– DOG DAYS –

September 5, 2005 – This week's DaDane features Louise Peterson's DOG DAYS, her newest sculpture. DOG DAYS has been been accepted into three prestigious juried art shows so far – the 72nd Awards Exhibition at the National Sculpture Society, the 45th Art and the Animal at the Society of Animal Artists, and the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club 109th Annual Exhibition in New York City.

The life-size Dog Days is pictured above in clay. Louise expects it will be finished in bronze in time to debut at the Great Dane National Specialty which will be held in Chandler, Arizona, from October 15-October 21. As in previous years, Louise is a corporate sponsor of the Nationals. She will be exhibiting a wide selection of her Great Dane sculptures at her sales booth adjacent to the main ring. Several new pieces will be on display. If you'd like to preview or pre-order her work, you can visit her web site at www.danesculptor.com.

Meanwhile, Louise is donating a smaller version of DOG DAYS (1/4 size) for auction on eBay to help support the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue. The auction, which can be seen here, ends next Monday. It's Louise's "thank you" to Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue for her beloved Rigel, who was the model for DOG DAYS. She hopes the auction will raise a lot of money to help all the other Danes in their care.

Louise writes:

We adopted Rigel from Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc. He had been in a shelter in Kansas City after being picked up as a stray. We don't know anything about his history except that he was very malnourished and had been an outdoor dog probably all his life. Never having adopted a fully-grown Dane before we expected to have some behavioral problems, but this wasn't the case. With a little bit of training Rigel has become the most responsive Dane we've ever owned and he is certainly the most affectionate. Whenever he comes in after doing his business outside on a cold night he rushes excitedly to his comfortable bed and settles down with such happiness and gusto because he can finally sleep inside where he belongs. Rigel and Bella are such a great match that they sleep, eat and play together as if they were littermates.

Rigel inspired DOG DAYS since he spends half his life on his back, dozing or rolling around in the grass. With his exuberant love he shows us daily how grateful he is for his new found dog days.

Another of my latest works, CHICKADEE, was inspired by a photo of Nandi in this exact pose. It wasn't until after she passed away that I started the sculpture. (It began as a smaller version called DEER FLY.) We have mountain chickadees in Colorado where we live. They are very friendly and we've taught them to eat peanuts out of our hands. They can get quite demanding and even fly into my studio to ask to be fed. In a moment of whimsy I tried putting a clay chickadee on the butt of the larger DEER FLY sculpture and decided it really added to the composition.

Last week I learned that I had achieved my biggest goal as a sculptor – I passed the membership vote and am now a "Professional Member" of the National Sculpture Society. I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me. It is such a huge honor to be elected among the best sculptors in this country. Fifty-three sculptors applied for membership in April; only three were nominated by the membership committee to be voted on by the Fellows, Sculptor Members, Council Members and Officers. (Click here for more info.) I am so thrilled and honored that I can't help but share the news. What should I aim for next? Fellow, I suppose.

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