Check out this sweet little guy. As I was working on his portrait, I just wanted to squeeze him, he's so cute. Unfortunately, that won't be possible. Like so many of my portrait subjects, he has departed this world. It happened just a few months ago. He was 16 (like Sophie!). He was a much loved dog, with an owner that was crazy about him. I enjoyed meeting his owner, and she and I shared lots of stories about our recently departed loves. I think it was a little bit of therapy for each of us, and I was thankful for the experience. My job is about more than painting portraits, and I am grateful for the people I meet while doing what I do, and the bond I share with them that comes from not only loving our pets, but also knowing the pain of losing them.
The owner was given a paw print of her dog by the funeral home that assisted her when Nicho passed, and she inquired about having a pendant made with his print on it. I had never done one exactly like this before, but I knew it was possible. I scanned a copy of the print and reduced it, then transferred it to a special kind of paper that is used to transfer the design to the silver and create a resist for etching. After a soak in an acid solution, a very meaningful piece of jewelry emerged. (See below.) You know that as soon as I finished it I was wishing that I had a paw print of Sophie's to work with, but not so. I do have a personalized pendant with a stamped paw print on it, and the pendant that's a little figure of her, which I shared with you on 4-29-13, which I'm very happy with. But still....the etched paw print was very cool.
RSS Feed