INTO THE WOODS
(In Memory of Sam)
Original, 2015-2018, Oil on Wood Panel, 48 x 24 in.
(When I started working on this painting in 2015, both MollyBrown and Sammy (a.k.a. LeroyBrown)* were still alive, and the painting was titled Liberté. It was going to be a red, white and blue floral tribute to American freedom. But then in 2018, Sam passed away. Interesting how things change with time . . .. anyway, it became one of the eight paintings I would do in Sam's memory -- one for each year he was with me from Christmas 2010 when I rescued him from a life hiding under bushes and behind leafy trees, from a life on the streets, until his death in my arms on the evening of my Birthday, in 2018. It was then that I was finally able to finish it - for my lovable little Sammy! There wasn't enough room to paint the upper thin edge orange, but I incorporated that color into the flowers that adorn the tree.)
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I worked on this painting both before & after losing my Cattle Dog/Aussie mix rescue, Sam. The circumstances surrounding his death were difficult, and for reasons outside of my control, I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. After he was gone, finishing this piece was very important to me. There are gradations of color in it much like ombre when working in silk, and to me it became a metaphor for the many shades that were Sam. There is too much to say here about how much he meant to me. How much I learned from him. What I had to sacrifice to keep him and work through his many issues. (You know, Dear Reader - little issues, like threatening to eat the neighbors . . . that sort of thing . . . the kind of thing that gets people angry at you and costs you your own joyful peace!!) How I became a much better person because of him & because of what he taught me. Suffice it to say, with Sam's unpredictable outbursts of aggression initially (not something I was fully prepared to handle at the outset and definitely not something every household could have handled), he was far in a way my most difficult rescue. But in many ways our relationship was also the most rewarding experience - perhaps because it required so much patience, so much work, so much tolerance and so much love. Rescuing an animal is not always easy. But not giving up - trying to show 'unconditional love' as they do - is truly a gift -- not just for the recipient but for the party able to stretch and do that for another living being. It paid enormous dividends when he finally turned and became the most loving dog, the most - well - - - everything dog, in short - The Best. Dog. Ever!' (Yeh, yeh, I know, I know! You think I say that about ALL of my dogs! But I don't think that's true!)
Sweet & gentle Sammy, with my friend and fellow artist, Bert Collins
At Bert's home in Ojai, California, October 2016
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When I think of Sam now, the memory that always strikes at my heart is that of him coming into the bedroom in the morning from wherever in my home he chose to sleep once my eyes were closed -- his jumping softly ever so carefully onto my bed (so as not to wake me?) - -- KERPLOP! (Little secret -- I was awake!) - - - and his standing over me and then slowly lowering himself onto me and burying his bent head onto my chest and resting it there quietly on my left bosom directly over my heart. OH! How I loved you, my dear sweet Sam!
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(Footnote: As with all of the "memory pieces" i do following the death of one of my boys or girls, I incorporated the color of his lead into each piece in Sam's memory. His collar and leash were orange.
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(Footnote: At no time has my name ever been "Brown," Dear Reader - just in case you were wondering! So don't ask! It just started with BusterBrown, good 'ol lovable Buster - The Best. Dog. Ever! And it took off from there!)
