Aysha and Charlotte by Heather Love

Learning curve has been more than learnt. Marvellous piece of work.

What a great painting and a touching story too!

Great painting and story.

Amazing painting Heather and such a heart warming story to go with it.

Very striking and a bit tricky to paint I bet!

Lovely work , portrait looks amazing, really life like , well done.

Wonderful work Heather, just commented on your piece on the Forum.

Such special tiger with a lovely portrait of Charlotte. Well painted Heather.

A fantastic painting Heather and so poignant after reading her story.

So special.

Beautiful painting and story .

Love it !!

Excellent painting, well done Heather!.

Beautiful story and a beautiful painting. You have portrayed the emotions so well in the painting! Great job Heather!

Wonderful painting Heather.

Thank you so much everyone - shall pass your lovely comments on to my special friend Charlotte.

This is a stunning painting. It's love and skill combined to leave me wordless.

Wonderful!

What an incredible piece of work!

Brilliant, both painting and backstory on the forum.

Good painting heather and the tonal values on the face as super.

Nice

Beautiful executed pair of portraits Heather!

Beautiful Heather

This is marvellous Heather and full of a very touching narrative, I don’t doubt.

Lovely work Heather.

Great painting Heather!

I keep looking at this Heather and keep finding things to admire. A really beautiful piece of artwork.

Wow, wonderful double portrait Heather

A super painting Heather.

Excellent painting Heather.

A really good painting Heather, captures a moment in time beautifully

Evocative and beautiful portraiture.

You've done a great job Heather to capture the love and trust between them. We are blessed that we can interact with different species in such a special way.

Superb!

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments. As the back story has disappeared off the Forum here it is in Charlotte's words who appears in the painting:- Aysha was the people’s tiger and she was, my little girl. Now a distant star she continues to shine in the hearts and minds of those whose lives she lit up with a chuff, a head rub, an acknowledgment of connection across species. I met her and her brother, Diamond, in 1998. They were 3 months old, I was 22. They had been born into an Irish zoo and (apparently) rejected by their mother. I’ll never forget seeing them trundling down the ramp of the horse box they arrived in. I knew they’d make and break my heart. But in between the make and the break we shared many moments of pure joy. We walked on the sandy shores of Sandown beach, played football and spent dozy days laying together lapping up the sun. Aysha was the spark, always ignited and desperate for chat or just company and a neck massage. She made everyone feel special bridging the gap between predator and prey. Impossibly ‘cute’ for a biologically evolved killing machine, with her signature smudged nose and small stature, Aysha was a gentle and giving being. But, like all tigers, she liked to dine alone and would fiercely defend dinner. She was a keen swimmer and loved her natural pool where she would ‘hunt’ unsuspecting Diamond, erupting as a striped blur onto his back from behind the reed beds. Aysha was always animated and never failed to trot over to greet her human friends of which there were many. She had a knack of shifting any down day into an up day, a frown into a smile. And, most importantly, she built bridges between the chasms of conceptual versus visceral concern for threatened wild tigers and her abused captive cousins. She showed people that tigers are not templates but complex, vulnerable, characterful beings. These feared and revered predators could be docile, soft and as in need of friendship and protection from suffering as our cherished animal companions. Sometimes I’d stay overnight with Aysha, sleeping on a camp bed with a flask of tea. In the mornings I’d waken to watch my girl stretching across her straw bed with a toothy yawn and a lot to say about the new day. We’d lock eyes, she’d chuff and whisper through a whisker. . .I love you and I’d whisper back. . .I love you too. She died aged 21 years. She never stopped serving her best side to all who came to be restored by her presence. She made everyone feel special. On her final Earth day many came to show their respects before she sipped her last mug of milk and slipped into a sleep crossing continents back to her homeland, to the forests of India that missed knowing her dainty paw prints and ever sweet spirit. There, I swear, she is still burning bright.

Wow Heather! This is a tear jerking story behind this unique painting. I can tell that your friend Charlotte and Ausha had a very special bond as your painting truly shows. Talk about a picture telling a thousand words!

Excellent Heather.

Doesn’t get any better

What a story! Love the painting, lots of emotion in it.

VERY GOOD RENDITION

Love this beautiful face. Un retrato muy bien trabajado, muy bella dama y una gran retratista. Bravo !!!

Wow. This is excellent 👌

Such a beautiful painting.

Just wonderful. So much warmth conveyed in this painting