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ARTIST'S NOTE Sept 25th, 2007: This painting has been framed in a gorgeous 4" wide black molding, carrying deep stylized acanthus and fleur-de-lis relief. It was juried into the 47th Annual Thumb Show Exhibition, and remains in my personal collection.
ADDENDUM Oct 8th, 2007: This painting has been juried into the 12" Exhibition at Flint Street Gallery.
Well, after giving a Career Day presentation to 60 3rd graders today, I came home inspired to do what I had been talking about all day – make art.

And so with that motivation, I painted to latest installment of the Santini family pets.

This is Miah. I returned to a favorite photo of her, one which I’ve painted before, using different cropping, and a warmer palette. You can view that painting, titled “Whiskers,” on my website: www.turtledovedesigns.com/feline.html

Today’s painting is a 6” square, tightly cropped version of her current state (toothless, senile, whiskers-all-askew) using that favorite photo as a starting point. This painting, layers of harmonious blues and lavenders with just a hint of green for her eyes, is a far cry from the spunky little kitten we adopted well over 17 years ago. Miah would come bounding to greet us at the door, played fetch with her little stuffed bear, begged like a dog for bits of broccoli, and draped herself like a stole on my shoulders when I worked in the studio.

But it happens to the best of us – one day we wake up and all of a sudden we’re old. Miah now pretty much sticks to one room in the house, where she migrates from window to window following the sun’s path. I wanted today’s painting to depict her as she is now, still remembering what it was like to fiercely hunt the dust mites, but very comfortable in her own (sagging) skin.

This is another painting that is going into to my own collection.

Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these with friends and family.
Stay warm this weekend!
Kim

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

http://www.paintingadogaday.com/
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.

Founding member of the Canine Art Guild
http://www.canineartguild.com/
the gateway to canine art on the web
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