Sadie Blue Jeans

It's hard to describe that feeling of mutual adoration that so many of us who love dogs almost take for granted. It's a symbiotic relationship of mutual neediness. Those who love and respect dogs as fellow created beings know exactly what I mean, and I need no words to describe it. Sadly, for those whom dogs are just another soulless species of animal life there are not enough words to convey the emotion. It can only be experienced . This little dog, lying at my feet, looks up at me with love and adoration, and I return the gaze. We sigh, content with the unspoken satisfaction that only trust in the faithfulness of love can bring.

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Oil on linen covered board 8" x 10"

Inquiries invited: katy@katywidger.com

Dog portraits on commission http://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

Flowers for Camille

She was somewhat of a diva and she certainly had issues, but I adored her.
I think the feeling was eventually mutual. I was, ultimately, the only human she trusted.
I’ve read somewhere that you will always remember the day you brought your dog home, and the day they left you.
She wasn’t a product of a puppy mill, but she certainly didn’t receive anything close to proper socialization prior to coming to live with us. I should have known better. It took me the better part of an hour to get her to come to me, sitting in the dirt in a corner of the outdoor enclosure where she and her siblings were kept. She was the only one of the litter who, eventually, would dare come close.
She made a charming little “roo-roo” sound when she was uncertain about something, and I heard it then for the first time from the cutest little white ball of fluff I’d ever seen. Sort of a plaintive half-growl, half question, meaning she wanted to, but she was a little reticent, a little afraid. Usually, she would make up her mind to push ahead, enter the unknown, take a chance. And there, in the dirt, she came to me and put her nose in my hand. She was willing to take a chance on me.
We enjoyed almost twelve years together. She was beautiful, elegant, intelligent and devoted, but she approached life at full throttle and therefore encountered more than her share of accidents and mishaps. So much so that, as she grew older, my intuition told me that she would not cross over that rainbow bridge quietly. And so it was. I was able to hold her in my arms and tell her what a wonderful friend she had been, and to ask her to meet me there, one day.
I’m certain that when my time comes, my little Camille will be there to greet me with her funny “roo-roo, come on over, mom, we’ve all been waiting for you!”

16 x 20 Oil on canvas
www.katywidger.com
Dog Portraits in Oil

Hunter at Seven Months

Finally! Got a painting done of this wonderful dog.
He's only seven and a half months old, but just look at his expression! He is focused, calm, gentle, kind, intelligent, devoted and oh! so beautiful! Can you just imagine how magnificent he will be in his maturity! Can't wait to paint him then, again, and again and again!

I need a name for this one! Any suggestions?

11" x 14" oil on canvas
Dog Portraits in Oil
www.katywidger.com

Peace Lily

"May the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

Wishing you a Blessed Easter, filled with the Peace of God.

St. Patrick's Day Color Study

I recently took a Color Class. I'm pretty well versed in Itten color theory and have a lot of experience creating color with a limited palette, but this Michael Wilcox School of Color class taught by locally well-known landscape painter, David Schwindt, was a course in practical color mixing. It cemented what I already knew and opened up more possibilities for creative color mixing using the Color Bias Wheel, using six primaries, instead of the usual three-primary color wheel we all learned about in school. I've probably told you more than you wanted to know....but artists are always interested in color, especially how to create the exact color in a short period of time without wasting a lot of expensive paint.

This is a color study of a beautiful cabbage that came with my corned beef. It was delicious!

I re-created the subtle hues and tints using only a violet red (quinacridone red), green-yellow (lemon yellow) and blue-green (cerulean blue), plus white. The color range available was amazing. The vibrant yellows aren't showing up so well in the photo - I'll try and get a better shot.

Wooly

Wooly is a Malti-Poo, soft, silky and curly. The Maltese in him loves to cuddle next to his dad at night in their favorite chair, and watch the world go by in his special place on the back window shelf of his people's Buick. The Poodle half takes his job as Official Greeter of the mailman, UPS or FedEx guy very seriously. When he hears their trucks, he flys up to the back of the couch and announces their presence from the big picture window, then races furiously out the kitchen Wooly-door to make sure they don't go sneakin' around the back.

His other favorite activities are going for walks, and sneaking articles of clothing from his mom, just to luxuriate in her scent, he loves her that much! He's also quite fond of the other ladies in his life, daughters and granddaughters of his parents, and never forgets a friend. Sweet little Imp!

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Wooly 10" x 8" oil on linen board

$160.00 unframed SOLD

www.katywidger.com