Thursday, October 29, 2015

Painting by Brian

Hi, everyone! I'm back again! Not only is today the fourth day of the Cat Lovers Hop, but it is also National Cat Day! Now that's a reason to celebrate!  I have been enjoying myself all week at the Cat Lovers Hop - have you checked it out yet? You still have some time - the fun ends tomorrow - Friday, October 30, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Thank you to Janis at Her Peaceful Garden for organizing the hop!


To celebrate National Cat Day, I am sharing something completely different. This is a very special painting of my beloved kitty, Muffin.  Brian (my hubby) painted this and surprised me with it a few years ago to honour Muffin's memory. I was blown away by Brian's talent. He painted it with watercolour, based on the photo of Muffin shown below.


Muffin was my first kitty, and he owned me for 18 wonderful years. Sadly he passed over the Rainbow Bridge 11 years ago this month. He was a special boy - wherever I went, there he was. He would follow me around the house like a small dog, always wanting to see what I was doing and be close to me. He was my baby! I was his person! We had a very special bond and I still miss him so much, even after all these years. He had an unknown past when I adopted him from the shelter, and he was very skittish and naughty as a kitten. As the years passed, we grew closer and closer, and he was such a loving companion. 

Here is the photo used for the painting. This was taken towards the end of Muffin's life - you can see a cancerous tumour on his front paw, and his weight had dropped to 6 lb (he weighed 11 lb before he got sick).  R.I.P. Muffin.

Muffin, 1986-2004

I would also like to enter Brian's painting in the following challenges:
DL.ART October Linky UE 1/day
Just Keep on Creating AG UE
Simon Says Stamp Monday Throwback (I chose the April 16/14 challenge "Animal Antics") 4/5

Thank you for visiting my blog! Wishing you a joyful day!

37 comments:

Jerrie said...

Wow! Brian is very talented! The picuture of Muffin looks just like the watercoloring! Muffin was a cutie!

New Creations said...

Terrific painting! The painting is really a perfect match of Muffin! She was so cute and adorable! Your hubby has such talent! I can imagine that moment when you got this surprise! Love it!

Barb said...

Goodness Kitty, what a talented hubby you have. Brian's painting is wonderful. Muffin sounds like a very special little boy.

Our first dog, Amber, used to follow me all round the house like that too. Our son used to say she was like my disciple. Barbxx

Barbara Godden said...

What an awesome painting, your hubby is one talented guy. Big money can be made with painting pictures of pets. Thanks for sharing.

Fikreta said...

Love it!
My hubby also is good at painting and drawing.
Maybe tomorrow I will share some of his arts.
hugs

jimlynn said...

You never said that Brian was an artist!!!! A VERY good one too. Extremely talented plus! This is something to always treasure.
Lynn

ike said...

Such a beautiful painting - that is amazing.
Happy National Cat Day :-D


Hugz
IKE xxxxxxx

Andrea W said...

Such a special tribute to Muffin! The painting is a loving and heartfelt gift from your hubby. I'm so glad you shared this with us!

Hetty said...

How wonderful your DH painted this wonderful paintng of your car.
He must have loved himdearly too. What a lovely memory.

Lisa said...

Oh wow, your hubby did an amazing job!! What a gorgeous painting!! It looks just like the picture!! What a beautiful tribute to remember Muffin!! Thank you so much for linking up at DL.ART my friend!! Have a great day :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts
DL.ART DT Member

Jenny L said...

Hi Kitty,
what a superb painting of your beloved cat.
Your husband is soooooooooooooo! talented as the likeness to the photo is amazing..
Something to treasure for ever and a wonderful reminder of those good years he was with you.
Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

marion said...

wow, Brian is very talented, it is awesome. Your story made me sad, loosing a furbaby is such a loss that can not be replaced since every baby is special. Loved to read the story about Muffin and love the name. Thank you so much for sharing the pic of your Muffin, he was wonderfull, lots of hugs and love to you and cuddles to Kiwi, Honeydew and Snowy, Marion PS thank you so much for your lovely comments on my blog, they are wonderfull and make me smile

Karenladd said...

What a wonderful surprise for you and a beautiful painting! Your husband caught Muffin's mood and likeness perfectly! Duplicating the markings and shape is one thing, but he was able to see through to Muffin's soul and bring that out on paper. Reading about Muffin makes me think of the sweet kitties that I've had and lost over the years and I know what you mean about loving all your cats but having some that touch your heart in a special way. Sometimes it seems that the shyer and more skittish cats bond more strongly to one person and once you have tamed that cat, you are hooked forever. Our feral kitten Bailey was that one for me. He couldn't stand anyone else, but he and I were best buddies. He, unfortunately, spent half the day behind the washing machine and dryer and would only come out if I entered the laundry room and called for him so he developed a lung condition that impacted his health at 12 years of age. I nursed him along for a year but there was really nothing the veterinarians could do so he had to be put down several years ago. Our Teddy is our last cat now but he seems to have a strong dislike for all of my crafting supplies and insists on marking them whenever he can sneak his way into my craft room. So, Teddy is not allowed to roam through the house the way he used to. Nothing like pulling out a sheet of vellum and finding aromatic cat-spray souvenirs all over it. Ugh. (and yes, he is neutered, but that doesn't stop him!)

cotnob said...

A beautiful painting Kitty, your husband is very talented.
Pauline
x

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Ooohhh.... I'm speechless, Kitty...!! Wonderful portrait! Such an incredible talent has your hubby!!!! Muffin was really amazing and the paint of Bryan is just a perfect copy!!! Congrats to him! And he has had a great thought to honour Muffin's memory with his piece of art! Such a lovely hubby you have!
I have read very gladly the history of Muffin, he has been indeed a very special furrybaby in your life! I have had so much kitten and doggie in my life and everyone has been so special for me. Some of them have passed the Rainbow Bridge because of a cancerous tumor. The last one was Bagheera, my beloved black cat. He was a very big cat and had beautiful green eyes as your Muffin. It frightened all with his look, but it was very good and timorous. We were very affectionate and I have cried a lot when there were not more to be done for his healt. He was young, only 6 years old. Now he is with Muffin beyond the Rainbow Bridge
Hugs and love my dear friend!

mandysea said...

Oh my goodness! the likeness is incredible - your husband is very talented - what a beautiful present for you! I've loved reading about Muffin, our passed cats are always in our hearts. Muffin would know he was very loved and you gave him the best thing of all, a loving home where he felt safe. Ahhh... our kitties, the things they do to our hearts!

Taunya Butler said...

I am in awe and think that this is so touching!! What a gift!!

KandA said...

Wow, what a fabulous painting and a brilliant likeness to the photo. You have a very talented hubby xx

Donna said...

I am amazed at Brian's talent, that is an amazing painting! What a wonderful keepsake of a loved one. Do the two of you share a studio? Hugs, Donna

Becca Yahrling said...

What a very thoughtful gift to you (and Brian is quite talented!). I know this type of gift always hold a very special place in your heart.

Annette Allen said...

sweet post.. it is always hard to loose a sweet pet..

D.Ann C said...

Congrats, Brian! What a fab job he did on capturing Muffin's likeness!

suzARTe said...

Your husband has done such an amazing job painting Muffin, what a lovely memory of a cat that meant so much to you, this is one of those items you will cherish for the rest of your life. Thanks so much for sharing Brian's painting at Anything goes, Just keep on creating
Susan xx

Lisa Lynn said...

WOW- I got shivers as I read that! He did such an amazing job painting that, but you can tell that there is feeling in the painting or soul in it. Our 4 legged friends mean so much to us and I do believe that they always have a special place in our hearts. Kudos to Brian he earned LOTS of brownie points with that gift!!!!

Monika Reeck said...

woooww Brian did so well so great painting he made
my hubby cant and has no talent to drew
tell Brian he should drew your face too
this is really sweet picture of your kitty
and he make it nearly the same like your MUFFIN :)
oh sad story Kitty and want to say too R.I.P Muffin.. :(

KraftyKoolKat said...

This is so beautiful Kitty, what a talented couple you are, Muffin looks gorgeous. I miss all our babies, sadly we are not allowed animals in our apartment block that I moved to 4 years ago. It wouldn't be fair anyway, I wouldn't want to have to keep them in. We had three gorgeous babies and we still talk about them daily and laugh about the things they got up too. We still worry if there was anything we could have done to stop them leaving us. We gave them all good lives though.

Hugs
Cathy
xxxxx

Michelle said...

Your husband did a wonderful job with this painting from the photo - it's gorgeous - Michelle x

Lori m said...

Beautiful painting, amazing project, Thanks for playing along over at DL.ART!

Hugs, Lori m
littlemscraftedmind.blogspot.com
DL.ART DT Member


Olga Fink said...

Beautiful painting!! your husband is very talented!

Petra Swart said...

Oh, what a beautiful cat, Muffin was, Kitty!!! I was so touched by your story!!! How wonderful that God created pets to enrich our lives and be so special to us, hey!!! When I was a kid we never had cats - my mother actually didn't like cats at all and always chased the neighbour's cats away as they often caught the birds she fed breadcrumbs in the driveway!!! Hubby grew up in a home where there was always more than one cat - his mother loves cats just as much as you do!!!! When we still lived in CT we adopted a cat from the street - it got lost in some way and definitely belonged to someone who took good care of it - we loved it and never got to know who's cat it was - it got blind in later years. We got it before we had kids, but it passed away when the kids were very young, but they can still remember it!!!! Shortly after it died we got Timothy and this month he was 11 years old!!!! He loves to be cuddled and sleeps in our bed with us!!!! He loves the electric blanket during winter!!!!! He is soooo spoiled and we spoiled him with lovely goodies yesterday on Cat Day!!!!
The painting your hubby made of Muffin is so beautiful and special - what a great hubby to do something like that!!!! He is so talented and the painting looks like a photograph - beautiful!!!!
Have a great weekend!!!
Hugz

Jacee said...

Oh my, this is wonderful, he is an artist indeed! such a good likeness of your lovely cat. I know you must still miss Muffin, it's hard isn't it?
I still miss my beautiful siamese, he was so special, so much so that I can't bring myself to have another kitty, but maybe one day.
Have a good weekend
Hugs Jacee
Simply Paper Card Design

C. M. Taylor said...

How wonderful of you to have given Muffin a home and even better to have all the years of memories to recall. Life with our four footed furry friends is a special one, TFS the story and the art.

Tina Rathbone said...

I love your story about Muffin, and Brian's artwork. I have a similar story, after having Laptop Kitty Rathbone for 17 years of his 19 years.

Pia S said...

Wow! Your hubby is very talented, the painting looks so realistic. What a wonderful gift!

Anna-Karin said...

This is so beautiful! That painting is amazing and what a wonderful special gift. Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog!!

Lilian said...

Came from Cat Lovers Hop...
Sorry for your loss!
The painting is beautiful!!!
Lilian
The Leaf Studio

Janis said...

Wow.....that is a gorgeous portrait of your dear little Muffin. What a wonderful remembrance of him. He is so cute in that photo. It's so sad to lose our precious kitties. So glad you had so many years together.
Thanks so much for linking up with us during the hop!!!
<3 J

jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

CAT LOVERS HOP EXTENDED! Last day to LINK: Nov. 1. Last day to COMMENT: Nov. 3. HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com!!!