“Old House, Young Dog, Spring Rain”
Pencil, pastel, & watercolor
2024
SOLD (within three hours, which is a pleasant surprise)
As I recently posted, the last of my grand old ladies (I suppose that’s what most folks would call them) died this past month. They all lived in rather grand (or at least formerly so) houses, kept many dogs (while keeping up no middle-class “appearances”), and had a million stories to tell. As with Anglo-Irish households in the early twentieth century?…..the entire hierarchy of luxuries-versus-necessities was inverted. Nobody CARED whether the big house was freezing in winter or whether the bathrooms&kitchen were up to some supposed standard. The pedigrees of horses and various dogs were, however, discussed at length. Money (or the obvious lack of any over the preceding fifty or so years) was never mentioned.
I know…..most Americans would, nowadays, find the entire scene distasteful. I spent many years, from my twenties onward, on long house-stays with my friends. When Herve came along (I was 42), he was welcomed by them and came along for the ride.
This is, perhaps, the most sentimental painting I’ve done in years.
Go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taXra5Qrg4E
