Mame

It is my son's birthday today and he is happily tinkling away on the piano nearby. but I have opted to pull out a different picture from my memory. Several stray cats have lingered at our house for a while over the years. The longest lived was a black female with a very affectionate character that would jump up on my shoulder like a witch's cat. Her last kitten was very tiny when she disappeared; the other siblings were eaten by a badger. Anyway the kitster turned to the dog as a surrogate, he was very obliging, but not highly concerned. This kitten would sometimes follow us on our walks up the mountain slinking behind hiding out and catching up or mewing when left too far back. When we stopped for breaks he would sit guard or; if we lingered for a while, choose one of us to sit on once the dog had stopped rolling around in the leaves. The kids named him Mame (not like the American song, but like the calls of a sheep and a goat), which means bean. It suited him very well as he never grew too big. I guess at a young age the nipples on a male dog have their limits when it comes to nutrition.

Colored pastels on cartridge 25x35cm