Ranajit Sinha

by “Cheeks was a stray cat in Lowertown, and several neighbours had been feeding him. One day someone in the building next door called bylaw because he was spraying in her basement apartment window. The neighbours took him in, and he paid a visit to the vet. No one would actually adopt him (none of their own cats liked him was the excuse), and they asked if Jeff and I would. We felt we really had no choice because he would have been put down, but in the end, it was the best decision we ever made. He turned out to be one of the sweetest cats we have ever had and became Jeff’s sidekick. By the time he turned 22, his health wasn’t so great and his mobility was decreasing. We made the really tough decision to have him put down at home by our well-loved vet while Jeff cuddled him in his lap. Soon after, I found out my colleague’s husband was an art professor. I realized a portrait of Cheeks would be an epic way to surprise Jeff on his birthday. And it was. When my colleague brought the painting to work, I burst into tears. It was identical to the photo I sent him to use as a reference. When I presented it to Jeff, he burst into tears too.” Kim Johnson buys art with heart. She doesn’t choose masterpieces for the purpose of investment. She collects things that speak to her, many of which are sourced online. As a design blogger, Kim is constantly in touch with creative types around the globe. Her collection is eclectic and includes a Tesla poster and a crocheted bat by an artist from the United States. If she could own any work of art in the world, she says, it would be For the Love of God, a Damien Hirst piece that features a platinum cast of a skull encrusted with over 8,000 diamonds. But she’d settle for a silkscreen print sprinkled with diamond dust. Or an original Banksy — “I would consider him my favourite artist. That man’s art and creativity blow my mind. I love watching documentaries about his graffiti and his desire to be anonymous.” Here Kim tells the stories behind three pieces that have particular meaning.