Buddy the Dogtopus (originally posted on my Patreon)
Sometimes I get a chance to work on a piece of art that isn't just fun and exciting, it's also personal and emotional. When one of my best friend's mother's dog passed away last year even I was left feeling morose because I had known that dog since I was a freshman in highschool and loosing him felt to everyone like we were all losing a good friend.
Buddy was excitable, he was energetic, highly intelligent, and he was so attached to my friend's mother that he could have been her shadow. Wherever Karen went, Buddy went; he stuck to her like glue.
It's been difficult for her to deal with that loss, but one way she helped carry on his memory was to save some of his fur. She gave me that fur and asked me to make something out of it so that she would never feel like Buddy was truly gone.
This is how we came up with making Buddy the Dogtopus: Buddy had a penchant for getting into stuff he shouldn't, he was always carrying around multiple toys, and he was very clever so in a way he was very much like a furry, four-legged land-octopus. When I was needle felting this, I couldn't help but feeling like I was helping Buddy along to his next life.
RIP Buddy, you'll always be a part of our hearts.