One of life’s strange and wonderful piece of thread that has been woven through my life is pug love. I do not have a pug. But literally, everyone I know, or whom I am very close to, has a pug. Or pugs. They seem to arrive in plurals with most families. From my parents to best girlfriends, long term friends, neighbors and employers, pugs have circled me in their snorting wheezing loving rump roast ways since I can remember. There was a sliver of time that I thought seriously about having one of my own but then remembered I enjoyed privacy, going out alone, sleeping, and generally having a modicum of independence and that pretty much disappears if puglets live with you. So I got a cat.
But I do love painting them. They make for a darling muse and over the top happy customer who ever purchases a pug painting. They are a breed (clients) unto themselves. I remember browsing in one of those pet-centric gourmet dog boutiques in Seattle a few years back, the kind where you can buy magnets to tea towels with your breed stitched and plastered on it…pithy sayings on cross walk signs specific to your mutt and the like. The owner was chatty and informed me that she really didn’t need all the merchandise for the other breeds, pug inventory alone would keep her in business. I laughed as I looked in my hand to see a magnetic fridge grocery list and salt and pepper shakers, both shaped in form of fawn pugs. She had me. It was true. We spent some time analyzing and laughing why pug people open their wallets so easily while other breeds are content to have fridges and homes and office desks clear of clutter and imagery of Fido. There was no one answer but all these years later, I think of that moment and here I am, painting these creatures, my fastest selling, most inquired about pet portrait and I don’t analyze any more. I’m grateful for the subject. The Pugnacious Puglet. The muse that invited herself in, got comfy and stayed for awhile. xo
“Blue Ribbon Pug” 11×17″, framed. Available at ElizabethW, Carmel, CA .831.626.3892