The loaded dog
February 18th 2009 03:35
When fine art meets fine writing, the result can be a fine dog.
The artist is renowned Scottish sculptor Andy Scott. The writer is the much-loved Australian poet and story teller Henry Lawson. Their common ground is Lawson's 1901 short story, The Loaded Dog.
It is a yarn about three friends who prospect for gold for work and fish for recreation. At work, they use explosive to break rock. And one day, when the fish weren't biting, they got the idea to use a stick of explosive - makes fishing easy. Except they didn't get that far because their dog, a playful black retriever, grabbed the stick of explosive and ran around the camp fire with it. Too close to the fire, it turned out, because the fuse trailed through the flames and lit. The three friends ran, the dog ran after them, lit explosive still between his teeth, thinking this was a fine game indeed.
If you want to find out what happened, you can read the rest of Henry Lawson's story here. For our story, suffice to say that The Loaded Dog came to mind when Dr Andrew Melville-Smith, the principal veterinarian at the Whyalla Veterinary Clinic in South Australia, decided he wanted something different out the front of his clinic.
He decided he wanted a sculpture of the loaded dog.
And so it was that Andy Scott, who already has 15 artworks on display around Australia, was commissioned and set to work in his studio in Glasgow, using his unique technique involving the welding of thousands of small pieces of steel.
When finished, the work was shipped to Whyalla, and Andy Scott came along too for the unveiling.
Dr Melville-Smith said the staff of the veterinary clinic regarded the sculpture as a gift to the city and future generations "in the spirit of providing a future for our children".
whyallavet.com.au, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikisource.org, ozdoggy.com.au
Henry Lawson, pictured about 1902
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Comment by Elizabeth2-7
A shadow of herself
Very interesting article and great pics.
Comment by Chris Champion
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