spokescat of Art Adventures Studios…

Finally! BZTAT (my person) is letting me blog on the Buzz From BZTAT!!! It’s my very first official blog that can be more than 140 characters (Twitter limit). I am so excited!!!!!

For my first blog, I thought I would tell you about my best pals, Noah and Who–the coolest cats around! OK, I’ll tell ya about Slick, too, but I don’t get along with her as well.

Here’s Noah:

Noah and I have been pals for a long time. He was at my house when I first arrived. Noah is a HUGE cat! We think he is a Maine Coon cat. He’s lots of fun to wrestle with, and he likes to snuggle too. He got his name from an early life experience he had. When he was born, he was kept in a plastic tub in a basement with his cat mom and kitten siblings. The basement flooded, and all the others got up to higher ground. Noah, though, as the story goes, was left in the tub, and was found floating around in his little Rubbermaid ark. Luckily, he was rescued, and he, too, got to higher ground. He came to live with my human mom, BZTAT, not too long after that.

This is Who:

Who is Noah’s brother. He was in the flood too, but he got out of the ark before Noah was stranded. He came to live with Noah and BZTAT for a couple of weeks when he was little, then he went to live with BZTAT’s mom in a retirement center. He was the king of that place, let me tell ya! Who is a large cat, too, although not as big as Noah. He is probably a Maine Coon cat, as well. Everyone says he is a strikingly beautiful cat, as he has a very unique face and swirly patterns in his fur. I just know he’s lots of fun to play with! He came to live with us in February 2008 when BZTAT’s mom went into a nursing home.

Who got his name from the “Cat Who…” book series by Lillian Jackson Braun. I never read the books, but I guess they are about cats that solve murder mysteries. BZTAT likes to sing the CSI theme song to him, “Who are you? Who? Who?” She sometimes calls him “Who-dini” cuz he can be a trickster. She calls out “Yoo Who….” when she can’t find him, and calls him a “Ya-Who” when he’s being silly.

This is Slick:

Slick is older than the rest of us. She’s 13-1/2 years old (We’re all 4-1/2). She’s still pretty active, though. She is a calico, and half of her face is a different color than the other half. I confess, I get very jealous of her, cuz she and BZTAT have such a special relationship. I have a special relationship with mom too, but Slick was around during the legendary Beezie-tat’s era (story for another blog), which gives her special status. Slick gets growly and hissy when I chase her or try to bump her off the cat tower, and mom always protects her. That’s why she’s my nemesis.

Slick was rescued from an oil spill on the Tuscarawas River in Navarre, OH. That’s how she got her name. She didn’t get any oil on her, but was brought in with a bunch of ducks and geese that did. She had an injured paw, but was fixed up by Dr. Jeff just like new. To this day, Slick gets nostalgic when she hears geese fly overhead.

My person, BZTAT, as you know, is an artist. She made all of the pictures of us here. She says that, if it weren’t for us cats, she would have nothing to draw or paint. I think she would find something, because she does paint other things, but we sure do enjoy being her models. The picture at the top of this blog is my favorite picture that she has made of me. Make sure that you check out her website, her Cafe Press Shop, and her Zazzle store for all kinds of cool art and other stuff. Had to put that plug in, ya know, cuz I am her spokescat and all.

Thanks, mom, for letting me blog! Look out for more “Adventures of Brewskie!” in the future!

The Brew

Follow me on Twitter @BrewskieButt and on Facebook!

Art Adventures Studios
Buy Artwork and Gifts by BZTAT
Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OH
near Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.