RED
KITTENS
POP ARTIST
Artist Statement
I used to paint western scenes but I never really enjoyed it. Besides, having grown up in west Texas and later moving to New Mexico, that was all everyone seemed to be painting. On a lark I decided to do some caricature paintings of my beloved cat, Red Kitty. The cat had recently passed away and I guess I was missing him and it felt like a nice way to pay tribute to my late furry companion.
I wanted the pieces to have a sense of humor and to be fun to look at. I felt too much art took itself too serious these days and I wanted people to have fun with these paintings. Red Kitty was like most cats in that he was always getting into things he wasn’t supposed to. So in my paintings I portrayed Red Kitty in lots of different situations and in many guises. Again, the humor was the key to these pieces and lots of people started to respond in a very positive manner.
To me the Red Kitty paintings are about embracing happiness, wherever you may find it.
Red Kittens Bio
Red Kittens was born in Amarillo, Texas and spent most of his youth there. Deciding to leave Texas at the age of seventeen, Red travelled the country doing odd jobs to support himself. Having been a fry cook, a carpenter’s helper, a used car dealer and even holding a job at a wild animal rescue facility, Red had become quite a well rounded individual. It was during his stint as a sign painter that Red discovered his passion for painting.
Probably because of his Texas roots, Red initially painted Western and Cowboy scenes. Having moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, Red was having little success selling his Cowboy paintings through a local truck stop. One day, after having run out of ideas to paint, he thought to do a few paintings of his favorite companion, a red tabby cat named Red Kitty. Having taken the four or five Red Kitty paintings to the truck stop, Red hadn’t even made it back to his trailer outside of town when he got a call on his cell phone telling him that all of the paintings had already sold! With that news, Red found new inspiration to devote his time to just painting his precious Red Kitty.
Soon Red’s paintings were generating such positive feelings in people that they were soon in collections around the world and he was been called a new “Pop Art Sensation” by artsy types and patrons alike. Red doesn’t really know what to think of all the “hubbub” that his paintings have caused but he is pleased that his paintings of Red Kitty have made so many people happy. And, of course, the sales have allowed Red to pursue his painting full time.
Having relocated to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, an emerging art community in south central Oklahoma, Red has been sharing a studio with his friend and fellow artist, Kevin Stark. Stark, who also owns the art gallery, Stark Art, has taken to showing Red’s work in his gallery and is now Red’s representative and manager. Red has shown interest in merchandising Red Kitty and Stark Art Gallery is helping him see his ideas and concepts become reality.