The weekend before last, I was gardening in the front yard, and typical. I didn’t have my phone with me to take any photos… of this very sweet adorable black and white tuxedo cat! Never seen her before in the neighbourhood. Was she a newcomer? A fugitive? Is she lost? Not a stray for sure because they are under strict control here in the Netherlands and handed over to a sanctuary from where she could be cared for and adopted. As I was kneeling by the flower bed pulling out the weeds, I heard a slight meow and there was that sweet little kitty! A bit of hesitation first until she crawled under the iron fence and immediately took to me. Purring and sliding her fur against my legs and trying to climb into the bucket of weeds. How cute is that!
Stroked her for a bit and even chatted to her in Japanese. She really liked that and continued purring affectionately and peering in my face. And she had the most beautiful yellow-green eyes! Unfortunately we don’t allow cats in our garden because they tend to use it as their public WC so after a while I had to let her go, hoping she’d return soon so we could play outside the garden next time. Maybe she’s one of the neighbor’s new cat, I imagined. But NOOOO SHE’S NOT BEEN BACK!! I am sad. And really worried. Is she okay? What happened to her? Please tell me she’s not been harmed. Perhaps she was indeed stray or abandoned and got rescued by the animal ambulance. Praying she is in a safe home, but I do miss her terribly.
And since I regret not having been able to take photos of her at the time, I need to go by this “montage” drawing I made from my memory. Decided to go for watercolors for this one, opting for the greyscale set of Kremer Pigmente watercolors from Germany and Kuretake Gansai Tambi from Japan. Both are derived from natural minerals to give that color intensity. Paper used was Strathmore’s 31x41cm watercolor paper block at a wonderfully thick 300gsm.
I have to admit it was a pretty emotional session. Painting about it, though certainly helped me deal with the grief and sadness of not being able to see this cat again, especially as I have no idea of her whereabouts. Yet, it’s been over a week and I’m still pining over this long lost new feline friend…
My Kawaii Quarter 