Cat on a Quilt

This painting is one I did as a sample for Cat Pet Portraits. Ravel is a sweetheart of a kitty. Just look at that face!

Do you have a sweet pet you'd like to have painted? Click here: ZehPetPortraits.com for details or contact me

Tabby Cat

I've been recently working on some pet portraits of dogs. They are great fun and I love dogs, but deep down, I'm a cat person at heart. This tabby is doing what cat's do best - nap. What a life! Get up in the morning. Yawn and stretch with the back end up in the air - waggle the tail a bit. Then leisurely pad over to the kitchen to check what's in the food bowl. Maybe hungry for it, maybe not. Well, maybe a bite or two. Clean up the paws a bit. Now the ears. Oh, what the heck, maybe a full head to tail. That's done. Oh my, that was work, time for a nap! Cat's are great eaters and sleepers. A house cat has nothing much else it has to do. But, given a chance, they are terrific hunters too.
This tabby is a house cat, but the black and white I had, Lucy, would go outside. She kept the entire two acres free of moles, most of the mice and the flying squirrels that liked to get into the attic. She'd listen for these nocturnal squirrels at night. (I'd keep her in at night). They'd glide from the eaves to an oak trunk near the house. During the day, Lucy would practice jumping onto that tree just at the spot where they'd land. If she happened to be out at dusk, she'd sit still as a stone at the base of the tree and when a squirrel would fly out of the eaves, she'd be right at that spot to greet it. I can't tell you how she managed to do that.
Anyway, even though Lucy is no longer with us, we still have no squirrels in the attic, no moles in the lawn, and I think the stray that comes around for a bowl of food keeps the mice away. Cat's are great!

Do you have a sweet pet you'd like painted? Click here: ZehPetPortraits.com for details or contact me.

Goldfinch

Lemon-yellow goldfinches are a delight to see in the summertime. In the winter, their color fades to a brownish color, so I've painted this fellow as a summer visitor to my birdfeeder. Here he is sitting next to the wild cherry tree waiting for the opportunity to snatch a seed. Evergreen spruces provide a backdrop.

• This painting has been sold.

White Cyclamen

My kitchen window is home to several African violet plants and this white cyclamen all of which appreciate the cool eastern light that comes through on that side of the house. The cyclamen is the first one I've had as a houseplant. I got it last Christmastime and it bloomed beautifully for some time. Then, it started to wilt and died back almost completely. I just left it there and kept watering through the summer even though it had only a few leaves. My patience was rewarded when it rebounded in the fall and bloomed again for Christmas this year.
The white blossoms in this painting stand out beautifully against the dark background and the emerald-green leaves.

• This painting has been sold.

New England Barn

I did not have to go far afield to get the reference for this 5x7 late autumn painting as this scene is only a few minutes drive from my house. There are many barns, large and small in the New England countryside, many of them belonging to still-working family farms. In fact, the last time I counted, there were at least ten small farms within a five mile radius of my home This one was owned by the Church family for generations.
I like the way the barn is reflected in the still, deep blue waters of the pond. The sky is also a deep blue, the kind you see on a clear, crisp, cold autumn day up north.