A special birthday present

These three dogs belong to a wonderful family that famously shares it's home with any number of animals at any given time. These paintings were a surprise gift for their Mom.
Jasper, Cedric and Oliver are the current family dogs. We decided to represent each dog separately while keeping the format consistent in order to allow for different hanging strategies and an easy context for adding more portraits if they choose to.















Jasper



















Oliver




















Cedric

Recent Works

This is Sammi. Many years ago, when Sammi's human was running a marathon in the States, the local Humane Society down there set up a booth and introduced a few dogs that needed homes. It was love at first sight and Sammi's new human called his wife and said "I've found our dog".



These two might look like Siamese cats but I suspect they're really small dogs in disguise. Especially Canella, the cat in the foreground... he'll come when called, perform for treats and is a sucker for attention. Chiquita just watches her brother with the royal distain of her breed- I guess she really is a feline.







Taffy is a cutie who lives in Vancouver. This painting needed to be small since it was going to be packed in luggage. I was only given one good photo of this dog to work from. Luckily it was ADORABLE.











These two paintings were done promotionally to be included in a number of local exhibitions over the season.



I'm not too sure he's happy about the pink.










His name is Blue. He is a Bluetick Coonhound. He howls because he is Blue.

The Gang

It's taken a while... this painting has finally found it's way to Edmonton and I'm finally free to share it with the world. Allow me to introduce the beautiful baby girl Brooklyn, and her older 'brothers' Jonas the dog and Ninja the cat. What a fun portrait of the kids...
I have to admit the photo quality of this painting is not exemplary but it's the best I could do considering the varnish and the bright summer light...
What a pleasure and honour it is to be part of this family's history and their time in Toronto.

Cool Chili

Chili the Australian Shepherd lived in the house next to our dog park for many years. I'm sure he thought of the park as his own front yard and of all of us 'visitors' as his friends. Although he and his family eventually moved away, his humans commissioned this image of Chili's joyous romp not only to celebrate his joie de vivre but also to commemorate the time spent in the neighbourhood. They will be missed by all.

White Dog, White Dog

This is Chloe. Although she looks (and is) cute and cuddly she also rules the roost. She keeps her much larger canine sibling in tow and her humans on their toes.Her humans wanted her posing on her favourite chair- the colour choices reflect both her playfulness and her reserve.






I never met Galileo but I know he is missed with much love by many who knew him- even beyond his immediate humans. For many years, Galileo was the Poodle in residence at the Donkey Sanctuary in Guelph Ontario. He was known by hundreds (possibly thousands) and although they've had other dogs at the Sanctuary, Galileo stands out as his human's "dearest companion".

Big Dog, Little Dog

This is Consuelo. She is a Mexican Hairless with a royal demeanor. She needed a canvas twice her size to capture her larger than life personality. Her human, a devotee of the breed, creates specialty dog jackets to protect their skins against the sun and cold. We agreed it would be fitting to have Consuelo model one of his creations.




















Presenting Dharma. She is the newest addition to Roman's family (see posting below). Dharma is a 12 year old rescued Greyhound in frail health. Her humans wanted an image that would sit nicely beside the painting I did a few months ago of her adopted brother Roman- thus the format. Although Dharma at first might seem meek, she has asserted herself and has earned a deep respect from both Roman and her humans.

A Jack and Two Minnies

Joey is the Jack Russell in the middle, the Minnie Pinschers on either side are Sadie and Lucy. What sweeties they all are. Joey and Lucy were easy to make friends with but since Sadie was a rescue, I had to earn her trust more slowly. Thank goodness for liver treats. They each posed for me like pros (one at a time, of course)- taking their positions on the ottoman like they knew what I was after...