Some History
In California, I was a horse person and kept my horse in a barn with 7 great friends.
Along with friends and horses, we had 10 barn cats. Spanky was my great friend, and one of the best barn cats ever! He was gorgeous to look at, friendly, and fond of catching mice. He was a beautiful long-haired orange tabby with a luxurious white ruff.
Early Creation
“Spanky the Barn Cat” was the second stone sculpture I made, and the first sculpture I made on my own. I took a 5-day carving class at the Loveland Museum taught by a Zimbabwe master carver and made my first sculpture there.
I had no orange stone, so Spanky was carved from Opal stone, a traditional Zimbabwe carving stone. This treasured piece is in my own collection.
An Homage
After I left California, our barn moved to a new permanent location. Spanky moved with the horses, but travelled back to his old barn.
He never showed up at the old barn, so I hope he found a new home. This piece is an homage to him.
Comments/Replies Open
I love your tribute to your Barn Cat~I have a cat that loves to catch mice etc. and of course has to bring them in the house to share~~~~YIKES. Your works is aww so inspiring Ellen. I have seen a lot of your work in your sight that I hadn’t seen on FB. Happy you left the link to look through. Best to you~
Hi Anne! Thanks for making time to browse through my stone sculptures. I have been carving stone since before I joined Facebook, so some of them were never posted there. I love cats and have shared my life with many. I have a 40-inch tall bronze homage to my cat Moonface that I will share very soon. She was a barn cat for part of her long life. I am waiting for the granite base for the sculpture, which should be done in the next 2 weeks. Thanks so much for your appreciation of my work!