Peaches

Work In Progress: Peaches, Update 1
It’s hard to understand – and harder yet to explain – the influence that Peaches had on my outlook on the world around me. After spending nearly every waking hour of my day for the past six years with her, since my retirement, she became a part of me. Her presence in my life influenced how I felt about things in my world. Having her by my side as I read, and worked around the house, and created artwork, helped raise my enjoyment of everything I did. She was always there. We started traveling to the mountains when we had her, and we never put her in a kennel. If we couldn’t take her on a trip, we were fortunate enough to have a family member volunteer to stay with her. Everyone loved her. My wife even groomed her and trimmed her when she needed it – and that was no easy task. We hiked together and just took little walks together. We ran and played together. We walked around the garden together and always went to get the mail together. We always looked forward to her presence, greeting us when we came home. A part of us died with her that day and our lives have been diminished by her absence.
My wife has advised against doing a portrait of her so soon but somehow I feel compelled to do one. So, I will try. I’ve gone through a lot of photos of her and came up with one I thought was her essence. It is one that makes me think most deeply about her, about our memories of her, of all the super good times we had and how sweet and loving she was. It is one of maturity, in the prime of her life, her big brown eyes taking in all that is before her. I will attempt this one in pastel, for pastel’s softness seems appropriate to her personality.
My start on this one may be a bit slow at first because I’m also involved in a commission piece, one that will be completed shortly. But I’m especially anxious to do this one, as it has so much meaning.