-
~ Artist-Eve Riser-Roberts ~
 ~ The Cat's
Meow ~
---from The Cat Gallery---
Vol. 1, No. 1, October
2002
Editor: Eve
Riser-Roberts
Welcome to the very first
newsletter from The Cat Gallery of
Famous Artists Cats
prints.
To all our dear customers,
subscribers, friends, link exchange partners, award presenters, kids,
and patrons (who signed our Guestbook), we welcome you to the first
release of our newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please
see bottom of page. This issue will bring everyone up to
date. Some of you subscribed a long time ago. I know.
Tsk, tsk. It's just taken me awhile to get it
together.
The newsletter will be available
through my website to subscribers to allow those of you who cannot
accept HTML email to be able to enjoy a more elaborate visual
presentation of the newsletter.
I will be experimenting
with this publication and bringing you all kinds of things that we hope
you will find fun and interesting. This newsletter will
undoubtedly be changing as we explore new possibilities over time.
If you have suggestions for things you'd like to see, let the Editor
know.
In the coming
months, you will hear about exciting new offerings from The Cat
Gallery. Things like new original cat paintings, new prints,
special offers, contests, free stuff, and more. I'm always adding
new things to the site for your enjoyment. And don't forget our
beautiful Famous Artists' Cats prints, that are still only $15
to 20.
-
In each issue, the
newsletter will feature a different web site, which
will be on a topic related to our general areas of interest--cats,
art, decorating, framing, web designing, and such. If
you would like to have your site considered as a Featured
Site, please let the editor know. Include your URL, email
address, and description of your site. It has been awhile since
some of you first visited my site and subscribed to the
newsletter, and there have been a lot of changes, as you will
see.
So, let's
go!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Funny Cat
Photos
2. Challenging Free Cat Art e-Jigsaw Puzzles (make
your own)
3. Exquisite New Cat Art Email
Stationery
4. New Awards Offered
by The Cat Gallery
5.
Featured Web Site
6. Dedication Page to
9/11
7. Your free
gift
8. Free Cat Art Cards
9. New Amusing Photos of
Our Russian Blue, Gray Tabby, and Siamese Cats
10. Recognition for
the Famous Artists' Cats Series
11. Tips and Tricks
12. Cat Quote
13.
Cat Joke
14. Privacy Policy
16. Copyright Notice
17. Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Instructions
-
NEW ARRIVALS AT THE CAT
GALLERY
1. FUNNY CAT
PHOTOS
This is a fairly recent addition
to the site, with some incredibly amusing pictures of cats. You are invited to
submit funny photos of your own cats, and your name
and website link will be given along with an accepted
photograph.
One of the offshoots of this
section is 'Cats are People, too.' This is a place where
talented computer artists turn cats into exotic creatures with
otherworldly qualities, or they make the cats seem almost human,
depending on the artist, the tools they use, and their
imagination. The works of two different artists are waiting
for you to see now. Another will be coming soon.
If you consider your cats are
your children and go so far as to dress them up in real clothes, there's
some of that, too.
2. CHALLENGING FREE CAT
ART e-JIGSAW PUZZLES
I've been having so much
fun playing with different software to produce jigsaw puzzles of my
cat art. There are two programs I like. From these I've
created five puzzles. On the web site you can play with two
of them (Manet's Cats and Matisse's Cat), but the other three are for
people who sign up to be on The Cat Gallery mailing list (three
variations of van Gogh's Bad Cat). Some of you have already
received these by email when you signed up. If you don't have them
yet and would like these e-jigsaw puzzles, you may go to the Secret Page on my site to play them there (since you must
be on my mailing list anyway). The other puzzles can be found at
the jigsaw puzzle page. They are all different, with a range of
difficulty. They are meant to be played on the computer with a
mouse, which adds a new dimension to the game. You may even
like to try out the free versions of the software yourself to create
your own puzzles. They can be found on the jigsaw puzzle
page. Would you like to have more cat puzzles made for you?
Harder ones? Let me know HERE (PC
owners only--Mac owners will be kicked out of the newsletter to the
original announcement email)
"My son
enjoyed your online puzzles..he loves jigsaw puzzles and is very fast
putting them together." JoAnn Cook
"Eve! What a brilliant idea! I worked all
the puzzles that I could find and had oodles of fun. Thanks for all
your time and effort." Jean Rowan-Tucker
3. EXQUISITE FREE CAT ART
EMAIL STATIONERY
Have you ever received an
email with an artistic background? That's email stationery.
For your special emails, you might like to use something with a little
more pizzazz than the simple, ordinary typewritten letter. If
you're not familiar with them, there is quite a subculture throughout
the world that is busy creating and sending these wonderful
backgrounds. They incorporate art and use sophisticated
programs to manipulate or add to the images. They are works of art
in their own right. Sometimes the stationery uses special,
dramatic, animated effects, as well as music. Sending letters
will never be the same, once you develop a taste for this. The
stationery for this newsletter was kindly developed by Barb, whose
website is featured this month.
I would like to introduce you to
exquisite, cat art email stationery designed for The Cat
Gallery. The stationery artist, Barb, has taken six of
my cat paintings and created absolutely beautiful stationery
around them. These unique email backgrounds are FREE for you
to download and use yourself from Outlook Express.
This
issue of the newsletter has been composed using one of the stationery
Barb created for The Cat Gallery, Manet's Cats. If
you enjoy the paintings on my site of van Gogh's Bad Cat, Manet's
Olympia Cats, David Hockney's Tree Cat, Gauguin's Slinking Cat, the
Himalayan Caught in a Windowbox, and the Snowshoe Siamese in
What's Up, Pussycat?, click HERE to be taken to a description of Barb's website and how
to add these awesome works of art to your own stationery
options.
4. NEW AWARDS OFFERED BY
THE CAT GALLERY
"MY CAT HAS A FUNNY CAT NAME
AWARD"
Cat names are inspired by the
subjects that will wear them. Deciding on something so important
should not be done lightly. The cat will wait patiently for you to
discover its name. It knows its name already, of course, and
will give you all kinds of hints as to what it is. Just
be observant, and it will be revealed.
If you have a cat with a funny,
clever, amusing, or silly name, tell us why it's sooo appropriate, so we
can add you to our Hall of Fame of Funny Cat Names. If you have a
web site, we'll give you a link to it with your funny cat name
description. You will also receive the prestigious "I Have a Cat
with a Funny Cat Name Award." This distinction is not given out
frivolously, but only to those humans who have been observant
enough to discover their cat's true name. Click HERE to read the amusing names submitted so far, and find out
how to apply for the award yourself.
"MY CAT'S A SCREAM
AWARD"
Cat tricks can be very surprising,
since these animals usually don't go in for that sort of thing.
But sometimes, necessity is the mother of invention, even for
cats. Also, never underestimate the power of food as an
incentive.
Does your cat do something
unique? Something that cats usually don't do? Does it have a special talent? Have you taught
it something clever, or has it taught itself? Has it taught
you a trick? Has it used its amazing analytical powers to
figure out something complicated or useful to itself?
If your cat has found a way to
outsmart you, get what it wants, or entertain itself, it may win the "My
Cat's a Scream" Award and be entered into The Cat Gallery's Hall of Fame
of Funny Cat Tricks. If your story is accepted, we'll print
it and immortalize your extraordinary kitty. Click HERE to find out more.
5. FEATURED
WEBSITE
"STATIONERY BY
BARB"
It is appropriate that the first
site that we highlight is that of the artist who created
the stationery for this newsletter and for several of the
other paintings in The Cat Gallery.
Barb is a single-working mother
of four, and grandmother of seven, living in a small town in
Tennessee. About three years ago, her church
asked her to take on the job of Treasurer. With the job
came her first computer.
At that time making email
stationery was just getting started. It appealed to her
immediately, but in those days she only had time to download and use
other people's stationery. When her best friend developed a
disabling disease and had to leave her job at the local
hospital, Barb suggested that she buy a computer and fill in
her time at home by learning how to make email
stationery.
She did, and the
inevitable happened as Barb also slowly became hooked. At
first they had only about two or three scripts available to
them, which resulted in relatively plain stationery. But as
more people became interested and saw the potential of this new creative
outlet, exciting scripts, new techniques, and wonderful programs
were developed. Now they could make beautiful and unusual
email stationery.
Email groups then sprang up on
Yahoo and Egroups, where people who made email stationery could
meet each other and share their creations. In these
groups, the members learned and acquired new skills in making the
stationery. Barb now belongs to five of these groups and has
made some wonderful cyber friends through them over the years, some
of whom have traveled many miles to meet her face-to-face, and
their friendships have flourished.
Barb is enthusiastic about
this subject. "My hobby is designing Outlook Express email
stationery. It is such a joy to create backgrounds and pictures so
they will be used to send your messages to family and friends. It
takes a lot of time and thought to create stationery, and each one of
mine is designed with care and love. I create my stationery in
Paint Shop Pro7, which is a wonderful program. After trying
other software, I find PSP to be the easiest and most
versatile. Most people who create email stationery have also come
to that conclusion. Then I select an appropriate midi to give it
the final touch. My stationery is only created with permission
from the artists, and there are so many talented and wonderful artists
out there willing to let me give their art another dimension. I
enjoy working together with the artists so the end result is itself a
work of art. Not only is this my hobby, but it gives me such great
satisfaction to see the finished stationery come together as I want it,
and knowing that it might bring a smile from the recipient. I hope
you enjoy my stationery as much as I have enjoyed creating
it."
Barb invites you to visit her
web site to view the growing selection of free email stationery that you
can download for yourself. Click HERE to learn more and see how to access her
site.
6. DEDICATION PAGE TO
9/11
Soon after the events of 9/11, I
created a dedication page to honor the memory of those who lost
their lives in this tragedy. I sent out an email inviting my
mailing list at the time to visit this page, which depicts the grief
felt around the world. These are powerful pictures and letters
from Internet friends describing the impact of the event in
Europe. It shows we are not alone.
These outpourings of sympathy let us know that this
was a blow against humanity, not just against a country, a
religion, or freedom. Since then, new contributions have
been added to the page, and you are invited to view it again.
Please also follow up on the links provided.
Last month, the Mechanicsville
Fire Department in Maryland established a tribute on their website,
whereby individuals could light a virtual candle in their own name
in remembrence of Sept. 11th. On
September 1, 2002, their goal was to hope for 1000 candles to be lit
during the month on their site. When that was quickly met, the
goal became 10,000. By the end of September, there were over
27,000 people from many different states and countries, who were united in
their grief and their desire to pay their respects to those who had lost
their lives. -
7. YOUR FREE
GIFT
Now, to lighten things up a little. Here's a
little present for you for taking the time to read the newsletter.
It's a charming Screen Saver of Manet's Olympia Cats, the painting
used for this stationery. It will be made available on my website
sometime in the future, but my subscribers are the first to be able to
use it. Just click HERE and follow instructions to download the screen
saver. Then go to your Control Panel>Display or
Monitor>Screen Saver>select Manetolympiacats>press Apply then
OK, and it will become your new screen saver. It will make a
pleasant, artistic change, and be almost like having the picture on your
wall...almost.
8. FREE CAT ART
CARDS
If you like
to send unusual, free ecards to your friends, check out the popular ecards made
from my cat art, which also allow you to send a written message
and a voice message, along with a growing selection of original cat
paintings.
We're always adding new
pictures, in which we've caught the cats up to something. Have you
seen the Bathroom and Fishpond Series?
10. RECOGNITION FOR THE FAMOUS
ARTISTS' CATS SERIES
Van Gogh's Bad Cat appeared in
the November 2001 issue of Muse, from the publishers of the
Smithsonian.
A picture of Munch's Cat,
The Scream, was published in an article on the Famous Artists'
Cats series in the New York newspaper, Newsday (July 30,
2002).
The Kansas City Star published an article on the
Famous Artists' Cats series, and also featured Munch's Cat, The
Scream (August 13, 2002).
11. TIPS AND
TRICKS
I know this will be old hat to a
lot of you, but I'll mention it for those who haven't heard about it
yet. To email to a number of addresses, it's a good idea to use
the BCC (blind carbon copy) feature provided in most major email
programs. This ensures your recipients won't have to read everyone
else's address, and it helps to provide protection
for their addresses. Leaving all those addresses showing is
not only impolite but is also exposing them to abuse.
12. CAT QUOTE
"Cats aren't clean, they're just
covered with cat spit." - John S. Nichols
13. CAT JOKE
What does a
200-pound canary say?
"HERE KITTY, KITTY, KITTY,
KITTY."
14. PRIVACY
POLICY
Subscriptions
to "The Cats Meow" are free. I am committed to protecting the
privacy of my subscribers and will not sell, rent, or exchange
their personal information with anyone else.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The
material contained in this newsletter is
copyrighted.
Copyright (c)
2002, Eve Riser-Roberts. All Rights Reserved.
16. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
INSTRUCTIONS
To subscribe to this
newsletter click HERE. Be sure to
include your email address. Please feel free to forward the link
to this newsletter to your friends, who might be interested and wish to
subscribe themselves.
To be removed from the mailing
list for this newsletter and other announcements that may come from The
Cat Gallery, please click on the
Unsubscribe link in the original email that brought you to this
page.
______________________________________________
Thank you for joining me.
I hope you liked your first issue of "The Cat's Meow." I look
forward to bringing you more issues, special announcements, free things,
contests, funny things, and whatever the cat drags in. Don't
forget to let me know if there's anything you'd like to see here (kids'
comments welcome, too) or whether you'd like to be a featured
website.
Do stop by the HOME page
when you have a chance, click ENTER, and check out the BIG menu to see
all the neat things on this site :-)
Eve Riser-Roberts
The Cat
Gallery
http://www.thecatgallery.com
Discover the infamous Famous
Artists' Cats--
paintings, prints, gifts for cat and art lovers,
and free cat art as ecards,
email stationery, and jigsaw
puzzles |