From the Archives: Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things

May 28, 2018May 28, 2018 Bernadette

"Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things", from back when I first took the photo! — “Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things”, from back when I first took the photo!

The forget-me-nots are blooming in the pots in the windowbox under my dining room window. Each year when I transplant them from the yard and put the pots in place I remember Sophie and this particular beautiful moment in 2005—May 4, 2005 to be exact, though I had actually thought it was May 9. It was Sophie’s year to pose in forget-me-nots and I have so many from the first two weeks of May, but of all of them, this is my favorite. I am a little behind in sharing it this year!

And it’s not just a favorite of that series of Sophie in the forget-me-nots, but of all my photos to date, and a treasured memory.

Sophie always watched me leave the house, and in the evenings I closed my curtains before I left. She also like to play around with the curtain—often I had to inspect the lace to see her white fur through the mesh, or she dramatically appeared from between the panels, around the edge or underneath, but she was always there with her big round eyes.

On this day, in the late afternoon, the warm spring sun angled into the window imparting a creamy tone to the lace, and the forget-me-nots I’d planted in pots in the windowbox were in full flower. Before I left I closed the curtains because I’d be gone after dark, and Sophie began her little game while I was still indoors, so I stopped and captured a few images of her silhouetted and peering through the curtain at me.

I posted the center of these photos with a little more of the story entitled Sophie and Lace.

Then I finally went out the door and, as I always did, stopped to look back at both my front windows and the door to see which kitties were bidding me goodbye. I don’t remember who was at the other window or the door, but Sophie managed to find an open spot to peer through at me through the lace in several different ways. I had my bike and my hands full of things, and only my little 2MP digital with no zoom, and wished I had my Pentax film camera at least, knowing the shot would be difficult with the tiny digital. I considered stepping back in to get the film camera, but knew she’d move and I’d never see this particular shot again. So I put everything down, kicked out the kickstand on my bike, pulled the digital out of its little wallet, pointed and clicked, several times, and hoped for the best.

The second try, a little too far away... — The second try, a little too far away…

And a bonus photo From the Archives

cat in flowers — Sophie in forget-me-nots.

We’ve had everyone else in the forget-me-nots, why not Sophie?

My garden consists of a number of raised beds and wide raised rows and I move things around each year, and at least one bed gets left out just to take a rest until later in spring so everything that wants to grow can grow there, and this is where Sophie is sitting. Did she know she’d be so pretty?

Sophie didn’t go outside very often at all, unlike her soul sister Cookie, who went out in the yard with me all the time. Cookie was very practical and in-the-moment, but Sophie was a deep thinker, sometimes so deep she would simply sit down and think for a while, and not do anything else, and she typically seemed to have very little sense of her physical self. When faced with the overwhelming new sensations of being outdoors, she would find a spot and sit and think, which is what she’s doing here. I understand that. When I walk into a room full of people, or a place that’s filled with a lot of visual detail or noise or sounds or all of the above, I have to stop and let my senses adjust so that I can focus on what I’m there for. I think it’s one of the reasons cats and I get along so well, and probably one of the reasons I understand why and how they are frightened in certain situations.

In any case, Sophie apparently moved from the forget-me-nots before I had a chance to get better photos with my film camera, at least not that I’ve found while digging through the “vintage” years, but I still enjoy this image of Sophie.

So in photographing your cats, let that be a lesson to you! Do your best with what you have, and don’t hesitate, just take the photo. If you don’t capture the shot you wanted you may get something else entirely, and you may come up with something fantastic.

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Where to find “Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things”

I have offered this design as a greeting card for years, and I’ve made it into several handmade and other goods.

To find all the handmade goods I have on PortraitsOfAnimals.net, use the keyword search box for “sophie keeps an eye“. Currently I have a cabochon pendant featuring Sophie, which I feature at the bottom of this post.

Cabochon Pendant

This small pendant is made with a print of my photo “Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things”, inside a rectangular antique silver metal frame and a 3/4″ x 1.5″ curved glass cabochon cover. It comes with a 16″ antique silver chain. You can find it with other jewelry on Portraits of Animals, or click here to read more about it.

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

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Garden Flags from Portraits of Animals

Each flag has a design on both sides, this garden flag is the same on both sides, but mirrored. This art is the only one in my set of garden flags that is not a sketch or painting, but a photograph. You can find it with other garden flags on Portraits of Animals. Click here to read more.

"Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things" garden flag. — “Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things” garden flag.

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.