The Wind in Her Ears

There is nothing quite like the face of a dog whose head is stuck out the window of a moving car. Tongue flapping in the wind, eyes squinted into thin lines, ears being tossed around in every direction, a dog with his head out the window is a happy dog.

I love driving through the city on sunny, summer days just so I can look at all the different kinds of pups hanging out of all different kinds of cars. I especially like it when a dog seems to match its human’s car, like when there’s a poodle with her paws up on the sill of a Porsche, or an old German Shepherd in the back of a pick up.

Sometimes I fantasize about starting up a Raleigh Tow Truck Service just for dogs, and I would drive ten or fifteen of them around the city for an hour or so, so that they could all enjoy sticking their heads out of the windows together.

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Ever Have to Choose Between 2 Great Things?

service-dog v2Known around town as the guy who paints animal portraits, means it’s not lost on anyone that I love dogs. When Ray approached me a couple of months back and asked if I would be interested in volunteering at the Freedom Service Dog Annual Golf Fund Raiser I didn’t hesitate for a moment and said “sign me up”. I was thrilled at the thought of being a part of the team to help raise money for such a great cause.

I often work late into the night. It seems that those quiet hours are the best time for me to get into a creative flow. Naturally, most early mornings are spent catching up on sleep, and some mornings I feel like I need cranes and hoists to lift me out of bed before 10:00 am. The fund raiser started at 9:00 – not too bad, but I promised to be at the golf club by 7:00, a 45-minute drive from the house.

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Training Henry

Henry as a pupNaturally, my life is devoted to painting, animals and my family – and not necessarily in that order. However, keeping them all running smoothly and in a harmonious balance has taken creative thinking. Since I am the creative type, I have found ways over the years to make sure we all live happily together.

When I first brought Henry home, he was the cutest, most endearing eight-week old pup in the world. That is, in my humble opinion, of course, and since he didn’t actually spawn from my wife’s loins, I think I speak without predjudice. As weeks passed, I realized that as a Pitbull he was going to be a big boy. To everyone’s delight he had a sweet nature and an irresistible love of people.

I get quite a few visitors to my studio, and with Henry as my self-imposed greeter to what may be to my visitors’ chagrin, pleases him to no end. The locals have come to know him well, he really loves when his friends from Tree Stump Grinding Niagara Falls ON visit the studio. They always come bearing doggy treats and I don’t want Henry leaping in his happy go lucky way towards the door to greet them so I started looking for a good trainer.

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Do Animals Have Souls?

Animal souls

“You use a glass mirror to see your face, you use a work of art to see your soul.” That tells you why I paint animals. Seeing the soul of an animal is easy. They don’t hide behind a pretense. An animal’s soul is right there for everyone to see. As an artist, this makes painting pugs, other dogs, cats, goats, horses and other critters is irresistible.

Recently I was approached by a friend who has an SEO Agency. He asked me if my website was ranked? I didn’t know, and he sat with me for a few minutes to check. My site was on the 3rd page of Google and obscured by other sites that had little to do with what I want to be recognized for. “I’m an artist, not a computer guy” was my reply.

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3 Abstract Animal Artists Who Inspire

Abstract pug 1Have you ever seen a Pug puppy – seven or eight weeks old? They look like something from outer space. Teeney and vulnerable, and filled with curiosity. You can’t help but fall in love.

People often come to me with a desire to freeze their puppy’s early weeks on canvas. I suggest they take several pictures and together we choose the one that will be the final painting. One Tuesday morning between vacuuming and dusting the gal who owns our house cleaning service poked her head into my studio and asked if I ever painted abstracts? She went on to explain that a new member of the family arrived over the weekend – a little character she named Nero, a spunky, squirmy black Pug.

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