The Daily Dog - Twenty Nine

"Dakota"

8" x 10

Oil on canvas

A few years ago a friend asked me to paint Buster, the family dog, for his wife's birthday. Last Christmas his wife asked me to paint her parent's dog that had suddenly passed as a gift to them. 

Sadly, sweet Buster passed away earlier this year and although the husband was concerned it was way to early for another dog, the wife started scanning the shelters. From the moment she saw Dakota, she knew she was the one! 

You can read the full story here and see pictures if you scroll to the bottom of the blog...

http://stylegirljessjames.com/style-girl-fashion-fix/fashion-fix-rachel-zoe-for-the-day-celeb-styling-new-puppy-cfw-highlights/

I wanted to paint Dakota because first off she is ADORABLE. Secondly, she is a rescue and I'm so happy that she has found a wonderful loving home and they are a great match.

Fortunately for sweet Dakota (and them) they were looking in rescue shelters  - there are so many wonderful dogs and cats out there that are needing good homes right now just waiting for the opportunity to make you happy.  

Here is where they found Dakota:

http://www.savinggracenc.org/

"Buster"

Officially rescued!

The Daily Dog - Twenty Seven

"Jewel"

8" x 10" 

oil on canvas

The Daily Dog - Twenty Six

 

"Jip"

8" x 10"

oil on canvas

I knew Jip in his younger days - he used to be all black, but now he has turned to gray. He belongs to a dear friend of mine that was sort of a second mother to me when I was growing up. She asked me to paint him as a memorial even though he's still kicking around and I was more than happy too. 

It was interesting to paint this because he is all gray, but there are subtleties of purples, yellows and blues as well - it's rather pretty and quite a challenge. 

I hope I did him justice. 

The Daily Dog - Twenty Four

"Frida Wrap"

10" x 8"

oil on canvas

Even though Frida and Chumley look alike, they are quite different in a lot of ways. One big difference is Frida loves to be wrapped up in blankets, sometimes completely covered up and she will stay like this for hours if undisturbed. Chumley hates to be covered up, even a little bit. If you do, he will tolerate for a few minutes then get up and move to a new location with less annoying accommodations.

As I was painting this the power went out, so a lot of the coloring was instinctual which I really liked, but what I didn't like was that right eye and some of the nose seemed a little long - I may revisit this one again.

The Daily Dog - Twenty

8" x 10"

oil on canvas

This scene takes place every morning and night. After Chumley eats, he watches Frida eat and I watch Chumley watch Frida eat. I have to watch him because if Frida hesitates for a second, he will take this as a signal she is done and charge in like a bullet in flight to help her out with the remaining kibble. 

He's so helpful.

The Daily Dog - Eighteen

8" x 10"

oil on canvas

This is Hannah. 

I saw this photo of her of her awhile back on a facebook friend's page...

I thought it was one of the funniest photos I had seen, but I also connected to it because sometimes I feel like this with life. That I'm being pulled along with no choices, but I do have choices and some of them are tough. I am at a point in my life where I have to make some tough choices in order to take care of myself. 

One of my most favorite quotes from my really smart sister is "don't just do something, sit there".... what it means to me is sometimes you can't control life, you need to sit with it awhile and the answers will become apparent. 

When I saw the photo of Hannah on the blue blanket, I just had to paint it. I have never met her, but she seems like a really cool dog. 

The Daily Dog - Seventeen

"Joe"

8"x10"

oil on canvas

This is Joe. 

He is one of the most loyal dogs I've ever met. He belongs to Sara and she is fiercely loyal to Joe. He follows her everywhere and she takes care of him throughout all the ailments old age brings. At night he sleeps with his head on her chest. He likes to bark at birds and loves to eat. He will chase a ball as long as you throw it and believes this is the most fun game in the world. 

"Sara Bird"

48" x 48"

This is a painting I did of Sara a few years ago. It sits on the wall in our living room - it is one of my favorite paintings.

The Daily Dog - Ten

"Squirrel!"

8" x 10"

oil on canvas

This is what Frida looks like when a squirrel is encroaching on her turf. 

Or a bird. 

Chumley goes for fish, lizards and roaches and Frida goes for birds and squirrels. 

So, I guess were covered in case we are faced with harmless, small creatures.

There is an awesome book coming out called "My Dog: The Paradox". It is a web comic now, but eventually will be a real book and I'll be first inline to get one. It is one of the funniest (and true) descriptions of a dog. 

Here is the link:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/dog_paradox