posted on 24 Sep 2024

I Am Cat by Jackie Morris

There’s always a big cheer to be heard here at Letterpress when a new book from Jackie Morris arrives. This is especially true when the new arrival comes in this glorious large format that showcases Morris’s art to it’s sumptuous best.

Anyone who has already discovered the pleasures of the Jackie Morris back-catalogue will know that she’s not only a wonderful artist but a real champion of the natural world – both flora and fauna.

Although originally published in 2012, this delicious new edition of I Am Cat comes to us curtesy of the publisher, Otter-Barry who have to be congratulated on the quality of their production. The colours pop, the paper is rich and the whole thing is a feast for the senses.

While the book is a treat at the aesthetic level, it’s also a book that will introduce readers to the awesome power and grace of the big cat. As an ‘ordinary’ domestic, ginger cat sleeps, curled ‘ammonite tight’ on a cushion, it dreams of its heritage.

It’s a tiger prowling the jungle; a cheetah ‘the sharp-eyed running cat’; the lynx which is ‘a ghost in the twilight’. You’ll also meet the puma, the snow-leopard, jaguar, lion, Scottish wildcat and Amur Leopard.

Each of these magnificent animals is given a full double-page spread and a short, lyrical introduction. But, as always with Jackie Morris, the star of the show is the artwork. Magnificent paintings that not only represent the big cat in focus but somehow open the door to its spirit as well.

I’m especially fond of the way Morris uses plenty of dramatic close-up, almost eye-to-eye depictions of her subjects – open the book and it’s almost as if they enter the room with you. 

I’m not going to single out any specific examples because everyone will have their own favourites but I’m delighted to say that you can take a look at some of the examples on Morris’s own website (here) – which also has the added bonus of showing you some of the preliminary sketches that went before the final version.

The book ends with an index of the big cats featured here and a short, factual profile of each one – something that may well spark readers to go off and find out more.

It’s a beautiful book that we can thoroughly recommend.

Available now from your local independent bookshop – who will, of course, be happy to order a copy for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Terry Potter

September 2024