Who is Sam: The Cross-Eyed Explorer?
Why on Earth would I base my art around a gray cat with crossed eyes? Well, I'll tell you. To put it short, he is a very unique cat. Yes all cats are unique but he is just special. In 2007 I moved into the milstead house and I met Sam as a stray. He was small, very friendly, and his eyes just looked silly. I would say hello to him and he would follow me around the yard. My first Halloween at the house I spent the evening on the front porch giving candy and Sam was with me the entire time. I will mention that at that time he was having issue with his digestive track as he was very gassy. It was hard to enjoy Halloween when he kept dropping silent bombs.
It wasn't until close to Christmas that I finally adopted him as my cat. He was at the back door and my friend asked if we could let him in as he was begging outside. It was also a bit chilly that night. I said ok and Sam made himself at home. He never used a litter box before so that first night he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go to use the restroom. He found the Christmas tree and thought it was just like being outside and went underneath the tree. Sam is a fast learner as he soon figured out litter box.
Sam grew popularity among the family and he greeted everyone that came into the house. He quickly would gain one's affection with his mannerisms and character. At times he does get into trouble but it is hard to be fully mad at him when he looks at you and you have no idea which way he is looking. Is his vision affected? No, he sees just fine. He uses his eyes to gain your trust.
A couple of things you have to be aware of if you ever happen to visit Sam is that he will attack any unwatched cup, take straws, and you have to take off your shoes for him to love on. Yes, he does have a shoe fetish. He loves them more if you happened to walk in many different locations that day as he loves all the smells. Right now as I am writing this I have a straw next to my laptop and I know Sam is aware of it being there. At the moment he is taking a nap. Whenever I discard a straw I have to put it in the trashcan that has a lid. Sam can sniff out straws. I will put a straw at the bottom of a trash can and put items on top of it thinking he wouldn't know. Sam will later come by and knock over the can to dig out the straw.
In 2010 my life changed when I suffered from an autoimmune disease called HSP Vasculitis. The disease caused me to have to walk away from my career of being an art teacher and change my way of life. As depression began to creep in, Sam was always there to cheer me up. Every day he brought a smile to my face and reminded me that everything was going to be alright. As I want to spread his joy I made our business motto into "making smiles contagious." I hope that every piece of artwork brings a smile to your face. I have never met a cat like this one and so I just had to share him with the public. A majority of the stories are based off of actual things I have observed him doing or something that has occurred in my life.
