Barda & Neko by Steve Rude

I commissioned this piece as a memorial for my boy Neko who has been fighting cancer for five years. He's a tough cat who's seen some shit in his lifetime. When we found him he had been shot by an arrow and left for dead in the woods. A few months after that he was hit by a car and broke the same leg he had been shot with.

His cancer is in a spot where it is inoperable. Yet despite all this he has never lost his adventurous spirit, his love of people, or his friendly nature. Personality wise he is very similar to The Barron from the film The Cat Returns.

The past thirteen years he's lived with us has been a blessing.

December 2020