In honour of all our houndlings loved and lost.

I created the original of this piece as a fine line and ink drawing on paper, this time last year in remembrance of Vena, but then couldn’t bring myself to do anything with it. Now, being in a better head space and being able to look back at our memories together as one of the best times of my life, I can release this as a celebration of a life lived with love since rescue.

Vena was 6 years old when we adopted her from the sanctuary. She spent the first 6 years of her life racing and being used. She was terrified and a shell of a being. In the time we loved her, we watched her personality develop and there was always something so other worldly and ethereal about her, almost all knowing. I’ve never known a love and bond quite like the one I had for her. It was unreal and like most things that burn so fiercely, they are often, unfortunately, short lived. I still have an enormous hole in my heart, but I’m learning to fill it with new love day by day.

Remember me depicts my version of a sugar skull, but takes the form of a sighthound skull adorned with marigolds, as it is the traditional flower for Dia de los Muertos. It represents our time on earth as being fleeting but beautiful. I hope you like it.