"Gateway Keeper"
Oil on Canvas
62 cm x 47 cm (Sm)
SOLD
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"The Gateway Keeper"
Everyone thinks the Pharaoh guards the gateway.
He doesn't. The cat does. In this painting, the great king — stoic, golden,
cobra crowned — stares forward through eternity, as kings do. Behind him, the
sacred symbols float like whispers: the Ankh, the key of life; the two Eyes of
Horus, one blue as the heavens, one green as the earth, watching both worlds at
once. But look closer.
Perched right on top of the Pharaoh's crown, curled up
as if it's his own headdress, is a small cat, fast asleep. And below, huge,
filling the entire foreground, is another cat — wide-eyed, whiskers bristling
with electricity, staring right at you. She is the real Gateway Keeper. In
ancient Egypt, cats were not pets. They were gods. Bastet, the protector, the
guardian of the threshold between the physical and the spirit world. No soul
could pass into the afterlife without first getting past the cat.
The Pharaoh
may have ruled Egypt, but the cat ruled whether the Pharaoh's soul got to leave
it. I painted her huge in the foreground for a reason — because in the spirit
world, she is huge. Her eyes are not cat eyes, they are portals. One holds the
moon, one holds the sun. She has seen you come and go for lifetimes. The tiny
cat napping on the king's head? That's her too, in her other form — pretending
to be ordinary while she holds dominion over a god.
The Pharaoh’s long beard
points down to her like an arrow: Ask her. The Ankh glows behind him like a key
he cannot use without her permission. The Eyes of Horus are watching to see if
she will let you through. Will she?
This painting is for those who know that
cats were never really domesticated. We live in their temples, not the other
way around. It’s protective, mystical, and a little bit cheeky — just like any
true keeper should be.
For the collector: This is a luminous, layered oil — the
Pharaoh rendered in smooth, ancient golds and cool blues, and the cat in rich,
warm, tactile fur you want to reach out and touch. Up close you see the fine
whiskers, the tiny sleeping cat hidden in the crown, and the soft glow of the
Ankh. From a distance, her gaze follows you around the room. Perfect for a
hallway, an entranceway, or anywhere you want a guardian — because every home
needs a Gateway Keeper. |
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