Inspiration

Making a cat look like a reasonably accurate version of Fulton and Livingston's first practical steamboat, the North River Steam-Boat of Clermont, is harder than it sounds. You see, despite all the technical drawings made by Fulton, and all of the illustrations of the boat made during the 19th and early 20th centuries, there is not an accurate image of the boat as it looked when it first sailed up the Hudson.

To complicate matters further, Fulton and Livingston made changes to the boat almost immediately after its first voyage. Even Fulton's patent drawing images are not of the first boat-- instead, they reflect the early changes made in the boat.

Our best knowledge of the actual appearance of the North River comes from a variety of sources, taken together: Fulton's drawings and sketches, Fulton and Livingston's letter's, written accounts, etc. All of those sources were used by Randy Decker to create a wonderful model of the North River for the exhibition "Bobs' Folly" in 2007. The model took over 750 hours of labor, and, at the time of its creation, was the most accurate known model of Livingston and Fulton's boat in 1808 (after the first voyage, when it had been enlarged). Here are some images:

View of the bow:

The paddle wheels:


The boiler:

I wish I could achieve that level of detail and accuracy on the cat! Alas, the material I'm using for the cat (and time and skill!) don't allow it. Randy used special scaled lumber, laid board by board, and hand-crafted many of the other elements. For the cat, I am looking for special small nails for the rivets-- any suggestions on where I can find some would be greatly appreciated!

After the exhibition's conclusion in 2007, the model has remained on exhibit in Clermont's visitor's center- go check it out! (Soon, it will also be joined by a working model of the steam engine.)

A bee in my bonnet... (and a Cat in my Living Room)

I've been so busy with painting the cat, that I've neglected to actually put up new photos. So, here goes:

First, some working photos... The bottom of the cat (the water), will feature quotes from the 19th and early 20th centuries about the steamboat. In these photos, I am painting on the quotes (a time consuming process!)

"The whole country talked of nothing but the sea-monster, belching forth fire and smoke." From Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made by James D. McCabe 1870

"An ungainly craft looking precisely like a backwoods' sawmill mounted on a scow and set on fire." From Robert Fulton and the Clermont by his Granddaughter Alice Crary Sutcliffe, 1909

"A curious looking thing that... would frighten some of the Old Dutchmen half out of their wits. They will conclude the enemy is coming in earnest with a machine to blow them all up!" Catherine (Mrs. Samuel Latham) Mitchill to Margaret Miller 17 August 1807

"Bob has had many a bee in his bonnet before now, but this steam folly will prove the worst yet!" Jonathan Swift Livingston about Chancellor Robert Livingston

And some progress shots...

He looks so much more lively with eyes:

I get by with a little help from my friends...

While I am not always good at delegating tasks, I have never been afraid to ask for help when needed. My work on this cat has been no exception! I've been feeling a little out of my element as I've worked on the painting of the cat (after all, my concentration in college was photography, and I didn't even take painting), but I know I'll make it through. The fabrication of the paddle wheels and the smoke stack, on the other hand, is entirely out of my realm of experience, and certainly more than I thought I could muddle through.

That's where the having good friends comes in. I began to panic-- how am I going to do this! Who do I know who works with metal?!? Who welds? Could I ask the maintenance guys at work? (probably, but maybe not the best choice) My friend, the auto body repair person? (again, would probably work) Finally though, I had the answer-- my friend Corey Fong, who's concentration was in metal work!

I met with Corey on Monday, and he graciously agreed to help me with the wheels, and gave me some ideas to get started on the smokestack (as usual, my idea of how to do it was way more difficult than necessary!). We sat and bounced around ideas about how the wheels should be constructed, so they will look good, will not be too easily tampered with, they will be safe, and will not be too terribly difficult to build. Both Corey and his dad had great ideas about how to make the different parts and get them all together.

After we settled on a design, we drilled the holes for the wheels. This was important because now I can fix my design (which was slightly mis-aligned-- although surprisingly close given my measurement methods!) and really get painting.

On the way home from Corey's, I stopped to pick up a wooden dowel, which I will be using for the smoke stack. This was Corey's idea too-- as I said, I was thinking way more difficult that I needed to. My plan had been to use a copper pipe, which would somehow need to be closed off at the top (so rain wouldn't pour down in the cat). With the dowel, not only do I not need to worry about welding, but I can actually include the rivet detailing on the stack, which I thought I was going to need to leave out.

All said, I'm feeling a lot better now about how things will all go together. Thanks Corey!

A special message for Ainsley and Megan...

Dear Ainsley and Megan,
Hello from the north! I hope you are enjoying the beginning of Spring down in the warm south!

I heard that Ashley was making another cat for Cat-N-Around Catskill, and I just had to make the trip down from Saratoga Lake for a visit to check it out (and to visit with Ashley, Geoff, Theodore, Tiger, and the fishes!).

Here's me with the cat (we call him Bob):


And here's a group shot:



Having an afternoon chat:

Checking out the city of Hudson-- not quite as nice as my view of the lake, but its a good place for people watching on a nice warm day like today!

Bob hopes you'll come to visit this summer when Ashley is finished decorating him, and he is out strutting his stuff on the streets of Catskill-- and of course I can't wait until you come to visit me at the lake!

Love,
Floppy
OXOXOX

Cat arrives, and adding some color

My Mom was kind enough to pick up my cat from the Heart of Catskill office, and I was able to get it from her house last Saturday. It seemed odd to bring the Catskill Cat across the river to Hudson, but since I will be doing a lot of painting for 10 minutes and then waiting for stuff to dry (as well as a lot of trying to squeeze work on the cat in after work at Clermont), it seemed best to have it near by.

Its times like these that I wish I had a studio- The cat and his accouterments take up a lot of space in our little tiny living room! It does mean that I can ignore him- I am a big time procrastinator, but having the cat in the living room makes it really hard to forget how much work I have to do.

I worked on my 2007 cat in my Cooperstown apartment-- luckily my roommates were very accommodating to the mess (and it didn't hurt that they are both big time cat lovers too!). They nicknamed that cat Felix, which was nicer that always referring to him as "that cat" or by his official name, "Historic House Cat." I think the 2009 cat should have a nickname too ("North River Steam Cat" is awfully cumbersome!), so from now on, I'll call him Bob, in honor of Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton.

After filling some holes in Bob with epoxy, it was finally time to add some color. I'm going to have to drill some holes for the metal components (the wheel and the steam pipe), so I'm not doing any intricate painting at this point. I did, however, need to get the sky and water down, so that I could sketch the boat, and get all the proportions right.

The sketching process went pretty well, considering it was one of the parts of the project I was quite worried about. I used Bobs' Folly (http://http//www.amazon.com/Bobs-Folly-Fulton-Livingston-Steamboat/dp/0615235182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237151205&sr=8-1) for reference, especially the model of the North River that was created for the 2007 exhibition at Clermont. I had to use some artistic licence-- after all, I'm making a cat that looks like a steam boat-- but I am trying for as much historical accuracy as possible.

Not working in a studio requires some creativity in how you work-- here's how I did the sketching:

Welcome!



I'm about to embark on the process of creating the "North River Steam Cat," my design for Cat'n Around Catskill 2009. (http://http//www.cat-n-around.com/) This is the third time Catskill will host a bright round of decorated kitties, and this time, in honor of the 2009 Quadricentennial, the cats will be based on the Hudson River, Henry Hudson and his Halfmoon, and Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston's North River Steamboat. Since I work at Clermont "the home of the steamboat" (http://www.friendsofclermont.org/), I decided that it would be fitting to create a cat that looks like the first practical steamboat (which was NOT originally called "The Clermont" as some would say!).



I'm very excited and honored to be participating in Cat-n-Around Catskill again. I also created the "Historic House Cat" for the 2007 celebration:




I really enjoyed the process-- I learned a lot about Catskill's history (I love local history!). I wish though, that I had done a better job documenting the process... and thus a blog was born!