A gift of Gus

Gus arrived in our lives in late 2012, a gift from the family who were looking after him and his brother Rock - a story well known to the many blippers who followed him in this journal. This week, a gift of Gus arrived in the post, a painting of him. It was commissioned by Sue, his second favourite human, and our most trusted friend for looking after him on those rare occasions when we had to leave him behind in his frailty.

Sue gave us a strong hint of what was due to arrive, a painting by Bob Sutcliffe, it was meant to be a house warming present when Gus was still alive. We moved sooner than she expected, and our Gussie only lived for a month after we left Arnside. She said she hoped that it wouldn’t upset us when it arrived.

I must say I was nervous that it might fail to capture his gentle soul. So we opened the packaging with trepidation, and there was the Gus we loved so much looking at us. Yes, we did shed tears again for him, how could we not? But we shall always treasure this beautiful picture of Gus, such a generous and thoughtful gift from a special friend.

Bob Sutcliffe is a local artist in South Cumbria who taught himself to paint in 2017 when after being unwell, his doctor told him to do something relaxing with his time. He had no idea that he had this latent talent, it turns out he has an extraordinary gift. He has used that gift to give much of the proceeds of his sales to charities.

ps The imperfections of focus and marks on the image are due to my photograph of the painting.

Bob’s website: https://www.bobonpaintings.com/