Bruno the Brave

I am so lucky to have had this on my worktable.

A client arrived in the shop with this fantastic original illustration.  It is just gorgeously rendered, so detailed and technical and shiny with varnish.  Swoon.

Then the client told me a little about it.  This is a memorial for his beloved cairn terrier, Bruno.  He commissioned this piece from an illustrator living in South Philadelphia, Christina Hess.  He had seen another of her illustrations depicting a cat as Queen Elizabeth and he and the artist put their heads together and came up with this fitting tribute to Bruno.  Here is Bruno as William Wallace, with such clever details an Isle of Skye tartan (where cairn terriers originated), Scottish thorn and thistle, and the capture of the hedgehog king.  LOVE.

image via christinahess.com

The client selected this great Isabella frame with hand painted details and a slightly distressed finish.  Totally Bruno-worthy.  Formal, antiquated, and really enhances the vivid colors of the work.

I was so impressed by the art, I asked a lot about the artist.  The client told me that she was trying to publish a book of illustrations of animals as historic figures.  

I would totally buy that book!  

Here's her Kickstarter campaign  to contribute (ends July 22!).