Artist of the day: Clare Turlay Newberry

Let's face it: when I talk about an "artist of the week," it's most likely going to be an illustrator. Not that an illustrator isn't an artiste, etc etc, but you know what I mean! One of things I've come to realize is that illustrators hold a special place in my heart. Holed up for ohmyfreakingoditsnycslargestblizzardeversnowstormjuno  the blizzard that wasn't, I was browsing Etsy, when I came upon these lovely cat drawings from the 30s.

Claire Turlay Newberry was born in Oregon and began drawing cats at the age of two. Later in life, she went to art school here and there, but never finished. At first she wanted to be a portrait painter but once she achieved success in cat-drawing, she never looked back.

I love the limited color palette (the smokey grays, negative space, and a hint of red) and how well-observed her cats are. Of the seventeen books she wrote and illustrated, fourteen of them featured cats as their main subject.