Woolly Bully

Bulldog. Oil on canvas, 12x12, for Center Framing & Art in West Hartford, Conn. Contact Sandy for price and shipping info.

This afternoon, I started the 12th and final dog portrait for the project at Center Framing & Art. It's a minature schnauzer, and while there are still a few details to finish, it's well on its way.

The dog project has involved a different kind of discipline than the daily painting involves, and, to be honest, I didn't like it at first.

Every time I paint in public, two sort of annoying things happen. One is that everyone asks me how long it's taken me to make the painting I'm working on.

I think this is an odd question, really, and I don't understand why people want to know. What possible difference does it make? Do people ask a quilter how long it took to make that quilt, or a photographer how long it took to make the photograph? Since I paint very quickly, I'm put on edge even more by the question.

The second thing that happens is that people always tell me what I should paint.

If I'm in the right mood - and most of the time, honestly, I am - I'm grateful for these suggestions. But I must say that, more often than not, I go to the place I'm told I should paint and find that there's nothing there for me.

When I started the dog project, it felt a little like that. Sure, I love painting dogs - but with this project, I was painting someone else's choice of dog. Still, the idea appealed so much to me that I continued. And as the paintings piled up, the project took a different shape. I guess it became mine. It went from me filling in someone else's outline to me muscling up the content and forcing the outline around it. A big difference.

I must say, though, that I am just longing to get outside and paint!