Looking for a gift this holiday season? There is still time to order copies of Dream Our World!
In Dream Our World, Bitey and Toby visit the Museum of the Imagination where they view art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World is available from Amazon (but not the library. Not yet.).
I haven’t been able to paint since Toby was a puppy. Shortly after he came here he developed a UTI which led to potty training issues which were replaced by him turning into a naughty dog who loves to play chase more than he likes being good.
This time, though, Toby surprised me by being a little sweetie and lying on the floor beside me while I worked. Like his brother, though, he likes to be where I put the lid to my Masterson. I guess it is inevitable that I will have puppies with colorful fur.
The kitties! The kitties! Can’t you see the kitties?
This picture was taken at a Halloween party at the pet store. For some reason they decided to stage the photos in front of the kitty adoption section. Geordie can’t hold in his excitement when a feline is around. As you can see, his is not a happy look but a frantic one.
Some terriers have the “terrier scream” and my boy is one of them. It is a very human sounding noise, as if a person were yelling, “Aaaaagh! Aaaaagh! Aaaaaagh!” at the top of their lungs. Trust me, you get awfully strange looks when your dog starts belting out some of those.
Even now when Geordie is a very mature pup and has lost a lot of lung capacity to cancer, he can still shout out a terrier scream loud enough to break windows.
Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Poopiter! It tells the illustrated story of Bitey and Toby’s first year together. (You’ll want to catch up on things before their next book is published.)
As a painter it is my nature is to create pictures that are meticulous and exact. While studying the works of artists such as Van Gogh and Chagall though, I found myself swept away by the freedom expressiveness of their artwork, and I loved it. I want some of those feelings for myself!
I decided to explore the area around me and see what I could find to inspire me. Then I want to see what I can create – more creating a mood than a replica of the place, however. This was my first attempt at quickly capturing a scene from the neighborhood.
This particular location holds a special memory for me. When Geordie was a tiny pup, only a few months old, we were sitting at this same place. Suddenly Geordie jumped up and began growling and pulling as if he wanted to catch something. I checked all around and couldn’t find any rabbit or deer or anything. When I followed where his nose was pointing, I found a car driving on one of the roads on the facing hillside. From where we were sitting, it looked no larger than a beetle.
I hadn’t realized until then that my puppy didn’t understand perspective. The only way I could think to explain it to him was to pick him up and reach one arm out as far as I could toward the car. When he saw that even I couldn’t touch it, he finally settled down.
I still have a lot of work to do before I am comfortable with a more abstract style of painting. This one is driving me batty because I want to go back and make it right. Except, I don’t want “right” I want “mood”.
It’s a good thing I have a lot of paper because I’m pretty sure I am going to need it!
My boys are pretty excited about this recent snow. Toby loves snow and would live outside in it if he could. Geordie is thrilled because he was supposed to go to the vet this morning, but they cancelled because the staff could not get to the office.
I have a sneaking suspicion that March was weighing her options for “In like a lion, out like a lamb” and decided that lamby meant “white and fluffy”. She is just keeping her promise to us.
Here a handsome Westie lad sits on the groomer’s table, waiting for some to notice his pretty red bow tie. It won’t take long. Who could resist looking at that furry face?
This little guy will be shipping to his forever home later this week, and I am going to miss him. While I work on these pictures, I feel like I get to know the mischievous natures of the pets I am painting. My consolation is that I can soon start another picture and get to meet another happy little fuzzball!
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 