Comments on: Custom Portrait Giveaway : Week #6

By: Portrait Winner - Week #6 - Graphite Portrait Giveaway - Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:02:32 +0000

[…] of Week #6 of my Custom Portrait Giveaway is Ammie with her story of Willie – a cat she rescued and promptly […]

By: Leanne

Leanne — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:32:41 +0000

Thanks for your entries this week! Will post the winner tomorrow (Saturday) – stay tuned!

By: leanne

leanne — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:18:27 +0000

from one Leanne to another! its teh 6th today, i really hope I am in time! I would be over the moon to have one of your drawings of my beloved and wonderful cat Merlin. He is my little feline Lord and I am his willing servant! I delivered him, severed his umbilical cord and the bond was instant, he is mine and I am his!

if the link above doesnt work the pic can be found on my blog http://www.somersetseasons.blogspot.com/ in the post friday musings 6th feb, (meriln on the shelf)

many thanks leanne, blessings to you, Leanne, Dorset, UK

By: Ammie

Ammie — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:17:52 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepingmommy/317179139/sizes/o/

Willie holds a special place in my heart. He’s my “first born” and my “first love”. He was such an amazing cat.

I rescued him when he was around six weeks old. He was starving and I stole him out of my step-brother’s yard. My brother and his family were neglecting him. He was thrown outdoors to fend for himself because he had been chewing up the baby’s bottle nipples.

When I got him to the vet, the doc said it was a good thing I took him when I did, he was starving, less than a pound, close to six weeks (which meant he had been taken from his mama and litter mates at less than a month old) and would have starved within a few more days.

He grew though. And his hair grew. And his tail! it was so long and bushy that my uncle mistook him for a raccoon.

I used to walk him on a leash to take him to my grandparents for Sunday dinner. My grandfather loved that cat and often tried to talk me out of him. Others did too.

He was laid back. Cool. And big! All fifteen pounds of him under that long hair. He wasn’t pedigreed but he was clearly a Maine Coon from all the descriptions I read.

He began turning white in 2006. A few hairs here and there. I didn’t think anything of it. Then one day I picked him up and discovered he’d lost weight. A lot of it. He felt like half the cat he used to be. I took him to the emergency vet clinic and learned he had FIV and Felv. It would take thousands of dollars just to treat him to give him a little more time with us. He had stopped eating and was severely dehydrated. We didn’t have thousands of dollars and I made one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to. And I couldn’t even stay while they did it. I couldn’t handle it. I was weak and I will always regret that.

Willie was cremated and he sits in a box on my bedside table. I know–it seems a morbid. Maybe even sick.

Oh how I loved that cat. Still do.

By: Rescued Gold

Rescued Gold — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Try Number 2. 😀

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28155414@N00/3209170793/

Ferris, on the right, was rescued in 4/06. I received the call to rescue Ferris about 3:00 in the afternoon the day we put our Golden of ten years, Fenway, down after a long battle with cancer. I couldn’t believe it. We had put in to rescue long before, thinking that would be the medicine Fennie needed, but it wasn’t meant to be. I am not one who is into signs, but there ever was one, that would be it. When we heard about Ferris, we were also told about Cameron. Ferris was abused and Cam was a stray with a broken front leg. Something in my gut told me to take Cam too, although my husband was not so sure two dogs would be a good idea.

Ferris’ original name was Kyle and we had changed it to Ferris (the F for Fenway). I woke at 3am about a week after the call and woke up Scott and yelled, “We have to take Cameron in too!! Cameron is Ferris Bueller’s best friend in the movie!!”

Certifiable I am!

Ferris is our cowardly lion, but has grown so much in the 2 1/2 years we have had him. He has just learned to use his bark (not sure if he knew he had one prior to his abuse) and is definitely a mama’s boy. Cameron is our evil little gnome; getting into everything…including our hearts. They both needed us. Cam has horrible allergies and is on meds and shots. I am not sure how many people would take in a dog like that. A lot of hard work got Ferris to be the boy he is today…again much paitience. And, they love each other. They both would not be the dogs they are without one another.

Our home and hearts are full once again, but we’ll always have a piece for Fenway.

(FYI, Ferris is petrfied of cameras’s so this picture, as are many, was taken with the isight camera in my Macintosh!)

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:47:49 +0000

Entry for week #6: I came upon Taylor Mae many years ago when she was living outside my townhome in a nearby bush. She was a petite little girl with a slightly crooked tail. I started putting out food every day and in a weeks time Taylor Mae surprised me with 3 black kitties that she was taking care of. (You can see their gorgeous oil portraits by Leanne if you look for Emily, Ten & Tori). It was so comical because when I used to walk my dog Barkley (you can see his beautiful oil portrait as well), Taylor Mae used to always ‘tail’ us. We would walk around the complex and there she was, always one step behind us, happy as could be. Finally 2 months later all 4 girls became permanent residents in my home. I was lucky enough to share my life with Taylor Mae for 5 years. During that time, her and Barkley became BEST friends. They slept together and played together all the time. Taylor Mae was often seen cleaning the inside of his large ears and then he would return the favor by cleaning hers. Taylor Mae wore a beautiful collar with a bell. One of her favorite things to do was to run behind the wall unit in the living room. She would jingle all the way through until she came out the other side. Taylor Mae got acute renal failure and could not recover. Sadly she went into the hospital and died 4 days later. I was unprepared and extremely heart broken. I will never forget her. She was a very special kitty.

By: Leanne

Leanne — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:21:04 +0000

Thanks, Karen!

Hmm… I think for me, critters are more forgiving. A strand of fur here, strand there, they’re great details but not the details that make you recognize the critter, know what I mean? You recognize the pattern of the fur, the eyes. The little quirks (a spot of dark on a white nose, that kind of thing).

With people, we very much recognize every bit about a face – so if a nostril is a bit off, or the shape of the face is elongated too much – it doesn’t look like the person you intend for it to be.

Since I’m so critical of my own work (I woke up and reworked the thumb area after thinking I was finished) – I find people very challenging, but I also need that challenge. I just prefer to have it disbursed among more forgiving subjects.

:friends:

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:06:46 +0000

Wow–simply amazing! Dylan came out spectacular. You really captured the innocence and beauty of this little one.

Leanne, I’m curious….do you find it easier, more challenging and/or more enjoyable to draw critters or people?

Oh…and I have to say that Mackie is one adorable face.

By: Taba

Taba — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:40:22 +0000

I’ll start this thing off.
I don’t have a touching story. This is our dog Mackie, she was my daughter’s 3rd birthday present. And when given the task of naming the dog my daughter named her after a dog we had gotten rid of one year prior for biting. Mackie is a sweetie but she is also a huge pain in the butt. She’s been busting the slats of our fence EVERY SINGLE day to go play in the neighbor’s yard. We love her though.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1115/3171049907_c9f733aaa6_o.jpg