Our last artist feature is another Lowe Mill Artist with a studio called Symmetrical Universe.
Symmetrical Universe is run by the artist Steve Pitts, who creates all of the work you can see in his studio. The studio is on the second floor of Lowe Mill in studio 2051. Steve draws all of his work with a Radiograph pen which is a technical pen often used by engineers, architects, and drafters, and often uses an ink cartridge rather than refillable tubes. His art is all very sleek and several are fine lined. He has a variety of different types of work ranging from architectural places to machines to mandellas. Steve Pitts has donated several items to the auction and we are happy to feature him in our blog.
You can visit his website at symmetricaluniverse.com
Below is one of the pieces that he donated to our auction
Today we want to focus on someone who seems to specialize in big cats and the female form.
We received donations from the artist Briana Zierman-Felix. She used to have a studio on the first floor but moved up to the second so she could have more space, and everyone is lucky she moved. She has so many original paintings that moving to a bigger studio helped get everything she had seen. Her art is powerful and passionate and all of it evokes a feeling, what that feeling is will be up to the viewer of the art.
You can buy her art in her studio at Lowe Mill at 2005, or visit her website brianaziermanfelix.com.
Here is one of the items she has donated to our auction.
The artist for today is actually a group of sisters. They donated several different items to the medical fund auction, and their studio has so much great art to see that I highly suggest you go and see it.
Cre8tive Sistas Studio is located in the Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment building in studio 262 and 263 on the second floor. The “sistas” create art out of reused, recycled, and repurposed materials. What this means is that often you will not see the same art pieces and every piece will be unique. They also delve into a variety of genres, including one of my favorites – steampunk! You can check them out at their studio or head on over to their Facebook page – Cre8tiveSistas.
Here is one of the many pieces that they donated to our auction.
Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment is filled with amazingly creative small businesses! We have joined forces with some of those creative minds to bring you all a scavenger hunt on Small Business Saturday! It is the perfect time to kick your holiday shopping into high gear, and find unique gifts for everyone on your list! This event is free to join, and open to the public.
Hunting Rules:
1. Begin at Cattyshack (Studio 1062) and look for the first clue scroll. You’re welcome to take a photo of it to remember what it says.
2. Once you find the next stop you must take a selfie with their sign or artist to prove you found it.
3. Each stop will have a clue scroll you must read to find your next destination!
4. The first three hunters to find all the stops and make it to the end will win prizes!
First prize will include a gift card to Cattyshack worth $56, which is one visit to the lounge for up to four people and other various gift cards to shops in Lowe Mill!
Cattyshack will be closed on Thursday, but we will be open this Friday and Saturday! We’ll even be doing some fun giveaways!
Need a break from the madness that is black Friday? Come to Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment and visit some kitties for an hour and lower your blood pressure! You will also help us raise funds for our cats. We will have several black, black and white, and black-ish (okay grey, but that’s just light black!) cats on hand for you to pet and play with! And they’re all adoptable!
Some of the cats that will be there this weekend (in case you are also looking for a new friend) are Mary Shelley (grey) and her sister, Octavia E Butler (grey), Dr Teeth (black), Mork (grey and white) and his brother, Zim (grey and white), Pugsley (black), and Wednesday (black)! We will also have some non black cats like – Ram, Boo, Luna, Zoot, Floyd Pepper, Animal, and Babybel (a sweet orange girl)!
So, take a break from the stress of holiday shopping, and slide on over to the “Lounge Reservations” tab to make a reservation!
We want everyone to have a great Thanksgiving, but we also want to say thank you. We Appreciate everyone who supports us, who adopts from us, our fosters, anyone who has or plans to visit the lounge, and everyone who helps get the word out about the lounge! We could not do it without you, and our cats and kittens appreciate being given the chance to live a happy and loved life in their furrever homes!
When you see a cat out in the wild, you might notice a lot of things about them, depending what stands out to you. You might notice their coloring, or their fur, in fact this might be the first thing you notice about them. Other things you might notice about them are their eyes, their body shape, if they look healthy or not, if they look pregnant or skinny, or if they look like they are being taken care of. Something else you might notice is if a cat has the tip of their ear missing. So, why do cats get their ears tipped?
Well, first let us discuss when ear tipping started. Ear tipping began in Europe in the 1970’s as part of program Denmark started through their Society for the Protection of Cats. They were tipping the ears to identify cats that had been neutered. In the US the program Alley Cat Allies popularized ear tipping cats to identify cats that had been neutered or spayed. When this program started, most of the cats at the time were part of a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program. These programs would trap the cats, neuter or spay then, then release them back into their communities, hoping to help keep the cat and kitten population down.
Of course, none of this will make sense if you know nothing about ear tipping. When a cat or feral kitten is neutered or spayed, a very small portion of their ear (usually the top tip) is surgically removed. The removal is done while the animals are under anesthesia for their spay or neuter, so no pain is felt. After they wake up, the animal does not feel pain in their ear and they are safe to release back into their communities. Often, vets will want the animal to be kept in seclusion (especially females) for a few days before releasing them into their communities – only so no one has to worry about infection or injury and the cats can heal up.
Ear tipping tells anyone looking that the animal has been spayed or neutered. Sometimes, these animals are not let back into the wild and it is found that the animal might actually make a good house or barn cat. Every now and then you will meet a cat or kitten who is living in a house, and if their ear is tipped, it generally means that they have already been neutered or spayed.
Neutering and spaying is very important, not only for cats, but also other animals like rabbits, dogs, and ferrets. The animal population is huge, not just across north America, but in a lot of countries. Being part of a TNR program is important to keep populations down so that the populations do not become a problem in areas where the animals might be injured or killed. TNR programs, like shelters and rescues, have one goal – help animals.
If you are interested in helping fund TNR programs you can donate to Cattyshack for spays and neuters (not all of the cats we help are cats that can become house cats). Or you can donate to Alley Cat Allies at https://www.alleycat.org/our-work/trap-neuter-return/ to help pay for the spays and neuters of cats. If you cannot donate, you can also learn how to help by conducting a trap-neuter-return yourself.
Anything helps.
Sweet and shy Ivy is available for adoption and wants nothing more than to have a family to call her own. It took her several days to get comfortable but once she decided she liked having all the kitties around that were just her size, she settled in quickly. We are not sure how she is with dogs, so we will go ahead and say she needs a dog-free home. She definitely prefers other cats her size to play with! We will NOT adopt a single kitten into a home with no other cats unless it states in their listing that they are not good with cats and need to be an only cat. We prefer our little kittens are adopted in pairs or at least have another cat in the home to bond with. If interested in Ivy you can make a reservation to visit her at the Cattyshack Lounge in Lowe Mill, or you can fill out the adoption application to adopt her or ask for a meet and greet. You can find her information under the “Our Kitties” tab, or make a reservation under the “Reservations” tab.
Cat litter boxes are an essential tool for the indoor and sometimes the outdoor cat owner. They provide a place for cats to go about their business, and sometimes cat boxes can be used to toilet train a cat (not discussed in this post). Often, choosing a cat litter box seems like a simple idea – go to the story, buy a plastic box, and voila. However, as homes have developed and technology has developed, cat litter boxes have changed as well. There are so many different kings of litter boxes, and we suggest trying to find one that will suit the needs of not only your cat, but also yourself. Most cat litter boxes can also be used with any kind of litter.
Open Litter Boxes – Open litter boxes are the traditional option for cat litter boxes. Open litter boxes are exactly what they sound like. They have no lid, top, or cover, and help cats feel relaxed. Often cats prefer open litter boxes as they do not like feeling closed in when going to the bathroom. They often prefer these types of litter boxes because as apex predators they like being able to keep a watch on their surroundings. Open cat boxes are very easy to clean and easy to use as there is nothing that needs to be done before scooping them. Open litter boxes also provide really good ventilation since they have no covering to trap smells. If you have a big cat or a high peeing cat, you can get larger ones, but these may not be conducive to your home environment or the placing of the cat box.
Covered Litter Boxes – A covered litter box is great if your cat prefers privacy when using the litter box. Covered litter boxes are enclosed spaces with a lid, often they have a door or opening that the cat can enter and leave from. A covered cat box can help prevent odor form wafting through your house and keep it contained, but it also can prevent a cat from using it. Cats do not like strong smells and if the litter box is not cleaned often enough then they might start refusing to use it. Cats might also not like having to use the bathroom is a small enclosed space, so some cats will not use a covered cat box. They do provide some convenience as they can be built so that they look like a natural part of the furniture. Covered cat boxes can also help prevent the spread of litter. One you know your cat you will have an idea if a covered cat box is the right kind of cat box for them or not.
Self-Cleaning Litter Box – As this post is being written there is some debate about self-cleaning cat boxes. There have been a few recalls due to issues when and how the cat boxes clean themselves, so we will not be discussing these types of cat boxes at the moment. We will let you do the research, make an informed decision, and see where the recalls stand.
Plastic or Stainless Steel Litter Boxes – Stainless steel boxes are relatively new as of this posting and are gaining in popularity. Plastic litter boxes are much cheaper than stainless steel litter boxes, so they are good if you live on a budget, or if you have multiple cats. Plastic litter boxes are often easier to find in small and very large sizes, which is helpful for kittens and houses with either large cats or multiple cats. The biggest benefit to stainless steel catboxes are that they help keep the spread of disease low, are incredibly easy to clean, and last for a really long time without getting scratched or damaged. Either is a good choice, and both plastic or stainless steel work for most cats.
Whatever cat box you choose be prepared to adapt to the needs of your cat or kitten. Sometimes things change, especially as a cat gets older, so you might have to get a litter box that has a ramp, is low, or is simple a short cardboard box with a liner, so be prepared to adjust your life to the needs of your cat.
Look at this silly little guy! His name is Gomez Addams and he is quite a character, if you cannot tell from the picture. He is very playful and runs around the lounge like he is on a long racetrack. He sometimes likes to hide and jump out at the other cats, and people. Gomez love to play and cuddle with his siblings, even his foster dog, Mama. You know what this means – Gomez is great with dogs! Sometimes he fall asleep sitting up, which is such a kitten trait. He would love to be adopted with one of his siblings: Morticia, Wednesday, or Pugsley (who is a girl). Cattyshack prefers our little kittens are adopted in pairs or at least have another cat in the home to bond with, and we do not often adopt out a single kitten on their own. If interested in Gomez, please make a reservation by going to the “Reservations” page and make a reservation. The Cattyshack Lounge is located in Lowe Mill and is open Thursday through Sunday. A reservations is $10 per person, and we also allow birthday parties to be held (check it out, you know you want a birthday party with cats!).
The Cattyshack Lounge is not a cat café, so some might wonder what it is. Well, A cat café is a theme café whose attraction is cats who can be watched and played with. Patrons pay a cover fee, generally hourly, and thus cat cafés can be seen as a form of supervised indoor pet rental. Cat Café’s also often offer snacks or drinks to the patrons. Cattyshack covers the first part of the description – an attraction where cats can be watched and played with. Reservations can be made for an hour, or longer, and the cats and kittens are there to pet, snuggle, watch, or play with. Cattyshack does not provide drinks or snacks.
The cats and kittens at Cattyshack are all adoptable, and this is something that both cat cafés and lounges have in common. Most of the time, a café or lounge is attached to a rescue and will help rescue and adopt out cats. There are also other types of cafés and lounges – examples are – Dog (California and Florida), Hedgehog (Tokyo, Japan), Owl (Tokyo, Japan), Raccoon (various), Rabbit (various), and these are only a few. In Japan, specifically, there are over 100 animal cafés, and they vary in the animal they have in attendance. Most of the animals are rescues, but not all the animals are available for adoption.
Cattyshack has the fortunate chance to be part of the artistic community in Lowe Mill in Huntsville, Alabama. What this means is that people, like you, can come, enjoy the cats, get some great food and tea, and see the variety of art on display. The lounge is a special and important place because it allows the Cattyshack rescue to take in as many animals as it can find fosters for. A lounge is different from a café because it lets the patrons and potential adopters “lounge” with the cats and kittens. There are several places to sit, or lay down, or relax, and while sitting, or laying down (trust us, we clean the floor), or relax, you can also play with, snuggle with, and love on the kittens and cats. Now, you might not always be able choose who plays or loves on you, because cats are fickle at times and some of our cats and kittens are choosy about where they snuggle or what toys they play with.
The best thing about the lounge is that anyone can come in and sit and play with the cats. Plus, if you are thinking about adopting a cat or kitten, there are several that you can meet and the selection is often rotating. Reservations can be made on the main Cattyshack page under “Reservations.” The cats and kittens love when people come to the lounge, and right now (October 2024) we are offering a discount on gift certificates – buy one $10 gift card and receive one free. We also have 2025 calendars for sale, so come on by, buy some gift cards and calendars (they both make great gifts, and the holidays are coming up), and socialize with our cats and kittens!
Mork and Zim are currently available for adoption. Zim is the life of the party, but I also loves cuddling with humans. He is easy going and playful, and his brother Mork is Zim’s best friend. Their energy matches each other perfectly and the time they spent apart while Zim recovered from surgery was difficult, especially for Mork who would look for his brother. Zim has now healed perfectly, and besides having only one eye, Zim is a perfect kitten. Mork is a very playful little guy, and you can often see him chasing toys and stealing wand toys at the Cattyshack Lounge, They are a bonded pair so they do need to be adopted together. And, Zim’s adoption fee has been sponsored by Legend Realty of Huntsville, so they are basically a BOGOGCTL – By One Get One Great Cat To Love. If interested, go to “Our Kitties” and click on the picture for Mork or Zim and fill out the adoption interest
