Tipper was a foster cat of mine for a little over a year. He was found as a young kitten with his litter mates inside of a cardboard box that was dumped in front of a fast food restaurant. It was apparent that Tipper had something wrong with him & he was taken to the vet to be checked out. Tipper was diagnosed with Cerebellar hypoplasia, which is caused when the cerebellum is not completely mature at birth. It causes jerky movements, tremors and uncoordinated motion. In a nutshell Tipper could only take 3-4 steps without falling over. Despite his disorder Tipper didn’t let anything stop him & he was a very loving, affectionate, happy go lucky little guy. He brought a lot of joy into the house for myself & my pets. A few years ago he was adopted by a wonderful lady with 2 other cats & from the updates that I’ve gotten he’s been doing great ever since.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34278013@N05/3192129284/

wow… I am first. That portrait is so cute.. that dog is very darling. His family must absolutely adore him.

Well, here is my entry for this week.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/3192210478_48f8ca8a5f_o.jpg

This is Trixi.. my sweet little old lady, a Pomeranian. I hadn’t had any dogs in years and one day went to the pound where I saw her in a kennel and she just pulled on my heart like you wouldn’t believe. Well, I got her and took her immediately to a grooming place and cleaned her up. She is a joy. The only thing that ever gets her riled up is when the cats get in her face she lets them have it.. it is comical. Anyways, no sad story or anything… just that she is adorable and I love her.

Sue

I’m back to enter Willie again. When I first saw him, we thought he was a “she” and I had been looking for names for him. I had already named my other cats names from Shakespeare’s plays and was continuing in that same vein but the name I found just didn’t fit. Then when the vet told me he was a “she” I knew what his name would be. “William” but I would call him “willie” for short. It couldn’t be anything but Willie. He gained many nicknames over the years including “Big Willie Style” from my husband’s best friend.

And of course there was also the “Holy crap, that’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen” monicker as well. Yeah he was about 15 lbs but alot of it was fur. I even had an uncle proclaim that he was part “racoon” because of the incredible fluffy ringed tail–and his large size.

I often called him “my first child”

This is getting to be a habit. Here’s the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepingmommy/91832666/sizes/l/in/set-1513286/

Love that…Little Dog-Big Bone. It’s very fitting and made me laugh. Leanne, while I will always love your oils, these graphite drawings really are so beautiful. So clear and precise and perfect. And of course, this one is no different. It’s beautiful without a doubt.

Greetings,

A contest worth entering!

I found molly about five years ago wandering along 1-45 near downtown Houston. she had not one hair on her body, lymph nodes the size of golf balls and was completely septic from demadactic mange that had completely overtaken her little body. She was about 4 months old and looked like a little gray eeyore the donkey. Her incredible spirit just would not quit and inspired me to do all that could be done to save her against the Vets warning that she probably would not make it.

She did make it and she is one magnificent dog (turned out she was a rottie mix). I think her strength of spirit shines through in this picture of her surveying her domain these days, the Appalachian mountains.

http://aworldofprogress.homestead.com/molly.html

thanks so much for the opportunity to enter your contest.

kim & molly

I’m retrying with the photo of my daughter.

Gotta share a story about her that truly captures her unique brand of wackiness. You see, she was born that way and ’round about the time she was 14 or 15 months old, her sense of humor was already apparent. One Saturday morning — far too early, of course, I’d heard her stirring in her room and went in to get her. I changed her, grabbed her a cup of juice, and I brought her into bed with me. She took her usual few sips of juice, handed me her sippy cup, and curled up like she was ready to go back to sleep. I put the cup on the old drafting table next to the bed and curled myself around my sweet little child. A couple minutes of fidgeting later, she said, “dink, Mommy, dink!” which meant she wanted her drink. While I rolled over and reached for it, she was busy stealing my pillow. As I rolled back with the drink, I felt the absence of said pillow, and looked at her. She was lying on top of the pillow, very still, covers pulled up tight under her chin, eyes closed pretending to sleep. There was even an attempt at “snoring” for my benefit. And slowly, the impish grin spread across her face and the giggling started. Yes, my young toddler was a prankster! There was no way I could sleep after that. In fact, we got up to grab breakfast and play silly games the rest of the morning, after which I spent at least two hours calling family and regaling them with Miranda’s latest clever plot to make me laugh.

She’s sixteen now and very much still a goofball who loves playing jokes on family and friends. They’re never malicious, always done in the name of fun. Thankfully, after scaring us with her New Year’s adventures, she’s okay and will be back to pranking us in due time.

Well, my story does not really need explainingm and is not an animal, but it is the sweetness that always draws me to this picture. The picture is of my only grandson Braeden, with his grandpa. You can see the love in them both for each other… the contentment is plain to see in Braeden’s face.

How can you not love him? 😉

http://his-phoenix.com/2009/01/12/contentment/

[…] Where to Enter: Leanne Wildermuth […]

This is a photo (on my blog) of the joy of my life, my 3 year old grandson, Brayden. Despite being just three, Brayden’s been through a lot in his short life, including a stint in Shriner’s Hospital after being burned in hot bath water by his father, and just six months later involved in a high speed police chase and subsequent 100 mph car accident — again, at the hands of his father. Brayden is safe now, his dad is paying for the consequences of his actions and will be out of his life. I am privileged to babysit for my grandson two days a week, and always, always thankful that he is here and he is safe, and that we are able to continue to enjoy his laughter and his smile. This particular photo was taken as he helped his grandfather shave one morning. I’d love to see the photo / drawing without the shaving cream! How can you say no to that sweet face? LOL

You did a great job. Of course, I love all that you do.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/S7zv5W3mdJe0FztMla4HHQ?feat=directlink

Brigid is 3 years old as of last September. When everyone was asking her how old she was, right around her birthday, she would blithely reply “65”! Many people who know her were not surprised by that response. Brigid is the model for the “fiery red head” stereotype. In her world, no one can tell her what to do. And she is not afraid to let you know her opinion about your mistaken impressions of authority over her.

She has an amazing grasp of vocabulary. She uses some rather large words and uses them correctly. The other day I was trying to get her to do something mundane that was beneath her notice. Asking outright didn’t work, so I resorted to reverse psychology which works sometimes. But this time she replied, “Daddy, you are so obvious.” I didn’t know whether to get angry or laugh. She also won’t use just the word “yes” or “no” by themselves. She must always use them in a complete sentence. Like if I ask her if she wants any more to drink she will reply, “No, I can’t drink anymore”.

When she gets tired (which she will never ever admit) she talks, and talks, then sings, then talks some more. She will unleash a constant barrage of words and sentences. Many times the wife and I will stop whatever we are doing and just listen. I’ve tried to make a video of these extensive monologues but she has long ago learned to avoid daddy and the camera.

Brigid likes hugging the cat – much to this 14 year cat’s disdain. I tell her “don’t hug the kitty honey or the kitty might bite you”. To which I usually receive the response, “But I love the kitty”. Even a geriatric cat’s grumpiness can be conquered by a 3 year old’s faith in the power of love. Oh, and she has never been bitten yet – I attribute that to dumb luck.

When not grumping up the cat she is “loving” the dog. Slim is a 5 year old and 15 pound semi-chihuahua (we don’t know what the other part is but we suspect Pomeranian. Does that make him a Chihuameranian or a Pomahuahua?). Loving the dog entails lying on top of him and occasionally rubbing her face on top of Slim’s head. I’m pretty sure, in dog psychology, that is some very hard core dominance behavior. Brigid doesn’t mind (obviously) and Slim just stares at me with his big bulgy eyes as if to say “Please, make it stop”.

This picture was taken in late July on an early morning in my backyard in South Central Pennsylvania (near Lancaster, PA). I had just purchased this new camera the day before and I was taking pictures of everything in order to learn how to use it. Brigid and the dog were not nearly as amused as I was. Of all the dozens and dozens of bad, out of focus, blurry pictures – this picture is still my all time favorite.

I sent you a picture of my grandfather Robert “OB” O’ Brien.
He is in his Navy uniform from when he was a young man. Unfortunately I never really asked about his time in the service, or much about him as a young man. He was just grandpa and I guess I always thought he would be there. It’s been almost 10 years since he passed, and I wish I had the opportunity to get to know him as a person, there is so much I’d like to know.
Thanks.

My entry for week #3 is Jordan, my guinea pig. Jordan is now angel in heaven where he took a piece of my heart with him. Those of you who have never had the joy of sharing your home with a guinea pig have missed out on so many laughs and smiles. I adopted Jordan from the wildlife & rehab center. He was 2yrs old. The day I adopted him, there were approx 10 other piggies to choose from but the girl who worked there said ‘this little guy is really a love’. So after carefully consideration, I decided he was the one. Jordan was my little buddy. His cage was in the living room where he could be around us all the time. He learned very quickly the sound of the refrigerator opening and knew food would be coming. He lived up to the ‘piggy’ name for sure! He would be waiting with that adorable face…for his food. Jordan had this huge purple plastic igloo that I would put inside his cage at night. He would immediately run inside and go to sleep. Every morning he would be outside the igloo waiting for me. Jordan loved to sit on my lap when I was knitting, checking my emails on the computer or just watching tv. He was always so content to just sit in my lap. He even got along great with the cats and dog. After 4 wonderful years, he got pneumonia and was hospitalized for 3 days. It was the longest 3 days ever. When he came home, I thought he was getting better. He was so good at taking his medicine. But sadly he could not fight it and died 2 weeks later. But I take great comfort in knowing he died very peacefully at home in his favorite purple igloo. I miss him terribly but always remember him with a smile and tons of love.

Happy Birthday!!!
xo
LBC

Throwing my hat into the ring! My photograph is a little kitten named Theo. He was a snowshoe cat, and he has the unique status of being my payment for my first commissioned painting, which was a portrait of his breeder’s cats. His breeder was calling him “Mr. Thumbs”, as he had a funny front paw. I got to bring him home when he was 3 months old, and decided to call him Theophile, after one of my favorite artists who also loved cats, Theophile Steinlen. Theo also means “love of god”, and it was fitting, as he had a special spirit. He was a sweet little boy, and even though he had a funny paw it didn’t slow him down one bit, Theo Thumbs became his nickname.

Unfortunately, his time with us was to be short, as 6 weeks after he arrived, he came down with the mysterious, incurable and deadly cat disease FIP. I lost little Theo when he was less than 6 months old.

However, I know his spirit still resides with me in my studio, and I consider him to be my muse.

Here is one of the few pictures I have of Theo:

http://flickr.com/photos/tagscats/3198547327/

Hmmm… looks like the competition is steep! oh well I want to try anyway. This picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nishona/3198963489/

is of two of my dogs, Ratchet (the little one with the E-Collar on) and hank (the beagle acting like a pillow) This was a couple of years ago when Ratchet was a puppy… He had just had surgery to get Neutered and get his floppy hind leg dew claws removed. This is one of my favorite pictures because it shows a VERY rare ocurrance… Ratchet and hank getting along! Ratchet is the Alpha in my dog pack (go figure, he weighs 17 pounds) and he usually spends most of his time terrorizing poor Hank. On this day Hank was snoozing in the chair and it was very cold outside, all of a sudden Ratchet jumped up and laid on top of Hank for warmth, what was so surprising is that he licked Hank’s snout before he laid down, as if to say “thanks!” I tried to get the kiss on film but I just wasn’t quick enough! It was a moment of rare calm and friendship between them.

Alright, my daughter took this photo of our dog Mylie (yes, she named her after the one and only Cyrus). She was a rescue dog literally on her way to be put down and my hubby intervened and we took her home with us: matted, emaciated, untrained…

This photo was taken after we bathed her, shaved her (ourselves, thus the professional results) and were just getting to know each other. Chloe took this picture and framed it up for me for my birthday and it’s still one of my favorites. Chloe loves her and saving this dog has been one of her greatest joys in life.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=198471&id=1426307131

Here is a picture of our new kitty Pikachu on our family punching bag. He goes on top of the punching bag because not to far off, hanging from the ceiling, are our two parakeets (they are at a very safe distance from him). He likes to stare at them. In this picture he is staring at me. I’m still using my broken camera ‘cos I’m still saving for a new camera, so I didn’t know how to get the glow out of his eyes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/0ceanlady/3200840429/

Thanks for all of your entries this week!! I’ll post the winner tomorrow! (Saturday) 🙂

[…] I’ve selected DaGoddess’ entry as the winner of a custom graphite portrait for Week #3 of my custom portrait […]

[…] 4! I learn something new every week, it seems. Last week, I learned that I really want to give away more than just one portrait a week! I am chewing on […]