"On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog." -- Peter Steiner

 

Well we've successfully rotated our way around 

to Friday once again . . .

 I'm almost afraid to look at the calendar these days . . .

hard as it may be to believe.  The dieting part of me thought Friday would NEVER come (my cheat day) but the deadline part of me wishes it were still Monday afternoon.

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that I didn't have any dog pieces left for my booth in Baltimore (that's because everybody loves dog pieces) so at the risk of creating something less than REAL art I decided  I'd better do something about it (that's because everybody loves dogs). 

To his dog, every man is Napoleon; 

hence the constant popularity of dogs.

-- Aldous Huxley

Luckily, I have a large backlog of doggy drawings and ideas, not to mention 85 pounds of constant inspiration wagging furiously around the studio, knocking-askew and shedding-all-over and covering with well-meaning-drool everything in his path.

I've also been wanting to add another piece to my Vocabulary Lessons series, so I was delighted when I was able to mesh the two objectives in one piece:

Vocabulary Lesson No. 847, 7.5 x 8.5", Susan M. Hinckley, 2011

And I'm done in time to take it to my photographer tomorrow!  This means all the sewing for Baltimore is finished, and we now move into the furious painting, framing, and swearing phases of preparation (we've already started the insomnia phase -- about six days ago). 


One only needs to hang around the dog park  for a few minutes to realize that dogs are by nature the very definition of idiosyncrasy, each unique and bursting with enthusiasm and eccentric personality.

This particular dog  also appears to be uncharacteristically concerned with his looks.  As James Gorman said, "A dog's idea of personal grooming is to roll on a dead fish."  Truer words were never spoken.  That's why I thought a well-dressed dog was the perfect illustration for this particular vocabulary word.

Although for some reason in this quick (read: poorly lit)  photo he appears to have eyelashes, I assure you that he is not a cross-dressing dog (which might offend my more sensitive readers) -- he's not quite THAT idiosyncratic.

I traded my ubiquitous black-and-white dog for a chocolate lab in my dear Cooper's honor, although why he deserves any honor today is beyond me.  Just this morning I chased him across the yard and through a thigh-high snowbank in my nice pants and SHOES because he saw something interesting in the park across the street and decided it was probably time for a little exploratory walk.

Grrrrr.

I of course yelled at him, emptied the snow out of my shoes and then immediately gave him a nice cookie and a pat on the head.

Will he never learn? 

But that's part of the beauty of dogs --
they're so EASY to make happy, you can't really resist doing it.

Now let's hope there's a 

chocolate lab AND art lover out there 

who's looking to adopt. 

(Despite his mischievous grin, I assure you #847 is VERY well-behaved 

and SMART -- he has, after all, a large vocabulary for a dog.)

Happy Weekend!