Zip and my pictures of Fate sleeping have inspired me to explore a separate category of photography, one of pleasure and love. I’ll call it Animal Art or Dog Art. Every night, Zinnia sleeps in our bed. It’s tight, and once or twice, she has rolled right off it and onto the floor.

I kick all night when I sleep, so Zinnia always moves over to Maria’s side. She is a considerate and sensitive dog; she doesn’t move unless one of us does. She silently slithered up the side of the bed, rested her head on Maria’s chest, and waited quietly for her to wake up.

After a few minutes of cuddling, she will turn to my side of the bed and do the same thing to me. I get some licks on the chin as her tail wags back and forth. Zinnia is cautious; she has never woken either of us up; she waits carefully for us to greet her and move a bit.

This morning, I was holding my Iphone when Zinnia started her crawl. I couldn’t resist. I want to do more animal art when the situation presents itself.

This picture is a portrait of love, the love we have for our animals, the love they have for us. It says more than any words I could write.