Title:  “Purebred Dog Day”

Artist:    Susie Stiles

Medium:  Acrylic on canvas

Size:  18″ x 24″ x 1″

Price: $600.00  Contact National Purebred Dog Day to inquire about purchasing this piece

Artist’s Thoughts:  My poster celebrates the seven classes of breeds by pairing breeds from each class with the letters for the poster’s title, “Purebred Dog”: the poodle, pug and papillon (Toys Group), the Rottweiler (Working Group), the English Foxhound (Hound Group), the Dalmatian (Non-Sporting Group), the Russell Terrier (Terrier Group), the English setter (Sporting Group), the Dutch Shepherd (Miscellaneous Group) and the German Spitz (Foundation Stock Service Group). In addition to the seven classes, I included “YOU”, an essential participant in the celebration and preservation of purebred dogs! The core characteristics of Heritage, Predictability and Diversity are reflected in my depictions of the breeds illustrated, and in the ebullient Golden Retriever, the “poster dog” for all that’s wonderful about purebred dogs.

I began by considering how to best reflect diversity, heredity and predictability in a manner that was informative/ educative, appealing and fun. Figuring out how to pack those qualities into a single, cohesive image included lots of research about classes and breeds. I chose the alphabet blocks to anchor the poster’s “information” with the idea that they would also serve as pedestals, or in some cases starting blocks, perches or launch pads for the dogs assigned to them. Each dog breed chosen reflects a breed from one of the seven classes, with elements of each breed’s “character” reflected in the images. I couldn’t resist adding the sheep and pheasant to the picture, or the tennis balls! Dogs doing what they do. The inclusion of the Golden Retriever came late in the creative process, as did his theft of the tennis ball “O” in Dog. It made me smile. I hope it makes viewers smile.

NPDDArt2024