The Dream of a Stray Cat Who Became a God

This is a special piece that took two years of revisions to reach a finish I was satisfied with. I first began working on it after meditating at Wailua Beach on the eastern coast of Kauai, Hawaii. During my meditation, I envisioned a gentle golden dragon and a young white dragon brimming with a sense of justice, but what I ended up drawing was a white cat riding a wave. While I found it amusing, I kept revising it in search of something that truly captured the essence of a “white dragon.” But something still didn’t quite feel right. After much rethinking, I hit a wall and sought advice from my partner, Anan the Dragon. Anan then said, “This one isn’t a white dragon—it’s a white cat… It used to be a stray cat. He used to be starving every day, and his dream was to live in the ocean. Now he’s become a god. He watches over his friends from the ocean so they can always eat delicious fish.” Oh, and about ‘that’ on the back—please use my idea for it.” By “that,” Anan-ryu meant, “Turn the back of the canvas into part of the artwork, too.” Please place talismans or treasures inside this “that”—which embodies Anan-ryu’s thoughtful design—to attract the greatest luck (sharp objects and liquids are not allowed) ♥