Date A Cat? (cat print sale - proceeds to charity!)

Well, hello there art (and cat?) lovers,

It has been some time since I last wrote; if you scroll down you can see that my last post was a review of Man of Steel, which I gave a generous 3 out of 5 Molos.

In any case, I felt I should have some sort of "Hello, I'm back" introduction here before I started in on my real purpose (Dating Cats) for this all of these words, but if I keep it up, we'll never get to the point (Dating Cats).

By now many of you are familiar with a certain dating website that starts with an O and ends in -upid. This website has had a huge impact on my life; I actually first met my girlfriend on there some 5+ years ago, and I'll always be grateful for that connection!  But in the process of meeting her, I got interested in the way the website worked, and how the percentage matches happened, as well as the ways in which people would sell themselves as good catches - especially the photos they would post. I'm hardly the first person to observe or comment on these things, but still, I wanted to do something with it...

…and that something started to be things like this:

These drawings are based on profiles of women with whom the website matched me, using complicated metrics and percentages. You see, after scrolling through profile and profile, I often noticed these adorable/awkward and sometimes downright disturbing pictures that women would post of themselves posing with their pets.  After a while it felt more like it was the cute cat that wanted to date me, or the scruffy dog. 

So I did more...

Basically I found myself thinking way too much about all these pets, and the interesting ways we use our pets to give our lives meaning and definition, and well, it felt like it said something about those of us trying to find some happiness though the web.

Here is a piece I did of several cats that I was "matched" with:

Girls who like Guys ages 25-39 within 25 Miles of me, ink on paper, 11" x 14", 2013

So there are 20 cats, all very good matches for yours truly! (Mind you, 39 is really old for a cat.) I may not end up showing these pieces (and the many more not pictured) in a proper exhibition, but in the meantime I have an offer for you all - 

PRINT SALE FOR CHARITY!

Girls who like Guys... (pictured above - with the 20 cats) has been printed in a limited edition of 50 signed + numbered, archival giclée prints, sized 12" x 9", for sale now to benefit a CAT CHARITY! I have heard great things about Kitty Harbor, a non-profit, volunteer-only, rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption facility for homeless and abandoned cats and kittens.  This charity will receive 50% of all proceeds from the sales of this print!  Furthermore, once I've made back the costs of printing this, all further proceeds will go entirely to Kitty Harbor through end of 2014.  

These limited edition archival signed prints are $40 (plus shipping if necessary—we can figure cheap shipping on a case-by-case basis).

They look nice framed, and can fit in a standard 8" x 12" if you trim 'em a bit.  

If you are interested, there are 3 ways you can order a print:

1.       Pay through PayPal. E-mail me (ryan.molenkamp@gmail.com) from your PayPal-connected email address and I'll send you a PayPal invoice. Be sure to include your shipping address in the email.

2.  Mail a check.  Email me for my mailing address, and be sure to include your shipping address.

3.  Meet me in-person to exchange.  Email me to coordinate. 

If all goes well, I'll send Kitty Harbor a nice check to help those cats find new homes!  Now helping those cat owners find love, that is a different story.  

Thank you for reading and I hope to hear from you! 

Ryan Molenkamp, cat lover, but maybe not as much as this guy...

PS  I hope to make this an annual tradition - prints for charity - won't be cats every year, but it seemed fitting this time.