Saturday, October 20, 2012

Slumber..... Cat 1

Slumber  by Gwen Buchanan


Know that, if you have a warm cozy spot in your house... and... you have a cat... the two shall meet.
Cats can sleep up to 16 hours a day.. anyone who has ever had a cat will testify to this...
 and studies have shown that cats dream... or at least they show the same kind of brain activity that humans produce when they dream.  
They have phases of REM sleep, which is dream time and non REM sleep which is body repair time....
 and why shouldn't they?


Mark Twain, author of the Adventures of  Huckleberry Finn,
 penned a little cat trivia..

"The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid,
will not sit on a hot stove lid again.
Nor a cold stove lid."


"Slumber"  approx. 11" x 14" charcoal and bistre conte, from my sketchbook.
Desideratum Art and Jewelry studios, St. Martins, New Brunswick,  overlooking the Bay of Fundy

39 comments:

Penny said...

Lovely.

Guillaume said...

Cats are superior creatures.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thank you Penny!

Guillaume, We're lucky they are our friends.

Susan said...

gorgeous Gwen ... reminds of my sweet lil' C much love xo Susan + gang

Gwen Buchanan said...

Susan you do have a most sweet Kitty. xox

Lynne with an e said...

You've captured the sleeping bliss just purrfectly. I sub at the village library sometimes and we've acquired a kitten there. Or rather, she acquired us. She certainly adds a joyful spirit to the place. Not much time of the work day is spent sleeping...either by cat or staff.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ahhhh Louciao, you have solved the sleeping cat mystery... they totally play themselves out when they are kittens...

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

One cannot gaze upon a sleeping cat without relaxing themselves...Lovely print!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Teri, you could be right about that.. must be the association of their softness under our hand... petting a cat is almost like rubbing a worry stone.

dixiebelle said...

I believe that it has been proven that petting a cat does reduce ones blood pressure. My Tina Louise helps me relax just by being near me =) I love your representation of the sleeping kitty.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Dixiebelle, sounds right on...
I know i would be very unhappy to live without a pet. We love animals!

Priya Sebastian said...

Very very beautiful Gwen. I also love the textures in this picture. This is done in pastel isn't it?

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Priya... I was wondering if it was too textural... also my paper was rather rough.
I always called them conte, but they are properly named drawing pastels.

Carol Steel said...

This is lovely. You capture the comfort of cats sleeping perfectly. I love looking at the two drawings I bought at your shop last summer; one cat is looking up at something, the other is curled up sleeping. They are in my kitchen so I see them every meal.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Carol, I am so flattered to think that you look on them daily and keep them in your personal living space.. Thank you for telling me this; it makes me very happy.

Tracy said...

Oh, so sweet! That looked very much like our kitty Charlie this past weekend, which was a very rainy one here. And don't you love how sometimes it looks like cats and dogs are smiling in their sleep? :o) Happy Week, Gwen ((HUGS))

rachel said...

My cats, sleep experts all, disagree with the 16 hours a day thing. They prefer 22.5 hours, with short breaks for eating and washing.

Gwen Buchanan said...

haha, cute... oh for the pampered life...
what do you say, we come back as cats!

Steven Cain said...

A hurried glance left me thinking your sketch was a sonogram! Alas, it is only a sleeping cat... a phrase I now know is eight hours shy of being redundant.

'Round here, a cat spends its alleged eight waking hours either begging for food or trying to avoid becoming it. They don't seem to last long, poor dears.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh my gosh... ha.. you're right.. a quick look and it resembles an ultrasound...... A good idea for a transformation sequence.

A Heron's View said...

Great illustration of a sleeping puss!

Yes our two cats have learnt the hot way that stoves are to be avoided.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Mel, you know what they say... "Once burned, Twice shy".

layers said...

Yes, cats do sleep a lot, but my cat also likes to be held, and she is in my lap as I type. very nice drawing btw...

Gwen Buchanan said...

oh yes Donna, most like to snuggle up, don't they... they know a lot about comfort. Thank you.

Katie said...

Gorgeous! Looks just like my little Rusty. Love me some cats.

jerilanders said...

As I type this, I see 4 cats scattered about the room snoozing contentedly, talk about catnaps! Lovely drawing and I adore my earrings.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Katie and Jeri, Love your Kitties.. I'd rather have a kitty than a snake!

rivergardenstudio said...

Dear Gwen, what a lovely sketch with that warm darkness surrounding your sweet kitty as she dreams.
(well, I think she is a she!?)
Happy November to you...
roxanne

gz said...

Hi! Thanks for commenting.

I wish I could sleep like a cat sometimes...

K&B by the Sea said...

Awwww, such a sweet & content looking cat! Your sketch is beautiful :-)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Roxanne, I think she's a she too!

GZ, ah, yes sweet dreams.. time for hibernation.

Thank you, Kelly.

Shashi Nayagam said...

Your paintings are beautiful and you live in one of the most beautiful part of the world.

Morna Crites-Moore said...

Sweet.

Chris Daly said...

Gwen This piece is so lovely.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Shashi, Morna and Chris, Thank you girls.

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

Oh my...see what I have been missing! They say one cannot gaze upon a sleeping cat and remain tense... so true!

Gwen Buchanan said...

I do believe that is true Teri!

WILDSIDE said...

LOL! To the Mark Twain quote...

I have the most adorable photo of my cat fast asleep in a cast iron frying pan on the stove. This happened while I was away, so my house-sitter at the time documented it for me. It is something I am keeping to remember her by.

Gwen Buchanan said...

"sleeping in a frying pan", I love that image Wildside, and it certainly is one to remember her by. Cats are our entertainment as well as our companion... I'm thinking the fry pan wasn't hot.