Siamese Duo

These beloved kitties belong to someone who did me a big favor, so I requested doing a favor in return. I'd done other pet portraits as a result of Nancy Freeman's workshop, so I was excited to get working on these two. I documented the journey.

I am a cat fancier. And cats are Bonnie fanciers. It's a great trick when cat owners think their pet will be reluctant to have my company and then the feline mauls me with attention. I just love that...except when I'm trying to take pictures of the subjects!

Although I did get one or two shots of them together, when I got home I realized I had separate pictures of the cats that I could piece together more effectively. The cats look very different. One had a long, refined nose and had vivid violet blue slanted eyes, which were very crossed. The other had a darker, more blunted face with round gray eyes and less crossing.

I played with the height of the rear one and the larger dimensions of the front one to get the proper arrangement.
This is on Belgian Mist Wallis paper and is 12x18. Although there are exceptions, pastels begin dark.
The front cat had a coat that was a little curly and I was grateful for the added interest.

The deep red background was of the owner's choice based on a sample I'd shown her; I scumbled it a bit, so it would blend with her den's paint.

Siamese Duo
Soft Pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist
14x18
SOLD

Before the Dozer

Where I live is ripe with construction. Little houses with land become mega developments with McMansions.

That's what happened here. A little rancher with property on Marion Place was removed, but the vegetation remained. These bushes along what had been the driveway seemed to stand as sentinels to what was, as memories of the busy family that once lived there.

On a walk with a friend, I noticed these remaining bushes from the road, the opposite direction. I'd seen them before, but this time they had a pull. A few days later, I went there to paint them in their steadfast charm.

And I was devastated when only days later they were ripped out in a heap. At least they have this tribute.


Pastel on Wallis, 8x11