Dog Art Today

Category: Dog Art Movies

  • Peace for Dogs: Anti Dog Fighting PSA

    Micheal Killen is the man who makes the California Cheese Cows, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, and the Panda Express Pandas talk.  When he heard about the horrors of Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring he felt heartsick and compelled to do something. 

    With the help of his partners, Jim Kreitzburg and Kathy Dziubek, he called in favors from Lindsey and Bronson Smith of Smith Brothers Advertising to produce this beautifully executed and profoundly moving PSA called Peace for Dogs.

    Read more about the passion everyone on the team, including his 9 year-old daughter Erin, brought to this project on Michael’s website.

    And, you may not have heard about the recent successes at the ASPCA busting huge dog fighting rings in Tennessee and Georgia with the help of the ASPCA’s Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics, Dr. Melinda Merck, and their Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation Unit — a CSI lab on wheels. Maybe these barbaric torture enterprises are finally coming to an end. 

    I heard about this PSA on pet photographer Grace Chon’s lovely blog.

  • Happy Birthday, Mom!

    View the new film I made for my mother, a tribute to her beloved boxer named Lance.

    Mom, I hope you have a wonderful day!

    Love, Moira.

    View the wide screen version on YouTube.

  • Dogs in Art: A New Film by Moira McLaughlin


    Several months in the making, my new film Dogs in Art was a true labor of love.  It was such a pleasure working so closely with all these spectacular pet portraits and charting the history of dogs in art over 5,000 years. The art and the artists were, and still are, endlessly inspiring. Hope you enjoy it!

    View Dogs in Art on a "wide screen" at YouTube.

    See a list of all the art (full images) and links to the artists here.

    As a favor, if you'd like to leave a comment, please click on this YouTube link and leave it there. I'm moving up the charts as "Most Discussed" video in the Pets & Animals category and feeling very competitive.

    P.S. Adding me to your Favorites on YouTube is also greatly appreciated. Thank you : )

    P.P.S. Music is Parlez-Moi D'Amour by CharlElie Couture from The Moderns soundtrack by Mark Isham.  I couldn't find it on iTunes but you can get the CD here.

    P.P.S.  In case you haven't seen it, this film was inspired by Philip Scott Johnson's masterful "Women in Art" video blockbuster of last year.  Click here to see it.

  • Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

    Watch my Dad and his super-talented dog Minnie perform their famous act in my new film, Minnie the Magnificent.  Enjoy!

     

    See Minnie on YouTube here.

    P.S. Look closely and you'll see the Westminster Dog Show playing in the background on TV. Now you know where I get my dog-love genes from.

    P.P.S. Music is by Nino Rota from Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, one of my favorite movies of all time.

    6.16.08 Update:  My Dad is already working on the sequel.  It seems Minnie has lots of new tricks!

  • Joep Buij’s Dog Gods

    Painter Joep Buij is a Dutch artist with an international following.  His work has a joyful intensity that comes through especially in portraits of one of his favorite subject, dogs.

    Originally inspired by his gorgeous muse, Ayla, his black lab who has since passed away, Buij infuses his passion for his own beloved pet into all his commissioned works. 

    Aylatoscane3
    Ayla

    Dog Gods gives you not only an overview of his dog art, but an insight into his profound awe and respect for his subjects.  I love his thick, vibrant brush strokes and, most of all, the eyes — all-knowing, soulful, and yes, perhaps, divine.  Enjoy this groovy trance-inducing film, and you too will be drawn to worship at the Church of Dog Gods. 

    Click here to see more of Buij’s paintings or commission your own.

  • Jerry The Dachshund’s Mechanical Ball Throwing Machine

    This mechanical dog toy took two years to build.  Jerry looks like he could play with it forever! 

    Discovered on dog photographer, Grace Chon’s, Shine Pet Photos Blog.   More about Grace’s awesome photos in a future post.  Today it’s all about Jerry and this mechanical work of art.

    P.S. Although the machine looks a little dangerous for little fingers and paws, the inventor equipped it with many safety features including IR proximity sensors.  Read more about it at YouTube where Jerry has been viewed 1,094,952 times since the end of January.

  • Bridgestone’s Lucky Dog Ad

    Bridgestone’s Lucky Dog ad is hilarious and beautifully executed, but for some reason it never made its debut at the Super Bowl as planned.  Directed by Kinka Usher, who has experience with special effects (Mystery Men) and dogs ("Yo quiero Taco Bell" commercials), I’m pretty sure no animals were harmed during the shoot.  Find out the secrets of how it was made to look so real from Joey Tomatoes at blip.tv.

    It was shot in Orvieto, Italy, (north of Rome) one of the most breathtaking towns in the world.  If you go there, stay at La Badia, a 6th century abbey transformed into a hotel. 

    La_badia_orvieto

    La Badia

    I had one of the best meals of my life there — mushroom crepes with wild flowers, roated white beans, prociutto and melon, bruschetta, local white wine, and a rose liquor for desert — eating flowers and drinking roses beside a roaring open fire — it was otherworldly.

  • Mo Rocca & Mike Huckabee’s Worst Nightmare

    LOL! I heart Mo Rocca!!!

    See the “wide screen” version and lots more from Mo on YouTube.

  • Laika Film

    November 3, 2007 was the 50th anniversary of Laika the Russian space dog’s doomed launch in Sputnik 2. I had planned to write an extensive post about how she has gone on to influence our popular culture. But honestly, her story made me too sad, and I let the anniversary slip by.

    Since then, Laika keeps popping up in my life, in news stories, in emails, art exhibits, and matchbox labels. I think she wanted her day of recognition. And no one deserves it more than this poor little street mutt sent on a reckless mission for the glory of heartless men.

    This Laika film/Zune ad by Ro Rao gives her story a bittersweet twist of a happy ending. Music is by the Aliens.

    Originally spotted on NOTCOT.

  • The Feast of All (Dog) Saints

    Saint_roch

    Today is the Feast of All Saints according to the Christian calendar. It was celebrated as early as 270 as a commemoration of “All Martyrs” and officially instituted as a holy day in the 13th century by Pope Urban IV to honor all the saints, known and unknown.

    Our dogs aren’t always angels, but I believe their unbridled devotion, generosity and kindness qualify them for sainthood. As a person who never used to like dogs, every day I’m amazed that Darby is part of my life. It truly is a miracle.

    My friend Barbara Gordon shot this video of the famous dog cemetery in Paris, Le Cimetière des Chiens. Take a moment to watch it and give thanks to all the amazing dogs who have touched your lives and performed their own miracles. Since it only takes 3 miracles to become a saint, I believe every dog could be canonized.

    Painting at top is Saint Roch, the patron saint of dogs.