Animal portraits are inspired by the tradition of iconic painting.
When I paint them, I do not look at them as elements of nature, but as beings endowed with soul and psyche. They have their own names and look into our eyes with the attention of conscious beings.
What is an animal's consciousness and what is its scope?
I do not know. However, I have no doubt that these creatures are not "meat machines" - how often they are called in our culture.
Thanks to science, their life in the physical sphere is becoming more and more understandable to people, but their existence in the metaphysical world is not a subject to any reflection.
Meanwhile, I see their lives in a reality which is similar to the human one - the realm of what is visible and timeless. Hence the icon pattern often found in these images - the animal is perceived not as a "golden calf" offending the image of God, but as a being with the right to divine compassion and the gift of life.
The painterly attention I devote to animal portraits is an expression of my two admiration for them: their shapes, forms and colours, and the mysterious timelessness of the beauty of which they are a living embodiment.