Kids and pets and watercolor

Before we were married, I said to my husband-to-be something along the lines of "Pets or kids, you choose, but I can't do both." We always had pets when I was growing up and I knew that there was a lot of responsibility involved and that I wasn't always up to the task. I remember letting goldfish die in a bowl on my dresser because I forgot about changing their water. And of course walking the dog was always a chore to be avoided. Pets are nice, but to me they are like having a pool, or a boat; I just want to be friends with someone who has them because I don't want the responsibility.

Luckily for me, my husband chose kids, but I have friends who chose pets. One of those friends is Peter, with whom I went to elementary school and who re-entered my life when we were adults via the early days of Facebook. Peter has two adorable Chihuahuas and they have twice become subjects for my artwork. Above are kitchen dishtowels I embroidered and embellished a few years ago when I was doing a lot more sewing, and below are small watercolor portraits with whimsical backgrounds I painted this summer. I find animals challenging to render, but I am happy with the results of my Willy and Freddy efforts and Peter likes them too, which is nice;)