Most of you probably know that I'm a borderline crazy cat lady. Or maybe a full-fledged crazy cat lady, depending on how you define it. It's all relative, no? Anyway, what you might not know is that I come by this very honestly. Not only is my mom a certifiable CCL, but my dad and brother are loony for cats too. The fact that my dad had a cat when my parents started dating was one of the things that helped my mom know he was "the one" (see- we really are nuts).
I got my first cat when I was six years old. His name was Snuggball and I adored him. My brother also had a cat; his name was Eclipse and he was Snuggy's brother. And by the way, "Eclipse" is pronounced "EEEEEclipse" and Snuggball MUST be spelled with 2 g's. Are you getting the whole crazy cat people thing yet? Well, just in case you aren't totally convinced, let me share with you a little something I like to call the greatest Christmas present that ever was. Drum-roll please...
This is going to end up being quite the long post, but I have to do justice. "Oh, a picture of a cat" I can hear you saying. And you would be half correct. This is a picture of a cat. An oil portrait, actually. But it's not any old cat. Let me flash-back here to my Art History exam days, and write up a little interpretation for you...
This portrait is entitled simply "The Miss Ellie." Kind of like The Mona Lisa. Miss Ellie is my dad's cat. When Eclipse and Snuggy passed away, we were all down in the dumps. I brought Miss Ellie home from the animal shelter and right into my dad's arms. Anyone seen "Meet the Parents?" Picture Robert DeNiro and Jinxy cat, and you'll get a picture of Miss Ellie and dad's relationship. Yep, he might be the craziest one of all.
So a few years ago my brother and I were home for Thanksgiving when we spotted an ad in the local paper for an artist that does oil pet portraits. Genius. We rushed right over to meet Nance and commission a work as a Christmas gift to dad. Normally, Nance likes to meet with the animal so she can get a good idea of their "personality" but since this was a surprise that didn't really work out. I did my best to tell her all about Miss Ellie's demeanor and style, and of course brought several pictures for reference. And this portrait captured it all. I don't think I've ever been so excited to give someone a gift as I was that Christmas morning. Initially, this whole thing was kind of a joke. But when my dad first saw the portrait his eyes got a little teary. Sorry, dad. Your secret's out.
The next year, my mom subtly hinted that she would love a portrait of her cat, Hamilton. And by "subtly hinted," I mean she flat out told us on numerous occasions. Ok, mom. Point taken. So I scrounged up more pictures, wrote up a little biography, and called up Nance again for the Hamilton portrait. A few weeks later, she called me and said that Hamilton looked a little like The Sphinx in his portrait, and would it be ok if she painted a pyramid behind him. "Nance, you have complete creative license in this project," I said. "You paint Hamilton any way you see fit." And she was right- he does look like The Sphinx:
Son of a gun. I took a pic of the painting with SF's cell phone and made it his wallpaper. And he can't figure out how to get it off, so it's been on there for over a year now. He was at lunch with a client recently who saw it and remarked on how interesting it was. SF confessed that it was in fact an oil portrait of his fiance's parents' cat. "Hmm, that's kind of creepy" was the client's reply.
Last but certainly not least, I couldn't resist putting Nance's skills to use in capturing my brother's beloved Eclipse. Ben absolutely HAD to have one too. I love how his portrait turned out:
It really captures what I like to call the "essence" of Eclipse. If you look closely you can see a deck of cards on the table in front of him. Well, Eclipse was a bit out there... My dad called him "Rain Cat" and said he was going to take him to Vegas to count cards. They would have made a great team, those two hustlers. It's only fitting that Ben had the portrait framed in a huge gold museum-type frame. Perfect.
I got an email from Nance yesterday asking if she could use me as a reference. Absolutely. You probably won't find more of a fan of hers than me. I had thought about commissioning a portrait of Henry & Jackson as a gift to SF, but decided that he is genuinely freaked out enough by the thought of them coming to live with him in four months. But once we're all settled in, I'll be calling Nance again. In fact, I think I need one of Snuggball too. Hey mom- hint hint...












