I had a lot of fun painting this lovely portrait of such a sweet kitty, Francis, under the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, Francis passed away earlier this year. His owner reached out to me a few months ago via my website and asked me to create this painting. I have a cat myself, and I know how much they love to be underneath (or in, on) the Christmas tree. I loved painting this piece; the glowing lights on the tree added a lot of fun colors and reflections.

I heard back from the customer last week after she received the painting, and I want to share her sweet words:

“…thank you so much for the beautiful portrait! I’ve already shown several other people who knew Francis and everyone says it is perfect. You captured his funny little face, those eyes, that way he seemed to be in his own world so well. I was grappling a bit with getting a tree this year without him being around and I think having the painting will help. It will definitely be treasured here.”

This is everything! I absolutely love painting, but knowing I helped create something so meaningful for someone else brings me so much joy.

Francis; 14×18 oil on canvas