Calisto

Named for one of Jupiter's moons, this cosmic being in fur is totally magnificent, and what a challenge to bring his presence into this painting. Calisto is a Scottish Fold, so his ears naturally fold over a few days after birth. Folds also have no dander and so are good choices if there are allergic people around. Calisto lives on a ranch in the wine country of California. He has traveled to 8 foreign countries, and nearly every state in the US, backpacked in the Sierras, even walked the streets of New York on a leash! Here I chose a very zen setting for him as he surveyed his world from the back porch of the house. His person, Robert is an architect, so I made a bow to that with the setting.

Tho I worked from a photo a lot of adjustments had to be made to make the composition balance. I used an orange-blue complementary color scheme, and notice how things are offset not just squared off in the horizontals and verticals. Every simple element was thought out to create beautiful harmonies and grace. Just like Calisto. This work was unveiled with a flourish at his birthday party in March. One of the great things about being an pet portrait artist is I don't have to explain away being completely totally over the top nutty about animals, and I get to hang around people who are the same way!