When you're an only child, growing up, your pets become your best friends. They cuddle with you, sleep under the covers when it's cold, quietly listen when you have something to say, and take you on walks in the evenings.
Meet Tinkerbelle:
We got Tink when I was 10 years old. We were walking in Old Town Spring, a little village of shops in NW Houston, and we saw a mess of puppies in a pen on a street corner. All the pups were bigger breeds, some were chihuahuas, and they were all sleeping except for this white toot with a big brown spot and a dark brown face. Being a little girl, of course I wanted a puppy, and my mom consented. (How could she say no to that face?!)
10 Facts about this little dog:
1. One of my earliest memories of Tink in our home is my dad laying on the floor and Tink wedged in his arm pit sleeping.
2. For being only 10 pounds and maybe 18" tall, she could jump clear above the kitchen table, often stealing food right off your plate.
3. She loved Ernie and her Wooly-Man dolls. She went through 3 and 2 of each, respectively.
4. Tink didn't beg for dog treats....she begged for CARROTS. She could eat them all day long and never stop.
5. When she was younger, we'd buy her those rawhide dog chew sticks as big as she was, and she'd work on one for hours at a time. If you put your hand on her head when she was working and devouring one of those, your hand wouldn't be cold for very long.
6. Tink liked to play tug of war, as do most dogs. But if you'd just pretend like you were going to tickle her while she was tugging, she would growl like nobody's business. Always, ALWAYS made me laugh.
7. She thought she was bigger than any other dog out there, and never backed down.
8. She knew how to sit, stay, & come.
9. She enjoyed taking baths in the kitchen sink, and looking up at you so pitifully the entire time, yet kicking her leg when the water would hit the right itchy spot. Then she would run around the house like a mad woman, rubbing her back and face over every couch cushion, all over the rug, and then sneeze incessantly.
10. Her place of rest was the corner cushion of the love seat, atop 2 throw pillows, her chin on the couch arm. When not on the couch, for years she’d jump in my Mom’s lap and then lean backwards against her shoulder, so that Mom could scratch her belly. Nonstop, preferably.
11. When she'd potty outside, she would often get so distracted while mid-potty-business barking at people walking past the fence that she'd end up kicking grass to cover her mess in a totally different spot or often while running toward the fence instead of where she actually went potty.
12. When it was time for bed, we'd say, "Tink, let's go to bed!", and she'd RUN up the stairs and sit in my bed, leaning on my pillow, waiting for me to say, "Okay, you can sleep with me," and then she'd put her ears down and give me that look of sheer love, then crawl under the covers and cuddle up next to my legs.
13. Tink was very resilient: She severely injured her back at least two times crawling under the couch, her place of refuge during a thunderstorm. She was put on steroids as a young dog (due to a back injury) and as a result, developed a very muscular physique. We used to squeeze her little thighs and joke that she'd be so tasty. Once she somehow walked into the branch of a bush and poked a hole in her cornea; She discovered and ate an Easter egg that had never been found several years earlier- and had the foul gas to prove it. She also ate rotten tomatoes and jalapenos from dad's garden and had no ill effects and she once downed a bag of M&M's and lived through it. And like most dogs, she was known to dig for "kitty candies" in the litter box.
14. She was the best friend a little girl could have.
When Tink started getting slower in the mornings, didn't always respond when her named was called, and seemed happier to sit on her pillows than in your lap, we all realized she was getting on up there in life.
So in December of last year, she quickly developed some serious health issues, and we had to make the tough decision that all pet owners one day face. Losing Tink was very hard on our little family.
In her memory, I didn't want to paint a typical pet portrait like the ones you see here all the time. Instead, I wanted to capture Tink as I remember her best- on her throne of pillows, one ear up, one ear down, watching with at least one open eye both the back and front doors and her people moving around her. I gave the portrait to my parents for Christmas so that they can still look over at the couch and see her sitting there, even if only in our memories.
Many of the portraits I am commissioned to paint are in memory of beloved dogs & cats. A painted pet portrait is a unique and touching way to capture a pet's personality for all time. Here are a few other portraits I did in memory of lost furries:
Mootsie
Little Hand
Hootie
Midnight
Hannah
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