Meet “Bliss”, Redtail’s Guilty Pleasure. Our new baby girl. Bliss is the Great-Great-Great Grandpup of our first golden “Bo.”
This was her first week with us.
Here, Mary and I just picked up Bliss from the breeder, Susan Liptak.
It’s been almost a year since Blitz passed. Soon after, I did this portrait of her as a bit of art therapy.
Our new girl golden retriever puppy was born on the 6th. She will be coming home in about six weeks. I can’t wait.
Our new baby is in there somewhere. She’s the cute one. Photo courtesy of Susan Liptak.
It just so happens her Grandmother, Gracie, is staying with us for awhile. In fact, at this moment she is putting a stuffed toy wolverine in my lap and asking for me to throw it for her. She’s staying with us while I’m running her in the Junior Hunt Tests for her owner and personal friend, Sally. Blitz was Gracie’s cousin.
Gracie is schmoozing for a retrieve with a stuffed wolverine. I think the wolverine is well loved.
This weekend we attended the Marin Retriever Club Hunt Test in Corning, California. It was a double header and we ran dogs on Saturday and Sunday. Mary ran her Sailor, Sally ran her Bella and I ran Sally’s Gracie. Great fun was had by all, especially the dogs. Everybody qualified in both events.
The gunner shoots the live flyer. Gracie and I are at the line watching her second bird go down. Photo courtesy of MaryA Livingston.
Prints available at Fine Art America.
Today is day one! I was tagged to do the 3 pieces of art a day for 5 days, Art Challenge, by Mark Mitchell. The theme for today is dogs. I bet you didn’t see that coming! Tessa is the watercolor, Hunter in pen and ink, and Blitz in mixed media. These are all dogs that Mary and I have raised. For that reason I challenge MaryA Livingston to the Art Challenge.
This challenge originated on Facebook, but I have moved it over to WordPress. Incidentally, it was my first post on my brand new Facebook page, Tim Livingston on Facebook. Please check it out.
Prints are available at Fine Art America.
A pen and ink of my old boy “Hunter.” He was the best hunting dog I ever had.
The photo I used for this drawing appeared in the post Forestry Friday … What A Difference A Decade Makes.
Hunter’s motto was “It’s good to be Hunter!”
It must have hurt to be that cute. He was always Hunter puppy to me, even when he was old. Makes me kind of misty.
Pen and ink prints available at Fine Art America.
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/woods-dog-timothy-livingston.html
Ruby’s Coarsegold Running Rebel SH, “Teka”
Teka went home to her family about a year ago. I did this drawing before she left. She stayed with us while training. During her time here she completed her AKC Junior and Senior Hunter titles.
Redtail’s Coarsgold Serrano Sizzle JH, “Ruby”
Her mother “Ruby” also stayed with us years ago. This is the drawing I did of Ruby when she was here.
This gallery is from Teka’s time with us. Click on the image to enlarge.
Very soon Kinta will be going home to Japan. It has been a wonderful year with him, as was our time with Teka and Ruby.
When I fed Kinta the other night this happened. Mary had the quick thinking to grab a camera.
Also known as dinner time eagerness. Our little house guest really looks forward to dinner time as exhibited by his…well see for yourself…
“Blitz” Redtail’s Rogue Lightening SH
Mary and I couldn’t have asked for a better companion than Blitz. She grew to be the perfect dog. She rode shotgun with me for over seven years traveling the back roads of Northern California. Featuring her in my blog posts felt a little like cheating because she was so lovable. Here is her life in pictures. Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Blitz passed from our lives last Friday. We miss her dearly. Your comments are welcome and appreciated, but we probably won’t respond to them. Please don’t take offense.
The silence of a falling star
lights up a purple sky
and as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry
Hank Williams
When I was a reforestation forester, the district I worked on had about 2,600 acres burn in the Gun II Fire. The fire burned over 60,000 acres in total. It was my responsibility to implement the reforestation on our 2,600 acres.
Planting trees in the Gun II Burn.
As an artist, I paint on a small canvas. As a forester, I paint on a big one. After a large wildfire, the landscape canvas can be huge. Reforestation on this scale is a lot of work. It’s very gratifying knowing I had a hand in starting this new forest. Each year when I return, the trees are a little bigger. I picked up and carried every box of trees, hundreds of thousands of trees.
Below are four photo point pictures showing how this canvas has changed over time. I had a few of my friends help demonstrate how big the trees have grown over the last 12 years. It’s a running joke around here, that you must have a dog if you’re a forester.
May 5, 2001 Immediately after planting. Hunter and Blaze pose for me.
February 19, 2006 That’s Hunter and Blaze peeking through the trees.
July 7, 2010 The trees have been thinned. Blitz and Hawk pose.
October 23, 2013 The trees are over twenty feet tall. Now it’s just Blitz.
A farmer grows his crop over the course of a year, but our crop takes decades. Counting each year that passes is an occupational reality of being a forester. Seeing my dogs in these pictures also reminds me of time marching on. Now, there are new generations of both dogs and trees. To me, their lives are intertwined with the forest. This forest is full of our stories.
So why is Blitz laughing, because she is a naughty girl, that’s why! I think she has a very disturbed sense of humor, but what would you expect from someone who says hello by sniffing butts. Boy, was she pleased with herself or what.
“Don’t you make that face at me Blitz…you are a bad girl!”
Do you remember this flower from my previous post. What a unique and beautiful orange flower. I had never seen one like this before. It must be truly rare. Worthy of a National Geographic magazine cover no doubt, and I found it! This flower was probably the only habitat for the equally rare three spotted pygmy jumping spider too. A potential biological grand slam. All I need is the perfect shot and fame was going to be mine!
Lovely, wasn’t it. The stigma and stamens look kind of like the Pillsbury dough boy.
I got one nice picture, then I carefully, so carefully, framed the next shot. This was going to be The Money Shot. “Snap” went the camera and “what the heck” went the photographer. All I got was a bunch of blurry furry!
It’s a golden retriever Tsunami!
Blitz performed a, 9.5 deserving, Roll of Joy right on top of the rare and beautiful, National Geographic cover worthy, previously undiscovered orange flower, instantaneously crushing it in a blitz of red dog fur. I could almost hear the members of the Native Plant Society weeping for this tiny bit of tossed salad.
Does this dog look remorseful to you?
Maybe is was just an unfortunately timed Roll of Joy that all golden retrievers are want to do. Perhaps she was trying to add that extra action or interest needed for an award-winning photograph. Maybe a cry for help (doubt it). Whatever the reason, I’ll never know, and she isn’t talking. Blitz….no doggy biscuits for you!
Here is a rendering of Blitz and Teka by another artist, Gabriarte. It was from a photo of the girls in the previous post. Thanks G!
THE FORESTER ARTIST 