Farewell to 2011

As has become a tradition here at CatSynth, we present our end-of-year image.


[Click to enlarge.]

It was a bit of a challenge to decide what to put in, as there were so many this time. But I think these are particularly representative. And it’s also significant that it is more colorful than previous end-of-year images.

The first few days of this year were quiet and a bit dark. That changed quickly, with tumultuous events around the world, and new experiences close to home. It’s the year I finally had a photography show, and by the end of the year I had several. There were new surprising types of performances and the costumes to go with them. I deepened my connections back in New York with friends, music, art and the landscape. And I no idea what I would have the chance to participate in something like the Occupy movement . There were many sad moments as well, with the loss of friends.

In all, 2011 has been particularly rich and productive, if sometimes a bit chaotic. If one had told me at the end of 2007 or 2008 (or 2001 for that matter) that this is what life would be like now, I would have been pleasantly surprised. There is a sense, however, that the patterns of this past year are not sustainable. This will have to be part of the plan for 2012, in particular getting organized, staying healthy and trying to make good choices. We will see how that unfolds as the new year progresses…

Happy New Year and thank you for all the support and warmth from those who read these pages!

Weekend Cat Blogging: Hannukah

For this holiday edition of Weekend Cat Blogging, we present some of our images from Hunnukah, the Jewish festival that concludes at sundown tonight. Our menorah, not surprisingly, has both musical and modernist elements, with a band of musicians behind the candles.

Menorah with musicians

As one can see, this was taken on the seventh night, which for a variety of scheduling reasons ended up being the main night on which we were able to celebrate. Luna received her gift, a blue fish toy – it is our personal tradition that designated Hannukah gifts have to be blue.

luna_blue_fish_c

She seem to quite enjoy this toy, and immediately took to batting it around th floor; and play hunting with it by pushing it underneath the table and then pouncing on it. I was able to get some videos of her play:


Weekend Cat Blogging #237, Holiday Edition is being hosted by Samantha at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome. We wish Kashim a happy 11th birthday.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

[Music] of the (Blue) Spheres

It has been a while since I have completed one of graphic-art images like the Green Kitties piece posted a while back.

If the previous one was “green”, this one is definitely “blue.” It is actually inspired by an evening on the Singapore waterfront several years ago, which including a sculpture/installation with blue spheres and illuminated pools.

This work was created using a combination of Poser and Bryce (in which the final render was done, along with everything except the figure).

It is interesting to compare how both works combine abstract geometric elements with “realistic” figures.