This is a detail from a lithograph I created when I was a student at the (then) Alberta College of Art. The title derives from the Egyptian hieroglyphics I incorporated into the composition. Also, the cat is drawn with a definite dividing line down the middle of its face so that if only the dark side is focused on, it gives the profile of a mummified cat (and the dashed white lines across the body below the neck suggest cloth wrappings.)

The "model" is my little furry black buddy, Canuck. I say that in the present tense because Canuck is still very much alive and present; she's about 23 or 24 years old now but still very active and a great companion.

UPDATE: DECEMBER 5TH, 2009
Canuck, my little black buddy for nearly 25 years, crossed over to the other side. It was a privilege to have known her all those years and her conversation will be missed. She was a talkative cat with a very large vocabulary of distinct sounds (way more than the ordinary meow.) All cats have their secret opinions, but Canuck voiced her's. She is missed very much.

This painting, "Anchored in a Sea of Grass" is one of six works I recently entered into the Montana Triennial Exhibition. Hoping this or is selected for inclusion (or, better yet, ALL of the entered works). There was quite a bit of interest in this painting at it's exhibition venues last fall, so I feel good about its chances for selection. Lots of layering of brush marks and colors---it has a watercolor feel but with stronger pure color.

This is a detail from one of the 4 ft by 8 ft paintings I did for a percent-for-art commission for the U.S. Army Armory in Baker City, Oregon. The commission consisted of several paintings depicting events or people significant to the military and civilian history of the community.

To see other paintings in the series, click http://poppenga.com/BakerCityCommission.html

"March Skies - #23" is an oil and beeswax painting on canvas, measuring 24 x 30 inches.

This painting is a memory work---i.e., I experience the environment (in this case: see the clouds and their movement, feel the cold wind, sense the overwhelming expanse of sky that seems to press down on the prairie landscape--even the distant mountains seem to shrink down in the face of the winter sky.) Then I return to my studio and attempt to capture the experience in paint.