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 Diana and George live in a beautiful pale yellow cottage on a hill above the sprawling city of Los Angeles. They have three original cats named Nikita Kruschev, the Countessa Lilly Blanche Philamena Monster Ratini from the Rotelli family and Mishka. Diana is a great cook and storyteller. She loves to surround herself with her friends, create wonderful meals and pass out gifts to her guests. Diana’s prize possession are her cats. Her fondest desire was to have an original oil painting of her three pets together. One day Diana became seriously ill and had to undergo a lengthy medical treatment. She spent a year in bed feeling very weak and sad. As time passed and one day turned into another, Diana decided it was time to brighten up her room. She called her friend, Patrice, who was an artist. Diana asked Patrice if she would paint a portrait of her cats. But Patrice’s specialty was large beautiful paintings of flowers. So she recommended a portrait artist that she knew. When the artist, Kathryn Donatelli arrived at the cottage on the hill she was ushered into the big bright yellow kitchen and Diana offered her a chair at the table. Diana was very excited to be ordering a custom portrait of her cats. “I want the cats to be dancing the ballet”, Diana said in her child like voice. Her dimpled smile was disarming. The ballet? Kathryn asked. She was trying to visualize cats dancing in costume, but all she could do was stare out the picture window at the view of the hills. “It has to be the Russian Ballet”. Kathryn jumped and turned around in her chair. Blocking the doorway was a very tall man with a nose like Gerard Depardeau. His voice was gruff, almost like the growl of a lion. “The Russian Ballet is the only true ballet”, he barked again. George is the big cat of the house. He is of French and Russian descent and heads a department at one of the major TV networks. “Is Swan Lake a Russian ballet?” Kathryn asked. Swan Lake struck her instantly as a ballet that had beautiful yet subtle identifying images such as the little feather on the head of the cat in the center of the painting. The next step was to meet the cats. Niki The first cat, Nikita Kruschev (Niki), is a Russian Blue. His father is a two hundred win Grand Champion named Blue Jean Girsha. Niki was born in Spokane, Washington. He looks mad all the time but he is very affectionate and personable. He’s even a bit of a clown at times. Niki lives in his own bachelor pad underneath the balcony in the back yard. The view is magnificent. He can see the hills and the tall buildings of the distance city. His apartment has screen doors for summer and a heater for winter. A carpet covered ramp leads up to a hot box outside the kitchen where the cats like to bask in the sun. It’s first come, first serve. Lilly The beautiful slender cat in the center of the painting is the Countessa Lilly Blanche Philamena Monster Ratini of the Rottelli Family .Lilly was rescued by Diana on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Because she was the runt of the litter, Diana felt she wouldn’t make it on her own. This little cat is a natural ballerina. She leaps, spins and twirls, chasing her tail and any number of unseen fairies and sprites. She is the most graceful of her kind. Lilly loves classical music and taking long walks on a leash. Mishka The third cat on the right holding the bouquet of pink roses is Mishka. Her name means “little Bear”, in Russian. Mishka has a beautiful luxurious thick coat. She is very affectionate and confident. In the painting she is acknowledging Lilly the prima ballerina by presenting her with the pink roses, as is the tradition. Mishka is proud of Lilly since she raised her from an infant. Today Mishka is an aunt. The new arrival in the family is Tippi Hedron, (puppy). She has blue eyes and sports a champagne mink coat. Her nickname, Puppy, came from the way she follows George around the house like a little puppy dog. Puppy is posing for the next painting along with Kathryn’s two cats, Sonny Boy and Kit Kat. Diana's testimony about the painting: “During the time that I was not feeling well, a friend of mine suggested that I ‘get in touch with my inner child’. Since I usually felt joyful and full of energy when playing with my cats, I decided to explore having a portrait painted of them. Little did I know the result would be as wonderful as it is. From the day the painting arrived, just looking at it made me giggle. And isn’t laughter the best medicine? All my guests that looked at the painting had reactions from surprise to squeals of delight. Children get so excited. This image of the cats is just filled with surprises. I attribute a large part of my recovery to having this painting hanging in my bedroom where I can see it when I wake up. To place an order with a check or M.O.... CLICK HERE | Return Home | Swan Lake Fantasy | Princess Pea | Order | Print Technique | Commission a Portrait | |
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