"Paul Giamatti", Tillamook Cheddar original painting

Artist: Tillamook Cheddar

Material: Oil stick on watercolor block

Size: 22" x 30"

Framed: Yes

Tillamook Cheddar, a Jack Russell Terrier from Brooklyn, New York, is widely regarded as the world's preeminent canine artist. Over a 14-year career she had more than 20 solo exhibitions in the U.S., Europe, and Bermuda. Tillie's terrestrial life came to an end on January 29, 2014, twelve days after her 15th birthday.

The artist's primary process was a dynamic color transfer technique. In preparation for each of Tillie's works, her assistants assembled a touch-sensitive recording device by affixing pigment-coated vellum to a block of watercolor paper, with a sheet of clear mylar on top, to insulate the artist from the paint medium. Working on the outside surface, she applied pressure with teeth and claws in a methodic ritual marked by dramatic shifts in tempo and intensity. The resultant sharp and sweeping intersecting lines complement the artist's delicate paw prints and subtle tongue impressions, composing an expressionistic image revealed on the paper once the outer layers of vellum and mylar have been removed. She worked with shocking intensity, sometimes to the point of destroying her creations.

*Bidding begins at 40% of the $2500 Estimated Value of this artwork