Ula Blogs: Having My Portrait Painted

By Special Guest Blogger, Ula

Hey, Hey, Hey (that's barking in human speak). An important event in the studio makes me want to write again. Here I am, Ula, with my second blog for Suzanne's website.

Finally, she did it! Suzanne painted my portrait. Her friends have been asking her since forever when she was going to paint me. She always responded with a shrug and a "not yet." I never got it. I knew she liked looking at me; and I was always giving her that sideways glance from my special big eyes, tilting my head while I lifted my ears, twirling my beautiful fluffy tail, and working what my breeder called my "smile gene." But no, she just kept on painting those silver bowls and radishes and humans.

So, here is the story. One day last week, she finished a still life painting and began a landscape sketch. We would be outside for the next couple of days. That can get really boring for me. Suzanne takes me with her but she insists on putting me on my leash and securing it to a stake in the ground. She explains that when she paints, she "goes somewhere else" and she can't keep an eye on me to make sure I stay close. So, there I am, stuck to wander in a very small space. The only exciting part is when my tether gets tangled around the legs of Suzanne's easel and she shrieks and jumps as the palette with all the paints and other potions begins to move. But this day, just as we were getting settled in, the weather changed and it began to rain. Suzanne quickly gathered up me and the painting stuff. Back in the studio we were.

She was disappointed. She really wanted to try out some Cezanne idea with the lake sketch. Instead, she turned to a new still life arrangement. I could tell it wasn't working . She was fussing too much with objects and I heard her say something like "Oh, it's time, I really need to paint somebody." And then, and then, she gave me that look. Hey, Hey, Hey, I felt so excited. I really wanted to jump up on my back legs with front paws waving to walk towards her; but I knew I should stay just where I was, still and quiet on my pillow. She kept looking at me, from near and far, and she started feeling the shape of my head and taking all kinds of photographs of me. I thought: Could this be it? It was, she was doing my portrait. Hey, Hey, Hey, how cool was this.

She worked hard. She looked at me and looked at me, sometimes really up close; and kept feeling my head (I never saw her do that with a human sitter, by the way). She worked with her oil paint and that carton paper that she loves so much. She smiled a lot and even did some singing and dance steps every once in a while. I was a very very good model. And, although I think I am cuter than this, I like the portrait she made. Hey, Hey, Hey, check it out. Let me know what you think.