Cats of the Finger Lakes

I am a cat lover. I don't have cats of my own, because I'm allergic to them and also do not want the responsibility of caring for a cat. But I love other people's cats. I have friends who raise and show cats, especially Maine Coons, and they are judges at cat shows. My cat pro friends have often commissioned me to make logos and designs for various cat shows and for their cat club. They were based in Ithaca, New York and so they called their New York State cat club "Cats of the Finger Lakes." This is the logo I designed for the club in summer of 2002. They asked me to incorporate specific things in the design. The map outline of New York State is behind the cat. There is a wine glass and grapes to signify the vineyard and wine industry of that part of the state. They also asked me to include the "Finger Lakes" of that area into the cat as well as the map. I enlarged them slightly and the mapped lakes became part of the striped markings of the cat. The red heart of the cat is roughly where Ithaca is on the map. A New Yorker pointed out that this puts the backside of the cat in the Buffalo area. I couldn't quite get the paw of the cat to step on New York City, but you get the idea. The original ink drawing is about 7" x 5", colored on CorelDraw. I didn't work with Photoshop till 2007.

My cat professionals are in the process of moving to Delaware (for non-cat job reasons) so I don't know what will happen to the Cats of the Finger Lakes. Will they become Cats of Delaware? I will probably make more designs for them once they are settled.