Recorded Books Inc. - A Dog a Day

Dorothy, oil on board

Ive had dogs all my life. My parents had four generations of poodles in the 1950s and 1960s. When the 1970s arrived, they moved on to Afghan houndsCasanis and Ottoline, a mother and daughter who were beautiful, wayward, and not too bright. Following them came Battersea, an apparently charming mongrel who regularly bit my mother when nobody was looking. They finally reverted back to poodles with Bognor, a beautiful, silly, apricot standard. Inexplicably, they then moved on to cats.

I took over the family dog ownership with Fanny, a rescue with big hair, like a backup member of Duran Duran. She had a huge personality and firm views. Then came Dorothy, a Dalmatian, who was sweet natured and loved everyone. At the same time, we accidentally acquired Jack Swan, the most beautiful golden greyhound that we found wandering the streets of Bath in the southwest of England. I said Id look after him for the weekendwe had him for one short year before he died in his sleep. Following Jack Swan came two whippets: devoted Lily, who is always by my side, and Peggy, slightly less devoted and always in a patch of sun.

For almost as long as I have had dogs, I have drawn and painted them, and mine are featured multiple times in this book. Several years ago, I began a simple Facebook project called A Dog a Day, where I posted my dog art daily. Some days I drew or painted several pieces, some days I didnt do any, but every day I posted a new one. As people became interested, I became more adventurous with my materials. Wire drawing, lithography, paper cuts, pen and ink, and potato prints are among the media I tried to keep both myself and my kind followers interested. Although the project finished several years ago, I still post dog pictures regularly.

Through A Dog a Day, I found my perfect job. I find people and their dogs endlessly fascinating. I love how devoted people and dogs are to each other, how dogs have such distinct personalities, and how we attribute complex emotions to them. Dogs bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in people. I try to interpret each dog as the individual that he or she is. I take creating a dog portrait as seriously as I do a human portrait. I do like people tooits not an either/or thingbut I could happily paint or draw a dog a day for the rest of my life.

A collection of galgos and podencos, Spanish hunting dogs

Multiple Galgos, oil on paper

Galgo, oil on paper

Bradley, my neighbors noble elderly lurcher

Bradley, oil on board

The slightly suspicious Piper

Piper, pastel

Trying to keep it simple

Golden dog, oil on paper

Imaginary hound, oil on board

Lurcher puppy from Bath Cats and Dogs Home, found on the steps of a church in Wales

Lurcher puppy, BCDH, oil on paper

Schnauzers have very expressive little mustachioed faces

Henry, oil on board

Lurcher, BCDH, oil on paper

Nellie, three-time winner of prettiest girl

Nellie, oil on paper

The traditional hound greeting bow

Simon, charcoal and gouache

Basset hound, a most unusual dog

Whopper, charcoal and gouache