Saturday, September 11, 2010

Sassy in Bluebonnets - Original Pastel - NFS

Sassy in Bluebonnets
8" x 8" on Velour
Not For Sale

This is my most beloved and adorable Cairn Terrier, Sassy.  I adopted her probably about 8 years ago now.  She is smart, loyal, loving and "sassy" - hence her name.  She will not hesitate to me "tell" what she is thinking or what I should do about something.  I'm always amazed at how much she understands.  I talk to her as if I were talking to a human, in the same tone, and she understands. She will be sitting on my lap and I tell her to "faint" and she falls backwards in my arms.  She doesn't hesitate to let me know when she is unhappy with me - like when I get my pastels out to paint - she will invariably ask to be let out just as soon as I settle in to paint and then when she comes in and sees that I am actually going to paint after all, she will "huff" and stomp off to to the bedroom pouting and grumbling all the way. The funny thing is usually when I get ready to paint she is snoozing in her chair - totally unconcerned with what I'm doing up to that point.  Go figure! 

She is also my rat and snake killer too which has come in handy more than I care to think about, however, Sassy is scared of rabbits.  One year, it was almost dark and we went to go feed my horse.  She took out chasing a rabbit that was in the yard and hit, head on, a shepherd's hook that I had placed in the yard to hold hanging plants.  It threw her about 10 feet backwards through the air when she hit it and she was screaming all the while.  She hit is so hard she bent the metal pole and threw the potted plants off the pole.  Scared me really bad.  I took her into the barn to see if she had broken anything - thankfully she seemed fine but I had the vet check her out the next day just to be on the safe side.  Ever since though when she sees a rabbit she freezes and almost becomes a part of me as we walk to the barn to feed or turns to insist to go back in the house.  I make her walk with me though and talk to her the entire time telling her the "killer" rabbit isn't going to hurt her that I will protect her.  Not long ago I actually encouraged her to "get" the rabbit to see what she would do - she looked at me and took out after it half heartedly, but she did - now that is loyalty!  Oh - not to worry the rabbit got away. Also I moved the shepherd's hook so that won't happen again.

Needless to say I love Sassy very much - she is great company, one of the best dogs that I have ever had, and brings so much joy to my life!


1 Corinthians 13:13 (New International Version)
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

14 comments:

Pattie Wall said...

Somehow, I knew that great photo would be painted. It's great! Your deep love for this little dog shows. She must be one smart/intuitive little sprite! It's nice to have these great furry friends - they complete life.

Unknown said...

Wow clever dog and a wonderful portrait Karen!

Karen Hargett said...

LOL Pattie - it was one of those photos that begged to be painted. I see now that it is posted though that the one highlight in her eye may be too bright - I'll have to look at the original. She exactly that a little sprite and yes our animals are wonderful to have in our lives.

Hey Sam - thanks so much - she is clever and makes me smile every day. Thanks again.

Karen Hargett said...

A beautiful painting of a cute looking dog. You have a super blog, I know I will enjoy all your posts.

A fellow Texan,

Tony


Tony - first my apology - I accidently deleted your comment so picked it up off my e-mail. I'm still adjusting to moderating comments and goofed! Secondly - thanks for comments and thanks so much for visiting and do come back again soon. Always glad to have a fellow Texas around.

Jo Castillo said...

Lovely painting and story. Sounds like a corker of a dog!

Karen Hargett said...

Hey Jo - good to hear from you. Thanks so much. Yes Sassy is a corker - LOL!

Krista Hasson said...

fantastic! What a great painting :)

Karen Hargett said...

Thank you Krista!

Dean H. said...

Karen, that's a truly beautiful portrait of Sassy! You have the right idea...love your dog with all your heart...that's how she loves you.

Great scripture today.

Karen Hargett said...

Hi Dean - so good to see you! Thank you for your sweet comments.

Helen Read said...

Nicely done, Karen. She's adorable.

Karen Hargett said...

Hey Helen - thank you. I think she is adorable too - the real life one ;-)

hmuxo said...

I love Sassy also!! You did a wonderful job on this portrait...and I enjoyed reading about this little dog.

Karen Hargett said...

hmuxo - thanks so much! Thanks for dropping by too.