I took this photo when I was still living in Colorado. I looked out the window and saw our brave little cat "Cricket" nose to nose with a deer. I always wanted to paint the scene, but only got around to it in Austria. Deer are rare here, but you see them every day in Colorado. I had to alter a lot of the photo as the subject was in deep shadows and the background was brightly lit. I also changed the color of the cat to make it more visible. The background was a challenge: I didn't want to faithfully reproduce all the uninteresting details. But what else do you paint? I find it quite often that the least important parts of an image are the most difficult. I opted for very vaguely indicated trees and grasses. I mean it gives the painting a fairy tale quality.