Seven years ago I painted this watercolor of my beautiful tuxedo girl Melissa and included it in an art show called 50/50. The show featured artwork that was half mine and half by my friend Mary (and we both would be 50 years old that year), hence the name.
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| Melissa Mittens, copyright 2006 Susan Faye |
A longtime friend of the family came to the show and stood for a long time in front of that painting. With misty eyes and a slight catch in her throat she said, "That's my Spats!" It turned out that Spats had recently passed away and he had been a particularly special friend. She had to have the painting, and we laughed as I quickly changed the title of the painting from "Melissa" to "Spats".
Tuxedo cats are like that. They steal your heart. (Okay, okay, it's not just tuxedo cats, it could be any cat. But this is the one that stole MY heart)...
She was The Most Special One. Melissa Mittens was a
lightweight wisp of a cat with fur of midnight black velvet, and mittens of snowy
white. A fearless mouser, she was the
feisty type with a sly sense of humor, and loved to play hide and seek,
politely taking turns being "It". I could read her mind and she could read mine. We went through thick and thin together for 14 years. She saw me through some very difficult times. She was one very special tuxedo girl and I still miss her terribly. My eyes are misting up and I have a slight catch in my throat.
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| Cat Lady Wendy with friends Sele and Bella |
(to see all of the photos posted so far, click on "posts by others" in the drop-down box at the top of the posts.)
In general, a tuxedo cat is described as one with a white chest patch and white paws, resembling a man's dress jacket by the same name, usually black with satin lapels, worn for formal or semi-formal occasions. The white paws give the look of formal-wear gloves and spats, a white covering for dress shoes worn in times-gone-by. Sometimes there is a white blaze on the face too.
NEW IN MY ETSY SHOP!
Wearable Art for Tuxedo Cat Lovers...
Brand new pendants and earrings with either long-hair or short-hair tuxedo cats,
with four different background colors to choose from...
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| Longhair Tuxedo Pendants can be purr-sonalized with a name on the back |
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| earrings feature sterling silver earwires |
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| Shorthair Tuxedo Pendants can be purr-sonalized with a name on the back |
Click on any caption for more information
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| Color choices are Rosy Pink, Sweet Violet, Robin Egg Blue, or Apple Green |
Click here to see the whole selection:
awww! she was a beautiful kitty!!
ReplyDeleteWe are a lucky family that includes an adorable tuxedo girl. She is not our 1st cat, but at just 6 months old, has quickly asserted herself as the queen and is as quick to dish out love bites as she is kisses :)
ReplyDeleteYour Melissa was a beauty!
What a nice story. How great for you as an artist to know that your painting was so meaningful to someone!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about Melissa!!! She was a special kitty! I'm sure she is feeling your love right now, while she is running free with her kitty friends on the Bridge!
ReplyDeleteI still miss my kitty sisters (they left us at 18) each and every day... It's indeed a great gift to be able to paint a beloved kitty... and how heartwarming to know they are making other cat moms/dads happy!
This is for Buttonwillow from Zoe:
ReplyDelete"Dear Buttonwillow, thank you so much for coming to my Kitty Pawty!!! I'm so happy to meet you! You can see yourself and a bunch of other sweet kitties from around the globe on my Mom's blog!"
Kisses and purrrrs,
Zoe :)