A commissioned gift

'Gifts' are often the most difficult commissions. I don't get to meet the subject and I only hear a second hand description of the dog's character. Even portraits done after the pet has passed are different because I can always feel the love from the owners... Still happy with this of course... just took a long time to paint.

Maybe someday I'll get to meet Doug the hound.

Despite Charlie being one of the most beautiful and sweetest dogs in the world, my dog doesn't like Huskies... so I rarely had the opportunity to pat this guy. During our photo session though, Charlie and I made up for lost time. He even came up behind me while I was seated going over the shoot with his owner, and rested his head on my shoulder. Love.

Luna

This commission was so gratifying. The guys wanted a piece of art that featured their beloved Luna and allowed me creative freedom to create a moody and thoughtful work. We discussed compositional elements at the beginning and I had a lot of fun experimenting with texture and colour to achieve the sand and sky.

Mally

Or Malachy as  he was officially named, passed away last fall at the age of 15 . I was provided with photo studies posthumously, and I was touched by this dog's happy and goofy disposition despite his advanced years. This wacky composition was based on a photo of Mally in the kitchen. I think it captures his puppy energy.

Christmas commissions

Guinness the Labradoodle is an energetic pup who was afraid of me at first. Quietly we sat together for a while, then out came the treats and eventually we started to play. By the end of the photo shoot, Guinness didn't want to leave my lap.
We both fell for each other.

I didn't get to meet Pony personally. I wish I had! The longer I spent studying his expression the more I became convinced what a character he must be.

This is Cleo. When I received this commission the client explained that Cleo belonged to her sister-in-law and that the dog was very sick... she was fighting for her life. Well Cleo won the fight and is doing fine. Under the circumstances I couldn't go meet Cleo to photograph her and all I had to work from was a low res image of the dog on a boat... thus the composition.

The client and her husband were so happy with the commission of Cleo that the husband commissioned a painting of their own dog as a Christmas present for his wife . This is Mischa.