3 of 114

|

This painting of "Aleister" was commissioned by an animal shelter employee. Aleister had been so brutally served prior to arriving at the shelter he would allow none of the attendants to enter his kennel save the one fellow who ultimately adopted him. Though Aleister was gentle with his new family and other dogs, he was aggressive with people he did not know or trust. Because of several biting incidents and fear of injury to a child, Aleister was finally and heartbreakingly put to his rest.

Jim Toenjes has been painting since the late 1970s. He began with watercolor and acrylic painting outdoors while working in California and Hawai'i as an archaeologist. After several years, he changed to oil, continuing to paint on location. In the mid 1990s he studied portraiture and composition under Jack Rowe in Palm Desert, California. Mr. Rowe was a student of society portraitist,Weyman Adams in New York before World War II. Mr. Rowe served as a front line scout with the Eighth Army and after the war, continued studies at the Chicago Art Institute where he received his degree in fine art.  Previously of Palm Springs, California, Jim now divides his time between Quartzsite, AZ and Woodland, Washington where he has family and is a...