Mr. Puddles, Demon Guardian Cat of Heck

Mr. Puddles started life as a concept for a door stop since the screen door to my stone workshop often needs to be propped open. His left arm is poised to hold a door while his right arm sticks out a paw as if to say “Stop! I am Mr. Puddles, Demon Guardian Cat of Heck!” But he turned out too nice for a life outside the studio holding the screen door (which would be Heck, I guess), so instead he will do his turn at the The Artist’s Gallery (TAG) in Frederick this May. The initial concept was for a Mayan-type representation like you see in South American culture, a compact body, vicious teeth, & etc. I think I pulled that off okay.

The Mr. Puddles part comes from the fact that he is, well, a house cat. While I have known some demon-like cats in my day, in general they aren’t so scary so he isn’t really suited to guard Hell, so maybe just guarding Heck. I recall a Dilbert character who also guarded Heck- instead of a pitchfork he carried a spoon and punished minor office behavior infractions. Anyway, Guardian of Heck it became. Did you know “Puddles” is one of the more popular cat name today? I never met one, personally. A cat named Puddles, I mean. I’ve seen puddles before.

Unfortunately there is a hard layer of some thing in his leg. Ten thousand years of sediment collect, and one thing “not” silt has to fall in right there. *sigh*. Whatever, it was it’s there now. Why, it could be part of a megalodon or some other giant sea creature. Or just a shell. Anyway, I am stuck with it now…

Approximately 6”H x 4”W x 4”D. 4 out of 5, because of that “thing.”