Featured Artwork: Best Friends
Moses and Fawn were inseparable when Fawn was a kitten; here they are relaxing after a strenuous wrestling session, close enough friends to settle their differences and share the one spot of sunshine in the room. But who needs all that garbage in the background? I just wanted to show the attachment between these two. The sun on them is like a spotlight holding the two of them together against the darker background. It was drawn on burgundy paper to match the decor of the recipient.
That’s what I had to say in the early 90s when I painted this and also set up my portfolio album.
I know that I was very inspired by the contrast of the sunlight and darkness on these two, and the way the two were spotlighted by it. I had wanted to use a sketchy style, not a smooth one with a lot of blending, but one where you could see the diagonal lines I’d used to stroke the color onto the paper. I can see the awkwardness of my inexperienced strokes, of the shapes of the cats, of the lack of proportion, but it all still works. Moses was a solid gray tabby and Fawn was a torbie. Moses’ marks were regular and symmetrical and Fawn’s were anything but. I had fun tackling a torbie for the first time, and their naturally graceful composition whet my appetite for other similar portraits.
And it’s my yittle girls. Moses was the first feral cat I rescued, and didn’t even know it. Fawn was the kitten not adopted from “my first litter”. They were only a year apart in age, and after the other kittens and mother were adopted I was so happy to see Fawn found a friend in her shy “big sister” Moses, and Moses responded by actually playing, the first serious play I’d seen her engage in. The room they are in was my foster room at that time as well as my sewing and craft room, and Moses had been in there the year before and still considered it her “safe room”. When I took in Fawn’s mother I installed her in there and closed the door, much to Moses’ consternation. But she patiently waited through the gestation and kittening and nuturing and then adoptions, and as soon as the door was permitted to be open again, she was back in there. I would guess Fawn always felt an affinity for that room too, since it was the first she’d remembered, and so the two encountered each other frequently. Seeing them wrestle just made my heart sing. And settling down like that was pure joy for me. When we moved here two years later the two remained friends but not playmates anymore.
I painted it as a thank you gift to a friend who had come to my house to feed and play with my cats while I was away for nearly aa week (for my first ever trip to the ocean, the only thing that could get me away from my cats for that long). She didn’t want any money for what she’d done, so I fixed her with something that wasn’t money. She liked these two the best and told me about petting them, interesting since Moses had been a feral kitten who vaporized when other humans than me were around, and Fawn was too busy to be petted.
This was the reference photo, taken in the house I rented before I’d moved in here, though I painted it in 1992. I love their memories so much.
Featured Artwork
I also feature artwork which has not been commissioned, especially my paintings of my own cats. If you’d like to read more about artwork as I develop it, about my current portraits and art assignments and even historic portraits and paintings, I feature commissioned portrait or other piece of artwork on Wednesday. Choose the categories featured artwork.
Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals
Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork
They may be prizewinners or bedraggled street survivors, but no matter—each is precious and fills our lives with joy. And our animal companions were meant to be shared; we can spend hours recounting memorable moments to fellow pet companions, sharing images on social networks, our phones overloaded with photos. Read more here.
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.
Subscribe to my e-newsletter
Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.
© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE| EMAIL | PATREON
Pingback: Vintage Photo: Sally's Twisted Nap, 1984 - The Creative Cat
Sorta like the calm after the storm!
Yes, they don’t go for very long, before you know it, it’s all over!