Viking commissioned by The Royal Kennel Club
Viking — Crufts Best in Show 2024
Australian Shepherd
Multi Champion Brighttouch Drift The Line Through Dialynne
Co-owned by Melanie Raymond, John Shaw and Kerry Kirtley
Painting considerations: Although called Australian Shepherds, the breed in fact originated in California and so I added a vase of Californian poppies and a shepherd's fritillary butterfly as a nod to the shepherd part of his breed. I also included a pile of books with relevant titles. So they are, from top to bottom: *Crufts Best in Show Winners Through the Years*, *Motorcycling How to Drift the Line* — “Drift The Line” being part of his official name, *Important Vikings*, *Shepherd’s Fritillary Butterflies*, *Fact-Ory Gin in California* — to be read as “Fact — Origin in California” and *Australian by N.A. Monly* — “Australian by name only”.