This project began in January, after I lost my boy Bobble.
Bobble wasn’t just my cat. He was my studio shadow, emotional anchor, tiny familiar, and day-to-day reminder that love doesn’t always speak in words. When he passed, I was left holding so much love with nowhere to place it. And as an artist, the question I kept returning to was:
What do I make with love once the being you gave it to is gone?
The answer became Nine Lives of Love.
This is not a fortune-telling tarot deck. It is a storytelling deck.
Each card is an illustrated tribute to the many ways cats love us and change us: devotion, comfort, protection, mischief, healing, survival, gentleness, and joy.
I am now opening this project to the community.
People are invited to send me photos of their cats, living or remembered, and I will personally hand-illustrate each into a tarot-style portrait for the collective deck. Every card is drawn by me from initial sketch through to the final illustration, guided by your submitted photos and stories.
The sketches you may see shared right now are first-draft concept drawings only. These simple outlines show the tarot layout and structure. Final artworks will be fully rendered, detailed illustrations created after submissions are selected.
✨ There is no fee to participate. This is a gift-based community art project.
✨ There are 12 spots available only, due to the time required to hand-illustrate each card. Once those places are filled, submissions will close.
To participate, please send via DM:
• 2 to 4 clear photos of your cat
• Well-lit images where facial features and body shape are visible
• Front, side, and personality shots are welcome
• Weird, silly, or kooky poses are especially encouraged
Every cat included becomes part of the permanent Nine Lives of Love deck, a shared memorial and celebration built from individual stories of feline companionship.
At its heart, this project exists to honour the animals who loved us fiercely and quietly, who sat with us through our hardest seasons, and who taught us that devotion requires no language.
Bobble started this journey, but it belongs to all of us now
If you have ever loved a cat like family, if you carry one in memory, if you believe art can hold the shape of love:
🖤 You are warmly invited to send your cat’s photos and become part of Nine Lives of Love. 🐾
Reblogs are deeply appreciated to help this reach someone who may wish to take part.
Here is some of my other art:
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pixelskylines
areudirty
2087
stormborns
theartofmadeline
izzy806