The Trio

Called these three dog the Trio! Merlin, Magic, and Mystic. Three agility dogs with a request for action pieces. It did not take me long to learn just what action dogs these really are in life.. two getting old now but still doing their moves. Owners are just a plus to my artwork.  Usually becoming long time friends the dogs just bring us together... they love them I love them and that makes for a great connection. I was delighted to open my email to photos of the real dogs and the minis... I love to include them on my website and show them off for the owners. Always proud when the pieces are complete and the owners are thrilled. It really can't be any other way. Below you will see the wonderful pictures I was delighted to see this morning.. hope you enjoy them as much as I do


Mystic

Merlin

Magic

My Pieces

Clearly I love what I do.. today for instance I just took out this large Borzoi that has been with me for many years. One of my favorite breeds to make this one is special. Odd how my relationship with the Art reflects my real passion for dogs. Enjoying posing them and seeing the expression on their face makes me dream back to the day of playing.. My son once said "so really you just play all day with dogs and say its work" could it be true? Today it was true.. just took this big dog outside and enjoyed what I see as a really beautiful dog the line between reality can become thin...I hope you enjoy seeing this dog that I love again and again ...

Happy Birthday Angel

  I love dogs..everyone that knows me knows...each conversation I have with the dog lover is personal to me If it is a loved pet or a copy of a piece someone has seen me make before they are all important to me. This was the case with this special commission. A grandmother wrote me with a request for a copy of the Shepherd in my hand.. I learned it was to be a birthday gift for her granddaughter. After pointing out they are not toys we proceeded. She was clear it was not a toy and Angel knew that as well. She is about to be 10 same age as my own little granddaughter. Touches the little girl in me to imagine having a piece like this myself at that age. My dog obsession started I guess the day I was born. Grandma and I talked, my work is not cheap. Quite the gift for a grandchild! A German Shepherd Dog I had here already, even though Angel (granddaughter) said was quite nice it was not the one she had seen in my hand..it was not the one she was dreaming of having.  Enough said.. I had much time to get the dog made for her grandma was on top of this and knew it would take time to make.. I found myself so involved with this dog, I am always totally absorbed in my work however I kept imagining this little girl one of my people so in love with dogs that all she wants is this to make her so happy... to have the ability to give this to her just filled me with a certain joy. Knowing she had the spot for it to sit and thinking of her admiring her own little Shepherd in her own hand I just had to do this dog with the most sweet face to look at this child. So the dog is complete the grandma is happy and little Angel is awaiting this gift to be opened on her birthday! Of course I fell in love with him myself.. always a problem. Way to in love with the mini dogs myself. It does drive my work that love so I am not complaining however it is many little goodbyes as they leave for the post office.. below is pictures of Angels dog. Wonder what she will name him.

Roi

One of my absolute favorite dogs to make are the Sighthounds. This wonderful memorial piece had a special job. He was going to be the comfort for a elderly lady that was about to undergo hip surgery.. Roi was her constant companion in life and now more than ever he was missed! Other new Whippets in the household did their job to comfort but we all know about those heart dogs.  The request came from her daughter I began Roi right away so he could get to Australia in time for the surgery. Happy to say he made it in time and Mum is coming along well now. I like to think little Roi is helping her with the pain of surgery and loss of a four legged companion.  The hard part of my artwork at times is knowing the powerful love involved in our pets and bringing a memory back is a task I take very personal. I have had to say goodbye myself to more than one. More and more my artwork is doing just what I had hoped.. giving a physical reminder of a member of our family often times much closer than the humans we live with. Dogs are so very special to me there is no other way I can be closer to them.. I guess that is what I have always wanted to be close to them!

Carly

  Carly
I always love it when the request is a secret gift for either husband or wife. Carly was a birthday gift for a wife. Being told his wife is always looking at little Cavalier sculptures to find one that resembles their own dog I knew I could help. With pictures sent I began to make this cute little one. Picking the pose was pretty much left to me didn't take long to decide on the cute one with the paw curled under. It is such a joy to see all the dog photos come in and when the dog is a surprise it can be funny. I could see in the real Carly she was not sure why she had to suddenly stand in odd ways so markings could be seen. She had that look in her eye like I see in my Bob when they are just suspicious of all this photo taking. Another very sweet part of this commission is she was actually given many weeks before the birthday.... sweet anticipation. I am happy to report that I was shared a picture of Carly in her mom's hand soon followed by a message how much she loved the piece and it looked just like her!  Can't ask for more than that.. I love dog people! They are simply the best..


  "Until one has loved an animal, a part of 
         one's soul remains unawakened"

  Anatole France

The Trio

 Here I am posting once again... it seems I think of it so often but the business of creating takes over my time. The title of the blog tells you the number of dogs but there is so much more. I started calling them the Trio and it stuck.. Three marvelous Australian Shepherds. Two Tri colored and one Blue Merle. Never has a owner done such a job of organizing bags of individual fur for each.. all marked so perfectly.. photos sent so clearly and every position possible. This makes getting the details easier for me. I did have a heck of a time with keeping the names of who I was working on straight. Important to me because I talk to them and get a sense of them while I work. Here was Magic,Mystic,and Merlin.  Being asked to do something a little out of the box is always fun for me and usually I will do whatever I can to make the owner happy. In this case these were agility dogs! How about some movement?? Wow .. I have been asked for action before.. but this time no real scale was involved just wing it. So she sent me the cute pieces that the dogs were to use and instructions on who does what and how... I have watched my share of agility, loving it of course.. total excitement.  Once saw a Sheltie that could not be quiet..  so cute bark, bark, bark, as her owner held her in his arms.. wonderful owners, he seemed to not notice the barking right by his head...   Now the trio... I laughed to myself after I showed the owner the second photo she said "oh wonderful he can do both pieces of equipment" I then realized I didn't know who I was putting on what... no problem, since the goal was they would work on more than one, so she could play with them when posing.  My next mistake was taking close face shots with the real dogs in the background.. I realized I had Magic and Mystic backwards... It was a little confusing to work on them even in the end. I learned a lot as I always do and I think the end result is quite nice.. I hope you enjoy reading about them and seeing their pictures.