Introduction Post

The Art Jungle Gallery

Welcome to the the most pawsome gallery around town! The Art Jungle Gallery! 

Located at: 

1234 Hollywood Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90028

(323) 789 - 7676

This gallery is run by Sabrina Astran, a member of the Future Cat Ladies of America. 

This gallery specializes in both traditional and digital paintings, as well as sculptural work. 

Exhibition Introduction

Welcome to the Art Jungle! 

Thank you for coming to see what we have to offer today! Here we are dedicated to the education and exposure of not only how majestic wild felines are, but also to expose you to how majestic and diverse they can appear out here in the artistic jungle! Not to mention the artists who take their time to create such wonderful masterpieces. 

Each artist has been observed in their natural habitat and here are some of the most exquisite findings we have to share with you today. Each piece striking the curator worthy enough to roar out loud to the public as a wild cat! Roar out loud with us today as you look upon these works and feel the power behind each art work! 

So please join me in holding a round of applause for our wild cats of the Art Jungle!

Lion Tamer's Daughter by Jennifer Li

Golod by Martin Wittfooth

I AM NO MAN! by Shelby Cragg

Lion Queen by Yuko Ota

Flamenco Rose Marissa by Amy Lacombe 

Lackadaisy Moonshine by Tracy J. Butler

Predators and Prey by SHAG

Olympia by Edouard Manet 

King of Panthera by Fiona "Tang"

Elven Princess by Jeff de Boer 

Purrollin' with the Best of Them

The Lion Tamer's Daughter 

Jennifer Li
The Lion Tamer's Daughter
Oil on panel
9" x 12"

Jennifer Li is an American artist who has been painting since 1999. She studied painting for 12 years at the Art Students League of New York. She now lives in Montana. Her art has spread throughout the United States and she has had several pieces in galleries in Montana, New York, Washington, and California.

Straightforwardly beautiful. An element of weird. - New York Times

Li has an extensive collection of paintings that are themed with the circus, with many of those having large wild cats in them. In all of these, there is one focus, and there is not much going on in the background because she doesn't want to deter the viewer from the subject. With quite a few of the pieces with the subject staring directly at the audience.

This piece fits the gallery because of its soft nature, the purpose of this exhibit is wild cats, but wild cats come in all natures and even species. Both the girl and the lion are wild cats. The lion in its inherent nature, and the girl in her control over the lion. Their ferocity in a quiet manner, in an act really. I chose this piece because of the lion's face as well as the combination of both a girl and a lion in the same piece. Because there is not a single definition for a wild cat. It is where ever you see the wild in someone's eyes.

Roarin' Out Loud

Golod

Martin Wittfooth
Golod
Oil on Linen
24" x 24"
2012

Martin Wittfooth is an artist based out of Brooklyn, New York where he works. He was born in Canada but raise din Finland. Wittfooth first graduted from Sheridan College in Toronto and then got a masters later on from The School of Visual Arts in New York. He has had several galleries all over America as well as Europe, and his art has graced the covers of books and magazines such as Hi Fructose and American Artist.

Martin Wittfooth’s piece Golod is not unlike the rest of his works, beautifully detailed and where both the atmosphere and subject matter feel ethereal. - Megan Wails.

Wittfooth has done many pieces that have an emphasis on animals and the human materials around them. And a sense of surrealism to how everything is presented. Ethereal and very grounded all at once, the backgrounds and subjects blending together to make a conhesive piece. This particular piece is more vague than others, it has more of the surreal feeling.

I believe this fits the theme of wild cats because of the tiger in the piece, as well as the surreal feeling of it all. It certainly is a wild visual ride. The feel of the painting and the way the tiger yawns, releasing more and more tigers is very captivating. It almost feels like a mutation caused by the human world, and  the tiger still remains. I chose this piece because I adore tigers and as one of the most iconic wild cats out there, it needs to be in this gallery.

Poised to Pounce

I AM NO MAN!

Shelby Cragg
I AM NO MAN!
Photoshop
1280 x 1683 px (pixels)
2013

Shelby Cragg is a student at Ringling College of Art and Design. She is an illustrator based in North Carolina and is a freelancer, as well as working in collaboration with a popular webcomic called Homestuck. She lives at school mostly with her cat Roxy.

" No man can defeat me... I AM NO MAN! Eowyn from Lord of the Rings slaying the Witch King. Baller."

I AM NO MAN! is a fanart piece of the popular book and movie trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Specifically this piece is a play on a scene in the third installment of the trilogy 'The Return of the King'. Cragg is a feminist who loves to promote well written women in art, movies, and comics. Eowyn, having such a pivotal moment in the movie, and her gender playing a positive role in it touched many people, Cragg included. And so Cragg decided to draw this because who doesn't love a badass female character!

This connects to the theme of wild cats because women are much like cats. Fierce and wild and always willing to strike out at those who try to attack them. This scene with Eowyn got me so excited when I saw it, and seeing Cragg illustrate it is so moving too. It is so much more dynamic, the perspective and the framing, as well as the text within the work all mesh together so well. Her long golden hair could be liken to that of a lion, majestic and almost overwhelming. I chose this piece in particular because I love seeing women in power and with swords. Swords are aweosme.

Hail to your Alpha Female

Lion Queen 

Yuko Ota

Lion Queen

Pencils and Photoshop

821 x 900 px (pixel) 

2013

Yuko Ota is a cartoonist who specialized in digital format comics, though she has printed a few things. She is based in New York and lives with several of her friends and two cats in a shared apartment. She has recently been involved in several collaborative projects for the arts and how to bring and expose people to new art as well as properly supporting artists. 

"Meticulously cleaned up and colored a thing I drew at a coffee shop today."

Ota has always been an artist interested in illustrating fantastical things as well as using line to lead the eye on a journey through waves and curves. Pulling inspiration from old stories as well as different cultures is a thing Ota does a lot. This particular piece plays into many things Ota is keen on. Such as cats, as well as transformations. 

This piece connects to the theme of wild cats because the lion is one of the most majestic and wild cats out there in nature. Despite the fact that this painting is anything but wild outwardly, it does not mean it couldn't be wild within. Clearly something had to happen for that lion to be cloaked upon the woman as such. But there is a beauty in all of this, besides the obvious flowers. It is in the quiet peace of the woman wearing the lion, possibly ready to strike out and kill whoever comes by. And it is in the nature of the lion, draped down, the mane like flames licking down. I chose this particular piece because the colours and the line struck me with awe. I thought it fitting to put with all these cats. 

Pounce Around

Flamenco Rose Marissa

Amy Lacombe 

Flamenco Rose Marissa

Ceramic clay 

5" high, 4" length, 3" wide 

2010

Amy Lacombe is an American contemporary ceramic folk artist. She works from her studio in Los Angelos, California where she crafts a number of different things. From cats, to clocks, music boxes, napkin rings, or whatever a client asks for.

"I love people, animals and color, and I like to make people smile. This is the inspiration I use to create my happy bits of art. I am so grateful to be able to incorporate my passions into my work."

The Flamenco Rose Marissa is part of a collection/set that Lacombe started. It features all cats of different personalities. From dancing, to holidays, to seasons and even foods, the cats are endless. Each cat is posed in a similar fashion with a somewhat similar face, but from there, it's hands off, because of how different each cat is painted and decorated. Flamenco Rose Marissa stemed from Flamenco dancing and shows it off with beautiful floral accents. 

I believe this cat fits the theme for the gallery because well, purrhaps not all cats are wild in their actions, but they can be wild in style! Flamenco Rose Marissa has that wild side of her on the outside for everyone to see. her striking colours would attract anyone, especially if they wanted a piece of the wild. In part, I chose this piece because this is a wild cat, and well, how could I not include Amy Lacombe. I have been a fan of her work for a while, and have a few of my own Whimsiclay Amy Lacombe cats.  

Light Me Up Meow

Lackadaisy Moonshine 

Tracy J. Butler

Lackadaisy Moonshine 

Photoshop CS

860 x 968 px (pixels) 

2013 

Tracy Butler is a 2D and 3D artist for playnet(dot)com, a gaming website which produces original games.  She also produces her own original web comic, Lackadaisy, which has gained her quite the online following. She works from her home in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. 

"Rocky is a shining blue star of idiotic brilliance. Or brilliant idiocy." 

This digital painting shows the cat Rocky, a character from Butler's online comic, Lackadasiy. Lackadaisy takes place in the late 1920s, during Prohibition, where crime ran amok and almost everyone was a part of it. All the characters in the comic are cats and has taken storm to those who have read it. Rocky being a pivotal and very popular character. This painting is the graphic of the back cover the second volume Butler has published into print of Lackadaisy. 

This connects to the theme of wild cats because of well, how literally wild the entire thing is. Even without knowing the context of the story of the cat in the painting. At the bottom of the painting is a literal crack in the ground to Hell and the flames lick at the ground. This cat seriously does not give a care about anything or its consequences. Cats can be wild in what they do and how they do it. And this painting certainly takes a piece of the cake. In part though, I chose this painting because I am a fan of the comic Lackadaisy and its fantastical cat characters that bring the story to life. Rocky, being one of the most wild of all the cats in the comic, I felt deserved a place in this gallery. 

Yowl into the Night

Predators and Prey

"SHAG" Josh Agle 

Predators and Prey 

Acrylic on canvas 

35" x 96"

2012

SHAG is an illustrator, painter, and designer based in southern California. There lives with his wife and children. Though he very much considers Palm Springs his second home, and in fact is a large supporter of the city and has his own store there, The Shag Store. His style greatly dirives from commercial illustration from the past five decades, his paints being more stage scenery and his subjects always in lavish environments. He also has his own Disneyland collection, and has had several shows around the world. 

"Soon the gorgeous furniture, the lime green carpeting, the sculptures and the paintings will be covered in gore. The indoor rivers and fountains will turn pink from the blood of the helpless prey, who will have met their demises willingly, slightly tipsy from the Screwdrivers and Vodka Tonics. "

Predators and Prey is part of SHAG's Animal Kingdom show, held at the Corey Helford Gallery. Drawing on SHAG's usual preference of mid-20th century modern architecture, indifferent women, hedonists, and supplicants. The pieces of Animal Kingdom, which includes Predators and Prey, showcases women and men as animals, or at least with some of the features of those animals in situations where you might use a phrase involving animals. Such as this one, with the predatory women, and men who are their prey. 

I have seen SHAG art my entire life thanks to my aunt Kathy, who was an avid fan of his work. And so I have also seen the cats he's drawn and I've always loved them. Choosing something from SHAG was more on a personal level for me. His art is very out there, very stylized, but very rich in detail and depth behind the piece. I specifically chose this piece, out of all the pieces SHAG has that involves cats because of its wild nature. These aren't just women trying to snag themselves a man for a date, these are women ready to strike and kill. Sure, they might look tame, but there is always the wild inside of every cat, and woman in this case. 

Felines aren't the only catty ones

Olympia 

Edouard Manet 

Olympia

oil on canvas

4'3" x 6' 2 1/4"

1863

Manet was French painter from the early to late 1800s. He was one of the first painters to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to the new style, Impressionism. A son to a military man in a wealthy family, his father wanted him to join the navy, but after several failed missions and trips, his father relented and Manet went and went to an art school and became a painter with his friend. 

" There's no symmetry in nature. One eye is never exactly the same as the other. There's always a difference. We all have a more or less crooked nose and an irregular mouth." 

This painting was done at a time when most nude paintings were very coy. It was sexualized and brought elements from the renaissance. Meanwhile, in Manet's Olympia, it is obvious that there is nothing coy about this or the situation. The woman in the painting is a high-class prostitute and is staring directly at the audience. In other nude paintings, everything is precise and graduated and the woman is never looking at the audience. Manet wanted to show a different view, he wanted people to be able to tell it was really paint, it was a corruption of the times in France in that era. It was real and modern life. 

I chose this piece for the theme of Wild Cats, because in the end, aren't we all wild? I feel it connects to the theme because many times, people liken a woman to cats, and one thing is true, both women and cats will do as they please. The woman stares directly at the audience, unblinking, almost unnerving, much like a cat will do. This is a woman who will not back down, who in her own right and way, is a fierce woman, qualities which I find in many cats as well. You don't need to be a cat to exactly be a wild cat. 

Show me Your Teeth

King of Panthera

Fiona "Tang"
King of Panthera
Charcoal, chalk pastel, acrylic on paper
18' x 10'
April 2014

Fiona is a college artist based in Vancover, where they attend Emily Carr University of Art and Design. They are currently close to graduating, the above piece being their grad piece now hung in the school's halls. They run a tumblr where they display all their art and share what they know. Fiona is an extremely talented artist who does fantastical sketches and paintings of everything around them. They started art a while back, and despite parental disapproval, have fought to do their art. Back then, they had a focus on ceramics but had to give that up due to developing an allergy to the glazes and clay. And thus, moved onto painting. From there they went to Emily Carr University where they have developed and enhanced their skills.

"I have stuck to and fought for my art. I love sketching, to the point where I will catch myself looking at my surroundings as sketches. Art is not only my passion, but also my outlet and therapy; it always manages to cheer me up."

 They have worked and studied there for three years and are about to graduate. For graduating students from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, there is a graduating student show. So all students must create at least one piece to display. Fiona is a fan of animals and wildlife, and it is obvious in their work, that the reoccurring tiger pops up in their art. This is really another view of a digital painting they did a while back, of a side view of a tiger diving into the water to catch its prey. This is just a front view on a much larger scale.

This piece connects to the theme of Wild Cats because it is one of the most majestic wild cats out there. The tiger. by looking at the piece, you can see the ferocity in the tiger's eye, as well as the paw with its extended claws reaching out to grasp and clutch whatever it's trying to catch. It's bold and it's large, it's something you cannot ignore. The tiger is bursting through the water striking down. Nothing is more wild than a wild cat in it's natural domain. I chose this piece because I am always in love with tigers and how they are. This piece captures their beautiful looks as well as their ferocity.

Of Cats and Armor

Elven Princess

Jeff de Boer
Elven Princess
Armor made of nickel, brass, leather, and gemstones
size of your average medium sized cat
2010

Jeff de Boer is a multi-media artist with an international reputation. He specializes in metal, becoming quite known for this work making armor for both cats and mice, as well as rocket lamps and abstract works known as exoforms. He is based in Calgary, Canada. de Boer graduated from Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) back in 1988, majoring in jewelry design. Growing up, he learned to work with metal from his father, a tin smith, and then furthering his work in high school classes and built his first suit of armor then. After college, he worked out of his parents' garage and established himself as a professional artist by 1989.

"It's all about potentiality, You can imagine these things being used, and that makes them art. If you were to actually put them on an animal, they'd just become objects- a fashion statement for your pet."

 He used his blacksmith skills he learned from his father and combined his jewelry skills from college and made elaborate suits of armor for both cats and mice. His first suit or armor was for a mouse, and from there he started lines and lines of different suits of armor for both rodents and cats, drawing inspiration from different eras and different cultures.

This connects to the theme of Wild Cats because what could be more wild than armor made for cats! While the particular model of armor I chose is rather refined, it does not deter from the fact that this is actual armor that could be worn. It has an elegance to it that is fitting of the nature of many cats. Wild, fierce, calculating, and as always, very precise. It is a unique take on what can be wild and what cannot be wild. As this suit of armor goes, you could say is it figuratively wild, because it is fitted to the size of your average cat. But I would say the suit is also a reminder that domesticated cats can always be wild and ready to strike. I chose this piece because I loved the elegance of this suit or armor and all the details of it.

Meow to end this Tail

Now this isn't my first time on the catwalk, and it probably won't be my last. There are always new things to learn though when making and organizing your own gallery. It is certainly a task to go from doing an entire gallery with a team of people to just doing it all by yourself. You still face the same sort of problems as always, will the blog look good? Are the artists diverse enough? Did you choose the right theme?
Personally, I sat down a lot and threw down ideas and bounced them off some of my friends to see if they'd be interested in the gallery just by the theme alone. Afterwards, it was finding what art I thought fit my theme. And you could really go all over the wall with themes. It all depends on how you interpret it. Sometimes you can't get all the art pieces you want either, depending whether or not the artist has really shared anything at all about themselves or the artwork online.