Cat Shenanigans Are Her Specialty

Martine Coppens has been described as a painter, draftsman and etcher of cats. Like many of us, she has loved cats since childhood.

Like many of the Mainzer cat paintings, Coppens' anthropomorphized cats are revelers who sometimes find it hard to temper their hijinx. After all, with nine lives in your pocket, why not carpe diem?

I love in Coppens' work what I love about Eugen Hartung's or Norman Rockwell's: the storytelling. A single frame is as packed with as much action as a short film, and each viewing reveals new details. She's a world-builder, producing work that surprises and delights.

And, as I learned from The Great Cat, Coppens offers up Easter Eggs in the form of subtle self-portraits nearly hidden amongst the mayhem in her backgrounds or reflections in windows or other shiny surfaces, as in the pot below:

But she also creates a lot of images that are just sweet:

You can follow Martine on Facebook.