In this series I explore myself as a dog. Being open to baser instincts, seeking comfort and pleasure. Always leaning towards freedom, joy, and human companionship. I have always admired a dog’s ability to maintain complex relationships with people and yet at the same time being so unrestrained it is almost comedic. The Dog Knows is about the wisdom that emerges in the relationships between humans and animals. In our animal counterparts we are able to explore our ego and psyche on a deeper and unrefined level: detached from the confines, expectations and rules of society we absorb since infancy. Dogs have always been my favorite subject matter. Probably since before I could speak. Returning to this subject matter in a more elevated or advanced way is meditative and deeply introspective, the center of the spiral. Not only are dogs the most fun to paint because they are complex and beautiful but they represent myself, my ‘pool of unknown/secret desire’, (a phrase I found myself repeating throughout this series in my journal) as well as instinctive fears, alternate realities, fantasies and all of human psychology. Really what this series is about is about learning how to have fun making art again. If dogs are fun then I will paint them. Because this is how an art practice will become most sustainable, most ingrained into our lives. If you want to have fun making art again you have to make everything else boring.