Intense eyes staring right at you, quizzical, deciding whether or not to pounce? It’s all about the eyes… like she really will jump out of the picture! This is one of my favourite poses for a full-body portrait, lying down from the front, the focus is still very much on the face with her wispy-top-knot hair-do, yet still includes quite a lot of the body as well. Adding the background, an outdoor scene of greenery, with colours not too dark, it’s perfect to show off her patches and spots. Get those liver colours exactly right, not too bronzy, with a Sepia/Vandyke brown mix. Full ears, and wavy fur, building up the layers and highlights, deepening the shadows. Pale sky with a Paynes Grey wash creates a subtle natural-looking back-drop.
Painted in 2009, when Molly is an alert young 2-year-old. It’s the perfect sample to exhibit at shows and events, leading to many commissions and sales. As time goes by, this portrait becomes so very much more than this as we will find out in her story.
Molly 2007-2018
Where do I start? How do I describe a dog like Molly?
The Spaniel owners amongst you will already be familiar with the abundant crazy energy of a Springer Spaniel. Molly was even more of a handful. The last pup of an unwanted litter, we rescue her at only 5 weeks, falling in love immediately with this adorable bundle. Missing out on vital learning that would have been gained by remaining with her Mum and siblings for the full 8 weeks, Molly lacks some valuable social skills as she matures. We love her anyway, but at times she can be a bit of a handful, usually and most embarrassingly, when we have visitors!
Molly becomes my shadow. Following me with devotion up the path to The Studio each and every time. Pottering around the garden and she joins me, exploring the undergrowth like an over-enthusiastic gardener. When she is with me, she feels safe and calm. Hearing the sound of my voice soothes her. I can tell her everything while she listens intensely. Beautiful eyes holding my gaze with her most loving expression. Although, She can be a moody girl and unpredictable. Other dogs can make her feel nervous, she may want to attack. I teach her to come close to me as they approach, so she can enjoy her walks off the lead. When visitors come, she gives an unsettled bark, not knowing whether to hide or rush at them at top speed to give them a bouncy hug. We keep her out of the living room, it’s not very relaxing to have a random spaniel bounce into your lap or try to sit on the back of the sofa behind your head whilst watching tv…
Walking in our local woodlands, Molly is in Spaniel paradise. Dashing through the long grass, at what looks like 300 MPH, long ears flapping as she bounces through, chasing rabbits, squirrels and birds. Don’t leave your gate open, though, if it joins onto the park, especially if you have a cat! Walking locally, there is a garden gate that has been left open and there’s the cat! Molly is off, into the garden after the cat. The cat goes in the house, Molly goes in the house! It’s like a clip from Tom & Jerry cartoon! I freeze, waiting for the inevitable yells and screams as this crazy dog makes all kinds of mayhem. I just run away! But …there are no yells and screams and soon Molly reappears… but I keep on running… deciding not to walk there again for a very, very long time!
Molly in labour – awoken around 1 am by a restless Molly barking for assistance. Not being due for a good few days yet I reassure her and go back to bed. Nope, Molly is not happy. Returning to settle her, I realise she may be trying to tell me something, “I am not going to do this without you” she is saying. So I grab a sleeping bag and settle down to keep her company. There is no chance of sleep, however, as Molly paces back and forth across the kitchen in her agitated state, trying to sit on my head involving me in her restlessness as much as possible. Finally, just as dawn breaks, she hunkers down, throws back her head and lets out an almighty howl just as the first puppy is born. It’s one of the most beautiful moments I will ever witness. Yet in her crazed frenzy, she is not sure what to do with this new arrival, frantically pacing until pup number 2 and then 3 as the light of the morning gets brighter and brighter. Molly is settling and by breakfast time there are 4 pups. “Molly is getting good at this” she tells me, happy for me to leave her to take the boys to school. On my return, there are 5 pups and all is well.
The next few weeks Molly is the proudest most loving Mum you could wish for, scooping them into her, washing them, feeding round the clock, she was so good at this and so pleased with herself. Sadly a blocked duct leads to a case of mastitis which makes her suddenly really ill. We rush to the emergency vet in the dark. We can no longer leave her alone with the pups until she is better, so Wolfie takes over the ‘babysitting’ until Molly is well. All pups find good homes locally, so we see them regularly and the girl pup produces her own litter of 5 gorgeous grand-pups which is really exciting news for all of us.
We just haven’t seen it coming, it’s such a shock. Starting out as a bit of a limp, not too much of a concern, until the limp gets worse. X-rays and tests are carried out, but her decline is rapid, never thinking she is just not going to get better. At only 11 years of age, with no signs of slowing down, surely this is just a minor injury or she must just be struggling in this hot weather we are having? A few days pass and she just lays in her bed. George is cuddling her, getting extra treats, and then into the evening it all steps up. Breathless and gulping water, Molly, with those intense eyes of hers, begs me to make it stop!! Dashing at 2 am to the emergency vet, test results finally reveal the devastating news that it’s bone cancer with a fast-growing secondary tumour on the lungs. With no treatment, there is only one option. With the shock of this, I am fainting on the floor, I want to be sick and I am sick… it’s all too much and too sudden, I am not ready. Even so, I lie down with my girl on the floor, calming her as best I can until she is at peace, and then I too, become calm.
Molly the spirit dog, now chasing bunnies in the sky. She died how she lived, in a frenzy and in a whirlwind. So loving. ‘When you entered the room, she only had eyes for you’ a friend said on hearing the news, which was so true. So where is the best place to bury a good dog? The answer lies in the 1925 essay by Ben Hur Lampman… ‘The best place to bury a dog is in the heart of his master’ which is where Molly will remain forever.
Such a crazy energetic dog, when Molly’s tail wagged her whole body wagged! This is how we chose the name ‘WaggyDogz’ the brand name for the range of dog products created in 2013. With advances in technology, scanned images stored on a computer could be cropped and changed to create new artworks. Molly’s portrait had the background removed and her closely cropped head became the logo for the brand. Springer Spaniel 140 became a top-selling design, alongside Border Collie 154 (Wolfie’s pup, Boo) The Evans of Lichfield design sold 7,683 cushions by the time she died and continues to be one of the top-selling designs in all of our products. Molly will always be the face of WaggyDogz.
