Always in Our Hearts: Four Cats, Four Characters, One Very Special Family 🐾🧡

Some cat portraits are about capturing a likeness.

Others are about capturing a life.

And every now and then, a commission comes along that is really about capturing an entire little world - the personalities, the quirks, the funny habits, the favourite things and, most importantly, the love that connects them all.

‘Always in Our Hearts’ is one of those paintings.

This very special commission was created for Phaedra as a surprise birthday present from Amanda, featuring four much-loved cats: Mia, Mavis, Callie and Mickey.

Amanda sent me photographs of the four of them, along with wonderfully detailed notes about their personalities. And I absolutely loved reading them!

Because, as any cat lover knows, the little things are often the things that make a cat them.

The way they sleep.

The things they steal.

The ridiculous things they are convinced they can hunt.

The places they insist on sitting.

The food they mysteriously believe belongs to them.

And those tiny quirks that you could never explain to somebody else, but that instantly make you smile because you know exactly who they belong to.

That was what I wanted to bring to life in this painting.

🐾 Meet Mia - the gentleman of the group

First up is Mia, the handsome longhaired ginger and white boy at the top left.

Mia had serious ‘life is pretty good, actually’ energy.

He was confident, laid-back and wonderfully chilled. Nothing much seemed to bother him - including the fact that he apparently suffered from a particularly impressive case of selective deafness.

He heard what he wanted to hear!

Mia adored sunbathing, although his love of soaking up the sunshine eventually resulted in his ears being removed. He wasn’t particularly interested in being a lap cat, but he was incredibly gentle and apparently never hunted.

In fact, Mia was so accommodating that he would happily let other cats into the house — and even allow them to eat his food!

There was also the legendary occasion when another cat helped themselves to fish from an oven tray while Mia simply watched.

I mean…

Mia clearly had his priorities. 😸

I wanted his expression to capture that wonderfully relaxed, unbothered personality — the look of a cat who has absolutely nothing to prove.

And frankly, why would he?

🐾 Mavis - the secret softie

Down in the bottom right is Mavis, a beautiful black-and-white tuxedo girl.

Mavis was the more sensitive soul.

She was shy, didn’t trust easily and was deeply bonded to Phaedra. She was fiercely loyal and apparently had very clear rules about who was allowed to stroke her and when.

Especially in front of Phaedra!

Yet behind the scenes, there was another Mavis.

Amanda had proof on video of secret cuddle sessions, revealing that underneath that cautious exterior was a very affectionate little girl.

I absolutely loved that contrast.

And then there was Mavis’s relationship with Mia.

She was apparently scared of him…

…but would still sneak into his room to eat his food.

😹

So perhaps Mavis wasn’t that scared after all.

Food also had a starring role in Mavis’s life, so I wanted to weave in subtle food references rather than simply decorating the painting with random objects. Every little detail has a reason for being there.

And then there is one of my favourite details about Mavis:

She could fist-pump for treats.

Yes.

A cat who could actually do a little fist pump in exchange for snacks.

Honestly, I think every cat should have to learn this skill.

🦋 Callie - the little diva with a butterfly obsession

Then there’s Callie, the gorgeous longhaired tortoiseshell at the top right.

And Callie?

Callie had presence.

She was vocal, expressive and absolutely not afraid to make her opinions known.

She also hated closed doors.

Even when she didn’t actually want to go through the door.

Because, naturally, the important thing was that the door should not be closed.

😹

Callie also loved being groomed and would tap people to encourage them to continue.

Which I think is an exceptionally effective way of communicating:

‘Excuse me. You appear to have stopped.’

Her footstool was apparently her personal podium, and she adored attention from the family, especially her nieces and nephews.

But perhaps the most important Callie detail was her love of the butterfly toy.

So there absolutely had to be a butterfly in the painting. 🦋

And it isn’t just a decorative butterfly.

It represents Callie’s playful side and her love of hunting - because this girl was a little ninja when it came to insects.

Unlike somebody else in this painting…

🐾 Mickey - the hunter who wasn’t quite a hunter

And finally, we have Mickey.

Our chunky ginger and white boy at the bottom left.

Mickey was affectionate, needy and wonderfully babyish.

He was particularly bonded to Amanda and loved nothing more than being glued to her - especially when he could lie on her tummy.

He also loved food.

A lot.

And he apparently considered himself to be a highly accomplished hunter.

There was just one tiny problem.

The evidence suggested otherwise.

😹

While Callie was the real insect-hunting ninja, Mickey would apparently perform a much slower, more theoretical version of hunting.

Let’s call it…

aspirational hunting.

He’d pretend.

Callie did the actual work.

I absolutely adore these little contrasts between the cats because they tell you so much about their personalities.

And I wanted Mickey’s expression to have that slightly lovable, expectant quality of a cat who is very confident that something good is about to happen.

Preferably food.

❤️ Four cats. Four personalities. One story.

One of the things I loved most about creating this painting was discovering how completely different these four cats were.

Mia - chilled, gentle and completely unbothered.

Mavis - shy, sensitive and secretly affectionate.

Callie - vocal, demanding, glamorous and a tiny hunting machine.

Mickey - affectionate, food-loving and convinced he was a great hunter.

There are also some lovely layers to their story.

Mia and Mavis had passed away before Callie and Mickey were adopted.

Callie and Mickey were rehomed together and became lifelong companions - although, amusingly, they apparently didn’t actually like each other that much!

Which somehow makes the painting even more special.

Because although they each had their own personalities, their own relationships and their own little stories, they all belong to the same family story.

And that’s what I wanted ‘Always in Our Hearts’ to represent.

Not four identical portraits lined up together.

But four individual souls, each completely themselves.

🎨 Every little detail tells a story

When I create a Feline Sublime commission, I don’t just want to reproduce photographs.

The photographs are the starting point.

The real magic happens when I start discovering who the cat was.

What made them happy?

What made them ridiculous?

What did they love?

What did they do that drove their humans mad?

What tiny habit would immediately make their family say:

‘Oh my goodness, that’s SO them!’

Those are the details I want to capture.

And sometimes, there are details in a painting that carry a deeper meaning too.

The forget-me-not flower is a little symbol of remembrance. The robin is there as a gentle reminder of those who remain close to us, even when we can no longer see them. The rainbow cake brings a feeling of celebration and joy - because remembering our beloved cats isn’t only about missing them, but about celebrating the wonderful lives they shared with us.

And surrounding the cats are my little dots of light, creating a kind of shimmering halo around them. To me, they represent the idea that their energy, their spirit and the love we have for them never truly disappear.

So, hidden amongst the colour, patterns and huge expressive eyes of this painting are little pieces of Mia, Mavis, Callie and Mickey.

The butterfly.

The food.

The playful details.

The symbolism.

The memories.

And, of course, the love.

Because ultimately, that’s what makes a portrait like this meaningful.

🧡 The birthday surprise

Perhaps the loveliest part of this whole commission came after the painting was finished.

Neither Phaedra nor Amanda saw the finished artwork before Phaedra’s birthday.

It was kept completely secret.

And when they finally opened it…

they both cried.

But these weren’t sad tears.

They were tears of joy, excitement, recognition and love.

They called me absolutely thrilled and incredibly thankful.

And honestly?

That is one of the most wonderful things anyone could tell an artist.

Because when somebody looks at a painting of their cats and instantly sees their cats - not just what they looked like, but who they were - then I know I’ve done what I set out to do.

Always in Our Hearts 🐾

Mia.

Mavis.

Callie.

Mickey.

Four cats who were all wonderfully, hilariously and completely themselves.

Four little personalities.

Four sets of quirks.

Four stories.

And four very special places in the hearts of the people who loved them.

That’s what I love about creating cat art.

Cats leave pawprints everywhere.

On furniture.

On clothes.

On freshly washed bedding.

On our hearts.

And sometimes, if we’re lucky, they leave a little piece of themselves on a canvas too.

Always in Our Hearts. 🧡🐾

A little note from Charlotte

Every Feline Sublime commission is hand-painted with love and created around the unique personality, quirks and story of each cat. I don’t just want to paint what your cat looks like - I want to capture what makes them unmistakably yours.

If you’d like to create your own one-of-a-kind feline portrait, I’d love to hear about your cat, their personality and all those wonderfully ridiculous little things that make them special. 🐾