Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Basho


Oil and cold wax, 16" x 16." Sold.


Painted the second night we had Basho the beautiful kitten. His coloring (minus a wink of brilliant blue eyes) and the poet we named him for both contributed as inspiration for this painting, which features calligraphic marks perhaps evocative of Japanese poetry.

I want to thank you all so very much for your warm thoughts and consoling words. We are both terribly sad and wish he were still with us. It helps immensely, though, to have you all out there whose hearts are also touched by him and his story.

Both photos in this post are inspired by Basho's beautiful coloring.

We have now named two cats after Buddhists (Roshi and Basho) and they both died young. In a bittersweet, laughing-through-tears kind of way, I wonder if that was a mistake...perhaps Buddhists take this life just a little too lightly.

Our other kitties were unfortunately never allowed to meet Basho, as he was in isolation for his illness. But The Husband said that Rumi caught a glimpse one time and looked really excited about a potential new playmate. And I know how much Miss Lemon would have loved finding a new baby in her house: every time we've gotten a kitten, Miss Lemon finds it is her duty to immediately slam it to the ground and give it a really, really good washing. Many, many times a day.




Thank you again for your prayers and wishes.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

6 comments:

Sonya Johnson said...

Nice tribute to his little soul the painting is, Jala.

Kitties in a sleeping embrace is always so cute; Nelson will have NONE of that, unfortunately. I

Double "D" said...

So sorry for your loss of little Basho.
I think the painting is great, love the calligraphy
and the line and space. It's awesome.

Ann Reyes said...

So sorry to hear of Basho's leaving this world. I gave our 3 cats special hugs.

Bonnie Luria said...

A very poignant tribute and representation of the gentle baby spirit that was/is your Basho.
The wispy gestures and tones of grey will always remind you of him.
What remarkable animals you have Jala. You and Sanjay provide the perfect setting for these kitties.

Maybe your next kitty should be named after a fruit- look how well it's served Miss Lemon.

Sheila Vaughan said...

Jala, my heart goes out to you both at this sad time in your lives. Your painting is a remarkable tribute to little Basho.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

{{{Jala}}}
I so know where you are with this.