Cecilia’s Portrait

Two Saturdays ago, I finished this ridiculous portrait of my teddy bear Cecilia. I spent a pleasant three weeks working on it, sitting at the dining room table in the evenings and on weekend mornings, the cats gathered around me to nap or take very long, elaborate baths.

It can be a bit challenging painting in the company of cats. After about five minutes, June, who is a busybody, usually has to be escorted out onto the breezeway because she gets too excited and starts butting her head against my easel, etc. If I’m not careful, she’ll scamper across my palette and get paint all over her feet . . . and then all over the house. This has happened several times.

The other cats are surprisingly well behaved when I’m painting. They deserve kudos for their maturity. Frankie likes to curl up in my lap on top of a damp, paint-spattered rag that I use to wipe water off my brushes. Softee, meanwhile, will be snoozing on a shelf in a nearby cabinet, where she’s often joined by Becky or the cantankerous Buntin. With the cabinet door open, the shelves look like floors in a small apartment building or residential hotel exclusively for felines–a sort of Barbizon, but for cats instead of young ladies.

Carl likes to sleep on the table inside the lid of my paint box. I turn it upside down so it makes a little cradle for him. He sleeps very soundly in its narrow cardboard confines, lulled by the sounds of Frontline, which I’m always listening to on my phone. I hate having to disturb him when it’s time to put my paints away.

Softee’s spot:

The adorable Carl: