Wizard gets framed
By Jackie Perrone jacper@juno.com and Mimi M.Maddock Mimi@TheColumbiaStar.com

Photo by Warner M. Montgomery Nell and Walter Chastain with a portrait by Laura Dickson of their beloved poodle, Wizard

Columbia artist Laura "Lolly" Dickson especially likes painting animals. She empathizes with God's creatures, and it shows in her sensitive interpretations on canvas.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could persuade animals to pose immobile for us?" Dickson said. "I take a lot of photographs. Thank goodness for digital cameras; it's easy to accumulate 100 if needed. Then I edit down to choose the one or ones I want to copy."

One of her subjects, Wizard, an award- winning French poodle, owned by Walter and Nell Chastain, is solid black, a difficult color for an artist to show detail.

But according to the Chastains, Dickson captured Wizard's personality. "He actually sat for her in the blue chair, not for like 30 minutes, but he sat. He would get up and move around then jump back in the chair, and Lolly would take more pictures," said Nell. "We had a big discussion about which toy to put with him, but the tennis ball is his favorite.

"We just loved Lolly and thought she was wonderful. Now the portrait hangs in a prime spot in our living room. We don't even have portraits of our two children, but Wizzie is like the grandchild we don't have yet. When you walk in, you see the portrait immediately."

Dickson considers herself one of the luckiest of creatures. "I have the freedom and leisure to paint as much as I want and with Lake Murray at my back door.

Dickson said, "I love portraits and all kinds of representational art. Lately, I have tried dabbling in non- objective painting. It's very different, and so far I haven't achieved anything that I wanted to. But that's how we grow, by trying new things and not being afraid to fail."