Gone Wild!

The colors in "Gone Wild!" are incredible in print - I don't think web color is anywhere near the real thing. The "PiCassieO" work has been an on-going learning experience for me; I'm now taking a second look at some of the earlier stuff and exploring it further. This particular composition came from "Six Deer on Monday" (in archives). Wow - what a difference! Cassie is continuing to provide me with new material, too. I think if I'd move my dry-docked boat she would be more inspired; right now it's blocking her view of the pines on the east side (the view from the blue chair). She still goes into cracker-dog mode when the bunnies are out there, but there's nothing like a full-blown deer alert.

"Where the Snow Hides"

This was one of the first "PiCassieO"s, but it's still one of my favorites. Not exactly seasonal around here, though, since yesterday was in the 80's. There was a turtle cruising by the back yard this morning, so Cassie should be having some fun at those windows soon! I'm not sure what it is about those critters that makes her so crazy - probably they're just so slow they stay in view longer.

Anyway, there is a story connected with "Snow" that departs from the usual. A friend of mine was getting work for an art auction at her church. It happened that the study for the month was on the book of Job (in the Bible). The challenge was to match some of my dog art to an appropriate scriptural reference from Job. Not so hard, really, since there are so many passages about nature, including one about "where the snow hides". A perfect match, here.

Serendipity Strikes Again!

During the late fall Cassie was working that west window a lot. She sits on the back of the couch and looks down from the second floor to the yard and woods, and yowls at the squirrels that have invaded the shed near the bird feeder, so the markings were pretty heavy. Then the weather finally turned really cold, which made the windows sweat. It created a great effect on her work as the condensation ran down the window. It looked like water lilies or some other floating plants after I worked it up. Odd that something so tranquil could come out of my wild dog's rantings and the freezing weather.

Before I forget, thanks a bunch to Scruffy, Lacie, Stanley, Noah, Randi, Blue, and the others who responded to our article in Sunday's Charlotte Observer. It can still be viewed at www.charlotte.com/cabarrus ; it appeared April 13th, so it will probably be in the archive section by Thursday. It was a fun experience, although Cassie decided to take a nap in the middle of the interview! She's hard to impress.

East Window, November

Yesterday I realized that there are now almost 100 of these "photo-paintings" in my computer. Some of them need more work before anyone sees them, but there are many that I'm (or should I say, "we're"?) ready to share. This one is from last fall, when the slanting sun is perfect for capturing Cassie's marks. The colors are spectacular on the monitor, and actually print almost as intensely. It is interesting to see how the work has progressed from a sort of novelty "dog art" to something of higher purpose (IMO). On a less serious note, it's really great to collaborate with an artist who is satisfied with "Goldfish" for payment! She likes the baby-size cheese variety.

West Window

The west window of my studio is where the light comes in best. Cassie was working overtime on this one; so far there are five different versions of it. This is #2, I think. It looks like an Impressionist salute to spring; maybe I'd better quit telling people that she's an Abstract Expressionist! What's in a label, anyway? You either like it, or you don't, regardless of what "-ism" it might be.