© Barry Bland / Barcroft Media
Holding his brush like an old master, Sam the painting dog is the Leonardo Da Vinci of the canine art world.
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Using the lush surroundings of his home town of Eastern Shore, Maryland as his muse, Sam’s paintings are attracting a loyal art world following.
Selling for up to $1700 (£1,045) for an individual work, Sam has put his brush to 22 different canvases.
Using his tailor made paintbrush, which he holds in his mouth, Sam approaches the blank 16inch by 20-inch canvas with his mind made up to make some modern art.
© Barry Bland / Barcroft Media
“Sam is a regular renaissance dog and his abstract paintings are all the rage with the hip New York galleries,” says Mary Stadelbacher, Sam’s owner.
“He loves his painting and would happily carry on for hours if I left him to it.
“He loves to work in a variety of colours and layers his paintings with darker shades first and then moves on to lighter ones later.”
© Barry Bland / Barcroft Media
Mary, who runs Shore Service Dogs, in the United States took in six-year-old Sam four years ago as a rescue dog.
“He had been bounced around a couple of dog pounds, so I couldn’t have that,” says Mary about Sam, who is a bloodhound, sheep-dog cross.
“I took him in and intended to train him up as a fully fledged service dog.”
However, soon after Mary took Sam in she was struck down by a botched operation that robbed her of the use of her right hand for a time.
© Barry Bland / Barcroft Media
“I never completed Sam’s training because of my rehab,” says Mary.
“So in the end I decided to keep him on to help me around the house.”
Painting al-fresco in the summer and by the heat of a bright fire in the winter, Sam the painting dog is a pooch for all seasons.
“Using his specialised training as a house-help dog, combined with my amateur art background, Sam is a fully trained artist,” explains Mary.
© Barry Bland / Barcroft Media
“He takes the paint-brush mouth piece and will approach the canvas and begin painting on the simple command of ‘paint’.
“He is so comfortable with the brush in his mouth that cameras do not faze him.”
Inspired to teach Sam to paint after seeing a spate of painting animals, Mary and Sam help to keep Shore Service Dogs centre open with the money made from the art sales.
“I saw dolphins painting and elephants painting, so I thought why not a dog?” explains Mary.
© Barry Bland / Barcroft Media
“He has been exhibited in swanky New York galleries such as Denise Dibro’s studio and art collectors have bought his work from as far a field as Chicago.
“We even had one woman buy her dog one of Sam’s paintings as a birthday present.
“He is quite a unique abstract artist.”
Words by James Nye
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