Noletta | An Expressive Portrait of the Unconditional Bond Between Child and Cat by KRAB

She didn’t need to call out her name. The cat was already there.

A girl with wild red curls and blue eyes holds a reddish-orange cat against her cheek — two faces as close together as two beings can be who do not speak each other’s language yet understand one another completely. The expressive painting technique works in deep reds and browns, a dark background, brushstrokes that seem to embrace the figures. The light falls on their faces — her blue eye looking somewhere far away, the cat’s golden eye that is right here, right now. This work is about a memory. About a cat called Noletta who was always nearby. About the bond between a child and an animal that needs no words and no explanation — only presence. Cats choose. And when a cat chooses a child, it is something you carry with you for the rest of your life. This is about my childhood and how I grew up.

From a distance, this is a warm, colourful, expressive portrait with the power of an Old Master. Up close, you can see the layers in the brushstrokes, the texture in both their hair, the way the girl and the cat form a single composition — as if they have never been anything else. Perfect as a standalone statement piece in a living room, bedroom or study with a warm, eclectic or romantic interior. A special gift for anyone who has ever had a cat that was more than just a cat.

Available as an ArtFrame or photo print via Werk aan de Muur. For anyone who still remembers the name of their first cat.

Digital art by Karina Brouwer — created in Delft.