It’s been a year since Gato and Beepo passed away, within a couple weeks of each other. Now suddenly, LITERALLY sandwiched between the 1 year anniversaries of both their passings, Toasty is sick. I am trying so hard not to panic right now… :(

Loki has figured out how to open my dresser drawers and now any time I leave the room, he opens one up and makes it a bed.

Christmas completely snuck up on me this year! Was I just unconscious for half the month? Where did the rest of December go?

✨ I’m thinking about updating my social media handles. My name isn’t available everywhere so I use “chelseakennaart” some places, but I’ve never really loved how long it is or how it looks (or the inconsistency) so I’m considering some alternatives… 📊 You can vote in the poll in next post! ↘️

Is Canva just way better on a PC/Mac or something? I do not get the love for this app, it’s SUCH a pain on the iPad. Nothing feels like it works the way it should (select all? Where is it?) & the most basic techniques (like just masking some text) seem to require the most absurd workarounds.

Oh no, I left the oven on too long and now the toasted marshmallow has burned. 🔥🍡

Just 2 totally normal cats! Definitely no hints of chaos simmering underneath! Nope! 👀

Guess who can NEVER eat In N Out again? ☹️ As if having to change all my soaps, shampoo, pickles, eyeliner, & stop using other expensive barely-used makeup products wasn’t enough. Can we just BAN sodium benzoate maybe? 😐 How many people need to develop allergies before we do?

3…2…1…🚀

I’m finally getting the hang of drawing Loki’s face!

I swear he looks like Simba. Little cartoon lion.

I just read about what’s going on with CGMA…I’ve been out of the industry loop the last few years and was so sad to hear what happened! 😞 I loved the classes I took via CGMA years ago and was hoping to take some more once my health allowed (especially the popular Color & Light class)…

I’m not used to having 2 cats who actually like each other enough to hang out together all the time so I have no idea how normal this is, but they are SO goofy! 🤣

Loki’s anatomy is really fascinating to me as an artist, especially his profile. He’s definitely not shaped like the avg cat/cats I’ve drawn in the past!

I love how cuddly this little ferret seal cat is.

My kid has been obsessed with KPop Demon Hunters since it came out and I finally got around to watching it and it was so good! Great story and the animation is just GORGEOUS. I LOVE when highly stylized 2D elements are worked into 3D animation (Kung Fu Panda 3 & Spiderverse did this too).

Boy I wish BlueSky had landscape mode on iPad. I would probably use it more if it did but I hate trying to type in portrait. 😩 I mean seriously do most people really use their iPad in portrait mode? (I realize it’s probably mostly because landscape = more work vs just porting the phone app over)

Feets

Sorry I’ve been quiet, health stuff. But the kittens are doing well and getting along great!

🩷🩷🩷

I love how every one of my cats has had a very different set of noises. Gato had this high-pitched kitten mew and trilled (I probably have his trill somewhere but not sure). Beepo yowled and growled when annoyed, but mostly just…yelled.

Finally have some good photos (and a name!). Meet Loki! He’s a 5 month old snow bengal and a real sweetheart.

On our way back from…KittenQuest Part 2! 👀 Still in the car, will take a better photo when we get home.

Was trying to remember what this art movement was actually called (it’s the Amarna Period)… but I was typing while in a car on a VERY bumpy road (I was not the one driving ofc)… and I gotta say I’m impressed Google actually figured this one out 😆

Oh. Hello.

The vet’s post-op instructions: “No running or jumping for 7 days.” Toasty:

Toasty got spayed this morning and I was super anxious the whole time but we just got the call that she is out of surgery, doing fine, and we can pick her up in a couple hours. Whew!

Toasty has helped a lot but I’ve really been missing Beepo (and Gato) this week. Not sure why specifically this week. I guess grief just flares up randomly sometimes.

It’s not been a great week. Health stuff continues to be exhausting and frustrating. I did manage to actually sketch something for the first time in a long time! Sloooowly figuring out how to draw Toasty.

ToastyBean’s toasted toebeans.

I am being hunted…

I swear sometimes she looks like a cartoon or a stuffed animal!

Monkey cat

I can’t believe how big she’s gotten already! But she’s still tiny too.

Danger

I like how iOS just has absolutely no clue what Toasty is half the time.

Um…I know Siamese cats are smart but… This is the first one I’ve met who can work an iPad. I guess she wanted to send photos of herself to people? 😸

I meant to post this earlier but it’s been a busy week. For a very happy reason! Meet the newest fuzzy member of our family: ToastyBeans! She’s a 15 week old seal point Siamese.

I almost made it through an entire day without breaking down but then I got this email…

I’m trying to treasure this remaining time but I feel like it’s never going to be enough time.

Every time Beepo does one of her cute little Beepo things (like her little “beeps” where she squeak-meows) I wonder “is this the last time I’ll see that?”

Beepo has cancer. It’s already metastasized. They said it could be days but they don’t really know. All we can do is make her comfortable. I can’t believe I’m losing both my cats in the span of 2 weeks. The word “devastated” doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now.

Gato passed away last night, at 14 (almost 15) years old, surrounded by the people who loved him. We’d had him since he was 8 weeks old. He has basically been there for me and my husband’s entire relationship. I’m going to miss him so much.

Another old art repost! Before The Lion King, The Little Mermaid was my favorite Disney movie. I did this kids pageant once, and they asked all the girls what they wanted to be when they grew up. Instead of doctor, teacher, etc. like the other girls, I said I wanted to be a mermaid. 🧜🏻‍♀️

Rewatching Heroes for the first time in 20 years made me realize I have also been using the same ringtone for 20 years. During this scene my kid came into the room to tell me my phone was ringing and ask why I wasn’t answering it 😅: youtu.be/MqIf3ysYPmg?...

Oops I’m a day late for #portfolioday apparently! I’m still on medical hiatus anyway but I hope that will change soon! I have been piling up a massive list of art and merch ideas and other projects the past couple years. My portfolio needs updating but here are some old favorites of mine.

Back home! We’d been without power since Wed morning and were under an evac warning yesterday so I went to my parents’ place with Ev and devices that needed charging, while Eric stayed with the cats so he could scoop them up and go if there was a mandatory evac order.

My family and I are okay. We’ve had no power since yesterday and we’re currently under evacuation warning but atm the closest fire seems to be going away from us now thankfully. Getting stuff together so we can grab the cats and go if necessary.

I got a new (teal!) phone for Christmas (much needed, my old one was barely hanging on) and of course the first thing I did (other than putting a pretty matching teal/mint case on it) was play around with the new macro mode by seeing how close I could zoom in on Beepo. 😸

Until I have some new art to share I figure I could start posting some of my older pieces! My frequent muse,Beepo, seemed like a good one to start with.