Dog Art Today

Tag: downtown dog project

  • Clair Hartmann’s Downtown Dog Project Book

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    I featured North Carolina artist Clair Hartmann last July when she was in the middle of painting 101 dogs at the Wilmington Farmers' Market to incorporate in a book called The Downtown Dog Project.  True to her word, and an inspiration to every dog-a-day painter who aspires to publish someday, Clair's book is now available at blurb.  Congratulations, Clair.  It look beautiful.

    Proceeds from the book sales benefit Adopt-an-Angel. 
    See more of Clair's work at her Daily Painting blog.

  • Clair Hartmann’s Downtown Dog Project

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    I am always inspired by great art.  But great art wedded to a clever concept with branching possibilities for promotion and altruism really excites me.  Clair Hartmann’s     Downtown Dog Project is just such an endeavor, one I am thrilled to share with you.  

    Clair is an accomplished painter who sells her work every other Saturday at the Wilmington, NC Farmers Market.  There, she began to notice all the people who brought their dogs and how you couldn’t help smiling when you saw them.  So, as an artist sparked by new subjects to explore, she decided to photograph and paint them.  Then she took it an ambitious step further, she committed to painting a dog a day for 100 days.  

    Now, according to her A Painting a Day blog, she is up to Dog #42.  She purposely doesn’t name them because she wants you to feel like you are adopting the dog, so you get the honor of naming it.  Each 8″ x 8″ painting is $175 and Clair donates $25 to the Humane Society.  By the end of the year, she plans to publish all 100 dog paintings in a book.  

    I think her dogs are wonderful, but as an artist and entrepreneur, I deeply admire her vision and discipline. To paraphrase Andy Warhol, I think turning a good idea into a fully-realized project is the best kind of art. Keep going, Clair, I can’t wait to see more.  Here are a few of my favorites:
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    Clair_hartmann_downtown_dog_3
    Clair_hartmann_dog_4
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    Purchase a Downtown Dog at Clair Hartmann’s Etsy Shop.  Visit her website to see more of her work.

    P.S. Thank you Mary Beth Bankson for sending me the info about The Downtown Dog Project.