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There’s something about black cats that seems perfectly suited to linocut printing. The bold contrast, graphic shapes and wonderfully expressive silhouettes all come together in the work of North Carolina artist Terra Hedgecock, the painter and printmaker behind Society of Cranes.
Terra earned her BFA in Art with a concentration in painting in 2023, but while studying she explored a variety of other disciplines and fell in love with printmaking, particularly lino relief. Today, her Etsy shop features original linocut prints alongside giclée reproductions of her designs, and we are especially smitten with her growing collection of black cats.
The prints capture those funny little poses every cat person instantly recognizes: curled tightly into a Cinnamon Roll, folded up like a Shrimp, sprawled in The Trap, or snoozing in one of the many seemingly impossible positions cats find comfortable. The simple black-and-white palette lets Terra’s carved lines and textures do all the work, giving each cat tons of personality without needing much else.
For the original linocuts, Terra carves the design into a lino block and prints each one by hand, so subtle variations in ink and texture make every impression a little different. Her Lucky Day black cat linocut, for example, is hand printed on Strathmore Bristol paper with water-based ink.
Many of the cat designs are also available as more affordable giclée prints. These reproductions are printed with archival ink on heavyweight, textured 100% cotton rag paper, preserving the wonderful carved character of the original artwork while making it easy to create your own little black cat gallery wall.
Terra describes herself as a lifelong artist and aspiring “crazy cat lady with a gothic mansion,” which seems like an excellent qualification for creating black cat art. She opened Society of Cranes on Etsy in 2024 and has already earned more than 3,200 sales and a 5-star rating. Every piece is designed, created, packaged and shipped by Terra herself from North Carolina.
And while the cats caught our attention, Society of Cranes has plenty more to explore, including other linocuts and giclée prints, stickers, bookmarks and more. Visit the Society of Cranes Etsy shop to see more of Terra’s work.
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