Description

Meaning of the Piece

“Herding cats” is a popular English idiom for an impossible or difficult task that involves trying to focus, control, or organize a group of uncooperative, independent individuals.

  • The Metaphor: Unlike herd animals like sheep or cattle, which naturally move together and respond to guidance, cats are solitary and unpredictable. They ignore instructions and go their own separate ways, hence “Herding cats”. Having the sheep as herders rather than being herded adds another layer of humor to the piece.
  • Famous Commercial: The phrase was popularized in modern pop culture by a famous 2000 Super Bowl commercial for EDS (Electronic Data Systems) called “Cat Herders,” featuring rugged cowboys professionally herding tens of thousands of cats across a plain. 
  • Usage: People often use the expression in business, project management, or teaching when trying to get independent adults or teams to align on a shared vision. 
    “Herding cats” is an original artwork by Ann Gadd, one of South Africa’s most prominent, bestselling contemporary artists. She is globally recognized for her signature, highly popular “Sheep / Ewe” series. 

    About the Artist: Ann Gadd

      • The “Sheep” Phenomenon: Gadd began painting her famous quirky sheep in 2001. The series completely “flocked off” internationally after a massive commission of 226 individual sheep paintings for the Absolut Hotel in Limerick, Ireland. Her work is collected worldwide, spanning South Africa, Europe, and New Zealand. 
      • Play on Jargon: A core element of Gadd’s career is using visual puns, idioms, and popular corporate jargon to mock the absurdities of modern life. By literally pairing sheep with phrases like “Boil the Ocean,” “Sheeple”, or “Membaas of the Baa”, she invites the audience to laugh at themselves. 
      • Artistic Style: Her sheep paintings use a very specific minimalist approach. The background is typically an off-white canvas featuring a prominent red curved hill, simple stick-legged round sheep, and a textured, heavy black outline style. [1, 2, 3]

    Visual Overview of the Painting “Herding Cats”

    In “Herding Cats,” two stylized, round sheep attempt to catch cats. 

    About Ann Gadd

    Ann Gadd’s creative universe extends far beyond her beloved “Art for Ewe” collection, reflecting her multi-faceted career as an author, holistic practitioner, and graphic designer. Her artwork is largely shaped by her advertising background, giving her an innate ability to communicate complex, relatable human experiences through minimalist imagery and punchy visual hooks.

    While her sheep continue to “flock” across galleries worldwide, Gadd has successfully channeled her signature irony into several other distinct painting collections: [1, 2]
      • “Wild Life” Series: This collection trades pasture animals for classic African safari fauna like giraffes, elephants, and rhinos. Rather than taking a traditional, photorealistic approach, she uses a bold, expressive palette of bright, unexpected colors and modern textures to break conventional wildlife art rules. [1, 2, 3]
      • “Zulu Lulu” and “Going to the Dogs“: These offshoot series maintain her core witty essence, using cultural concepts and domestic pets to playfully explore relationships, societal quirks, and regional identities. 
      • “Annie Afrika“ is a deeply introspective, highly significant conceptual series by South African contemporary artist Ann Gadd. Moving away from her lighthearted corporate puns and famous livestock parodies, this collection shifts the focus to dense, personal narratives centered on identity and belonging. 
        Through the character of “Annie,” Gadd explicitly examines and critiques her complex, multi-layered role as a white woman living in post-apartheid Africa. The paintings tackle intense themes at the intersection of European heritage and native African landscapes, navigating historical privileges and the emotional vulnerabilities of establishing an authentic sense of home within a deeply fractured society. 
        Stylistically, the collection trades her typical minimalistic pasture backgrounds for a far more textured, expressive canvas. She frequently juxtaposes stylized human figures with layered patterns, historical texturing, and rich, earthy color tones that evoke the raw atmospheric qualities of the African bush. Rather than offering definitive answers, the “Annie Afrika” collection acts as a visual journal. It provides an honest look into the evolving white South African identity, illustrating the complex emotional path toward collective reconciliation, personal healing, and systemic integration.

    The Intersect of Art and Writing

    Gadd’s canvas work is deeply intertwined with her career as an author of over 42 books. Her writing spans serious psychological frameworks, such as relationships analyzed through personality models in Painting by Numbers, to children’s books and lifestyle guides. This profound curiosity about human behavior directly fuels her artwork. Her choice to paint sheep serves as a lighthearted mirror for humanity’s herd mentality, consumer patterns, and professional burnout. By transforming dense social commentary into accessible, vibrant caricatures, Gadd creates art that acts as both a joyful home decoration and an intellectual critique.
    More about Ann:
    More about Ann’s wildlife art: