A Portrait Of Me & The Bird My Cat Killed
Jan 21, 2015
Story
Acrylic on canvas.
This portrait was inspired by a few different things.
Firstly, I have always loved the work of Frida Kahlo, & a few weeks ago I watched ‘Frida’, a movie about her life. Since then I have really wanted to a portrait of myself, one that really meant something to me.
Then, the other day, my cat Juno jumped through the window with a bird hanging from his mouth. As soon as I saw it, I ran over to him & took him outside & made him drop the bird, but it was too late. It just lay there on it’s back, eyes closed. I took it to the back of my garden & placed it under a tree. I felt so saddened by it’s lifeless body, but at the same time I was mesmerized by it’s beauty. It was a beautiful brown colour, with specks of green & yellow on it’s feathers. All I could think of was how tragically beautiful it was.
Then, a few days later, I watched a movie called ‘American Beauty’. I had been meaning to watch it for ten years, but never got around to it. There was a scene in the movie where a boy is filming a dead bird as it lay lifeless on the grass. When asked why he was filming it, he replied ‘Because it’s beautiful.’
I wanted to somehow make it up to the bird that my cat killed, & I figured what better way to give something life than to immortalise it forever in art.
Now, that bird will live forever :)
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