"Into the Snow," Daily Painting #49 (2-17-2014)

"Into the Snow"
6" by 6"
Oils on Panel

Rusty

Rusty was my love for many years. After we had to put him down a few months ago I knew that I had to create a portrait of him. I found myself sifting through hundreds of photos from many years to find all the photos of him and to find a reference photo that would convey so many aspects of him that I loved and respected. In the end I had an idea for a different kind of portrait. Just one image can capture a certain idea of that person or creature, but a series of images could capture many ideas and one larger thought.

Portrait Series

So, this is the first in a cluster of small paintings I plan on making of Rusty. He was so much about doing: going out, sniffing, greeting kids, and wagging with a powerful thump against cabinetry, furniture, or anybody nearby that some of the paintings will not focus on his face but instead him in action. But, there will have to be a least one painting in the series that is likeness of his exuberant face.

"Into the Snow"

Rusty lived his whole life in Southern California. Snow was a rare experience for him. My family lives in the foothills of the mountains outside of San Diego, so on rare occasions (maybe every few years :P) it does snow. Often it melts within hours, if your lucky you get a whole day of it slowly dripping away.

We were excited about this snow, I mean excited. We were buzzing, zipping from one end of the house to the other to see how the snow was falling, peering through different windows in the same room to see how that changed the scene. This despite the fact that the snow didn't properly start falling until after dark, which meant there wasn't much to be seen out the windows.

With all this human excitement the dogs perked up and starting making noise too. Rusty was keen to be in the action as usual. He followed me around peering at windows too high for him to see out and then stationed himself in front of the sliding glass door, probably wondering what we were looking at 'cause he darn sure wasn't going to miss out on it. Still in my fuzzy slippers and quickly bedecked in my down jacket off we went out into the cold dark.  (After a quick peek out, and a chance to feel how uncomfortably cold snow was, our other dog Abby sagely returned to the house.) Rusty looked up at the sky and then adventured forth unfazed. And so we explored giddily in the dark backyard.