She's simply "Smush"

"Smush"

8x10

oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Smush is a special kitty with 'thumbs' on her front paws. The client wanted to make sure I captured that special feature of Smush's for her portrait.

Pretty Petunia

"Petunia"

8x8 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I've been fortunate to have been working on several commissions. Here is a kitty that I painted based a forwarded cell phone photo. The client wanted the square format but this slender kitty didn't fill the canvas so I surrounded her with blossoms of her namesake.

Waggles

Waggles

16x20 oil on canvas

Waggles is a 17 year old cat who is usually found laid out sunbathing on my neighbor's porch. I thought I would capture this moment and give this painting as a gift for my neighbor who has helped with things around the house.

Silly Sami

Sami

8x8 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

This is my other cat. Her idea of camouflage is to hop into a box or bag and lay in wait. If my son sees her in a box or bag, he will inevitably pick her up and carry her like a package as he goes about his business around the house. Silly begets silly I guess.

The Challenge....

"Nikko"

8x10 oil on panel

This is a pet portrait for the winner of our local High School Band's fundraiser. The winner, [a band player herself] wanted a painting of her beloved Nikko. I asked if she had any photos of Nikko and she said no because Nikko never sits still and doesn't like to be held. I volunteered to come over and take pics myself.

Nikko is very shy and skittish even around strangers bearing cat treats. The winner and her little sister took turns catching, holding and letting go of Nikko so I could try and get a shot without their hands wrapped around Nikko's body. Nikko went through the cat treats quickly and I was able to get a couple of body shots while he was still for a few seconds. The head was from another shot of Nikko looking at me while little sister was holding him down and I going through my repertoire of my best cat attention getting sounds. So even though Nikko was an unwilling participant, he ended up with his portrait for his sweet owner anyway.

Happy Halloween!

May all your treats be sweet....

Meatball

is the name of one of our cats. He's a big boy and he was given that name by my daughter who thought the spots on his back looked like meatballs falling from the sky.

Meatball is strictly an indoor car. He tries to make a break for it if we keep the door open too long but he soon finds out he really isn't fit to be outside because of his spoiled life. That's Meatball in bed next to my son. Not only does he sleep under the covers but he appears to cuddle with a stuffed doll while he's there.

My daughter also knows Meatball longs to be outside so she boosts him on her shoulder and lets him look outside through our front door glass pane. I thought I'd make a quick study of that moment.