Though it has become an oft-told tale—usually relayed by cruel stepmothers trying to impart life-lessons to their very chubby children—the week I had my now-legendary stroke, my dog of so many years, Hoogie Fowler, shuffled off his fur-covered mortal coil as well, leaving behind a bloated corpse that was soon soaked with my very hemorrhagic tears.
And even though I miss that dog almost every day of my remaining life, as I get older, the memories of him are slowly fading away, I fear. Anybody got a copy of “The Rainbow Bridge” handy?
Having not painted really anything since Mrs. Cook’s kindergarten class back in ’84, I thought that maybe the best tribute to this canine cut-up would be to craft a (somewhat) masterful impression of him on a pre-sketched canvas provided to me by the true artists of the people, Wine and Palette, at their monthly DIY Pet Portraits session at Anthem Brewing, 908 SW 4th.
Using this article as an excuse for both a cathartic experience and a wholesome date night, my girlfriend and I were greeted by Wine and Palette empresario Marie Ensign and local animal artist Anthony Pego; we were given our canvases and a few brief instructions on how make the color grey—mix black and white with a bit of blue, in case you wanted to know.