The Exhibit Chronicles, Part VII

I'm going to show you two paintings in the exhibit, which were done back to back and are linked in theme and emotion.

The first is called "Bella Ballerina" and it's of our puppy, Bella, who just turned a year old. Bella is a Chow, German shorthair pointer, Shar pei, Afghan hound, and Labrador retriever mix (at least according to the DNA test.)

Bella was billed as a "Golden Retriever" but didn't look like one. But her joy and energy were irresistible when my husband and I met her. We had lost one of Goldens, Bailey, a month earlier and the house was so empty. Our other Golden, Bijou was sad and moping. Bella, who was named "Kudzu" at the time, also had the kindest, gentlest eyes I'd ever seen in a puppy.

But what sealed the deal was the "flop" for a belly rub. She flipped over and "demanded" a belly rub. Now! Bailey did the exact same thing, which I captured in the painting below, called "Bailey's Bliss." The belly flop seemed like a message from above from Bailey that Bella was the puppy for us.


"Bailey's Bliss" isn't in the exhibit, but you can see it at Beagle's Landing Dog Daycare in Stockbridge.

Before I started painting "Bella Ballerina," I had planned to do a final painting of Bailey. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Bailey, at least until after I did one painting of the new puppy.

After "Bella" was in the can, I was ready to put Bailey to rest in "Bailey Angel: Someone to Watch Over Me." I used a medium with glass beads to paint the wings and silver paint to give them a translucent appearance. I used angel wings from a Chagall painting as a model.

Underneath the watching Bailey, I sketched scenes of Bailey and Bijou playing in the back yard when Bijou was a puppy. They used to play hard and wear each other out, as Bella and Bijou do now. Bottom left is our house and on the right is the 4Runner we've used for many fun dog trips to playtime and the dog park.

It's been almost a year since Bailey suddenly dropped dead. After my husband went to work that morning, I went back to bed and invited Bailey on the bed to be patted. She wasn't eating well and had even refused her favorite treat that morning. I went back to sleep, with Bailey tucked under my arm. When I got up to take a shower a couple of hours later, I whistled for her to come in the bathroom like the old days, before I got married. She didn't come and when I looked for her a few minutes later, she was still, by the side of the bed. She had apparently died while on her way to answer my call.

Bailey had an undetected case of colon cancer and apparently died of a blood clot. I learned a couple of days ago that one of Bailey's canine friends, Lily, is gone too. Lily was also Bailey's half-sister. Here's a painting I did of Lily that belongs to her human mom. I can picture Bailey and Lily up in heaven together reminiscing about the good times and telling us it's going to be all right.