The Cat Who Got Painted Into History
My mum and dad’s cat Bridget (pictured above) has always been a bit of a wanderer. Never was her nomadic spirit more evident than in summer 2020, when (partly due to her clashes with George) she’d vanish for weeks on end. While she was away my mum and dad suffered many sleepless nights and spent hours walking every lane and footpath within a couple of miles of their house, calling her name. My dad developed a theory: somewhere in the mild Nottinghamshire countryside, Bridget had found an unlikely portal which allowed her to travel through time. To distract himself from his worries, he began to paint what he imagined her adventures to be.
Early on, I was pleased to see Bridget had cropped up in one of my favourite paintings, The Arnolfini Portrait, by Jan van Eyck.
And on the cover shot for my second favourite Beatles album.
Ever-restless, Bridget then decided to sample the golden age of train travel, by infiltrating one of the most memorable bucolic scenes by the early 20th Century painter and wood-engraver Eric Ravilious (and additionally deciding the famous Westbury White Horse could do with a bit of light rebranding).
The paintings came out of my dad’s work room at a startling rate. I could never predict exactly what was coming next.
Bridget’s travels became ever deeper, ever wilder, permitting her to visit many different countries and time periods to indulge her favourite pastimes, such as violence and foraging.
However, as is her way, she remained supremely stylish and tasteful at all times.
Sometimes, as my dad channelled his worry into art in a flurry of inspiration, things got really psychedelic.
After I showed him the astounding online response to the series, my dad was motivated to paint yet more Bridget adventures.
Bridget has gone on several more adventures since then but is - to my mum and dad’s relief - becoming much more of a homebody as she settles into her middle years.
If you’re in the UK and you would like to purchase a signed paperback of my latest novel Everything Will Swallow Youdirect from me, I’ll also send you a couple of postcards of these wonderful paintings by my dad, for free. Just drop me an email with your address at hello@tom-cox.com.
If you’re outside the UK, you can get the book with FREE international delivery here, from Blackwell’s.
I’ve written a short guide to my other books here.
