The Road to Inspiration
The Adventures of Taco & Pucci

Canine Inspiration
Artists don't always know when or how inspiration will strike. The sources of inspiration and the things that cause the creative juices to flow are often varied and unexpected. In Karen's case, the seeds of a new idea began sprouting when she adopted her first Chihuahua, Taco, about a year ago. It was then that she knew a new theme was slowly growing. Upon the adoption of her second dog, Pucci (pronounced "Poochie"), the idea for a series of illustrations truly began to take shape. In her mind, "The Adventures of Taco and Pucci" was a developing and exciting new concept.

Pucci the Circus Dog
Pucci's entrance onto the scene really pushed the idea along because her elfish look and energetic personality just spurred on countless creative ideas. Whenever Karen would see Pucci running around, jumping into the air, and teasing Taco, she would find "Dr. Seuss-like" rhymes coming out of her mouth. With these funny poems in her head, the next logical step for an illustrator would be to put the words into the form of a drawing or painting.

Adventures Galore
Over the past several months, Taco and Pucci have found themselves on more adventures than most dogs take in a lifetime. These two little Chihuahuas have been everywhere from New York City to Block Island. They come to work everyday, they've been guests at signing events, and they have tagged along to Tim the Welders and other metal fabricators. They romp through the woods of Norfolk when Karen is working on her metal sculptures. One day Pucci even decided to stake out on her own adventure as she ran off to explore the neighbor's house.

Up, Up, and Away
Over the summer, Karen and Greg enjoyed a week of vacation on Block Island. Taco and Pucci were right there for every minute of the adventure. As they splashed in the ocean, took lots of walks, and explored the island, these pooches must have felt that they were on quite the journey. They had so much fun, in fact, that the foursome returned to Block Island earlier in October. This time they chartered a plane and let the dogs experience some high-flying fun. It was quite a ride. They stayed at a lovely cottage where the owners were dog-lovers themselves and were happy to have Taco and Pucci relax at the house while Karen and Greg enjoyed bike rides and strolls along the beach.

Artwork Ahead
All of these outings will make the perfect starting points for the drawings that Karen is eager to create. Taco has already found himself in two of Karen's recent illustrations, including the poster that was created for the CT Humane Society. The future promises to hold only more adventure for these two little dogs, as Taco and Pucci will soon find themselves as the stars of even more fun and whimsical illustrations.