Precious Moments w/ Sally Muir

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An Artistic Perspective on The Wonder of Older Dogs

About The Episode

Sally Muir had a strong relationship with dogs since she was young. Her inseparable childhood best friends were her parents’ standard poodles, and that bond has stuck with her ever since.

In 1979, Sally and her business partner founded the knitwear business, Muir & Osborne. Originally, they primarily focused on creating human fashion pieces, including making the black-sheep sweater that was worn by Princess Diana. At one point, they decided to release a pet-accessory knitting pattern book, “Pet Heaven.” The dog-centric knitting pattern book series “Knit Your Own Dog” soon followed.

During this time, Sally was a mature student attending the Bath School of Art in the early 2000s. While she began by painting children, her passion shifted to painting dogs. Later, in 2013, Sally decided to start a personal project “A Dog A Day” where she would create and post a dog portrait in an artistic way to share for 365 days of the next year. Within it, she made work within a range of mediums – such as sketches, prints, charcoal drawings, oil paintings, and lithographs. She was so happy with the body of work by the end that the collection evolved into a book by the same name.

Earlier this year, Sally released her latest book, “Old Dogs,” which was inspired by her current dog, Lily, a 15-year-old whippet. The project inspires humans to cherish the fleeting and precious moments they share with their senior canine companions. Sally’s pieces highlight the way she views the deeper wisdom and steadfast characteristics that these older dogs developed throughout their years.

Sally’s involvement with dogs has also led to her collaboration with Galgos Del Sol, a charity in Spain dedicated to the rescuing and rehoming of galgos and podencos – Spanish dogs typically used for the hunting season and subsequently abandoned. What started as drawing a portrait to help organize around rescue led to communicating with their founder, Tina Solera, with who she has since developed a connection with and they continue to work together to help the dogs.

About The Guest - Sally Muir

Sally Muir is an artist, author, and former knitwear designer. At the knitwear business she co-founded, Muir & Osborne, she worked for years as a designer and author. They produced high-fashion pieces that were worn by the likes of people such as Princess Diana. Along with her partner, Joanna Osborne, they also published books on pet accessory knitting patterns, dog-centric knitting pattern books, and a children’s book. This later propelled Sally to begin illustrating dogs while attending art school, and even after her graduation in 2003. Since then, Sally’s artistic muse has continued to be dogs, displaying them in a variety of mediums, which can be found in her book “A Dog A Day,” and her latest, “Old Dogs.” She is also a frequent volunteer at Galgos Del Sol, a dog rescue charity in Spain.

Featured Links

InterviewJack SommerArt / Creativity