Superstar

Tomorrow, weather and scheduling permitting, an ARTIST is coming to take pictures of Ray so that she can paint his portrait.

I met Julie at the dogpark. She is active in fostering dogs (she has had at least four or five since I've known her) and is drawn to hounds. She is owned by a German Shepherd/Bloodhound named Annie that she adopted from a rescue, and a Black and Tan Coonhound named Coaltrain, one of her fosters that she kept. (Coal was one of about 30 dogs confiscated from a property and one of 10 that survived.)

Anyway, Julie had told me before that she was interested in painting Ray, and being the agreeable person that I am, I said "Sure! Anytime!"

So earlier this week, I saw Julie at the dogpark again. She told me that she was going to be doing a demo (I guess she is demo-ing how to paint pet portraits) and needed a subject. "I'd like to paint Ray," she said, "He's got such a great face (I might be making that part up) and such a great story. Can I come to your house and take some photos?"

I played it very cool even though I was doing an excited happy dance in my head. "Sure," I replied, "When do you want to come?" We decided to aim for Friday.

Tomorrow is the big day. If all goes well, Ray may become immortalized on canvas as well as in his blog. Not too shabby for a blind, lymph-node impaired hound dog from South Carolina.

If you are interested in seeing the pet portraits that Julie has painted of her pets, the dogs she has fostered, and others that have been commissioned click here: juliehartdesigns . If you click on each photo, you will see a larger picture and a brief write-up by the artist.

I think my favorites are of Coaltrain (the first photo on the page) and the grey cat. I see that look on Hugo's face every time Ray tries to steal Hugo's food.