Siamese

Siamese

Oil on canvas, 12x12, $300

As I was painting this Siamese, I began to wonder why Siamese cats have blue eyes. I mean, I know why their eyes are blue. I know about the way light bounces and how it makes colors and all that, but genetically, evolutionarily, I wonder why their eyes are blue.

I had an all-white cat, Niobe, for many, many years. She had green-gold eyes, and she was a funny, grouchy, willful cat for all her years with me. Had she had blue eyes, I've been told, she would have been deaf. That's right. Blue eyes and a white coat have a genetic link to deafness in cats. Who knew?

I had great fun painting this Siamese. It was the third piece I did on Saturday in West Hartford, and I was tired and rushed. Sometimes, that situation makes for disasters. Sometimes, it makes for the best work!