TROOPER

8x10 oil on canvas sold
Trooper was on the euthanasia list, weighing in at only 31 pounds when the most wonderful family adopted her and gave her the loving home she deserved. She was one of many rescues this family would grow to love, but she was the most loyal and loving dog this family has ever known. As her family rescued countless puppies and kittens, Trooper was known as "mother" to each rescue that came to live with her. She was incredibly intelligent and infinitely patient with the entire home, from critters to kiddos, this family could count on unconditional love from Trooper; she even once protected the house from an intruder. Trooper weighed 100+ pounds when she died of leukemia, never letting her family know how badly she felt until the very end.

I love painting memorial portraits, but they can be some of the hardest to paint because I usually have limited photos to work from. I am including a close-up scan of Trooper's photo, surprisingly she was easier to paint than I thought, perhaps she was mothering me along because happily her painting seemed to just happen. Thank you so much for looking and reading Trooper's story.

SHEP WEST

8x10 oil on canvas sold
This is one of three commissions I recently completed for a new client. Shep is a beautiful rescue German Shepherd and I think one of the largest shepherds I've ever seen; he is such a happy guy. The three paintings will hang as a group in their breakfast room; you can see the other two paintings of MiMi and Ollie on my website at angelaelledge.com. All of the West's dogs are rescues. MiMi's story of how she came to live with Sally & Dale is heartwarming, but first you have to have a little picture of her. She's a little black terrier mix of some kind, has lots of straggly white hair growing all over the place, black wide lips, and a little snaggle buck tooth. After seeing MiMi, Sally cried for days begging Dale to let her have her because "no one would love MiMi like I would". End of story: MiMi lives happily ever after with Sally & Dale!

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sally and Dale on these paintings, not only did they pay me, but I walked out of their home with a brand new printer they thought my school could use (and yes, we did!) and an awesome bottle of wine! Sally and Dale came over to my house to preview the paintings while they were still wet and they spied my bottle tree loaded with colorful bottles I have collected. This wine is a Meeker Merlot and is known as the Handprint wine. As I understand, one of the two owners of the Meeker vineyard paint their hands with bright and colorful paint and they add their painted signature handprints to the bottles, really cool. After we drink the wine, this is one bottle I can't wait to add to the bottle tree! Thank you Sally & Dale!