Quint answers your questions – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
Good morning! I thought, since I’m the only ManCat here at Colehaus, and one of the few cats who aren’t still skittish from the extra noisy Fourth of July weekend around here, I’d take this morning to answer some email questions my mom and dad have received about me, my painting, and things in general. Feel free to comment or ask them anything. They’re pretty good folks that way.
Let’s begin with the big colorful elephant in the room – my painting. Everyone wants to know why a video of me painting doesn’t exist. “Internet Gold,” everyone says. “You’ll become famous,” everyone says. Everyone wants video proof that I, Quint, do indeed paint on my own terms and conditions. I assure you I do paint and like to do so about once or twice every six weeks but as for getting my process on film, that’s more complicated.
My mom and dad don’t own a video camera. The one they borrowed while The Niblets were baby kittens was on its last shaky leg and crossed the camera bridge long ago. They don’t even own a cell phone if you can believe that in this day and age, and to hear my dad talk, he doesn’t ever want to own one either. I know it might be hard to understand but it’s just his quirk, just like my quirk is to paint, I guess.
Beyond that, they say, a video camera doesn’t fit into our current strict budget, and as for becoming famous, my mom has already been blamed for taking advantage of me and my hobby and lost friends over rather nasty things passed on about her liking cats too much. All I want to do is paint when I feel like it, and with my approval, all my mom wants to do is help cats in need with the sale of my art. For some people, that’s hard to understand or accept.
Don’t bother Quint when he’s painting – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
There’s no way I’d entertain an audience other than my mom or dad while painting. I’m just not much of a new people-cat that way. My mom tries her best to take photos of me while I’m working but I’ll only put up with that for so long. Mom says I’m difficult, but I believe an artist has his limitations and cameras interfere with the creative process. Here’s a good rendition of the look I give her when I’ve had enough of her camera. No painting happens beyond this point, just this look. I could sit this way for hours if need be. Trust me on this.
Practice makes purr-fect – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
That’s not to say I always clam up when she gets clicking away while I paint. I like practice painting and usually, I let her get a few camera shots in.
Quint doesn’t like baby talk – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
As long as she doesn’t make mushy-voice sounds that distract me. I don’t like that very much. I’m a cat, mom, not a teensy baby.
Question: You live in a very brown house. All your blog photos contain shades of brown – walls, furniture, blankets. We would think you’d be inspired by the color brown yet we’ve never seen you use that color in your paintings. Don’t you think that’s odd?
Nope.
Question: You’re the only boy cat at Colehaus now with quite the harem of sister cats. Do you miss having a brother?
I’m not sure my sisters would like being called a harem but you’d have to take that up with them. Good luck with that! MOL! I don’t mind being the only ManCat (who said I was a boy cat??) and probably wouldn’t mind a brother but my mom says we’re a full house and at our absolute limit. Hmmm, the words, “absolute limit” don’t appear to be anywhere in my cat dictionary….
Question: How many of you eight Colehaus Cats get along? Who doesn’t like who?
Miss Newton, Zuzu, and Tessa – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
Good question! If we were to make up a chart of who got along with who and who didn’t, it would take someone smarter than mom and someone with more time on his hands than my dad. Let’s see if this helps:
Miss Newton likes everyone.
Miss Newton loves Pia and Dad.
Tessa likes Miss Newton and Quint (most of the time).
Tessa loves Mom (specifically, at 1 p.m. and 4 a.m.).
Tessa ignores Olivia and Pia.
Tessa does not like Zuzu, Viola, or Ruby.
Pia likes Tessa, and Olivia (most of the time).
Pia loves Dad, Mom, and Miss Newton.
Pia ignores Quint, Viola and Ruby.
Pia does not like Zuzu.
Quint likes everyone.
Quint loves Mom, Dad, Olivia, and Viola.
Quint ignores Pia.
Olivia likes everyone.
Olivia loves Mom, Quint, and Miss Newton.
Olivia ignores Tessa.
Ruby likes Dad, Mom, and Miss Newton.
Ruby ignores Pia.
Ruby does not like Tessa, Zuzu (though improving), Olivia, or Quint.
Ruby is neutral about Viola.
Zuzu loves Dad and Mom.
Zuzu does not like Tessa, Pia, Quint, or Olivia.
Zuzu is neutral about Miss Newton, Ruby, and Viola.
Viola likes everyone but Tessa.
Viola loves Mom and Quint.
Question: Is Tessa a troublesome Tuxie or just a misunderstood lover of extreme sports?
Tuxie Tessa – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
Troublesome? Hmmm, sometimes. She doesn’t like to play as hard with me as she used to. I mean, Tessa taught me how to use whapping paws! Now she doesn’t like those. She was troublesome, my mom says, when she was the Pee Queen last year but she seemed to get over that phase a few months ago. My dad says yes, Tessa loves extreme sports if you mean surfing down the bannister, sticking her nose into hot pans on the stove, and promising to leap over the abyss down to the foyer floor some twenty feet below. She’d have us believe these are no big deals but the rest of us aren’t buying Kool-Aid from her stand.
Question: How hard is it living with eight cats? Isn’t there fur on everything?
My mom says life with eight cats isn’t hard if one has the home designed for it. She says she is thankful our house has rugs and not carpet, laminate floors and not hardwood or vinyl, a central vacuum cleaner that is used often, and that nothing is out on display that can’t be scratched, knocked over, broken, or replaced, not that any of us would know anything about that.
Oopsie! – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
But sometimes accidents happen. For example, we consider it an accident that our mom left this pot of flowers unattended. Our mom, she’s a work in progress.
Quint – 2015 © Colehauscats.com
Well, that’s all the questions I can answer for now. I’ve been itching to get some more painting time in so I need to let my mom know by smearing up the bathroom mirror again. Have a good Monday and a good week ahead!
Quint’s sign to paint – 2014-2015 © Colehaus Cats
They are all so pretty.
What a brilliant painter you are! I loved the Q&A – I feel I know you a lot better now!
Lots of great answers to the questions Quint. We love your paintings. We have a lot of cats living here and some days we all get along and then there are days when everyone is on edge. You all have a great day.
We started off reading all your answers to the questions Quint and tried to get our heads round who likes who and who doesn’t like who. Mum says she will read it again in a few minutes and try and write us a list of who likes who and who doesn’t!
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
Great post today! Artists can only be artistic when the mood hits. We love your work, Quint!
We think those people who were mean to your Mom weren’t truly friends. And that is one complicated Who Likes Who chart. Wow! We have one of your paintings and love it. Someday we’d like to buy another one. Definitely a point of pride in THIS house to be able to say – a kitteh furriend painted this.
Thanks for sharing all of this, Quint. We understand about budgeting–and think people who belittle you for that aren’t worth listening to. We also love your work and admire that you are willing to share your work to help other kitties.
You just let us (and Mom) at those people who were mean to your mom! We think all of you at Colehaus are da best,
that was a great Q&A – though we think people need to get over themselves about being mad that you paint. sheesh… as for the others, mom says some day to laminate floors and central vac system 🙂
I can’t imagine living with eight kitties! That must be so wonderful 🙂
I absolutely adore Quint’s paintings and hope that one of these days I will have room in my budget to purchase one. I’d love to have one to hang over my couch!
What a great Q&A!!! You are such a talented kitty 🙂
Wow this was sooo informative! I can’t imagine what it would be like to live with 8 cats! Love, Cody
People just have to express their opinions, even if they do not know what they speak about, Quint! It’s obvious that your peeps love you and the others and do the best for all. I’ve thought about getting a video camera too, but the expense would break my delicate bank balance at this time…after all, it’s more important to have cat food!
MOL MOL we loved reading all about the various purrsonalities at your house. Hugs madi your bfff
Quint, I loved the Q&A very much and thank you for sharing them with us.
I love ALL of you and highly respect your Mom and Dad. That is the truth.
We enjoyed all of your answers Quint. We find it sad that Zuzu doesn’t love Viola. But Abby was a cankerous kitty, and it was only Mom who absolutely adored her, no one else understands why Mom was so devoted to Abby, but she was and after she won Abby over, Abby was devoted to her. Zuzu reminds us of Abby.
Some humans who criticize everything should get a life! We’re not going to try to figure out the dynamics of your clowder. We’re just happy you sweeties have a wonderful home 🙂
Thanks for answering all those questions, Quint! It sounds like the relationships in your home are very complicated – around here, everybody likes everybody, and that’s about it!
dood….all de grates ree fuzed ta haz ther selves on videe oh camera; Picasso. Rembrandt, Michelangelo….sew ewe can two…we doez knot have a videe makin masheen either……de food gurl wood knot noe how ta use it any how…..we iz happee everee one likes sum one but we troo lee hope noe one….likes…BURDZ ♥♥♥ 🙂
We enjoyed reading your Q&A ! We learned a lot about the relationships in your home. Purrs
Quint, not wanting to be filmed when you paint…that’s the sign of a true arteest! Thanks for answering some of the other burning questions we had. 🙂
Great post, I love learning more about our kitty friends. Tell your Mom whoever doesn’t want to be her friend is stupid. I love my original Quint and I am still trying to find a great frame for it because it is so special.
Quint, we love that you enjoy painting and that your folks encourage you but don’t push you. We are glad that you share your art work and that we’ve been able to collect a few of your works – they are totally pawsome! It is always interesting to learn about the dynamics in multi-cat houses, especially ’cause we don’t all get along here 😀 our mom wonders if a boy-cat added to the mix would work but thankfully we’re at our limit too! have fun painting!
pip, smidgen, Minnie, hollie
Wow, thanks for sharing so much information with us, Quint! We notice that there’s nokitty who loves your Dad and not your Mom, but some are the other way around. We have that here, too. Does he get his feelings hurt?
That’s a very good question! My dad is very easy going and doesn’t mind that some kitties aren’t that enamored with him. Those kitties tend to be very independent and don’t seem to be as needing of dad love than some of us other kitties who would sit in his lap for days and days on end if we could.
That was wonderful, Quint! We all enjoyed the Q&A very much.
Luved the Q&A!
That was very informative! Doesn’t look like Zuzu has many furrends. If your Mom has a point and shoot camera, they usually come with a video setting. All of the ones we had/have did. My peeps don’t have a smart phone either.
Thanks for all the “A’s” Quint… and may we say what a handsome Mancat you are growing up to be. Mom is looking right at her “Four Seasons” collection at her desk at work (don’t worry, she’s on lunch) right as she types this. She’d take a picture, but she hates her “dumb phone” and uses it as little as possible!
pee ess… Dexter says to tell Pia he sends “nose kisses”…. eeeewww… those two are so mushy!
That was a good idea to have the Q&As. The who likes who made my head hurt though!
Quint, we thoroughly enjoyed you answering these questions. The insight we gained into your family dynamics being an eight cat house with one male cat (just like us) was very informative. The one thing we can say with certainty is that we all love Mom and Dad. Also, Astrid loves Mauricio, Giulietta and Fiona love each other and Fiona, Lisbeth and especially Misty May hate Astrid. Misty May used to hate Lily Olivia, but she has switched her dislike to Astrid. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo