And they are continuing a tradition of cats in art that has stretched through the age.

Cats in Art invited local and regional artists to move beyond the cute kitten video and to delve in to the relationship with felines – the pets that choose us, rather than the other way around.

The works are a mix of genres and depictions of our feline friends.

Claire Blake was one of more than 40 artists who responded to a call-out for cat-art earlier this year.

“I’m a crazy cat lady and have a painting of my two black cats Blade and Nitro, and two ceramic bowls made in the shape of cat heads.”

“I love cats because they are jerks. They are moody animals and hard to predict – friendly and loyal but different from dogs with their own attitudes that are very individual and unique.”

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Most of the artists share her love of cats, either owning cats or having grown up with them.

“When I was a child I didn’t particularly like my brothers and sisters and used to talk to out cat a lot,” said ceramic artist Alison Parkinson. “Cats can be your best friend and non-judgmental but they are really self-assured and only do it on their own terms.”

Ms Parkinson doesn’t usually use cats as her inspiration in her artworks, but created two ceramic cats for the exhibition. 

“The white one has Lindsay-esque human characteristics, and the black one is a take on the famous Le Chat Noir, base don the poster for Black Cat Adult Entertainment in Paris.”

Jo Rye took a slightly different view of cats for her artwork Feral Terror.

“I do have two pet cats and I love them, but feral cats take a huge number of native wildlife and in my pen, ink and watercolour piece I convey how cats may come across to our native wildlife which is a bit different to other artworks.”

Cats in Art, and the Kitty Kitty Kitsch exhibition of humorous cat-inspired toys and products, is at Backspace Gallery from July 7 – 22.