Hard Knock Life

The idea for this project as a note scrawled in a sketchbook. I don't know what first inspired it-- maybe a lifetime of opening the door to displaced critters, maybe new insight as a city dweller who witnesses the toll that living on the fringes of human "civilization" takes on certain tenacious members of other species (still to come: pigeon, rat, mice, raccoon etc).

In any case, I admire the capacity to survive within the cruel structure created by... well, us.

Paintings are approximately 6 x 8 inches and are a combination of watercolor, gouache and ink.

"The Fighter" - PIT BULL TERRIER - probably the most abused and euthanized of dog breeds. Its unfortunate reputation attracts the worse sort of 'owners,' the results of which only bolster said reputation. The only truly vicious thing here is the cycle.

If you want to cry your eyes out but also feel hope and warm fuzzes, click here.

"The Survivor" - TOM CAT - has probably survived more battles with cars, other gentleman cats, dogs and rabid humans than you would care to know about.

When he is not getting scratched and chewed to bits, he enjoys meeting lady cats, stalking songbirds and scrounging for food. 

"The Lost Ones" - OLD LADY CAT - The model for this painting was Ramona, the cat who lives by my heater. Her old ass was slowly starving to death out in the woods (she had taken shelter for the winter under someone's house) and she was covered in fleas and ticks and filled with worms. Had she been abandoned? Tossed out? Lost? We'll never know.

Now she enjoys sunbathing and heater bathing with one ear perked for the sweet, sweet sound of kibbles hitting ceramic.

"The Lost Ones" - THE SADDEST DOG IN THE WORLD - I think I have never seen a more heartbroken creature than a dog who has lost its family or been thrown out like yesterday's garbage.

Also, I don't think I've ever seen a more gentle, loving and appreciate creature than a lost dog who has been taken in by a new family.

You should be that family, should you ever decide to adopt a dog!