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Companions Past, Present and Imagined |
Dogs were family members before I was born, dear, comforting spirits with loving senses of humor, play and protection. I didn't own a dog of my own until I adopted Flyer while living in Chicago in 1984. The ASPCA card claimed she was six months old and a Cock-A-Poo, but the vet said she was a lot of everything. She was bright, funny, loving and adorable. She inspired few paintings but numerous sketches.
Two years after Flyer died, my recently retired greyhound companion arrived: Emma Lee. I'd been unable to paint for the past five years after a car accident, but Emma's exotic beauty overcame pain. It was thrilling and life-affirming to be playing with color again. It didn't matter that all I could cover were small sheets of paper. But the longer I underwent physical therapy and did the exercises daily, the better I became. Seven years after the accident, I again could stand and paint as big a canvas as I ever had.
In 1999, a new dog portrait arrived and didn't remind me of anyone until Clare came home with me in June 2006 after Emma had died. She's half golden retriever and half poodle, a 60 pound Flyer in looks and many manners. She resembles the dog I painted in '99, and the first dog I painted after moving to Milwaukee.
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