Fortune made of a cat´s eyes was a surprise that lead to my rise.

    

It is estimated that Cats and humans have been together for about 10,00 years, since neolithic times, although this is not proven. However what is known is that the Egyptian civilisation held cats in high esteem believing that the Gods used them to be able to walk among them. We know this from excavations where cats were found wearing collars bearing the names of their Gods.

         

Anyone who has ever owned a cat will know that in reality it is the other way. It is rather the cat who owns the human. Indeed, it is often said that the cat chooses its "owner". There is no question cats do seem to posses a strange kind of consciousness, even self awareness.  Whether this is real or merely illusion it is probably the reason why cats have so easily fitted in among human civilisation. When we look into their eyes and they look into ours we feel their is an identity looking back. One cannot force a cat to do anything. The old saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink, could so easily be applied to cats.
I have "owned" several cats, in my time (or they have owned me) and witnessed such things several times.
A cat moaning for its meal and then turns its nose when given. Irritating but nonetheless still endearing.
Such is how they claw their way into our hearts. 

My background is that of an artist, yes, but I was initially trained as a portrait painter.
In my early beginnings I struggled to get commissions and thus struggled to pay the rent of my humble abode.
One day my fortunes changed and it was all thanks to my cat.  
With no commission on my plate and only cheap cat food on my cats plate, I decided to set depressed thoughts aside by using little "Alf" as soothing subject matter.
I called my feline friend "Alf" after my elderly uncle how had recently passed away. Sadly I no longer have the original painting as it was sold long ago. However, my memory of the painting, as well as my memory of "Alf", still live on fresh on my mind and heart.
The day after I had completed Alf´s portrait the Egyptian cat gods decided to reward me.
A knock came on my door and I was greeted by the local postman who had a package for me to sigh.
My long awaited new set of paints  : )
As I signed the document he looked behind me and saw the portrait of Alf hanging on the wall and then Alf  himself came and was moving in and out between my feet.
"Did you paint that?" He asked. I nodded. "Do you take commissions?"
I explained that I usually do portraits of people and had never actually taken a commission to do a cat, or a dog for that matter. However, considering my purse was empty I told that I would not be against the idea.
"Then I might have some work for you" He said, And then left. 

I put the matter aside and forgot all about it. Two days later he came back holding a photograph of a ginger cat.
He explained that he had got to know many people on his delivery rounds and many of them were cat owners.
He knew of one particular lady who had recently spoken of wishing to have a portrait done of her ageing cat.
The price was offered was much higher than I would have guessed and one I could not turn down.
Technically, to capture the likeness of a cat was far easier to that of a person. It took no more than a few hours to complete but when the postman it took much longer.
When he paid me with a wide smile on his face I had a twinge if guilt. It felt like easy money and I had been raised to believe that money comes from honest hard work. But I suppose if he was happy with the price then who was I to argue. After that the postman brought commission after commission and, as with all who have a brain for business, he later wanted a %10 fee for getting me work. I agreed without question. The money I was earning was putting better food on Alf´s plate and keeping the landlord off my back. At one point I was painting six cat portraits in one go.
I had them lined up like a conveyer belt. First paint the background, then body, the face, and finally the all important eyes. It was a partnership that suited us both but good things are not meant to last. I actually can not remember how many cats I painted, I lost count, but it was so many that I think Alf began to be jealous.

              

One day I found him sat looking up at the wall where his portrait had once hung. He had noticed that it had gone.
He gave me this "look", a look he had when he wanted me to read his thoughts.
And his thoughts said; "Where is the portrait you did of me?" I had actually sold it to the postman.
And so I made him a promise to paint another, which I did, but it would not be under the roof of that cheap and nasty apartment. 

   

For one good fortune often leads to another. 

Like a miracle from heaven I had received a commission to paint the wife of a local real estate millionaire and the commission price was substantial indeed.
This not only meant I could afford to pay for the deposit on a small two bedroomed house, but it meant I would receive many more commissions from the millionaire´s circle of family and friends.
Some months later, after I had moved into our new abode, I was returning home from my weekly shopping and was met by Alf who came running over to welcoming me home as though I had been away for years.
He looked up at me with this bright eyes of his and his tail curled in his usual "questions mark" way.
In that second I burned the moment into my brain and decided that this would be scene I capture to cherish and immortalise my precious "Alf"

Below the actual portrait of Alf - capturing that very moment.
                      
The image may not seem all that spectacular.
A cat walking upon a stone a path beside the gutter. The furry creature looks up with welcome home eyes.
The wall to the left is of the humble house of the owner. An artist whose luck had recently changed for the better.
A struggling artist who had recently been lifted out of the gutter by the very cat that now looks up with love in its eyes for its human companion.
And this is how I will always remember Alf who has long since passed away to join the population of the other Egyptian cat Gods : )

 What I write is merely my own thoughts from my own life experience.  
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