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Hi! I'm Shelby!

I spent my 20's teaching, travelling, and unpacking my trauma. What I unlearned allowed me to enter my 30's and leave the land of academics and the minefield of my identity and embrace becoming a creative who loves to farm, loves to write, and loves to hang out with her husband and make really cool shit.

Why Focus Your Art on Cats?

That's an interesting question and I am certain my answer will surprise you. My family's generational curse, or trauma, if you will, is a phobic dread of disappointment. And, by phobia, I mean this in its most sincere sense. My family could scarcely face the disappointment of not receiving the correct coffee order all the way to the disappointment of a child growing into an adult. The motto was always deny, deny, deny -- at any cost, mind you.

Even if that means severing the connections with someone because they reminded them of a reality they were not prepared to accept.

Consequently, I share this same fear and inability to process disappointment, but cats are how I am learning to overcome this learned phobia.

How could cats teach me to handle such an abstract emotion? I'm glad you asked.

I am not a person who can handle "little by little" quitting of a habit or slowly wading into the water. Without a doubt, I would rather face a fear "cold turkey" as it were. I would rather feel the worst of the emotion, to face it in its fullest force, so that I will not need to fear facing it in its full wrath. Therefore, in order to overcome my fear of disappointment, I want to feel the deepest versions of it.

This is where cats come in. Cats are naturally zen animals. Cats are absolutely delightful. This is to no one's surprise. Everyone who love cats can tell you specifically why these statements are true and I need not drone on and on as to the magnanemous nature of our feline friends here. Therefore, I have surrounded myself with these gorgeous creatures.

But, like all things, cats pass on.

I found that there is no greater disappointment that I can expose myself to than raising this lovely creature, giving it a truly marvelous life, and then having to surrender it back to the universe. That is heartbreak, but, it is the lesson I need to learn.

It is not a masochism, but a very grand tutelage on how to love a being without attachment, without needing anything from them. Despite what one might think, death has not taught me to guard myself because I choose not to let it. There are too many cats out there to love and should I wish to keep loving them, I must become intimately familiar with death and surrender.

Above all, this has taught me to live in the present, love without abandon, and to stop taking moments for granted.

So, why cats? Because cats are the great teachers my soul has been looking for. They are the great masters of the present moment and the spritual healers that I have always searched for. Now, I pay tribute to what they have given me in my own life with the meditative practice of capturing their frequency in a visual medium.

For myself and for others who know the deep, visceral connections of our devious little friends, I commit this practice so that we may all learn how to love (ourselves, our cats, our families, the world) without holding back and finding radical acceptance and surrender to the inevitabilities we will all face in this time-bound existence.

Reddington's portrait by Shelby Castanon (Unfinished/Updated 3-7-25)

Coming soon: Cat Portraits

At the moment, I'm working on my ability to make portraits for cat parents that are accessible to all. I want to have a system where everyone can afford a piece of art to honor their feline babies. To do that, I'm building a sample collection to demonstrate my many options.

While Alejandro paints in an impressionistic style, I paint in the Renaissance style. We studied together in Florence back in 2019, and while I was teaching in Europe, I was a dedicated pupil of the Renaissance art that Germany had available to study. This has evolved into a style that mimics realism from a distance and morphs into clear paint strokes as one gets closer to the painting itself.

You can follow my daily progress in the collection on Instagram: @castanoncatmama

Pet Grief: Closing the Loop by Keeping Them Close

After our beloved Reddington passed in October 2024, I had to learn what the grieving process looked like firsthand -- I was not prepared. Some days, I'm still not prepared. What has helped immensely was keeping Reddington's spirit alive with daily rituals like setting out a lantern that we light every morning for him, putting out pictures, and creating video collages.

Two things that have truly helped the process were both having a portrait of Reddington to go above the dedicated space we have built for him and getting his ashes turned into a necklace that I could put on and carry with me every single day. The artist who did Reddington's necklace is phenomenal and holds so much empathy with true professionalism. Her name is Gina and she is from California.

You can see her work here.

Interested in Having Your Cat's Portrait Done?

Of course, you don't have to wait for your cat to transition before you have a portrait done! I will be rolling out my collection of options for cat portraits soon, and, if you are interested in immortalizing your or a loved one's soul cat in a work of art, please send me either a text or an email.

I will ensure that you are the first to know when the collection has launched and will be given priority when ordering your cat's portrait.

It's an honor and a privilege to connect with you and your cat in this way. It not only helps me support my fur babies that are still with us, but each portrait helps me in my own healing.

You can reach me (Shelby) at 325-716-5540 or at shelbycastanon@gmail.com

Please note, at this time, I am only painting cat portraits and, unfortunately, cannot paint dogs, horses, reptiles, birds, etc. However, I am happy to refer you to other qualified artists!

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