Vivid Dog Dream--In Color, 28" x 22", acrylic on paper, 1993. Artist's collection.

Similar to the previous Clouds painting, this work began with an abstract underpainting over which more predominant forms were applied. Elements of the underpainting are visible in the narrow spaces between the flat angular shapes. After applying the angular shapes in an intuitive manner I recognized the the schematic silhouette of a dog's head and shoulder area composed by the orientation of the lower two pale red-orange angular shapes. With that, the upper two pale red-orange angular shapes appeared to me as abstract balloon captions which contained what the dog might be thinking about, or, supposed levels of dog consciousness. The unusual conceptual track of this composition appealed to both, my sense of humor, and willingness to acquiesce to the bizarre challenges resulting from utilizing an intuitive creative approach.

My solution to resolving the visual and conceptual question posed by my recognition of the animal form in the composition was to create a standard mythological structure pertaining to an esteemed element of a dog's existence. I decided that a stick would do nicely. A stick is an organic product of nature which is an instrument of pleasure (fetching), and opposite to that, an instrument of discipline (whipping).

There are seven sticks presented in the composition--one painted illusionistically at the top, one small bare stick at the dog's ear, three sticks wrapped in pink tissue* placed at the corners of the form representing the dog's higher consciousness, one at the dog's throat area, and one stick at the lower left. The stick at the lower left is overlaid with pink tissue, then with thin textured paper to represent the weave of a canvas of a painting. This lower stick is also presented in a "frame" and has a gold halo rendered above its form. The framed stick form represents an icon painting of a stick which has been canonized as a saint. The dog is pushing its nose into the picture plane of the icon. The Saint Stick iconographic image represents an aspect of the mythology which offers life-vivifying insight through the contemplation, or, just a sniff, of its meaning. The upper sticks at the level of the dog's higher consciousness are robed stick angels who's appearance herald the veracity of the mythology. The uppermost illusionistically painted stick represents the discipline (sacrifice/suffering) aspect of the stick mythology. The upper stick also functions as a temporal/eternal point of interface between the lower realms and the highest realms (not pictured) of spiritual consciousness. The uppermost stick is rendered as a temporal form, yet exhibits its transcendent characteristics in its ability to bend light, space, and, time, as exemplified in the unnatural bending movement of the shadow cast by its form.

* toilet paper from The Louvre Museum

As an ending note here, I want to apologize to every dog on the planet, those who are cruising this website, and those who are not. Humans can be cruel, but they are especially cruel when they self-righteously project human attributes onto the particular and obvious dignity other species. I'm sorry I used your specie to construct a mythological structure based on sticks to mirror and illustrate our mythological structures. It was an intuitive painting and and I guess the Dr. Dolittle thing got the best of me. Humans suck sometimes. Trust me, I know. It won't happen again.