My Oliver

It is with great sadness that we had to put my beautiful Oliver to sleep yesterday. He has been very sick for the past month. 

He has been a great friend and member of the family for almost eight years. When my husband and I purchased our first house together, our first order of business was to get a cat. My mom had an abundance of cats at her house, mostly strays, and Oliver was the one we took. We had a sunny bay window in the dining room, and we determined it was the perfect place for cat naps. Not surprisingly, Oliver spent a lot of time there. My mom, who is also an artist, suggested that I should take pictures of him and paint him. I took her advice, and in addition to being a wonderful companion, he was a natural model, and provided inspiration for many paintings. 

I am grateful to all the people who have purchased paintings of Oliver over the years. I don't know if any future paintings of him will be for sale. If I do happen to sell any of them, I want Oliver to continue to help other animals, and I will donate part or all of those sales to the local Humane Society. 

Oliver in his sunny window.

Oliver also loved sitting on the dining room table because it was in the middle of all the action, and he always hoped people-food would appear. 

Playing with his favorite toy

A bit disappointed that my snack was not cat friendly.

Sitting in my art studio, keeping me company.