Going to the Dogs

        Last weekend I was at an Open Studios show, and that means I was carving.  The first day I brought four little dog blocks to work on.  I knew they were each going to be pretty quick to carve, but I hoped that with four of them I'd keep busy.  In fact, I was

finished carving in no time, and since I'd forgotten my little ink pad, I couldn't even ink them up for a rough look at what needed additional carving.  (So Saturday night I was up until midnight coming up with another block to carve on Sunday.  But that's another story.)  I did tweak my pups a bit on Sunday, and more on Monday when I was home.  I got a chance to print yesterday, and now here they are: four dogs.

        I tried to do four slightly different styles, as well as different breeds - greyhound, dachshund, lovable mutt, and lab.  I was hoping to capture some of the character of what makes each breed special, as well as just physical shape.  I wanted the greyhound to have alert elegance, the dachshund to be a complete donut, the lab to be friendly and responsive, and the mutt to be heart-meltingly scruffy.  But perhaps the lack of a canine muse in the house is evident, as I'm not sure any of these are as special as I had hoped.  I'll need to get some feedback from dog-lovers out there, I guess!

        Still, as a first foray into Dog Art, I think they're not bad, and we'll see whether I get any more doggish ideas now that I've given it a try.

[Pictures: Greyhound Greeting, Dachshund Donut, Lovable Mutt, Puppy Love, rubber block prints by AEGN, 2012.]