American Kitty - 36" x 48".

When cats aren't dreaming about running through sunny fields or chasing fat squirrels, this is where I think they go. To a world of abundance where everything they ever wanted is there in huge quantities. There hasn't been a single person who's seen this original and not burst out laughing.

I could clearly see the finished piece in my mind. It was inspired by that famous scene in the movie American Beauty of Mena Suvari on her back, shot from above, with rose petals falling down. Of course in my world the girl is replaced with a cat and the rose petals with cat toys. The same feeling of ecstasy remains and I just love the sexy look in her eyes. In the rough below you can see the development of the background as well as the positioning of the body. I was debating drawing up the canvas like this then designing all the toys at that point but the more I thought it through, I felt I needed to work out all those details on paper first. For instance there are two snakes in the piece that weave their way in and out through the background. And most of the toys fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to eliminate gaps between them. If I tried to work out all that detail on canvas I don't think it would have been as good a result. You'll also notice that with a piece with as busy a background as this I even had to pre-plan where my signature would go so it wouldn't get lost.