(Because apparently, I’m now the kind of person who prepares for a cat convention.)

If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be prepping for CatCon — an actual convention dedicated entirely to cats — I would have laughed, gone back to painting my abstract trees, and politely suggested you seek help.

And yet… here we are.

I’m officially preparing for CatCon. In Pasadena. In a 10x10 booth. Surrounded by thousands of cat lovers, cat artists, cat influencers, and probably at least one person dressed as a giant tabby.

Let’s talk about what that prep looks like.

🐱 Step 1: Accepting My Fate

CatCon prep begins with acceptance. Acceptance that I am now a cat artist. Acceptance that I own cat ears. Acceptance that I wore those cat ears to check the mail without realizing it.

This is my life now. I’ve stopped fighting it.

🎨 Step 2: The Art Panic

CatCon is not a normal market. This is not a casual Sunday stroll. This is the Olympics of cat art.

Which means I need:

• more art

• bigger art

• smaller art

• framed art

• unframed art

• backup art

• emergency art

• art I haven’t even thought of yet

I start painting like I’m preparing for a feline apocalypse. I overuse green. I forget whiskers. I remember whiskers at 2 a.m. It’s a process.

🛍️ Step 3: The Booth Strategy

A 10x10 booth sounds big until you try to fill it with:

• my cat art

• Susan’s vintage cat everything

• displays

• signage

• frames

• more frames

• even more frames

• and the emotional baggage of two people who have done markets together for years

We sketch layouts. We erase layouts. We argue about layouts. We end up with the same layout we started with.

Classic.

😼 Step 4: The Cat Ear Situation

This is where Susan comes in.

She found a headband with cat ears because she researched past CatCons and discovered that people take their feline fashion very seriously.

I told her I wasn’t that dedicated. Then I tried them on. Then I forgot I was wearing them. Then I went to check the mail.

So now I’m that dedicated.

I’m not proud. But I’m also not taking them off.

📦 Step 5: The Packing Meltdown

Packing for CatCon is like packing for a vacation, except instead of clothes and sunscreen, it’s:

• frames

• bins

• prints

• displays

• price tags

• backup price tags

• emergency price tags

• cat ears

• snacks

• more frames

I pack the car like I’m playing Tetris on expert mode. Susan supervises. The cats try to climb inside the boxes. It’s a whole thing.

🌟 Step 6: The Big Day

And then… it happens.

We arrive. We unload. We set up. We look around and realize we are surrounded by our people — cat lovers, vintage lovers, art lovers, chaos lovers.

It’s overwhelming. It’s exciting. It’s ridiculous. It’s perfect.

CatCon is the moment everything comes together — the art, the vintage, the cats, the questionable decisions.

And honestly? I can’t wait.

Meow for now,

Jeffrey