More About Poorly Drawn Cats Artist Heloísa Nora

Heloísa Nora has been the forever home for three cats, Pandora, Polenta, and Paçoca. All were rescued in Caçador, Brazil, the city where she grew up.

Nora now lives in Curitiba, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in cybersecurity law. She has been capturing the liquid essence of felines with just a few expressive pen strokes since 2016.

Follow @poorlycatdraw on Instagram to find out when commissions reopen (next expected July/August 2024).

Heloísa has donated a percent of the commission cost of her works to help “kitties to be fed and treated!”

Heloísa currently volunteers in the communication department of the Crazy Cat Gang (CCG). She gathers all of the cat pictures from the foster homes and selects the best ones to share. She also helps with events that the organization hosts in Curitiba.

Crazy Cat Gang is a Curitiba-based, women-led NGO that doesn't just rescue cats—it also gets at the root of the issues causing abandoned cats through community education.

She got involved with CCG in 2017, she says, “because I really wanted a cat and decided to start fostering. At that time, I was already living in Curitiba with my boyfriend.” The first cat she fostered was named Fanta.

Once she started offering paid commissioned portraits from the popular social media for Poorly Drawn Cats, she says she always donated a portion of her (very affordable) fees to support the Crazy Cat Gang’s cat rescue efforts.

Heloísa’s reputation for ink on paper is well established, but her latest medium is ink on skin. “I’ve always loved tattoos,” says Heloísa (who has many of them), “and I’ve always dreamed of becoming a tattoo artist.” In 2022, she bought a tattoo machine and started to teach herself how to use it, starting with limes. She recently got an apprenticeship to tattoo humans with a tattoo artist mentor who had (amazingly to Heloísa) already tattooed one of Heloísa’s Poorly Drawn Cat drawings on a friend.

When asked why she has decided to be so generous with her artwork being used by others in this permanent and personal way, she says, “I love to see my drawings around the world. I think that’s why I’m okay with people using my drawings as tattoos.”

She’s serious when it comes to her love of cats and cat people worldwide. You may see cats and organizations based in the United States in her Instagram stories, and when asked how these surprising connections across the equator were made, her response was so matter-of-fact it suggests unusual humility. She appears to be at least as enamored with individual cat personalities on the internet as are her own fans with her artwork.

She connected with the nonprofit Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center of New Jersey through a tomcat the organization rescued named Mr. Fishtopher. Heloísa followed Mr. Fishtopher’s story, saw the first post about him, and shared in the joy when he was adopted. She reached out to his humans to ask permission to draw him (they agreed, and they loved the drawings, she says). He formerly sported those adorable wide cheeks typical of unneutered male cats along with what his adoption description called a “very sad and depressed” attitude before he was of course neutered and becoming “affectionate” and appearing much healthier). Homeward Bound contacted Heloísa because they loved her drawing of Mr. Fistopher and wanted to use it as a way to gather funds. You can buy tote bags, t-shirts, and other merchandise on Bonfire that sports Heloísa’s drawing (based on a photo of a starry-eyed, happy-at-his-forever-home Fishtopher) and supports Homeward Bound’s work. Another expressive Homeward Bound-rescued cat Heloísa often expresses her love for is the white cat Khaleesi.

As with Mr. Fishtopher, she says there are other cats she has gushed over across the internet, such as Raymond and Khaleesi. She followed them on TikTok and contacted them there, resulting in some iconic drawings.

Raymond is a black-and-white cat she gushes over whose angry portrait she did, to much fanfare (fans can buy merchandise sporting her drawing of Raymond the Cat Man on Threadless, and her share of the design supports Crazy Cat Gang).

Her latest collaboration is in development with We Care Animal Rescue in Napa Valley, California, meaning her influence has invaded both U.S. coasts. Merchandise with their Poorly Drawn Cats is expected to be sold by the nonprofit no-kill shelter and sanctuary for cats.

It’s clear that the internet and social media play a big role in her cat art, but what is perhaps most amazing upon further scrutiny is the interactive nature of her work’s creation. Heloísa has both created and participated in a joyful community of cat lovers, rescuers, shelters, fosters, and cat meme fans through her art and the kindness of her remote conversations.

You can also purchase the artist’s designs on Threadless products here.