Saturday, January 22, 2011

In Remembrance of Indy, our Big Old Boy


Last summer we lost our big old cat Indy, who had been with us for 14 years.  He was our first fur baby as a couple, adopted from the shelter when he was a wee kitten.  John was very attached to Indy boy. They had a special bond, in part because he was the only other male in a household of  females (one human, two dogs and another cat).  We both missed Indy very much, but it was really hard on John.

I happened upon a blog shortly before Christmas; 'Penelope, The Cat From Hell'.  Written by Penelope herself, who is proud to be the cat from Hell, this blog is always witty and entertaining. I confess I am now a Penelope groupie. Through her wonderful blog posts I learned that Penelope's mom is a very talented artist living in Canada. Her name is Barb Kowalik and you can see her work on her web page and her ArtFire shop .  She does amazing "totem" paintings but also does animal portraits.  I was so impressed with her work that I commissioned a painting of Indy to give to John for Christmas.  I sent her the picture of Indy that I wanted done, and also sent a face shot so she could get a better idea of his eye color.  I was thrilled when I received my Indy portrait. Not only did she do the original pose that I requested, but since it ended up being too large for the mats she had, she did a second portrait of Indy's face in a lovely double mat.  Both paintings are beautiful, as you can see here!



When John opened his gift on Christmas morning he was completely surprised and at a loss for words, and if you know John, you know that never happens. He loves these portraits as much as I do!

If you would like to know more about Barb and her work I encourage you to visit her web pages or become a friend on her Facebook page.  Penelope, the cat from Hell, has a Facebook page as well.