Little Green Frog

Every time I go to the Art Challenge blogs, I think, oh I must try that.  And I just never seem to get there!  

But James Parker's Windows to the Words challenge blog is the one that I do seem to manage!  Maybe because most of the others are landscapes, which terrify me, and James' blog posts wonderful images like this Little Green Frog which I can manage to do in one session.

Man's Best Friend

I think my favourite subject to paint is still dogs.

I love dogs.  I love all animals, but especially dogs.  There is something so special and wholesome about them especially when treated properly.  Their inherent goodness comes through when you are good to them and even when badly treated, like the dogs at DARG, they are still so forgiving.  And I believe the same is true for an organisation in America, the Port Jervis/Deer Park Humane Society who sent an appeal through the Art for Shelter Animals blog for artists to paint portraits of their shelter animals to help raise funds. This link is to Sheila Tajima's blog, and Carrie Jacobson who also plays a major role.  Please have a look - maybe there's a face there that you'll want to paint.

I did a portrait of Cocoa - the chocolatey/reddy brown coat was a definite appeal, plus that gorgeous face!  Even Pit Bulls are special.  Ask Cocoa!

  

and some time ago, I did this small one for DARG.  This is Tammy who was abandoned by her owner, but fortunately has recently been adopted!  Bless you Tammy, enjoy your new home.

Lion the Dog (in watercolour)

In the suburb of Hout Bay there is an 'informal settlement' that goes by the name of Imizamo Yethu, which roughly translated means 'through collective struggle'.  The settlement is made up of shacks and the residents are primarily Xhosa speakers from the Eastern Cape who have made the trip to Cape Town looking for a job and a better life.  There are also immigrants (legal and illegal) from northern parts of Africa.

Imizamo Yethu is a hodge-podge of people and cultures and despite desperate hardship there are also little gems that can be unearthed.

Lion the Dog is one of them.  

He used to live on the dusty street even though his owner made sure he had fresh water and a meal of some sort.

But Lion the Dog was getting old and his joints were feeling stiff and sore, so Hilary Barclay*, a former nurse and animal lover, decided that he needed a kennel.  Through generous donations, Lion now has shelter and warmth and loves his kennel so much, he "only comes out of it to eat, pee and pooh!"

*Hilary Barclay, a registered nurse and dog trainer, started an animal sterlisation programme in Hout Bay's IY township in 2004 to uplift the animal welfare of pets in this community.  To date they have sterlised over 1000 pets and have thus gone a long way to curbing the animal population.  The original black and white photograph for this pic was taken by Mia Davila who is the publicity and liaison person at DARG.