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"Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog" 

-Sidney Jeanne Seward

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The Project:

There is something uniquely special about an older dog. Although my own dog in his old age got a bit slower and those eyes got dimmer, there was a contentedness about him that only a life happily lived and loved could bring. To abandon him at this stage would have broken him.

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It was this sentiment that drove me to begin this new project, a series of paintings of elderly dogs who have somehow found themselves without an owner near the end of their life. In collaboration with Almost Home Animal Rescue NI​ and their amazing initiative Heather House (a sanctuary which gives older dogs who may have lost their families through no fault of their own somewhere to live out their twilight years in comfort), I aim to capture each of these old souls on canvas and share their stories with the public.

 

The Heather House Story:

The idea for Heather House came about in 2015 when a volunteer called Heather Law saw a growing need to provide a permanent home for elderly dogs who were struggling to rehome.

Heather began fundraising and in July 2016, and opened its doors to its first residents, Molly, Trixie and Jeff.

 

Sadly, Heather passed away before the house was completed but the house was renamed in her memory and the amazing legacy she left.

 

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