From the Archives: Little Peaches, June 9, 2006

June 9, 2017June 10, 2017 Bernadette

There is tiny Peaches showing off all her markings, at least on one side. I already had a fondness for dilute cats, and who doesn’t love a calico? When Peaches arrived with her big, clear peach and gray patches she looked as if someone had draped a map over her head, back and tail.

She was a foster and up for adoption, but I knew I’d never find someone to adopt either her or her sister, Cream, when they came to me after their owner had died. Cream was big and imperious, loving humans enough that I took her to visit the ladies at the personal care home where my mother lived, but not so much other cats, and it was clear she was waiting for her human to come back. The next year, Cream succumbed to renal failure, but Peaches one day stepped away from her sister and became one of us.

Peaches came to me in June 2005 at age 15 and though she was only with me for five years it truly felt as if she’d been a member of our feline family for all her life. Never more than six pounds and usually closer to five, she may have been tiny and only emitted silent meows but she quickly became a close member of our household, joining with the tortie girls and becoming the beloved grandma of Mimi’s kittens, and a good friend to Mimi, when they joined our household. She was curious and active and very nimble, cuddling with others for naps, hanging out on my desk and worktables, curling up on my lap, and enjoying her favorite sunpuddles.

She also immediately joined my portfolio of photos and artwork, as the next year she jumped up on the table with that vase of peonies and two years after that I created one of my favorite paintings, Peaches and Peonies, and Peaches herself makes that painting special to me.

You can see more photos of Peaches from the same week as these: included in today’s Featured Artwork post, Peaches and Peonies, a Moment of Inspiration in June, I included a little video made from all the photos I took of Peaches at the moment when the sun shone on Peaches and the peonies, and which ultimately became the painting, taken on June 5, 2006. Though some are blurry, you can see how she loves the moment on the table and being my model, she looks right at me, tilts her head, and I’m taken right back in time.

You can read Peaches’ rescue story in Never Underestimate a Senior Kitty.

You can also find dozens more photos of her by searching the category “Peaches”.

Photos pulled “From the Archives” were taken by one or another digital camera of mine between 2002 and, well, yesterday, but usually they are older than that, and I had never had the chance to feature them. Vintage Photos are from my film archives back to 1983 when I purchased my Pentax K-1000 camera. They’re a fun way to “introduce” other members of my feline family who came and went before I began blogging, and to illustrate my feline family in general from days gone by.

Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

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Originals, Prints and Greeting Cards from Portraits of Animals!

Peaches' Nap Spot, pencil with watercolor, 11″ x 7.5″, 2008 © B.E. Kazmarski — Peaches’ Nap Spot, pencil with watercolor, 11″ x 7.5″, 2008 © B.E. Kazmarski

Here she was sleeping in classic Peaches stretch on her favorite fleece on a chair in the kitchen, above the heater vent, and certain to get a bit of sun at some time during the day. It was from looking at this painting in my studio and remembering Peaches that I decided I really wanted to—and really should—start seriously doing daily sketches again, remembering how pleased I was with this, how I have these little moments to remember from each of the cats I sketched, and how the brief time I did these in 2008 really helped me improve my daily work. Thanks again, Peaches, for all the gifts you gave me. You can find this framed sketch on Portraits of Animals.

Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.