The End Of An Era

My partner and I made the difficult decision to have Dorian Gray put down this morning. 

On July 29, 2002, we brought home two adorable gray kittens, who were approximately 3 months old, from the vet. They were from Wadena MN, where one of the vet's sisters lived. In early July, we had asked to be put on a list to be notified when the clinic had kittens and this was the 2nd time the clinic had called.

The first time they called, the timing was terrible. It was right before we were leaving on vacation. We went to see them anyway. Who wouldn't?  It was a Friday morning of a tough work week for both of us and it was a chance to play with kittens. This was a larger batch of kittens and they were around 2 months old. They were sweet, but the timing was bad and I didn't feel an immediate attachment.

I was at work on a Monday morning when the vet called the second time, she said that she only had 2 kittens this time, but they were both sweeties.  She was tempted to keep the one, which turned out to be Dorian (in fact that was what the vet was going to name her), but she didn't want to split them up.  I immediately called him at work and said I wanted to go look at them at lunch that day. We went and when one gray kitty got placed in his arms and one in mine, I was instantly hooked.  At one point, he turned to me and asked "what do you want to do", which was immediately responded with "I want to take them home".  The follow up question was "when" to which I replied "now". 

We were planning to get kittens and had all of the supplies, including cat carriers,  We did not have the carriers with us, so Daniel got to hold on to two squirmy balls of gray fur on the way home.  

This is the first decent picture I ever took of the both of them way back in 2002. They both grew into those ears.

We lost Ella Phant in September of 2018 and we lost Dorian this morning.

It is the end of an era. 

I loved both of these cats so very, very much. I don't think it takes anything away from Ella, but I wrote in my journal yesterday and have included the following thought as I have told several people today about Dorian.  If someone wrote a book after the very best relationships throughout time between a cat and her person, there would be a chapter in there about Dorian and me.

She was a sweet, sweet, but, also, very reserved cat. She would not smile for the camera. Several early and bad attempts at using a flash when taking her picture resulted in a lifetime of pictures of her scowling. This is not how I picture her in my mind, but this picture makes me smile because it shows her at the extreme end of her scowling and annoyance at being photographed. 

I miss you, my sweet Dorian Gray.

Smug Or Annoyed

 Last week, I met a friend in a park along the St. Croix River on the Wisconsin side for lunch on a picnic table and to paint. It has been a long, long time since I picked up a paint brush. Since then, I’ve painted on average every other day. Drawing has been sporadic. 

I started this on Monday and finished it last night. I like the nose, which I usually overwork, but didn’t this time, and I like the suggestion of the body. Next time, my goal is to not overwork the paint strokes. There was an energy when I stopped on Monday which disappeared by the time I finished.  Also, the light side of the cat should be lighter and brighter colors. 

In the painting, Hammett looks annoyed, while in the source photo it’s more of a mixture of smugness with a dose of mild irritation. 

#368 - Waterfall Legs & Paws - 5” x 7” - paper

The source photo is one I will return to. I like the drape of the legs and paws. In the source photo, the cat  is being held by his person, D. I didn’t want to show the person in the painting, along with the hands and cell phone which was also being held, although I’m not sure the background works.