This is my most recent painting. The inspiration for it came from multiple sources as is the case with most of my paintings. As you all know by now, I am a big advocate for adopting shelter dogs. The before and after photos are among the things I like best about the dog rescue world. So in the first photo you see a skinny, sad, mangy dog on a concrete floor or tied to an outdoor dog house in a dirt yard. Then the second photo shows the same dog looking well fed, happy and relaxed on a comfy couch in someone's living room. A few months ago I discovered there is a little company that produces piano music especially to calm the nerves of stressed dogs. I downloaded some for my two, and oddly they did seem to enjoy it. One of my favorite Italian Renaissance painters is Fra Angelico. Lately I have been looking at his interesting and often dissonant color palettes, which influenced the yellow and blues in this painting. And lastly the title... there is a great tune that Ray Charles performed called the "Rockin Chair Blues". It is the perfect music for this painting but since the dogs are in armchairs, not rocking chairs, (that would be tricky), I changed the title a little.
And I also need to thank Ellie, of Two Blockheads fame, for letting me use her photo for the dog in the striped chair.
Kathryn Freeman is a narrative painter who combines classical composition with magic realism. Freeman’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries in Europe and across the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Washington, and Baltimore. Her paintings are in numerous private and public collections and she has completed several large-scale public mural commissions including two, three-story murals for a new public library in Jacksonville, Florida, that opened in November 2005. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Arts Magazine, Art Forum, American Artist and numerous other publications. She currently exhibits her work at Jane Haslem Gallery, Washington DC, Dog & Horse Fine Art Charleston, SC, and Gallery on the Green, Pawling, NY.
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