Glass French Bulldog Figurine
Friday, March 25, 2011
Occasionally, I get the urge to photograph inanimate objects such as canine figurines, plastic dogs, and chewed up squeaky toys. My favorite place to scout around for interesting still-life material is Lloyds of Lakeland located in the center of downtown Lakeland, Florida.
About a month ago, I visited Lloyd's and espied a glass doggie figurine.
One of the partners, Steve, is generous about letting me borrow dog-themed curios to photograph. He has keen knowledge of vintage and antique toys. He explained glass French Bulldog figurines were popular many decades ago and that the eye sockets were set in deep to accommodate "jewels" — cut glass or semi-precious gemstones.
The little glass dog had been sitting in our china cabinet for over a month. Last night it gave me the evil eye. So, I took him into the studio. My first instinct was to make him glow.
Here is a no-glow version.
Dog and Bowling Pin
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Our friend gave us a bowling pin on New Year's Eve. Without thinking, I set it down next to our dog Jazz; what a resemblance. Since then, I have fantasies of Jazz joining a league. Strange?
Weiner Dogs Invade Burger Joint
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Here is a modest tribute to day for night, film noir, horror films, hamburgers, and weiner dogs.
Doggie Bag Art
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
When our daughter Helen went to all-day preschool, we did our best to keep her brown-bag lunches tasty and interesting. One day, I embellished her lunch bag with pictures of dogs. She adored it. For the remainder of the school year, I drew pictures on her lunch bags. I never departed from Sharpie pens, usually thick and black. Occasionally, Helen would fill in the lines with crayons.
Eventually we tossed out the "bad" ones and kept about twenty-five "good" ones. Five or six years ago, my friend who is the director of the art department gallery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, hung some of the bags in an art show.
Dog Picture — Band-Aids & Paint
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Artist Lucy White uses Band-Aids and paint to make art. Her work is sophisticated and minimalist. It challenges our preconceived notions of art, society and politics. I first met Lucy while attending the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I recently discovered her charming dog portrait posted on www.lucywhite.com and http://www.lucywhite.com/new_site/home/home.html.
"Blue," 2002, Band-Aid painting on paper, 18" X 18"
Queue of Dogs
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
This is one of my all-time favorite drawings of dogs. Our daughter Helen drew this shortly after her eleventh birthday.
Medium: pencil and paper; dimensions: 9" X 3;" details of the front and the back of the queue are pictured below.
