Another Dead Dog (9)

June 23rd
Creativity after retirement, isn't that what life is about anyway? When Katie moved out a year ago, she took the bare minimum with her from the house, finding the rest of what she needed for her apartment on the curb during bulk pickup or on someone else's curb at a garage sale. She did find the best things to decorate with. Joanna Gaines would have been impressed. When Zach moved out six months ago, he not only took the bare minimum from the house, I gave him Katie's bed to put in his second bedroom. All of a sudden, Katie's bedroom did not look like Katie's bedroom. It was an empty shell of a room. With her encouragement to turn it into my own space for art, I slowly brought up my easel, my paints, and a good light to shine on the canvas. It took a day of moving furniture around to suit my painting needs and another week of buying just the right padded stool to sit on, and of course, selecting a carpet that Joanna Gaines would have chosen. I spent the morning of the move crying because my daughter left and now did not have a bedroom to come home to. I felt strange having space just for me in a house that is all about shared spaces. I now have an art studio.

Last month, Anthony came to my art room at school with the news that his mother-in-law's poodle died. So did Hannah. They passed away the same week. We were both in tears. I already painted a picture of a dead dog for Anthony a few years back. He saw my "Dave the Dog" painting at a faculty art show in Panther Hall Gallery and he asked me to do one of Tattoo, his son's beloved dog. I grumbled throughout the process and painted a silly tiara on the dog's head as asked. That painting I did during a Christmas break when I had full days to sit by my easel. It went quickly as I had the time to dedicate to the painting and I was so not obsessed with how Anthony would judge my work. I could not believe how fast it came together with quick brush strokes standing in for the fur of the pup. Years later, I have the start of a career painting pups. Babs, Dave, Tattoo, Hannah, Zoe (my favorite painting), Harley, and now another pup for Anthony. I have to find out her name.

I began with a horrible pink background. After toning down the pink with shades of brown, I thought I would do the underpainting for the dog and call it a day. Yesterday ended with a full portrait almost to my liking. It will need tweaking as my work always does. The final adjustments always come in bits of revelations and that could take many days. I step away and then look at it with new eyes. I take a photo of it and look at it on my phone. It always has to do with seeing it in a new way on a new day.

Did I feel the earth move now that I painted during my retirement? No. Perhaps that will happen when I am done? I do love the process of being in my space and painting. I do love bringing a dog to life with my paintbrush. That was always there for me with every dog I painted, even when Monday meant going back to school. Perhaps when I finally get paid for the love I put into a canvas, I will feel like I have changed my title to Artist. As far as this portrait, I am not sure what, if anything, I will charge Anthony. That is a whole other ball of wax, another sermon on another day for Penzu.