The unexpected gift - a portrait of Pippen

This is how I once described artist Connie Bowen to a friend of mine:

“It’s as if a cluster of stars were up in the sky, sparkling away, and one day they decided to float down to earth and transform into a person…just for the fun of it!”

That's Connie.

She is as kind, generous and bubbly as she is talented. Last year, after I lost my cat, Dickens, Connie gifted me with a magnificent portrait of my wonderful boy.

This week, Connie again surprised me with a photo of the portrait she painted of my forever cat, Pippen, who I lost last month.

I took one look at the portrait and had to catch my breath, for there was my sweet girl staring back at me from the canvas!

Pippen was a creature of the earth…grounded in every sense of the word. She used her body well. It took her to the three places she most loved – the food bowl, my bed and my lap! She felt so…well…permanent. I never would have thought that something with that much substance could ever go away.

She was the exact opposite of her sister, Star. Gravity can barely keep Star earthbound!

Connie has captured Pippen’s true essence in her breathtaking portrait! I can see Pip’s beautiful spirit lighting my precious girl from within. It IS Pippen, watching over me from her heavenly home in the stars! The confusion that filled her eyes in those last few weeks as the cancer took over is gone, and all that’s left is the love.

Note the angel, there to watch over Pippen…and perhaps me, too.

I wish every person who has lost a dear forever critter could experience the joy of having their furball live on in one of Connie’s paintings...for live on they do!

I have felt Pip’s presence very strongly in the weeks since she’s been gone. As I wrote in my book For Every Cat An Angel:

"A cat can never really be separated from its forever person. Neither time nor space can ever come between them."

And that is exactly what Connie painted.

To learn more about Connie Bowen and her extraordinary books and artwork be sure to visit her website.

Chris Davis

Lighthearted Press
Publishing magical books for animal lovers!