Cats and Geishas Coloring Book

-52 one-sided coloring pages will provide you with hours of stress relieving relaxation while coloring historically based Ukiyo-e woodprints.

-Each coloring page shows a beautiful geisha interacting with a cat(s) and/or a kitten(s).

The coloring pages in this book are based on Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the period (1603-1868). Translated, Ukiyo-e means a fleeting, transient world based on the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence. Ukiyo-e works were mostly woodblock prints, and the primary subjects were landscapes, seascapes, geishas and cats colored with vegetable dyes and then copied for mass consumption. This new art form was supported by the newly wealthy Japanese merchant class who were expressly interested in pleasure.

Geishas and cats were likened to each other just as women and cats have been equated throughout the world and history. Cats' enigmatic mystical nature of loving yet vicious, peaceful yet aggressive was also used to describe women. Therefore, cats were the perfect companions of geishas. Some supernatural representations include demon cats (bakeneko) along with a geisha. These are based on folktales where geishas and courtesans were able to change into cats. Demon cats are easily spotted with a towel or napkin over their heads or sometimes with a forked tail. The geishas and cats are portrayed in domestic scenes. Geishas are wearing colorful and intricately designed kimonos and are reading, writing, gardening or playing music, all attributes that a geisha must possess. Some cats are on leashes, and some are playing or humorously causing chaos.