It was an honor to complete this commission of Mose Augustus, a beautiful chocolate lab who passed away this past year after a good, long life. Mose was very special indeed, and his owners really took his passing hard.
When I'm getting ready to start a private pet portrait, I usually let the owners' stories of the animal swirl around in my head and settle. With this piece, I had been thinking of the right focus for the piece, and as I was out doing barn chores one day, words came into my head with such clarity, that I really knew it was Mose, pushing me on. I really felt compelled to go into my studio that day and do the piece, which I did. I felt him all along. He had a very strong energy. He loved to sneak into the nearby corn fields and snag a few cobs. I think he wanted his grieving owners to understand this, he was right there...After they opened the art, one of the owners left me a message, and with tears laced in her voice, she said, "I just never knew he's been right over there in the corn all this time....".
