On September 18th 2024 my parents' beloved dog Chico passed away at an age of 11+. We don't know his exact age since he was a stray mutt found on the beach in Turkey when he was about a year old. A local organization that collaborated with a Dutch organization (https://www.stichtingaai.nl/) had rescued him and found him a home. When our previous dog Shiba had passed away, my parents were looking for another canine family member again and I helped them look on websites of pet-shelters and rescue organizations to find a dog who was good with our Oriental cats Neo and Nintu and who had a personality that fitted my parents' living situation.
I was already living in Norway so I could only help by reading tons of profiles and descriptions on websites and I stumbled onto Chico who seemed the perfect fit...and he was. He was about the most lovely, perfect dog whom I've ever met. For a dog, he seemed to have been quite an introvert - he was quiet, minded his own business but always friendly to dogs, cats, people... and he was generally very easy going and positive-minded. Despite his long limbs and wolf-like/almost sight-hound like slender body-built, he was extremely lazy, so he didn't demand much.
During the last months of his life, he had some seemingly small health problems but the vets didn't find anything major, nor concerning. He seemed stiff in his back (which he had been before) and my parents had just started physiotherapy with him...other than that and a skin tumor that got removed in time...there was nothing. Until one morning, he couldn't get out of his bed. His hind-limbs and back were entirely paralyzed. My parents brought him to the emergency and it turned out that he had several brain tumors that had spread to his spinal chord...that was a death sentence as there was nothing we could do to save him...
May you wander freely again, dear buddy... <3
My parents wanted a portrait of him to hang on the wall and I offered to make a painting with pearlescent watercolour. I had never made an A3 painting with these paints, so that was new - but I'm glad how Chico came out. In hindsight, the composition could have been a bit better, but it doesn't matter much now.
Unfortunately, pearlescent paint (I used the brand Finetec) is SO difficult to take in photo! The highlights and colours change with angle/lighting and the beautiful glittering effect is almost impossible to photograph.
