I completed this commissioned portrait of two cats, Max and Stuart in late October. It was a Christmas gift from a woman to her parents, so I’m just revealing it now. These people lost their home and everything in it through the Tubbs Fire in 2017. One of the images we chose to work from showed the fireplace in that home and an antique fire bell which was displayed near it. The other image showed the couple’s beloved cats sitting side by side. One of the cats had recently died, and its companions miss it a lot.

The painting brought “absolute tears of joy” to the couple. Marilyn wrote, “I can’t truly express how much we love the painting you created. You captured the essence of “the boys” and what our fireplace once was, even down to the details of our old fire bell. You are an incredible artist. Thank you for undertaking this project so this gift could be given to us. It is dearly loved and will be displayed prominently in our rebuilt house for others to enjoy as well.”