Cats

Jacques met Jerome at the VCCA (Virginia Center for the Creative Arts). They would become inseparable, and Jerome's family would wonder where Jerome would disappear to during the day, and why he was gaining so much weight.

Jerome became Jacques' muse and model, spending the day lounging on his bed, as Jacques sketched him. He was able to hold a pose longer than any model Jacques had ever worked with. He had no interest in money. He would sit by the window of Jacques’ Studio at the VCCA until Jacques let him in. Normally, no one was allowed to disturb the residents of the artist's colony during the day, but Jerome didn't pay attention to such rules, since he couldn't read. He was, after all, a cat.

Jacques and Jerome would take breaks from sketching and enjoy imported sardines together. In an effort to impress Jacques, Jerome would bring him fresh rats he caught. Jacques politely declined these frequent gifts. Jerome would become the model for the majority of Jacques Hnizdovsky's cat prints. Every time Hnizdovsky was at the VCCA, Jerome was his constant companion.

When Jacques Hnizdovsky's term at the VCCA was over, Jerome would search for him at his old studio. Several weeks after Hnizdovsky's death on November 8, 1985, Jerome passed away. VCCA staff looked everywhere for Jerome, and eventually found him on the steps of Jacques Hnizdovsky's studio. Eternal, inseparable friends.