Why Shih Tzu's?

I wasn't necessarily trying to leap into dog portrature, nor did I find them particularly cute. The seed was planted after a floppy little creature that seemed as though it had taken at least 10 hits of strong exstasy, appeared in front of me one day near the Exploratorium. It was so full of unbounded love in a way that it could not possibly express, no matter how hard it's little body wiggled and squirmed. I felt like I had been that dog before...and for those of you who know me, you must know, I am easily excitable.

So I began to look up pictures of all these dogs and each one began to take on a human-like form in my mind. Their faces started to express very human emotions....not just 'feed me' or 'pet me', but truly passionate love, hurt, anxiety, vanity, you name it. Of course, all dogs feel emotions, I believe. But those little faces started to become indivual "people" to me. So I knew I must paint some of the ones that touched me in the deepest way, and if you look really closely, he or she may become more human-like. I hope to use this series as a bridge into work that will continue to involve the more expressive characteristics of this animals' physical architecture in the future. Hope you enjoy.

The Shih Tzu Series!!