The Boys

"The Boys", 18" x 24" Oil on Canvas, copyright 2017 Katy Widger

Biscuit was a sickly little runt of a pup, only 6 weeks old when he was dumped.  Shannon and Tom rescued him and gave him the very best life any blind dog could have ever hoped for!  He's a "talker" who loves to visit on the phone with his grandmom,  and anyone else who'll listen.  Face rubs, butt scratches and tending to his vast collection of beloved stuffed animal "babies" make up the rest of Biscuit's happy days with his family.

His best friend for life, Boomer, is a "typical" German Shepherd Dog in that he never stops "working".  He has to know what is going on, inside and out, every minute of the day, just in case his services are needed.  That green tennis ball is his other favorite thing in his life.  He fetched and fetched, relentlessly, until his teeth were worn to nubs and his mom and dad were exhausted.  

The Boys have never spent more than a few hours apart in their entire lives, and we all pray that it remains so.  Warm, happy days on the beach, good dogs and a loving family makes up the best that life has to offer.  God bless them all!

Taz and Cosmo

I was tempted to call this little painting "Cosmo's Third Eye", as he sits here in his lion pose, meditating next to his best friend, Taz, who has only one eye. He lost the other in an accident involving a car, but hasn't seemed to mind so much, now that he and Cosmo have found their forever home with Chris. Profound serenity visits Cosmo, and Taz basks in the glow, sharing his own inner frivolity with his BFF.

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5x7 oil on raw silk covered board.

Painted as a commission: $100.

I'm delighted to paint an everlasting memory of your BFF.

Details on my website:

www.katywidger.com

Apso Gaze

Zeke spends as much time as we allow, sitting on a couple of pillows at the end of the couch, looking out the window. He takes note of every car and truck and school bus that drives down his road. Every raven and hawk that flys by gets a bark, as does every person walking their dog or riding a bike. But he saves his most energetic and ferocious barking for the bunny who lives under the tree just to the right of his window. Sometimes he just can't contain himself, and off he races, out his Apso door, around the corner of the house to the little screened-in "window" my husband cut into the fence for them. He tells that bunny "what for", then races back into the house to see if he listened!
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Panchen, that Champ of a dog now buried in Susan's garden, here sits on Susan's porch, enjoying the Northern California sunlight on a proper spring morning. How delicious must the warm sun feel to a blind dog! What does he "see" as he sits there? Can he feel the daffodils blooming? What does the morning sun smell like? Rest easy, Champ, the daffodils are blooming again.

Both paintings are oil on deep gallery wrapped canvas,
5" x 5" square.
Dog portraits by commission
www.katywidger.com

Champ in the Sunlight

We get up every morning with certain expectations of how the day might go…plans, responsibilities, wants and wishes, dreams and daily chores meet us face to face over the bathroom sink.

The sun shines on our life most days, even without our realizing or acknowledging it.
In spite of uncertain IRA’s and plunging 401k’s and rising gas prices, pestilence and persecution by fire, flood and drought, we soldier on because that’s what we do.

We get up in the morning expecting the day to be, more or less, like the day preceding it.
Then the phone rings, and a toothache turns into a fatal tumor. Life changes, like the song says, in a New York minute. Everything we knew in the morning evaporates by the afternoon, and we have to re-group, start over, make new plans.

Champ here, lies in the sunshine, soaking up the life-giving rays of the morning, living his life one sunbeam at a time. Whether or not he knows, or cares, that his mortal life in this spiritual realm is short, is quite probably irrelevant to him right now. He knows the joy of the morning sun on his face, and I’ll bet he’s happier right now than we’ll ever be…..