Twenty years ago, the book Why Cats Paint fooled thousands of people into thinking cats really painted, and today, a news story seems to be doing the same for dogs.
The only difference is that in this case, a dog is really painting. Abstract pieces, with a light hand and a love of color. And the dog is making a $15,000 a year doing it, placing her above nearly every art-school graduate of this year on the money list.
Meet Hallie. She paints abstract pieces in a home in Cenralia, California. She’s also blind. Nothing slows her down.
On Monday, a report by King 5 News showed this remarkable Dachshund standing before a canvas, brush in her teeth, working on a pretty respective abstract piece. Her dog mom, Dee Dee, is also a painter — a realist. Hallie didn’t want to seem to be copying her mom, so she turned to abstraction. The genre also lends itself to the practice of holding a brush in your mouth, which Hallie has to do because she is a dog and she has paws.
“Hallie is an abstract impressionist,” said Dee Dee. “I thought I had a pretty good year, but she made more money than I did last year. My blind dog makes more money than I do. Yeah.”
Dee Dee helps spark Hallie’s drive to paint by saying, “Paint? Can you paint, Hallie?”
Yes, Hallie can paint. Check this out:
“She paints faster the better the treat is,” said Dee Dee, which, I suppose, can be said of every painter.
Last year, Hallie received a humanitarian plaque from the nonprofit Purple Heart Rescue for donations. The group helps abandoned and abused dogs. Hallie donated every dollar of her earnings last year.
“I’m her biggest fan,” Deb Harp, who helps rehabilitate the dogs at Purple Heart Rescue, told King 5 News. “I can’t even tell you how many lives she’s touched.”
Dee Dee makes Hallie biscuits of cauliflower and turkey, which Hallie loves. Two years ago, the dog lost her sight due to retinal degenerations syndrome.
“She can barely hear,“ said Dee Dee. “And she’s going bald and she’s short. She is my life. I do everything for her and with her.”
Hallie has made more than 1,000 paintings.
“I’m so proud of her,” said Dee Dee. “Don’t get me going. Yeah. Very proud.”
Via King 5 News
