I had drawn this painting of our dog BJ a couple of weeks before he died. While I was drawing it, I had the thought that it would be interesting to paint it while he was alive, as I had painted our previous dog, Bud, after he’d died.
Then we lost BJ to an awful accident at 5 1/2. I witnessed his death and knew that I needed to paint him right away, while I still remembered what it was like to touch him.
It was a good but challenging process to make this painting. I vacillated between the craft of painting shapes and colors and greiving our beautiful boy. Then I’d stop to cry and cry.
This photo was taken when he was only about a year and a half old. It was his first trip to Tahoe. It’s a cove on the west shore, where Bud had his final swim. We love our dogs. I’m grateful for the ability to keep their spirits with us in paint.
May 2010 – 30″x22″ – Watercolor on paper
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