{"id":739,"date":"2025-09-10T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teahorse.net\/?p=739"},"modified":"2025-09-23T09:36:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T09:36:52","slug":"connecting-dots-celebrate-your-furry-or-not-companions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teahorse.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/connecting-dots-celebrate-your-furry-or-not-companions\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting Dots: Celebrate Your Furry (Or Not) Companions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connecting Dots is a monthly column by writer Amy Cowen, inspired by her popular Substack, Illustrated Life<\/a>. Each month, she\u2019ll introduce a new creative postcard prompt. So grab your supplies and update your mailing list! Play along and tag @print_mag and #postcardprompts on Instagram.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. <\/p>\n

Colette<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Into the late summer, and the change of seasons thankfully is coming. As we move into this final postcard for this yearlong series, it is tempting to simply send home<\/em>, less \u201clook where I am\u201d than \u201cwish you were here.\u201d This month, share a bit of home by celebrating a companion, most likely the furry kind.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s a dog or a cat. Maybe it is something else. Maybe it is a pet that you once had or never had. Maybe it is a turtle or a bird. Maybe this leads you to something Seussian, something fantastical, or something dripping with just a bit of magic realism.<\/p>\n

From Frida Kahlo, David Hockney, and Henri Matisse to Andy Warhol, George Rodrigue, Mary Cassatt, and Keith Haring, artists have often included dogs, cats, and other pets in their work.<\/p>\n

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Woman with Dog<\/em>, Pierre Bonnard, 1981. Wikimedia<\/a>; Woman on a Striped Sofa with a Dog<\/em>, Marie Cassatt, 1876. Wikimedia<\/a>; Mme. Charpentier and her children<\/em>, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1878. Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are a few quotes for inspiration:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to be my mission in life to wait on a dog\u201d \u2014 Georgia O\u2019Keeffe<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it is very true that the most tender, complicated, most generous part of our being blossoms without any effort, when it comes to the love of a dog.\u201d \u2014 Maria Kalman, Beloved Dog<\/em>1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the dog\u2019s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift.\u201d \u2014 Mary Oliver<\/p>\n

\u201cMy little dog\u2014a heartbeat at my feet.\u201c \u2014 Edith Wharton<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways to be treated as a personality and not as a thing, Flush resented indifference and returned affection in full measure.\u201d \u2014 Virginia Woolf<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimals are such agreeable friends\u2014they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.\u201d \u2014 George Eliot<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a fish is the movement of water embodied, given shape, then cat is a diagram and pattern of subtle air.\u201d \u2015 Doris Lessing<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself.\u201d \u2014 William S. Burroughs<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dog is a link between man and paradise.\u201d \u2014 Milan Kundera<\/p>\n

\u201cA dog reflects the family life.\u201d \u2015 Arthur Conan Doyle<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the smallest feline is a masterpiece of nature.\u201d \u2014 Leonardo da Vinci<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I had one, all I\u2019d draw was dogs, but I didn\u2019t know that they were dogs, I thought they were me.\u201d \u2014 Maria Kalman2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

This month, send a message from your pet or companion.<\/p>\n

A Year of Postcard Prompts<\/h2>\n

This is the final prompt in a year-long series of monthly postcard art prompts<\/a>, prompts that nudge you to write or make art on a postcard and send it out into the world, to connect with someone using a simple rectangle of paper that is let loose in the mail system. I have enjoyed watching the year unfold and encouraging postcard art and old-school add-a-stamp connections by mail.<\/p>\n

Thank you to those who sent me a postcard during this process.<\/p>\n

I hope you continue reaching out to friends, family, new connections, and those you have lost touch with in the coming weeks and months.<\/p>\n

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Amy Cowen is a San Francisco-based writer. A version of this was originally posted on her Substack, Illustrated Life,<\/a> where she writes about illustrated journals, diary comics\/graphic novels, memory, gratitude, loss, and the balancing force of creative habit.<\/em><\/p>\n

Head image features assorted postcards and a hand-carved stamp postcard received from Sara Barry.<\/em> \u00a9\ufe0f A. Cowen. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n

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  1. Beloved Dog<\/a><\/em>, for an inside look, see \u201cBeloved Dog: Maira Kalman\u2019s Illustrated Love Letter to Our Canine Companions<\/a>\u201d (The Marginalian) \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Quoted in \u201cMaira Kalman\u2019s \u2018Blue Dog\u2019\u201d<\/a> by Fran\u00e7oise Mouly and Mina Kaneko (The New Yorker<\/em>) \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The post Connecting Dots: Celebrate Your Furry (Or Not) Companions<\/a> appeared first on PRINT Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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