Walpole's Iconic Dog Rock

                                                                                                                  

DOG ROCK   8X8".   oil painting

For many years a resident has been painting the rock at the bend in the road by the Neponset river. As you come across the bridge, the smiling face greets you. Whenever the paint starts to fade, the resident returns to repaint the rock. During covid, he painted a mask on the dog and this resulted in great controversy as someone took it upon themselves to paint over the mask. This played out over and over during the pandemic as people followed the painting skirmish on social media. One of our gallery artists painted mini masked dog rocks to raise money for the original artist to buy paint to repaint the mask each time.  I brought my grand daughter down to visit the rock as I explained to her the controversy and the rocks historic roots.

The dog now has it's original smile as life returns to pre pandemic levels. I will be taking part in the town's annual Uncommon Art on the Common and  in selecting Walpole scenes to paint, I thought Dog Rock deserved a place on the Common this year.