"Piper in the garden"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 8"

Here it is gang; the first painting since the back went out. I won't bore you with the details - the short form is that I had (have) nerve damage in my right leg which has prevented me from standing for long periods of time. Since I stand at my easel, which I feel is the only way to paint (no offense to the sitting artists reading this) I needed a lot of physical therapy to help regain my strength. A big thanks to Janine at Hunt Valley Physical Therapy for getting me this far.

It is apropos that I chose Piper to be my first subject. She has been my model more than a few times, being the mother of three of my four studio assistants. I haven't painted her since her ear was tipped. Piper could be the poster child for TNR. For those unfamiliar with the program Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a method of humanely trapping unaltered feral cats, spaying or neutering them, and releasing them back to the same location where they were collected. TNR is promoted by the ASPCA as a humane and more effective alternative to euthanasia for managing and reducing feral cat populations. When I was finally able to trap Piper and take her to the Humane Society to be spayed she was once again laden with eight kitten embryos. Tipping the ear is a way to signal to other kind souls who wish to help these wayward girls that they have been fixed. Living a few blocks from the Humane Society, we had our share of strays come to call. There are a lot of despicable people in this world, among the worst are the cowards who deposit their unwanted pets on the Humane Society grounds after hours so they don't have to explain why they are giving them up. One such visitor was a little white cat that we called Clara. When we finally were able to gain her confidence, we took her to the vet to be spayed. Our keen-eyed vet noticed the incision scar from her previous spay when she shaved her and thankfully didn't open her up again. Clara was probably someone's pet that they had gotten tired of and dumped up the road. Piper is and always will be feral. She and her wild companion, Bristol (yes, named after the Palin girls) live a good life on the back porch. We live in the country so cars are not an issue, in case you were worried. The girls have a duplex cat house that I built for them which has two heated sheepskin beds in the winter and two hammocks in the summer to keep them comfortable. They prefer to hang out on top, like Snoopy on his doghouse, in this heat. Three meals a day (canned food) and a midnight snack - they don't go too far afield.

It felt strange (in a good way) to be painting again.

"Please sir, I want some more."

Oil on museum quality, archival ampersand gessobord™ panel - 6” x 8”

We weren't lucky enough at my high school to have our own composer like Kelsey from High School Musical to create something original.  For our senior musical we were forced to use the work of Lionel Bart.  I must that say our production of Oliver! was very professional, and not just because of the great scenic artwork in which I had a hand. Right by the computer are two large french doors and very often one or more little faces are pressed up against the glass, looking in with pleading eyes for more food.  Even if I slide the door very slowly, they scatter.  All except Sammy that is, he comes just inside the door to have a look.  There is a scene in Oliver! when young Oliver, having finished his meager bowl of gruel goes up to Mr. Bumble for seconds. "Please sir, I want some more." he says.  I often think that is running through these little girls' heads. This is of course Piper and her new daughter Shirley.

This painting looks better in reality.  The photo doesn't show off the softness of the fur very well.  For the record, my high school basketball team were the Parkville Knights.  "Get your head in the game!"

"Piper the calico kitten"

Oil on museum quality, archival ampersand gessobord™ panel - 8” x 8”

A few weeks ago a little white cat showed up in the area we call the bird berm,  a lush oasis for our avian friends to eat and bath and hang out together. In order to keep the peace and prevent this from becoming the cat feeding station, if you catch my drift, we put out some food for the cat, who looked to be quite pregnant. We convince her that free canned cat food served on the other side of the house, on our patio, was a better option than having to hunt for her meals.  She soon became a regular diner at "The Cats Meow" patio restaurant.  Word got around and soon we had another regular, a calico with white paws. We had named the white cat Bristol, after a certain Alaskan Governor's daughter, so it made sense to name her Piper, after her sister.  Three days ago up pops 4 or 5 kittens and we still don't know whose they are. There is a totally black one, a calico. a white with spots and a tabby.  They appear to be about 4 weeks old.  I looked out the window this morning and piper was cuddled up with one of the kittens so perhaps they are hers.  In any case, we are going through about 8 cans of food a day between our cats Anna and JJ and this new pride.  Piper and I had a break-thru today; she has claimed me by rubbing, rubbing, rubbing my legs when I feed her. Sadly we didn't find the kittens early enough to tame them and they are quite the scaredy- cats.  This is Piper on the blue stone patio.