My Favorite~

The story behind this picture still makes my hair stand up! Years ago, my sweet friend from work, Diane, who is also a spectacular jewelry designer; asked me to do a drawing of her great danes. Oh how GREAT they are. I have never been around danes before. I love dogs but I am usually uneasy around them because one of my friends almost had her face ripped off by a dog when we were little. Anyway, I drove to Diane's house to meet with her and the subjects. I knocked on the door and the loudest most frightful barking emminated from behind the front door. My body went cold and I got a very dizzy. I wanted to run to my car or up the nearest tree. There was a glass screen door and then a heavy wooden door. Diane opened the first door and one of the dogs stood up on its hind legs and put his two front paws on the screen door as he was still barking. He was about 6 feet tall. He was staring at me dead in the eye...FACE to FACE. He looked like the scariest creature I had ever seen. (He's the one on the left in the picture). I can't find their names but I have them written down some where in my art records. They were the most loving dogs. Very intelligent and you could probabaly ride them. This was one of my most memorable experiences doing portraits. I have been less afraid of dogs ever since. I don't know for sure (ha) but I think I wrote "two beautiful dogs" in Japanese down the left side of the picture. Maybe my sister in law could interpret it for me. I regret not having a better plan for the blanket but otherwise this is my favorite.