Queen among Cats by Julie Ann

We've just emerged from a bitterly cold spell here in the UK. After several days of white and grey and slippery streets, I curled up with a big pile of art books to brighten my evening with vivid colours and rich symbolism. I was drawn to Elizabethan art during our recent 'cold snap' because I recall that winters during the reign of Elizabeth and her son, James were pretty bleak and there were even times when the River Thames froze over, and 'Frost Fairs' covered the frozen waters with stalls and entertainments. I also noticed that Calico had introduced a beautiful, boat kit - could I combine Elizabethan portraits and Calico art kits in some way?

The answer came in this magnificent 1592 portrait of Queen Elizabeth 1 from The National Portrait Gallery in London, known as the Ditchley portrait. Elizabeth is shown as a powerful but forgiving monarch. The original painting was commissioned by Sir Henry Lee and painted by Marcus Geeraerts the Younger. Researching the symbolism behind the portrait, I discovered that Sir Henry had been a supporter of the Queen, but he had retired from court due to her disapproval at his living openly with his mistress!

What if, I wondered, another courtier commissioned a miniature art piece at that time, one that could be held in her Majesty's hand?

 And what if that little piece of art was commissioned by the Queen's favourite but little known lady-in-waiting - Caterina?

This likeness of the Queen's feline companion is enshrined in a tiny wooden dinghy, symbolising Caterina's hazardous journeys of discovery when she was ship's cat on The Golden Hind.

Caterina was created by collaging my art work of her head onto Geerhaert's beautiful painting, minus the Queen's head (hope that isn't treason!) The body - with its new head - was fixed to strong card stock and I added colour and outlines with fineliner in places to enhance the art work further.

I loved how, in the original, Elizabeth stood on a globe with her feet on Oxfordshire. Taking the base from the boat kit, I used a scrap of vintage map paper with a galleon on it to symbolise Caterina's voyages - when she had the whole world at her paws.

As with all Calico craft parts, the boat kit will take all manner of altering. I had great fun playing with collage, mark making, stamping and painting Caterina's background. This would mostly be obscured when she was enshrined, but it was fun to create!

Now I reversed some Calico Scrabble tiles and covered them with scraps of map paper. These were to decorate the sides of the dinghy.

I used masking tape so that the little tabs designed to slot into the base of the boat would not become clogged with paint and crackle. This also helped to create an aged effect when the tape was torn away.

Here you can see the worn effect when the tape has been removed, the side panels have had some stamping and been slotted in and the map tiles have been added.

You might be able to see that I added some Elizabethan style script stamping on the underside of the panels too.

 A scrap of gauze fixed with fluid gel medium, creates the idea of waves lapping around Caterina's tiny paws. I fixed her to the back of the shrine with a large wooden bead so that she would not be too far back. I hope you have enjoyed meeting Caterina today. The Calico Boat and Oars Kit comes with oars, which I haven't used on this project, but I'm sure you can think of many ways in which they could be utilised. I have other plans for this versatile kit in the future, so please watch this space! Have a lovely, creative day wherever you are and whatever you may be doing.
Calico Craft Parts Used
MDF Boat and Oars Kit
Sheet of MDF Scrabble tiles