A Dog's Life in a Painter's World

Jade is on alert – standing on the tailtage of the Element she is watching for any movement at all and keeping us safe from any and all unwelcome wildlife! Her head jerks from side to side as the brush rustles in the breeze. It’s drizzling and a balmy 62 degrees here at the lakeside of Pineview Reservoir. Jade’s little body is shivering but she refuses to go inside the truck and lie down on her blanket. She is dying to jump off the tailgate and dive into those bushes to see what lies beneath.

Doug is painting this morning in the Ogden Valley Plein Air competition in Huntsville, Utah and I’m along for the ride. We haven’t had a drop of rain for a month and now it decides it’s ready to unload on the 50+ painters out doing their thing this morning! Such is the life of plein air painting! After getting the rest of the I’s dotted and T’s crossed (coffee, breakfast, crucial ipod and a jacket for me) we’re ready to settle down.

I’m taking pictures with “Photobooth” on my mac because I forgot my camera (I’ve been fired twice already this morning! We were late for registration as well ☺) Pi-shaw! You can’t fire me, I’m free labor! We’re here overlooking Pineview and the rain has finally stopped! Doug plugs in the ipod which is set to "shuffle" and gives him a variety of 5000+ songs to listen to--everything from classical guitar music to Pink Floyd to the soundtrack from Chicago. I, however, am snuggled in the Element with a jacket and blanket! Doug’s a true plein air painter, can handle any of the elements, but I’m more of a . . . what you might call, a "fair-weather-painting-reporter!”

Going out painting has always been something our “painter dogs” have enjoyed. Buddy was our first. Buddy was a beagle that was supposed to weigh between 18 and 20 pounds. However, over the years, he grew to be over 60 pounds! He was so big, Doug would put him on a dolly or in the wheel barrow to take to the studio to work!

We had Buddy for over 11 years and, when he peaked out at 60+ pounds and could hardly walk, Doug put him on weight training, which included running on the treadmill and taking a thyroid pill every day! He shed 25 pounds and got his life back! We were so thrilled to have our Buddy back!

Doug has many fun stories of he and Buddy out painting. He enjoyed finding a warm spot on the rocks to rest while Doug painted near the river. My favorite story, however, goes back to the late 90’s while Doug and Buddy were out “on location.”

To preface this story, let me give you a little more background on Buddy – he had SERIOUS separation anxiety. He HATED being left alone. Going to Home Depot was always a crap shoot – do we take Buddy or leave him home? Leaving him home meant whining, moping, digging up the back yard, and then pouting upon our return. But taking him meant leaving him in the truck with the windows rolled down, but not enough that he could jump out, because he would, and then having him howl non-stop till the intercom at Home Depot would announce there was a dog near death in a black truck in the parking lot! (true story!)

With that being said, I’ll continue with the story. Doug and Buddy had been painting on a cold, rainy morning from the cab of his Toyota Tacoma with Buddy nestled comfortably in the back seat. As the rain subsided, Doug decided that maybe he could move to painting outside, so he got out and went to the back of the truck to drop the tailgail and set up his easel. When he returned to the cab, Buddy had, in a moment of panic, JUMPED to the front seat (seriously, he must have had a serious adrenelin rush to jump the seat – he’s 60+ pounds remember) and jumped right into the pallet of paint. In a matter of 15 seconds, he managed to get Thalo Green paint from one end of the cab to the other, running from door to door, window to window, rubbing his nose . . . covered in paint . . . with his paws . . . covered in paint . . . to get this green stuff off.

When Doug walked back to the door, well, you can only imagine the expletives that described his . . . surprise . . . (words that I'm certain he hasn't used since) . . . The entire cab covered in paint, seriously, this included every single window, dashboard, steering wheel, not to mention the dog, completely covered in paint, licking his GREEN wounds! Well . . . needless to say, the painting didn’t get finished, I’m not sure how Doug got it all together and got he and Buddy down the mountain . . . ALIVE . . . he says it’s all a blur . . . ☺ but in the end, Doug and I enjoyed a long, but somewhat EXPENSIVE, lunch while we dropped off Buddy at the pet salon for a detoxifying “wash and color treatment” (green was just not a good color on him!) and the truck off for a deluxe wash and upholstery cleaning!

I've seen this companionship between Doug and his dogs over the last 23 years--I guess being a painter is somewhat of a lonely profession! Talking and answering yourself is one thing, but when you start to argue with yourself, well, there's where we need to get some help! So having a "buddy" to take to work with you has pretty much saved his sanity! It's a great life for both Doug AND dog!

Well,the painting is getting it's final touches and I’m sitting here taking pictures of Jade trying to lick my face off. Part of my job as "head reporter" is to REPORT what is going on outside this warm car . . . so in an effort to not get fired a third time, I did take "progression" pictures of the painting which I will post at a later time as I have Doug walk me through the steps of a painting from start to finish. Don't thank me now, thank me when you see me with something wonderful! :)

I know, most of you are saying, "well it's about time we got to the painting part of this blog!" Well, I aim to please, so here is the "dessert" you've all been patiently waiting for . . some recent plein air paintings Doug has done in the last couple of months, out paintin' just he and his dog, and of course, their trusty reporter, just tagging along giving you a little insight "from my perspective . . ."

Spring Shelter
8 x 10

Summer Trees
8 x 10

Shelter Study
8 x 10

Torrey Fields
8 x 10