Tillamook Cheddar (January 17, 1999 - January 29, 2014; Tillie for short) was a

Jack Russell terrier The Jack Russell Terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting in England. It is principally white-bodied and smooth, rough or broken-coated and can be any colour. Small tan and white terriers that technically belong to oth ...

dog from

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, who acquired a reputation as an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. She had work on display at the

National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...

, collaborating on pieces that were shown with human artists such as

Tom Sachs Tom Sachs (born July 26, 1966) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. Life and early career Sachs was born in New York City on July 26, 1966. He grew up in Westport, Connecticut, attending high school at Gree ...

and Dirk Westphal.

Background

A 16-pound (7.25 kg) Jack Russell terrier with a white coat and brown and black markings on her face, she was named for

Tillamook Cheddar The Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) is a dairy cooperative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The association manufactures and sells dairy products under the "Tillamook" brand name. Its main facility is the ...

, a brand of cheese produced in the U.S. state of Oregon. She lived in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, with her owner, F. Bowman Hastie III, a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

writer and editor. Hastie, who grew up in Oregon, served as her agent, publicist, and manager. Hastie received Tillamook Cheddar as a 30th birthday gift from his mother, picking her out of a litter in Greenwich, Connecticut. Hastie first noted what he thought were her artistic inclinations when she was six months of age; while he was sitting on his couch writing on a

legal pad A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking. History ...

, she jumped up and began scratching at the pad. Believing that she was attempting to communicate in some way, he affixed a sheet of carbon paper to the pad and she scratched her first image. UnicornTapestry

Reception of work

In 2004 ''

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

'' described her as "Best New Artist" and in 2005 ''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...

'' said she was "the most successful living animal painter".

Art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

Michael Mills of the '' New Times Broward-Palm Beach'' said: Mills also quoted

Jerry Saltz Jerry Saltz (born February 19, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for '' New York'' magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for ''The Village Voice'', he received the Pu ...

of ''

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'' who called the work a "sham".

Appearances and exhibitions

In 2007, she painted in a public multimedia event called "Tillie Jazz," in collaboration with a live jazz trio (pianist Dred Scott, tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry, and drummer RJ Miller). Tillamook Cheddar has appeared on ''

CNN Sunday Morning ''CNN Sunday Morning'' is a news program on CNN in the United States hosted by a series of rotating news anchors. Prior to that, it was hosted by T.J. Holmes until he left the network in December 2011. The program is produced in Atlanta At ...

'', with hosts

Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at C ...

and Catherine Callaway (September 29, 2002). On November 30, 2006, Tillamook Cheddar (presented as "Tillie the Canine Artist") appeared as a featured guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. On December 1, 2006, Sean Cole of NPR's '' Studio 360'' program mentioned her as an animal artist.Animal Artists
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References

Books

*F. Bowman Hastie III (2006). ''Portrait of the Dog as a Young Artist: Art from Scratch, By the World's Preeminent Canine Painter''. Seattle, Washington: Sasquatch Books. *Packard, Mary (2003). ''Talented Animals: A Chapter Book''. Children's Press. {{ISBN, 0-516-22911-7

Articles

*Szabo, Julia. "Picture this! Tillie's Artistic Talent Brings Her Star-Status." ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', September 26, 2004. *Ballo, Kate. "These Paintings Fetch Up to $2000 (And They were Painted By a Dog)." ''

New York Dog ''New York Dog'' was an unsuccessful lifestyle magazine for animal lovers based upon women's fashion and lifestyle magazines but instead featuring dogs, owned by Michael O'Doherty and John Ryan. Before its collapse the magazine was lauded by res ...

'', January 2006.

External links

Tillamook Cheddar official site
Visual arts by animals Individual dogs Culture of Brooklyn 1999 animal births 2014 animal deaths