Dog Art Today

Sid by Jeff Scher

I've been saving this film, "Sid", by Jeff Scher for the first week of summer.  Enjoy...

 

See more of Jeff Scher's work at his website.

Happy summer!

Still Life With Animated Dogs

I still haven't seen "My Dog Tulip" by Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, but longtime reader Tim Quinlivin sent me a link to an earlier work by the husband and wife animators entitled "Still Life With Animated Dogs."  It is exquisite on so many levels.  Take 26 minutes and 34 seconds and see what I mean.  Artists with dogs especially, this film is for you.

Thank you, Tim.

Jeff Scher's New Christmas Film

After watching Jeff Scher's new film featuring Paul Simon's "Getting Ready for Christmas Day,"  I sent him this note...

"Dear Jeff,  You've outdone yourself.  This video is so, well, everything Christmas is -- wondrous, nostalgic, tragic, painful, hopeful, trippy, exhausting, indulgent, petty, and magical."

See what you think...

Try to enjoy this last weekend before Christmas.  But don't beat yourself up if you don't.

Visit Jeff's blog Reasons to Be Glad to see a behind-the-scenes shot of his animation process.  If you've never seen Jeff's summery and soulful short film "Dog Days" I featured it here.

My Dog Tulip

I was going to write a long article about why "My Dog Tulip," animated by hand by husband and wife team Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, based on the 1956 memoir by J. R. Ackerley, looks so good.  Then I was sent this video review by Jim, who says it all.  And he actually saw the film, so I'll let him tell you...

I've mentioned before that I am not big on stories about other people and their dogs because they usually involve the dog dying.  But this film looks more like a celebration.  And I even want to read J. R. Ackerley's book, which has been re-released with one of the Fierlingers' drawings on the cover.  It is available here.

Right now the film is touring the country.  Visit the "My Dog Tulip" website for more information.

Also, John Anderson of the New York Times recently wrote about the film, the filmmakers, and all the dog-lovers involved in the making of "My Dog Tulip" here.

And finally, note the tag line for the film: "Sometimes love really IS a bitch."

Perfect.

Film: Jon Katz's "A Dog Year" Tonight on HBO

Jeff Bridges and Ryder, photo by James Bridges/HBO

I was just going to write a quick post that Jeff Bridges stars in the movie adaptation of Jon Katz's bestselling book A Dog Year tonight at 8pm on HBO.  I plan to watch it even though the NYT gives it a tepid review because a.) I refuse to watch America's got Talent which seems to be the only thing on right now  b.) I think Jeff Bridges, while not the greatest actor of our time, is thoroughly watchable (I think it is his voice, his dreamy hair, and his refusal to be typecast)  and c.) I always hear about these dog-themed-Jon-Katz books but have no intention of ever reading them.  Dog books to me are like listening to someone else's dream.  I know it is the most exciting, cosmic, love-soaked experience in a person's life to have a dog, but it's just not that interesting to me.  I have my own exciting, cosmic, love-soaked thing going on.  And I don't want to read about your dog dying (John Grogan).

Anyway, what was intended to be a short post began to grow when I dug a little deeper into Katz's bio.  Turns out he was steeped in the frantic media elite world before moving to a farm in upstate NY where he lives with dogs, donkeys, sheep, cows, cats, and chickens.  After my recent giddy infatuation with my foster goats (who, I don't think I've mentioned, now board at a fenced-in pasture across the street, since Girl Goat escaped my pen and gave me too much anxiety, and, yes, I am disappointed that I don't have the pioneer spirit to fix the pen and keep the goats, but the truth is they were not mine and I was getting too attached to creatures whose lives I had no say in), I became intrigued with Katz's new life (being a former member of the frantic media elite turned aspiring rural maven myself) and his ability to approach it with a farmer's practicality and not an urbanite's idealization.  Read his post Why I Shot My Lamb and Why I Want to Shoot My Neighbor's Lamb, Too and you will see what I mean.

Which brings me to another aspect of Katz I want to share.  He has a cool website called Bedlam Farm with lots of photos, a blog, an archive of his Slate articles, and more.  Warning, the blog was a bit cumbersome to navigate.  Jon, if you're reading this, I couldn't click through your photo album and I really wanted to see and share your images.  Here is the shot from his homepage that I like very much:

 

Bedlam Farm

Then there are the Katz controversies: the Afghanistan-nerd-Slashdot incident and the Border Collie community's outrage.   Whoa.

I could go on.  I have spent hours digging around in Katz's world today.  And now, I really want to see the movie tonight and see more.  I had this idea that he was some corny writer who thinks he is the first person to fall in love with a dog.  But the truth is he is more complicated, edgy, and perhaps disturbed than some second career Dr. Dolittle.  Maybe he likes putting down animals.  Anyway, I am intrigued.  And I look forward to tonight.

If you watch or have other opinions on Katz, let me know.  I am going to try the new and hopefully improved commenting system since I saw it in use on my new favorite blog, The Amateur Gourmet.

Hat tip to my mom for sending me the NYT link about the movie and the one to The Amateur Gourmet.  Doesn't she have excellent taste?

P.S. Can't figure out the new commenting system. Will try harder later.  Got to go water my tomatoes.

P.P.S. I activated the new commenting system.  Let me know what you think and if you have any problems.  Feel free to email me at moira@dreamdogsart.  Thank you.