Back when I was poking around the Auckland Museum looking for something to paint I noticed these weird brown ceramic dogs in the bottom of a cabinet, there was something about their strange stylised faces, wiggly fur and chains with lockets which I found quite captivating, thus began my latest obsession. They are known as wally dogs/ wally dugs/ mantle dogs/ hearth spaniels/ fireside dogs/ Staffordshire dog figurines. They always have the lock and chain draped over their back. They are the perfect vehicle for my wiggly gouache paintings.
The Tiny Travelling Gallery
I'm totally thrilled to be part of this epic exhibition (50 artists!) which opens this Saturday at 2pm. I'm also delighted that my painting of Scout, my friend's cat was chosen for the artwork on one of the posters, knock em dead Scout!
However my artworks for the show are all dog related, I've become enamoured of Wally Dugs (a.k.a. Wally Dogs a.k.a mantle dogs a.k.a. Staffordshire dog figurines) and have put 2 paintings and a riso print in the exhibition, pics to come soon.