- Published on
"Pangur Bán" - mixed media on wood panel (baltic birch, uncradled) 24" x 24" x ,5". Ready to hang (back has been pre-wired for hanging). Available for purchase here and at Artfinder. Available for rental at getthegallery.com
Pangur, white Pangur, How happy we are
Alone together, scholar and cat
Each has his own work to do daily;
For you it is hunting, for me study.
Your shining eye watches the wall;
My feeble eye is fixed on a book.
You rejoice, when your claws entrap a mouse;
I rejoice when my mind fathoms a problem.
Pleased with his own art, neither hinders the other;
Thus we live ever without tedium and envy.
- PANGUR BÁN, English translation by W. H. Auden
Wonder Mike and I often sit together and ponder the cats. It is no surprise one showed up in the art. Which sent me hunting for poetic cats. Which led me to Pangur Bán, a 9th century Irish poem.
Pangur, white Pangur, How happy we are
Alone together, scholar and cat
Each has his own work to do daily;
For you it is hunting, for me study.
Your shining eye watches the wall;
My feeble eye is fixed on a book.
You rejoice, when your claws entrap a mouse;
I rejoice when my mind fathoms a problem.
Pleased with his own art, neither hinders the other;
Thus we live ever without tedium and envy.
- PANGUR BÁN, English translation by W. H. Auden
Wonder Mike and I often sit together and ponder the cats. It is no surprise one showed up in the art. Which sent me hunting for poetic cats. Which led me to Pangur Bán, a 9th century Irish poem.
Pangur Bán
Our cats are not hunting mice (flies, perhaps. And lint.) but mostly neither hinders the humans (though the dog feels free to bother everyone). Highly adept at social distancing, these inscrutable beasts manage to live their days without much input from the rest of us, apparently without tedium. We cross paths throughout the house, sometimes interacting, sometimes without as much as a glance.
So in peace our task we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.
- PANGUR BÁN, translated from the Irish by Robin Flower
So in peace our task we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.
- PANGUR BÁN, translated from the Irish by Robin Flower
Here's a little something else inspired by the poem...I wonder what the cats would think?
About the painting: this began as an abstract, with a composition of low saddled darks and a misty sky. But the shapes began to take on a whimsical feel, so when the cat decided to sun in the studio window, well, she ended up in the art. Acrylic, water-based inks, colored pencil and a wee bit of faerie dust.
That is so so good!
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And a new photo of you, too! Bonus!