I am so happy with this unusual piece.  It really comforts me.  I struggled for quite a while to accurately capture the beauty of this thoughtful elegant cat that belongs to one of my customers.  Belle is a hairless cat.  Prior to my introduction to Belle, the only hairless cats I had ever seen were mostly all one shade of pinkish white and had really wide noses and really slanted eyes.  And (I have to be honest) they always seemed sort of homely to me.  But Belle is so beautiful!  I did not realize that hairless cats existed with these sorts of features and markings.  As soon as I saw her, I felt sure she would wind up in a painting at some point.  Doesn't she seem like an old soul?  Don't you feel like you could tell her anything and she would understand?

This piece evolved over the course of two weeks with much underpainting and very careful attention to detail.  The end result is one gorgeous cat and some lovely rich expressionist painting, too.  I am just thrilled with this one and I am so glad I stuck with it.  Confidante continues my interest in the merging of art and language with three simple words painted in separate places on the canvas that read, "Gentle.  Constant.  Truth."

How Confidante was created.....   Once the black gesso primer dried, I painted an earthy expressionist image filled with warm sienna hues and ochre and red.  Then I used a scraper to remove the thick paint from a small "window" area.  Once that underpainting dried, I painted the window area dark green and then deep blue and then warmer green - allowing the paint to dry between layers.  Then I painted the window area off-white and when the paint was nearly dried, I used a soft cloth to rub through bits of that top layer and reveal some of the colors beneath.  I edged the window in black and added some other black accent lines.  Then I streaked the "background" painting with organic vertical stripes of warm reds and warm transparent green hues.  Finally, I used tiny detail brushes to create the beautiful star of this piece and to add key highlights and to paint the words.

Confidante was painted on a rigid canvas panel.  The edges have been painted black, so this piece looks lovely displayed just as it is on a small stand or decorative easel.   Or it can be easily and affordably framed as it requires no glass or matting.  ***NOTE: I can include a small plastic stand with this piece at no charge or I can include a new black, wood, mission-style display easel with your order for just $10.00. Please be sure to specify your interest in a stand or an easel when you order.

SOLD

Navigation Buttons

INFO

NEW WORK

INDEX

MLO1P

SITEMAP

IMPORTANT:  The words & images on this site are copyrighted & may not be used FOR ANY PURPOSE without the written consent of Melissa A. Robinson.

*  EMAIL  *  BLOG  *  mailing lisTS  *  MYSPACE  *  FACEBOOK  *  imagekind  *  ZAZZLE  *  HOME