"Faithful Friend" By C Caton, 2008
Here we have the kitty delivering flowers to his dearly departed friends, loving and missing them still. He's swiped a few from the bush outside of the cemetary wall. Done with watercolors and the Derwent Watercolor Pencils in 2008, and is in my own collection.
It's a long story, and I don't know if anyone cares, but if you do then read on -
My dad always loved cats, but we'd never had any pets when I was little until I brought home a kitten when I was 10 years old. That cat lived to be 23 years old, dying when I was 33! I couldn't possibly take her with me when I moved out in my early 20's, with dad being as attached to her as he was, and so she had been his faithful friend all of those years.
When she passed away, he made her a casket and buried her in the backyard with a headstone that read "Little Cat" A Faithful Friend for 23 Years".
Time went on, and they had "Big Kitty" then "White Kitty" and "Gray Kitty". When Dad became very ill back in 2008, I went by the house on the way to the hospital to take care of the kitty, and I was really struck by how upset he was. It was obvious that he very much missed my dad, going to his favorite chair and letting out the loudest meow.
That was the inspiration for this painting back in 2008, though Dad did recover that time.
My dad passed away January 2012, and it has been the same with "Gray Kitty" this time. Mom says that he still seems to be looking for Dad...
**I had originally intended to make this blog something of a timeline of my work - It hasn't quite worked out that way, but I've been trying to add in some of my first work as time allows.
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