How do you want to remember your 4-legged family members?

I recently applied to create a commissioned metal piece of a companion animal as part of a fundraiser event. While considering how I’d like to approach this project, I really started to think about what I would want created of my own dogs. Each of my pets, both present and past, have had such different personalities and characteristics. I would want an art piece that would celebrate their uniqueness, quirks and bring to mind the best memories that really make them who they are. They won’t be with us forever, but we can hold on to what made them special to us.

So, for my current heart dog Nova, that’s what I am going to set out to do.

A bit about Nova because who doesn’t love a good dog story? Nova was a bratty ~10-month-old teenager when my husband and I adopted her from the Humane Society in Minnesota. She was one of those lab mixes who needs constant mental or physical stimulation, or she would make her own trouble. She is super smart, mischievous and honestly a jokester at heart. Her favorite thing to do when being “neglected” (usually when I was trying to study) was to steal things and then come show you her prize. She wanted one of 3 things: attention (treats); you to chase her after she does a dramatic spin move and sprints away (treats); or you to give her a treat after performing the drop it command. She stole anything she could find and put in her mouth. She also figured out that she needed to up the ante with higher value items once we ignored her as to not positively reinforce this behavior. This led to some very interesting and rarely terrifying interactions.

Here is an incomplete list of things she has stolen in the past: obedience school homework print outs, cereal boxes, a huge pizza box, egg cartons, milk jugs, mail, shoes, car keys, phones, gift bags, Bowen’s wallet, paintbrushes, nearly full beer cans, cups, spoons and last but definitely not least, multiple chef’s knives and butcher knives.

Although absolutely bonkers, exasperating, and scary at the time, it is actually one of my favorite things about her. She has thankfully matured and is now a pretty calm 10-year-old beastie, but she still occasionally surprises us with a little sneak thievery and loves spin moves.

If you know me at all, you can probably figure out what comes next: I am going to make my own life-sized stabrador so I can smile and relive the panic I felt when facing down a knife wielding fur demon.

My plan is to construct the sculpture out of mild steel rod scrolls welded together on a steel rod armature (skeleton). I’d like to make the sculpture interactive and make a collection of Nova’s past stolen treasures that can be switched out for her to hold and show off.

Stay tuned for project updates!