This painting is of my late cat Beau Bear Bray. This is from a photo that I took years ago. I had started this painting and then had to put it away because it made me so sad. I was the 3rd owner of Beau. My childhood friend Gail gave him to me after having 3 boys. After she gave him to me I added my own version of his name. Beau loved Christmas. He loved the tree, presents and the Grinch stuffed animal under the tree. He thought he was invisible among the presents. As far as the Grinch I found out that he was fixed a little late in life from his first owner and therefore still had those feelings. So he liked stuffed animals, bolster pillows and a few other things around the house. It was quite funny. He was also the runt in his litter and had many health problems. A week after taking the picture of him his right eye became blood red and on New Year's Eve I spent the majority of the time at the emergency vet clinic. Come to find out Persians are susceptible to hypertension. His blood pressure was high and that caused his retina to detach. He ended up on blood pressure medicine. He later lost sight in that eye and eventually had to have it removed. He was then known at the vets as the one eyed cat. I think 2 years later his other eye did the same thing and I was just devastated. He lived another year or two blind and did quite well. The dog and my other cat looked out for him. So if you know anyone with a Persian Cat you may just want to forewarn them about blood pressure and their eyes.
Painting Beau was so difficult. I wanted to try and capture his look. He had a blank stare when I took the picture, probably because he thought he was a present. He was so perfect looking that it was hard to capture his eyes. I think I basically captured his overall look.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. Thank you Gail and Family for Beau!!!!
