kukla

Watercolor & carbon pencil on Utrecht bristol, 14" x 10".

kukla is a havanese my wife brought home from uzbekistan, where she was doing field research on gerbils.

kukla was owned by an old russian woman who died alone and was not found until three days later. kukla was taken to a game preserve as an orphan dog, and lived paw to mouth until jan came along.

every summer jan would arrive pull off all the ticks, comb out kukla's matted hair, and give her good meals. so they bonded, and i told jan to bring her home.

she is old, deaf and rather dim sighted, a companion of ours for almost 10 years. she is a sweet dog, but snaps at strangers.

occasionally she soils in the house, but mostly does it on the tile bathroom floor. "she is trying her best," i tell jan. "she is shitting where the big dogs shit."