MY DOGS, Tippy and Anew
I have drawn and painted animals throughout my career, but my interest in animal portraits began in 1997 when I adopted my first dog, a hound named Anew. Anew was eight weeks old and I didn’t know much about dogs at that time but I learned fast.
Anew was the wrong and the right dog for me. The advice “You should get a dog to match your personality and lifestyle” is true –Anew was the wrong dog. I thought I was adopting a cute puppy that was going to be the perfect pet and I had great plans to train her to do tricks!
By the time she was six months old she had grown to a powerful dog and I could barely walk her on a leash. I needed help and that’s when Anew became the right dog for me.
In 1998 I started obedience training classes with Anew and training has become one of my life’s interests and passions. It taught me a lot about training and a lot about dogs. My first trainer took one look at Anew and stated “You can’t train a hound”. The trainer was right, you can’t train a hound, she was headstrong and liked to follow her nose but I never gave up and got her to the highest level I could in obedience. Anew lived to 131/2 years and I spent many hours training Anew, having fun with Anew and I started drawing and painting Anew.
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Portrait of Anew
Medium: Soft Pastel on Paper Size: 11" x 14" Date: 2000 Price: NFS |
When Anew was six months old, I thought she needed company and I adopted a Border Collie/Husky cross puppy named Tippy. Tippy learned obedience as I was teaching Anew. I will never forget the day that I asked Anew to ‘sit’ and noticed that Tippy was following the command. I took Tippy to obedience class and she achieved three levels of obedience and two levels of agility. Tippy lived to 10 years old and as with Anew I spent hours training Tippy, having fun with Tippy and I started drawing and painting Tippy.”
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Portrait of Tippy
Medium: Soft Pastel on Paper Size: 8 " x 10" Date: 1999 Price: NFS |
Enjoy!