"When the Cat is Away"

Attached to the back of my studio there used to be a garden shed that had seen better days. It needed to be torn down, dismantled, and the area generally cleaned up. Evidence of mice was found - no surprise - after all, this is a heavily forested part of Vancouver Island.

My imagination started to run wild. What if some mice had secretly found a way into my studio? What really went on around there at night? The studio is far enough away from the house that I feel uneasy out there after dark. All these fears, emotions and worries pressed upon me and finally erupted in an oil pastel drawing. I imagined, and started to draw my swivel chair, my desk, my nice carpet at night with these creatures happily scurrying about, up and down, all over the place. To increase the feeling of action I made the mice all different colors. Then the old proverb “When the cat is away, the mice will play.” occurred to me. So I added a portrait of a black cat to the back of the chair. He, the missing cat was not there to guard his territory.

The whole imaginary scene was a bit of a joke, but it helped. It seemed to be the cure. I don’t worry anymore. I’m sure nothing is going on out there at night!

See below, “When the Cat is Away” drawing in Oil Pastels.