A Cosmic Birthday Gift

[cosmicfolklore]

I had asked for a Neerup, specifically. I even bribed the guys at The Briary to only show my wife Neerups when she came in. Every year, I have asked for pipes, and she ends up giving me one that is not in my range of collecting... as I try to only have bulldogs and dublins. A bent ball one year, a churchwarden, and one year it was a squat tomato of sorts. All specimens from great makers, like my churchwarden was a Northern Briars, but... it's the principle.

Instead she got me this pipestand with a bird dog on it, that was a white dog, but she knew that I could paint it the colors of my daughter's Brittney Spaniel, Alfie. It is my daughter's dog, but I have been working with it almost every day. I haven't been bird hunting with dogs since I was a kid, but there is a local guy who will train him when he reaches the age and has a basic skill set down, including fetching. Alfie is not gun shy and also shows potential for a natural birdiness, going berserk when we would flush the birds out of the netting over the grape vines. Plus, he runs along side me when I do my daily bike ride. It's still my daughter's dog, and she will take him with her when she moves out, but till then...

Anyways, I painted it with Alfie's spot patterns, and he is forever immortalized on a pipe stand, ha ha. Long live Alfie. And, I did go ahead and contact a Brittney breeder in my area to get a pick of their next litter, so Alfie will have a buddy, and I can keep hunting once my daughter has moved. She will most likely join me in hunting anyways.

But, here is the stand.


And, here is Alfie on the day he first joined out pack.


Maybe I will get the pipe for Christmas.

 

[sandollars]

Nice write up.. I really like that stand!

 

[scloyd]

Very nice! The paint job looks awesome. I prefer pipe stands of animals and objects over just plain wooden stands.

Happy Birthday!

 

[kcghost]

Brittany's are wonderful animals. Nice pipe stand.

 

[briarbuck]

Nice piece Michael. I have my Dads 1908 Parker 16 side by side that hasn't seen the light of day in too long. We mostly have grouse, turkey and a few chuckar up here. That's a beautiful little dog.

 

[tbradsim1]

Love that dog!

 

[trouttimes]

Nice job painting. I love my 16 SxS.

 

[mso489]

What a handsome dog. I grew up with a spaniel (mixed cocker springer who inherited unusual strength from somewhere). And a fine pipe rack. The color on the pipe rack dog is well done.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Thanks guys. Yeh, they are velcro dogs, but since I am home more than my daughter is, he tends to stay stuck to me all day. In the studio, he sets under the wax bench and licks the floor, ha ha.

 

[jravenwood]

That’s really neat , enjoy and fingers crossed for that pipe!

 

[cortezattic]

Nice pipe rack -- and so appropriate!

 

[Humblepipe]

You deserve this. Perhaps some good kharma for all the times you helped me out with my dumb-newby pipe questions It kind of connects all the dots of the good things in life too.

 

[cigrmaster]

Very nice pipe stand and a real cute dog.

 

[irishearl]

Nice stand.

 

[smittyd]

Congrats and happy birthday!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Thanks guys.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Nice birthday gift Michael. Happy birthday!

 

[shanez]

Very nice! I think I can say it looks better than all white even though I haven't seen the original. Happy birthday!

 

[mso489]

Since this thread is spaniel based, just a word about George, my sleek black cocker springer. He could clear a four-foot hedge with ease, swim in the river through the ice (insisted on it), and could tug me around as a teenager on his leash. My dad made him a little harness, and he pulled a cousin and me on a little land sled (a neolithic skateboard) as he chased squirrels. God bless George. What an animal. He'd charge people growling menacingly but didn't bite. Fortunately no one had a heart attack, despite his convincing roar. This was not a large dog. When we were both small, he'd sleep in my lap in a black puddle and look up with his big brown eyes. He still glows, at all ages, in memory.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Brittnays are renowned for their ease of training. It's like they have no will of their own. All I have to do to discipline this dog is slightly give it a squint. I scolded it very moderately when we first got him here, and he crawled up under a sofa couch with only about three inches of clearance and we had to disassemble it to get him out. He is the most obedient dog I have ever seen, which makes training him a sinch. He only wants to please. But, my daughter sent me a video of him in her car when a friend of hers approached them, and he was all blood and teeth on the window, terrifying everyone.