A few months before painting this portrait of Bonnie Millhouse, my mother had painted a portrait of her own cat Kichicot. I am sure seeing that painting was the inspiration for her friend Mary to commission this portrait of her sister’s dog.

As fortune would have it, we can see in the diary entries that this led to the very lucrative commission of Martin Clayman, Mary’s sister’s boyfriend.

Later in the diary we can see that Christine writes “Nearly finished thank goodness.” I think this was the last live animal she painted. Although I am sure this is a faithful rendition of the dachshund, I know my mother was less than thrilled at following a dog around her studio.

Diary Entries