Cat Rabbit Appreciation Hour

© Cat Rabbit

    For those who have been following this blog you will know that I took the family to the latest Cat Rabbit exhibit at Tinning Street Presents.

© Cat Rabbit

    The Cat Rabbit experience has had a massive influence in our lives the past few years. As a doll maker my own technical skills improve from studying the work of other textile artists such as Cat. More than that, I am able to share that passion with my kids, who in turn are inspired and want to make things for themselves. It's a wonderful little craft revolution that is taking place in my home.

© Cat Rabbit

    Once I bought a copy of Owl Know How, a book by Cat Rabbit and Isobel Knowles, which came with a pattern for making a basic Cat Rabbit designed owl. So sometime today, my youngest is going to make her little owl.

    My eldest wrote a little something about the Cat Rabbit excursion…

© Gwen

    

Keeping Cat Rabbit In Mind

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

    Today I took the family to Tinning Street Presents gallery to check out Cat Rabbit's textile exhibit Kept in Mind. It was a long trip for us, coming far from the other side of the city, and most definitely worth the hike.

    Cat Rabbit created a variety of art dolls, wall pieces and charms reminiscent of things from her past - books, breakfasts, trips to Japan. There are familiar elements with her work, such as the cat dolls. Cat Rabbit has a real life cat who is both parts companion and muse, so his face appears in much of her work.

    The peach people are a relatively new development in Cat Rabbit's doll making and are constructed with a combination of hand stitched felt and needle felting. Cat Rabbit has branched out into needle felting this past year, and this works very well with her sculpting the faces. The peach faces look like a coloured illustration as a result.

    The art dolls are not complete without clothes and accessories. I love the fact that she thinks of the small details. None of us are complete without our bags and wallets filled with stuff that make up our lives, and the same goes for her big-little animal people.

For more information about Cat Rabbit you can find her here or on Facebook.

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit

Cat Rabbit: Kept in Mind
Tinning Street Presents exhibit