Meet Katika, my first polymer portrait doll. I suppose Edgar and Oscar are also portrait dolls, but Kat is not a dead male author, so I figure she's the first in a new-ish category? Oh, I'm babbling...I just finished a 20-page paper on The Turn of the Screw that nearly killed me and now I can barely see straight.
Anyhoo, Kat kindly allowed me to post this photo, and so you can see how pretty she is. She requested a fish-bone braid, beaded jewlery and a matching purse, so those were all fun, new things I learned while working on her doll. I luuuurve the fish-bone and will definitely use it again.
Now, totally unrelated to dolls, I had to share this adorable photo that both makes me smile and breaks my heart a little. The short-haired, orange and white fellow on the right is my beloved Mr. F, also known as Monsieur L'Orange (he was born here in Montréal, after all!) Mr. F likes to spend his entire day outside in the summer, and, much like a teenager, only comes in to eat and sleep at night (even that is only because we force him...we don't want him getting mixed up with nocturnal, urban riff-raff like the raccoons and skunks that live in our alley. He gets grumpy when we bring him in at dusk, but he endures it.)
The long-haired, somewhat mangy-looking ginger character on the left is an alley cat who we call Foxy. He has roamed our back alley ever since we moved in just over a year ago, and we have been feeding him daily since last fall. He's so used to us now that he hangs out in our backyard; in this picture, he and Mr. F are chillin' on the roof of our shed. He comes right up to us, but we now know better than to try to pet him, as I once got a sound thrashing for attempting just that (well, really he just scratched me, but 'sound thrashing' sounds so Victorian). We have seen him get in to some wicked fights with other cats in the neighbourhood, and he is always the instigator - he's crazy as bag of hammers, as my stepmama would say. But he and F. seem to have an understanding, and scenes like this - the two of them sleeping side by side - are not uncommon. We've also seen them traipsing down the alley together, going in and out of other yards like old friends going for a walk. (And for pet-owners who might, understandably, find this troubling, F. has all his shots, and takes the top-of-the-line super-expensive internal medicine for fleas, heartworm, worms, etc..)
Anyway, I just think it's sweet that they're pals, and when money is not so tight, we plan to take Foxy to the vet and get him tricked out with shots and a general check-up. Recently, he has started darting into our stairwell if we leave the door open, and even came into the apartment once. I guess I dream that one day he might trust us enough that we could take him off the streets, at least for the brutal, Montreal winters. We'll see what he decides...
Katika is magnificent. I also love the story of Mr. F and Foxy. My husband & I have a lovely cat name Tori. Over a year ago we moved in the house we are in now and found that the cats on our street like to come lay around on our porch. We found it a little strange at first. But we think they just know we like cats. Or Tori has told them how we adopted her from an animal shelter. Causing cat meows around town. :)
Posted by: ashleydaugherty | July 03, 2009 at 08:30 AM
The doll and the lady are both gorgeous. I love the braid too. And I really enjoyed the Foxy story. He's a beautiful cat. Very sweet that he and Mr. F are pals. I love cats too. :)
Posted by: Sharon | July 03, 2009 at 09:11 AM
thank you so much for visiting my blog, and your nice email! I have added your blog to my faves, I'm so glad I found it :)
Posted by: suzie chaney | July 03, 2009 at 12:20 PM
That picture just melts my heart. I have such a soft spot for cats, I own two, or better yet, they own me. I do hope you can get that kitty some shots, he looks very skinny and it is probably worms. Do try to take in him for the winter. The thought of him outside in the cold is heartbreaking.
Your doll is beautiful as is your inspiration. Very well done.
Posted by: Yoli | July 03, 2009 at 08:21 PM
Oh! I love orange cats! So sweet of you to help out Foxy. My sister in Massachusetts has three orange tabbies. One rare female (they couldn't get her from the pound unless she was spayed). But I spent 10 days there about a month ago and their most shy cat 'took to me like candy' and sat on my lap and purred his head off through an entire movie. Then the evening before I was to fly home all three cats and my sister came into the guest room, all the way upstairs and wished me good-bye. I do love cats and I guess they felt my 'good vibes'. My sister was in awe that the cats 'knew' that I was going home soon. It's too bad that cats aren't like dogs...you feed a dog once and you're their friend for life!
Hope your stray warms up to you. If he is coming into your house, that's a good sign that he likes you. Funny that you are talking about cats and the beautiful doll that you just made is for a KAT. (Maybe you blogged that on purpose). I love your blog and come here often.
Cheers! Teresa
Posted by: Teresa in California | July 04, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Hi sweetie...Playing ketchup on blogs...
Love the doll..Oh my absolutely stunning. And the story of the cats..I giggled at work (which is rare). We had a neighborhood thug cat once...sadly he passed. But I miss seeing his decrepidated white body walking around like he owned the neighborhood. This was such a smiling post(which all yours are).
Smiles,
Sonia ;)
Posted by: Sonia Rodriguez | July 06, 2009 at 12:53 PM