Karen's Cats

I’m allergic to cats  They make my lungs seize up like a loggers hand in a woman’s glove -- a petite woman and a burly logger.  While I’d prefer not to have allergies, they’re not without positive virtues.  They may have saved my life when they got me discharged from training to be a Naval aviator during the fledgling days of the Viet Nam War.  I figure it was one of many examples of my guardian angel watching over me.

I’m not allergic to cat paintings, though.  That’s fortunate because it seems every cat owner who discovers that Karen has a knack for painting felines wants her to paint its portrait.  And so it was that Karen was presented with several snapshots of the recently deceased Fluff.  As usually seems to be the case, the images left Karen wondering about such minor details such as what color were her eyes?  How long was her tail?  It’s a common problem Karen faces in documenting these often (no, always) deceased critters.  In Fluffs case even a magnifying glass didn’t help.  

                                              Fluff       10 X 14 inches       Watercolor

So, while the owner is out-of-town for an extended period, Karen set off painting the portrait of Fluff with only the vaguest clue about what color her eyes were.  With her momentum surging forward, Karen searched the internet and magazine photos for similarly colored cats.  Surely Fluff would have the same colored eyes.  Here’s hoping.
 
On another occasion Karen was asked to paint Princess Hungry.  This time her idea for the eyes ended up with the “subtle” suggestion -- No.  Fortunately a little coaching from Princess Hungry’s owner led to a successful conclusion of this portrait.  Maybe Karen shouldn’t have complied.  Then we could have kept the piece in our house for me to enjoy a hypoallergenic cat.

                                      Princess Hungry       10 X 14 inches           Watercolor