I began making dogs several years after my husband found our first dog, Porter, running on the grounds of the brewery where he was a brewer. The staff immediately named her Porter, some of her coloring was the same as the dark beer. She soon became my muse. I would make her follow a treat so I could study a pose over and over. Her constant companionship was a joy. She became to symbolize the loyal, unconditional loves in my life.
Each starts as a series of clay cones and cylinders of stoneware clay. As they are assembled, the pose emerges. The surface is smoothed then textured.