rvcii ERTAINLY. I hope to oaint 1.000 cat nortrsLits! CI Why, before spring comes I shall have painted I 000. And with a 800 record behind one, 100 I more seems few." So says Mrs. E. M. Gardner of Fitma-i Grove, N. J.; the woman famous for having already achieved 851 cat pictures. These pic tures, some painted on canvas, some on wood, aome on cardboard, but most of all on cloth and velvet portraits of cats on sofa cushions being a specialty with Mrs. Gardner have gone all over the United States and Canada. A number of them have penetrated to Japan and China. Still othrrs have gone to France and London. The devoted artist is now at work upon a collection of distinguished cat portraits that are to cross the Atlantic ocean. From far and wide come requests for her work. Some of the Gardner portraits are so natural and lifelike that dogs have fought with and rent them, while astonished visitors to the Gardner studio have cried out in alarm to see theur hostess apparently sit down comfortably upon the family cat. One such visitor, being reassured on this point, looked questioningly toward another pretty pussy, luxuriously curled up in the corner of the sofa. " Do you know," she said, merrily. " I could almost fancy that cat was painted, too." And it was. Eye Most Difficult to Produce . Mrs. Gardner works in oils always, and does her work with much careful attention to detail. She has most happily mastered the stroke that makes the eye of her chosen subject fimz. IW4 - WJ ' -pU - I r ' i j ill vj II 1 : 4 K .r- 2 V A' '' "75 R esenoev the eye being the most difficult feature of all to fender rat urally seem alive and blinking. -She has also mastered the art of cat expression. All her cats wear a characteristic and Individual air. Black cats, tabbies. Angoras, maltese, Persians, common family cats, rare feline wonders, all are alike interesting and charming to Mrs. Gardner, who loves all cats dearly. But t very cat she paints, aristocratic or otherwise, must possess some modicum of beauty in order to attracf her. She loves test of all to paint a really handsome cat. Lady Jule, the cherished cat of Francis Wilson, the comedian; Tix, the famous "f 3.000 cat! belonging to M. A. Newton of Philadelphia, and known to travelers from all parts of the world; the handsome, dignified Black Judge, owned by Dr. Slaughter of Pitman Grove these, with hundreds of others, have taken firm hold of the affections of the woman who has joy in painting their portraits. Roosevelt and Parker, the one alive, alert, exultant, the other dull, dejected, languid, recently earned fresh laurels for their creative artist as they hung in the smoking room of the Young republicans' club of Philadelphia. In Washington, New ill ft II '-if n I J5 A .-V .4. .i ' - n lsV-L M u II f " nrk, London, and other cities have similar plaudits greeted " Mrs. Gardner's cats." Starts to Aid Church. The manner in which the woman who alma to paint 1,000 cat portraits slipped into the work is interesting. This Is her story of how It came to pass. "I have always been interested In art, and the instructors of my Connecticut girlhood said I had talent But for a number of years I made no special effort toward painting, and I shall always think and say I was inspired to paint cats- When, a few years ago, the Cooper Memorial church f Philadelphia was to be erected, I greatly desired to help. A financial crash had restricted my Income, so I painted a cat cn a velvet cushion and soli It That as the beginning, and ever since t have been kept busy with cat painting. The ambition to paint 1,000 cats came much later, and grew out of the astonishing proportions my work had already attained. Portraits in Demand 8,000 Miles Away. "Just a. little while ago my cherished Tix painting was started away on its 8,000 mile journey across the Pacific ocean for Tar away Tsu, Japan, while about the same time my Tabby Zeiss' portrait went to Shanghai, China. Every such incident is followed by a number of requests and orders. I0O feet, are rare and attractive. Flowers, lik eats, well with and for Mrs. Gardner, who docs her best work "i tm ..... . . . . -. , ... tfVSJ- iittie stuaio wing or the quaint family mansion aim - cealed by trellises of roses, lattices of Iliac, and shrnbb7 " There Is Just enough of the world here to suit m says. " When I want Inspiration I look at the sky." Added inspiration Is now furnished by the fact that rn&EJ of the last loo cats needed to make up the desired 1,060 i, been ordered in advance. When ail arc finished tbs 1 ' specimen will be disposed of in special manner, aw "T ... . - . ..EtiTllIXf Gardner probably will write a book about her cai p"-and experiences, alternating the more serious matter rifturcs with suitable verses. Hundreds of enthusiastic n.ir-rs who continually visit her home to see ner PrjT. ooilection of personally painted cat portraits, have and requested this. Copies of the book probably will pany the set of " royalty portraits " to be sent to the v house and to various crowned heads of Europe ere lone- so I have to work hard, always, to keep up with my engagements. But I do not find the work too hard, because I love it, and because I think of the many things it will enable me to Mrs. Gardner has already given to charity more than $i,C00 earned by the sale of cat cushions and pictures, and she hopes and expects to continue her good work in this direction for many years. Lives in World of Her Own. For rest and recreation, Mrs. Gardner plays with her own cats, which she is perpetually studying In search of new hints and cat knowledge, writes simple poems, and enjoys life in her garden. " Working with God in My Garden," a favorite poem, has been many times treasured and copied by admiring readers. The lovely garden in which it was composed is inclosed by wonderful hedges of honeysuckle planted by the artist-gardener eight years ago, when partial paralys's of the optic nerve necessitated temporary rest from painting. These hedges, rising seven feet in the air, and with a depth of Exhibition at Pet Stock Show. Modest and unassuming, Mrs. Gardner exhibits but com, though often urged to do so. Her best exhibition V ably will take place in Chicago, from Jan. 23 to 23, h"3' when the ninth annual poultry and pet stock show el National Fanciers and Breeders' association will take P The painted cats of Mrs. Gardner will be in fine compar many of the living feline aristocrats of America, with of the famous "silvers' of Mrs. F. J. E. Cbainpion--1 England, but now of New York, are to be shown d'jrln , coming week at the Chicago exhibition. Some of the semf-st " pussy prizes " have come to Chicago trom Marcus Be resford and Miss Winifred Beale of England Hcffstra, president of the Atlantic Cat club of philadeipa---Dr. R. Otolengui, secretary of the same club: and Mrs. aa E Chllds of New York have sent handsome prizes as veh" The cats will be on exhibition from Tuesday noon n- Friday noon, but the dogs, which will divide honors them, will bo shown from Wednesday morning onward, the pet stock and poultry exhibits will be in place all week-
