Beloved Bird Hunting Dog

Out with the Setter: Beloved Bird Hunting Dog. It was a very long time ago. a young woman named Linda came to my studio and asked me to hear a story.

You see, her Dad had a major love in his life that had endured, after her Mother of course. It was that every autumn when the leaves would begin to turn he would pack up his station wagon and take his beloved bird dog and go bird hunting.

He was so predictable in that he always wore his favorite jacket and his favorite cap and his bird dog meant the world to him because he lovingly trained and bonded with his dog.

He was getting along in years and so she (his daughter) and others in the family wanted to give him something very special that year for his birthday. So she asked if I could come up with a window that would be a remembrance of the story of her dad.

I took the important elements of her story and she was clear she did not want a portrait of him; but of the favorite activity he loved so. So I did as she instructed. Several months later I ran into her and she told me that the gift, when opened, by her father with many family members being present all began to cry. At first I was sad to hear that; but she quickly corrected my impression and said it was the happiest time they could remember because of the sweetness of the moment. She added that he had passed away a few weeks later.

She thanked me for enabling the family to hold on to such a precious memento of that special moment in time. The work is crude by our standards today; but the sentiment is there all the same.