Tuesday, November 12, 2013

“Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbour.” --Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337)

Our little Havanese dog Jethro was born on June 19, 2004, and lived until May 31 of this year. Here is my all-time favorite photograph of him, taken when he was about three years old:


We gave the photo to our painter friend Joyce Yarborough last year and now we have an all-time favorite (and so far only) 11x14 oil painting of Jethro as well:


We think Joyce captured Jethro perfectly, working from the photograph. She said that when she painted the floral hassock he sort of blended into the background, so she took the liberty of changing the color to dark green.

We love the painting.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Joyce Yarborough.

For the record, we don’t think Blogger does justice to it.

[Editor’s note. In a comment, Adrian says Jethro “is a bit pink” and wonders whether I took the photo of the painting “in something strange like tungsten.” I took the photo of the painting with my iPhone in my kitchen, but it was a bit shady at that hour of the day. Here is a another photo of the painting that I took when there was more natural daylight.


Is that better? At least the pinks have gone away and have turned to beige. --RWP]

11 comments:

  1. Come, come now it's not Blogger it is any internet service. I degrade images by 80% just to post them. It's like news print.
    He looks a wonderful dog.
    I have said three times that I would never get another. I now have two. They are fun.....for the most part.

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  2. He looks exactly like my Tanya, bichon/shitzu cross Isn't he gorgeous!!
    He must have been a wonderful dog if he's was anything like my girl.
    She is my love.

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  3. He is a bit pink. Was he a bit of a gay or did you shoot this picture of an image in something strange like tungsten. Wealthy lot you Americans being able to enjoy all sorts of light.

    I bet you agree with capital punishment. Let me know Bob because it means a lot to me.
    I don't want to loose readers but the very thought that anyone could live in a state that allows murder by proxy. Disgraceful. Sorry mate Christian you may be. Humanitarian you may be. Let me know.
    If you don't I'll know.

    I am whittling out all but humanitarians.

    If I don't hear then you are a killer by proxy.

    He looked a wee gem to me. The wee dog.

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  4. Adrian, I certainly don't want to be a killer by proxy. I don't want to be a killer at all. There are some atrocious crimes committed that cause people to clamor for the death penalty. I can't tell from your comment which side you expect a Christian to be on and which side you expect ahumanitarian to be on. Or how you define either one. I really can't. No matter. I will tell you where I stand. I personally am against capital punishment. I find that many liberals are for abortion and euthanasia but against capital punishment. I also find that many conservatives are against abortion and euthanasia but for capital punishment. Very strange, indeed, to be for one kind of murder and against another kind of murder.

    I personally am against all three, abortion, euthanasia, an capital punishment. I am Christian. I hope I am humanitarian as well.

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  5. Gosh, what a lovely painting and a beautiful memory of your dear boy.

    I don't think I could paint Shelly. Then again, maybe it would be good for me. I miss her a great deal still, too. Our pets creep into our hearts, don't they?

    Now, how did this get onto the death penalty? Adrian sounds very stern, doesn't he?

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  6. What a gorgeous reminder - of a beautiful dog. For which you need no reminders.

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  7. Love the painting, it's a beautiful representation of Jethro. I have sketched Lardy, but never managed a painting, I'm not terribly good at painting animals generally, however when my sister's dog, Hobbes passed away a few years ago I did her a painting that we all liked, it's one of my favourite creations.

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  8. Joyce probably knows this but Yarborough is both a village and parish in the north of Lincolnshire, England. The parish covers about 1,300 acres. The parish lies south of Grimsby and north of Louth. By the way, I think she's done a great job of painting Jethro and I am pleased you posted a second (non-pink) picture of your beloved hound.

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  9. Like Adrian, I had trouble transitioning from the dog in the photo to the pink dog in the painting, so thank you for the second photograph. Peggy lucked out and bought a ceramic wall hanging of a black schnauzer that captured our deceased schnauzer perfectly. The name given for the ceramic dog was even Pumpkin, which was Peggy's pet name for Baxter.

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  10. Jethro was a beautiful dog and I know he is missed by both of you. As your niece I don't understand or for that matter comprehend how people think. I too am a Christian and believe as you do. Obviously, some of these people who you blog with don't know you or my aunt at all and then throw out disqusting comments *Adrian*. Uncle Bob you really don't need to explain yourself to the filth of the world. Love u both

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  11. I'm just catching up on my blog reading, and when I saw Rhonda's comment, I went back to read the rest of Adrian's. The two of them reminded me of something I've heard Quakers say about, when working for peace, be sure that you're not doing so with a heart that is disposed to hatred. I couldn't find the exact quote, but I did come across the following:

    "Reverence for life leads us not only to avoid doing harm to living beings, but also to nurture life. We not only refuse to kill people, we nurture ourselves and others. This conscientious affirmation of the worth of every human being is the other side of the coin of our consci- entious objection to killing people."

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

We are bombarded daily by abbreviations in everyday life, abbreviations that are never explained, only assumed to be understood by everyone...