“The Owl and the Pussycat”
contemporary figurative painting. acrylic on canvas. 24 in x 30 in.

“The Owl and the Pussycat” contemporary figurative painting

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a little row boat.  Everyone begged them not to go. There were rumors of pirates hunting pigs in the outer islands, they said.  But the Owl doubted it were true, so they sailed away one moonless night.

As it turned out, there were pirates hunting in the islands.  The Owl found their ship anchored just inside the reef near Sweet-Potato Key.  One pirate kept giant African bullfrogs locked in a sea chest  that had holes drilled in the top.  While at sea, he fed the bullfrogs any rats he could catch and the worms that lived in the ship’s biscuits.  The bullfrogs smelled terrible, and the Pussycat thought they had no manners at all, at least not compared to the frogs she had known in Paris.

The Owl paid no attention to the pirates or the frogs.  He charted a course for the moon, and sang love songs to the Pussycat as he played his guitar.  One night, as they drifted under the stars, a whale sang them a lullaby.