Monday, December 17, 2012

Must Be Magic

 First challenge starting a commission is... Fiber! What fiber will make this particular dog look like him, feel like him and hopefully be as similar as possible.  Beginning as I always do searching through bins of fiber. Everything from baby camel to buffalo. I wait for color to catch my eye... then feel.  Cairns can be a huge challenge in this area because anyone that knows them knows not only can their fur change from puppy to adult but often from adult to some other coloring completely. It amazes me how the Cairn breeders know what that little puppy will turn into.. I like to have that same ability when making mine...Should be easy to make another Cairn. After all I have made more of them then any other dog I own two now and have studied them endlessly.  Looking into my bin I see a color that would be perfect! I see that it is actually a bit of Old Ted's fur.. can I work with this? Do I want to? Is remembering him in such a tactile way what I want right now. Had to.. it was the color I needed. Touching his fir seeing the guard hair again brings back all that love I had for him over whelming emotion for this past little darling that I miss daily in spite of the immense amount of love I get from the darlings still with me.  I went for it I started working on the dog... there is a point in the creation when I see a spark of reality in the eye the face comes to life for me in a emotional way. The Magic if you will is there.. this magic was my Old Ted! Where did he come from?  I could not turn this little dog into anyone but Old Ted. The hips were his skinny little hips the way he sat the long often messy beard, the expression! Tail with only wisps of fur on it. Deep inside it struck me  these mini dogs in some inexplicable way seem to almost use me to come back in a three dimensional way.  One of the pictures is the dog sitting on a package under the tree. Representing to me one of the greatest gifts he was in my life... he also had the habit of sitting on ANYTHING, if it was a piece of cardboard or a paper bag or plastic or poster board you name it if I put it on the floor Ted sat on it! Just one more tiny thing I loved and miss about him.. Now to make another Cairn!










Thursday, December 13, 2012

Brian

A bit of excitement when I get a request for a Cairn Terrier... when the picture looks so much like my own dog Bob, and my fur grand baby Mario!  There is just something about their faces that gets me deep inside. Is it from the great love I had for my Old Ted? Is it just that they are the cutest little dogs? No real challenge working on this little guy. Mini Brian is a Xmas gift so he is wearing a red bow. I tried to get a photo of him next to my own Cairn Bob... Bob seemed indifferent to the whole idea. Maybe he is sick of me showing him my work... Little Brian is on his way to London.. hope he makes his new owner happy because it sure made me happy to make him for her. These little dogs are just a package of joy for me... well dogs are.









Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Angelo

 A tiny little dog with a giant love. Angelo passed away the summer of 2012. Leaving his elderly owner with a big hole in her heart.  Old dogs and people touch me deeper then anything. With the combination at work here my heart was full when I started looking at the many pictures sent to me to recreate such a special friend.  Each commission is special ... when the dog is gone it adds another level to that. No explanation... I may get too involved in each piece. You see I know the loss and the love and the missing... when it's in my hands to create through a visual representation a piece that will recall our memories of the special creature whom we were able to borrow for a short time to love in our life.. a piece of  "forever life".
Angelo is a 80th birthday gift from two daughters..