Dogs

I like painting dogs. I’ve painted them differently over the last 13 years or so.

Sometimes I paint dogs just because i like them and like the way they look. That’s enough as it is.

But more specifically, it started in about 2011 when I lived in West Adams. I had a German Shepherd named Bruce. The neighborhood is historic and had classic suburban bungalows with decorative iron fences. There’s always dogs in the front yards and when I walked Bruce around they’d charge the fence and bark and bite at us. I started taking pictures with my phone. The images had a nice juxtaposition of idyllic suburban settings and the angry dogs. I was also reading Don Delillo’s White Noise at the time and he makes note of dogs barking in the neighborhood to create an atmosphere of unrest. Dogs are an extension of our own attitudes and emotions and I liked the underlying anxiety and anger that persists in a seemingly idyllic environment. Bin Laden was assassinated in 2011 with the help of a Belgian Malinois. Police still use dogs because robots can’t sense human pain and emotion like a dog. The dog is more effective than technology. I painted a big airbrush portrait of a german shepherd barking in what could be a pet or a military dog.

More recently, I painted a picture that included all the “restricted breeds”. These are the dog breeds that apartment buildings and HOA’s outlaw from residential communities because they are perceived as being more violent or aggressive than other breeds. It feels like a poignant piece of American life. I like underdogs and outsiders.