nabooly } two paintings of a cat

nabooly, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 100cm

I have been wanting to give my parents a house-warming gift for ages, so my mom asked me if I could create two paintings for a specific area in their new mountain home in Beirut. She had a few guidelines for me, one of which was ‘no people’, which is like asking McDonald’s not to serve burgers. She said that my dad had already purchased two figurative paintings from a local artist and wanted something different. So with challenge in hand, I thought of oranges, apples, furniture, eggs, and even Persian rugs. But I finally settled on Nabooly the family cat. He’s a gorgeous Scottish-Fold who sits around the house doing nothing all day (still life?). Plus, I felt I could sneak some people-like features into his face and expression. My parents haven’t seen the paintings yet so I’m deeply hoping they like them.

i do hope this captures the essence of nabooly: docile, regal, curious and a little dog-like

nabooly: painting of a sculpture of a cat, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 100 cm. i finished both paintings yesterday and the figure of the cat in this one is very different than the one i had finished earlier. so it just looked like i had created a sculpture of nabooly but as a painting. does that make sense?

instagram bonus: i took a few photos of my subject sniffing out the paintings. but really, isn't he just a kitty whose cheeks you want to squeeze?