Noel is my mom's 14 yr. old dog. He's as sweet as can be but not doing all that well. I wanted to paint him for her so that she'll have a lovely painting to remember him by when the time comes. Here's the thing: I like to paint the animals BEFORE they pass, so the painting isn't associated mentally with the passing. I have many photo's of my animals but I find more comforting to hang their paintings because they contain just their loving essence but no sadness.
What have you wished for lately?
Right now I wish I could paint all day and never have to deal with the selling part. I wish someone else would just do all that for me so I can really concentrate on paintings! Oh it would be divine to paint all day- uninterrupted. Just let it flow~~~
Do you realize I spend about 5% of my time actually painting and the other 95% marketing it? *sigh*
14 years ago we rescued 2 year old Kiya at the MSPCA. She was in a cage separate from the entire cat room. They said she didn't play well with others. She had recently been abandoned- left out in the freezing cold winter. I knew in an instant that she needed us.
Kiya was not warm and fuzzy and would swat you anytime you'd pick her up or try to pet her for more than 2 seconds, and as much as we loved her, we knew her boundaries and would never get our faces too close. She also meowed every time a bedroom door was closed. She needed to be sure that she could come and go freely. (Can you blame her?) The strangest thing of all was, whenever my youngest would start crying she would come running to her and gently bite her as if Sienna were her kitten, and she was calming her. I have a feeling someone kept (or did away with) her kittens and then threw her out. (And people wonder why animals act the way they do......)
Anyway, it took me many years but after stumbling upon a Facebook post about how some cats don't like to be held or touched, or just need to be touched really, REALLY gently- like with ONE finger- I tried it and guess what? She really liked it! So much so, that she doesn't swat anymore! It took me a while to earn her trust, but now I can even put my face near her and kiss her. She's gone from an anxious, swatting cat, to a calm, much sweeter, more loving cat. It's amazing. I just wish I had known this information so much sooner.