Painting Miss Daisy.

“Miss Daisy”.  9 x 12 mixed media (cat in acrylics and background in acrylics and Inktense pencils) in Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal.

I was a cat owner long ago before I ever even thought of owning a dog (or have they owned me?).

Tyler, my Siamese, would hide from us most of the day until he heard the can opener on the kitchen counter, a trick we often used to see where he was hiding. He would THUMP! down from the bed upstairs and casually saunter into the kitchen as if to say, What took you so long?

Misty, on the other hand, was the most hyperactive cat I have ever met. When I visited her first owners and saw her and her siblings climbing window screens and rappelling down cat clawed ripped sheer curtains, I should have known she would be a handful.

Spooky, our black cat, would allow my oldest son, who was a toddler at the time, to hold him, but he was very aloof with anyone else. He had several bad habits (I will spare you the details) that surprisingly did not turn us off from owning cats.

What are some quirky behaviours of your favourite feline companion?  Please leave a comment in the box below.

Over the last years, I have painted many beautiful felines.  Contact me for more information or visit my portfolio.

Cat vs. Dog debate...

Which is better?

At the risk of starting the whole dog vs. cat debate, I will let other pet owners and their observations speak on behalf of our furry friends.

Dog:  “This man is caring for me, feeding me, and sheltering me.  HE must be GOD!”

Cat: ” This man is caring for me, feeding me, and sheltering me.  I must be GOD!”

Dog; “I will love you forever if you feed me.”

Cat: ” If you feed me, you will live to see another day.”

Diary of a cat and dog.

Of course, nothing illustrates the major differences better than the dog’s and cat’s diary…

Dog: 8 am – ” Dog food! My favourite thing!”

Dog: 9:30 am – “A car ride! My favourite thing!”

Dog:9:40 am- “A walk in the park! My favourite thing!”…and so on.

Cat: “Day 983 of My Captivity.  My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.  The dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.  Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.”

And there you have it, the reason we call a dog, “man’s best friend”.

Special thank you to my friend and blog reader, Thérèse, for suggesting the name for this cat portrait.

Also, I would like to thank Lela Stankovic and her photo challenges at Paint and Draw Together, as a “free collaborative project”.

Each six weeks, Lela posts a reference photo on this website and artists are encouraged to paint and draw by hand (no digitally altered works permitted) using a medium of their choice to explore the values and the complexities of the photo. She then publishes all the art she receives on the website.  Anyone can join and benefit from the helpful comments.