Carrie’s Painting of the Week, 03/30/10
Tiger Cat
By Carrie Jacobson
Anyone who lives with cats knows that we don’t own them. And while it might be tempting to say that they own us, I for one believe that no cat would deign to own a human. We’re big and loud and messy and don’t spend half the time we should doing what they want. So they’re OK with having us as their loyal subjects or, at the very least, employees. But own us? No way.
Every once in a while, you get a cat who likes to cuddle, and is willing to do it when you want. But really, that’s a very doglike thing to do. Most cats want us to behave like big, warm beds. We should sit quietly and adjust ourselves until they are comfortable, and then hold stock still.
When we’re not acting as warm pieces of furniture, we should spend our time using our handy opposable thumbs to open cans of food, clean their litter boxes and supply them with fresh water. Also, we should grow catnip. Whole fields of it in the summer, and pots of it all over the house in the winter.
Three cats live with my husband, myself and our dogs. The cats tolerate us, but are repelled by the dogs. You can see the disdain on their faces. One of them, Puffy, takes it out on any dog she can get, swatting pretty randomly at the big, smelly creatures whenever possible.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about cats, as I am painting a dozen cat portraits for a project for Center Framing & Art, the gallery in West Hartford, Conn., that represents me. This painting is one of the 12. It makes me think of George Carlin’s line that when a cat looks at you, it’s like he’s testing a new set of eyes.
Interested in this painting? Contact Lori at Center Framing & Art, 860-233-7804 for price and delivery options.
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