Friday, August 28, 2009

Sharon Himes YSM: BuffyCat

Buffy came to us the usual way -as a kitten. She heard there was a vacancy in our part of the woods and one afternoon when I was weeding the garden, I heard what I thought was a catbird.
BuffyCat

Such a tiny high chirping mew! A small gray cat with white and tan markings came dancing up to and demanded to be adopted! She is very affectionate and social but shy around strangers and at the sound of barking dogs or noisy lawnmowers, she will disappear under the shed or any of a dozen hiding places.

Buffy is an in and out cat, having spent some part of her kittenhood on her own. We have had her for three years but her voice is still high and operatic, especially when she 'sings' to ask to go up in the attic where she likes to nap some afternoons. She has 3 acres of forest to patrol in the evening and occasionally collects small rodents or brings other presents for me to use as subjects in my nature paintings.

If I am working on the computer she climbs up to the monitor to check the work and if I'm in the studio, she will stop by to sniff all the corners or lay on the corner of the drawing table.
IMG_0398

Buffy comes to me to be brushed, petted and snuggled and she runs off to find my husband, Larry, when she wants a buddy to play with outside. Every afternoon they walk together along the back nature trail and Buffy sometimes allows me to tag along if I don't disrupt her routine.
BuffyCat


Sharon Himes
sharonhimes.com
Twitter: @sharonartist

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Kari Lonning YSM: Emma

Emma, Old English Sheepdog, 4yrs young.

Emma's an endearing, enthusiastic, extrovert, but is glued to me during thunder storms.

She loves to play tug of war, but is very gentle at it. If I let go of the sock or toy, she gives it back to me, so we can continue! She doesn't care about "winning."


Kari Lonning
www.karilonning.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Melissa Walker YSM: Locutis

This is my fat boy Locutis. He's had quite an interesting life so far. Here is the "nutshell" version.


Locutis was our boy, picked out of a bunch of farm kitties because he was the loudest most obnoxious one. We got him at a hard time in our life as just about 5 or 6 months before we had lost our first child, a boy, in death. We didn't get Loc to be a replacement but he did fill a need to love a small one, even if our other cats weren't impressed at the time. That was 13 years ago. About 5 years ago he developed a tumor on his back, which we went into great debt to have removed. The vet that did the surgury did a "dirty cut" and when it grew back we were told it was an agressive cancer and he wouldn't survive another year. We decided to let him go outside (which he was always trying to do) to explore for his last few months. Our neighbors stole him a few weeks later (technically, they took him to the humane society-in a different county-and adopted him).

The humane society vet operated on him again, not knowing his history, and Locutis ended up living (as you can see) but with the neighbor, for about 3 years. They kept him locked in too, but whenever he would escape he'd come straight home. When we moved we paid them the adoption fees and brought him with us. I guess its good they took him in a way, because we had taken him to 3 or 4 Drs. who couldn't seem to help him and we couldn't afford any more. The humane society vet did the surgery right and no one got charged $2000 for it. But we sure did miss him when he was away.

While my two tiny dogs are often at my feet when I'm at my desk, that's only because I have a heater there, but Loc is the one to come and just hang out. Usually in my photo booth. He's really a good boy (mostly!) and I'm very happy to have him back.

Melissa Walker
www.tweedlepox.etsy.com
http://tweedlepox.blogspot.com

Friday, February 6, 2009

SuSan SoRreLL YSM: Whoopi Doodle

She hangs out with me at my studio which is "double barrel shot gun shack".



SuSan SoRreLL
creativechick.com
sorrell@creativechick.com

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Allison Leigh Smith YSM: Scout

I have three Russian Dwarf Hamsters. I adore them. They live in their expansive multi level habitrail on my desk. They are lovely company for me while I paint. This is Scout.


Allison Leigh Smith
allisonleighsmith.com
allison@allisonleighsmith.com