Marrus is a BRILLIANT fantasy artist and Sunday she proved that with a fun, cat loving sketch. We've all been there. Remember not being able to sleep because you have cats lying on and next to your body and you don't want to disturb them. Yeah... me too.

Well here's her picture:

Here it is! I got the cover for the Renaissance Festival Podcast's new compilation CD. It features photography by Chip Talbert, Kimberly Stockton as Elizabeth I and graphic design by the amazing, hard-working and generous, James McDaniel II. Thank you!!!!!!



(Ain't that purty!)

Five years ago, Tiziano and Torre were born. I was lucky enough to adopt them a few months later. And now they're my bestest friends. Mreow!

Torre patiently poses for his birthday photo.


Tiziano sees something more interesting than posing for birthday photo.


Birthday Breakfast for Tiziano and Torre (L-R).

While I was in Ireland, one of our tour attendees, Jan C., asked if she could make a cross stitch of my Celtic cat logo that was designed by Ingrid Houwers. I told her, "Go ahead!" And now she's finished the cross stitching.

Now I think she might throw it together into a wee banner for those rare times that I actually I perform solo. It should make a nice addition in any case.

Oh! And the logo was designed for my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD.

"To Love Is Human, To Purr Divine"

I love my kitties with a passion. Working at home, I spend a lot of time with them, and they spend a lot of time with me.

In fact, in February 2006, I caught them napping together, paws tossed over one another taking a simple cat nap. They were adorable. So I grabbed my camera and *snap*. I captured a beautiful image and saved it to my computer.

Later that day, I was inspired. I sat down on my long antique couch. Not the best place to paint, but it's comfortable. I printed a copy of the image and started painting. I was amazed by the finished item. It kinda touched me. I love this painting.

As much as I love it, I feel I must part with it for a bigger cause. You see, it is time for me to start planning the follow-up CD to Irish Drinkings Songs for Cat Lovers. That album was not inexpensive to make. I expect this album to cost $6,000-10,000 to make. Yeah. Not pretty. I don't have that kind of money. So I need to start raising money to pay for the new CD. Yes, I have new Celtic Cat Wooden Mugs to help me in my goal. But it's not enough.

Because of this financial difficulty, I decided it is time to put my favorite painting, "To Love Is Human, To Purr Divine" up for sale.

But I am not just making this available for any old purpose. All the money earned from this painting will go towards the release of my next Celtic Cat Lovers CD. This is for the die hard cat lover, and the sooner I get this sold, the quicker I can start production on the album. In September, I start looking for a producer. So stay tuned.

"To Love Is Human, To Purr Divine" is a one-of-a-kind acrylic painting on canvas. It is 12" x 9^1/4" and currently still on its frame.

Buy Cat Portrait: $2500

Check out my other cat painting--TnT's Tabby Cat Family Portrait.

Graphic artist, Molly C. Loar, finished the CD cover Marc Gunn's upcoming CD, Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. The result is a stunning piece of art.

I'm trying to figure out which pictures for an album cover looks better for my Victims of Irish Music compilation CD. Which do you prefer?

Version 1



Version 2

A couple weeks back, I took pictures for my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers pint glasses. So after much delay, I finally filled the pint glasses with milk, set them on the table, and Tiziano and Torre had a heyday.

Afterward, I went to my trusty computer and downloaded the images. The sun was blaring through the window. The cats were feeling lazy.

Tiziano curled up in the sun on my desk. A few minutes later, Torre was lying next to them. An almost Yin/Yang pose between them.

Beautiful and content. I grabbed my camera. I had to capture that sweet moment before they would jump off the desk and start pouncing on one another, hissing and growling. *snap*. There it was.

Yesterday, I was feeling extremely stressed out. I had to deal with U.S. customs forms to Canada, despite that free trade agreement we have in North America. My Canadian CD distributor was unavailable to help me. And the "help" section of the form was filled with useless jargon that didn't bring me any closer to successfully completing the form.

Then I got a call from a telemarketer which sent me over the edge. I reported them as Violators Do Not Call Registry. My relief subsided and so I got on IM and started jabbering with friends to unwind. It did an okay job, but I needed a change. I spend too much time on the computer.

A couple days earlier I had thought about painting. So without much thought, I grabbed my acryllic paints and paint brushes. I found some unused canvas. I picked a picture off my website and printed it in Black and White. And I started painting.

It was weird. I'm not a painter by nature. Like many things, I hate editing. I just want to paint. But this wasn't like my first cat painting where after I came to that point where I was ready to stop. It was like something from Forrest Gump, "I just felt like running." But me, I just felt like painting.

Time blurred by with Battlestar Galactica, Season 2, in the background. I barely recognized it was on. I painted for about four and half hours straight trying to look past my usual self.

You see, usually, I have a problem when creating art, at looking at the big picture. That wasn't an issue here. My cat painting practically created itself.

When I felt it was done. And I knew it was. I stepped back and looked at what I created. Wow! I was impressed. Did I do that? I loved it!

And here it is: