SHADOW CAT ARTISAN

It began with a simple pleasure. An itch.

Since I could pick up a pencil, I was scribbling over everything. Yes, I was that child who drew during church, was called out into the hall for drawing during class, and the same one who barricaded herself in the stairwell with a sketchbook and pens. I was labeled emo, strange, or just plain weird, by those who didn’t understand the solitude needed for some creative minds.

I began using the name, Shadow Cat in an attempt to create ambiguity. I didn’t want readers to set aside my works due to my race or gender. I wanted my works to speak for themselves. Years later, I considered returning to my given name or changing my nom du plume. During this consideration, I looked deeper into the name, Shadow Cat. I discovered that it was another name for panther, or jaguar. This jungle cat which was often described as reclusive and difficult to spot as it kept to the night and shadows. Both the jaguar and panther were associated with magic and healing. Some cultures believed that the black panther’s power was imbued in the wearer when the tail was wrapped around their waist like a belt. Other mythologies and supernatural stories surround the panther. Now, Shadow Cat embodied the veil between worlds; neither material nor spiritual. It is elusive, nocturnal, feminine, and wild.

As my observations of the world around me deepened, I found connective threads between almost any topic. Similarities in stories and parables, between spiritual beliefs and practices, and repetition throughout the decades. As my awareness of the connections between different worlds deepened, I began to weave connective threads admits my art and writing. Like weaving a tapestry, I layered one color after another and another. Life after all, is not so linear as it is more a winding stream.

It is in this winding stream that we find our purpose and our passion. As a Shadow Cat, I prowl the realm between our world and the spiritual, exposing the journey in order to imbue what we learn in this struggle into my works, ever changing as it may be.