About Us
Hello! Welcome to the Shenandoah Basset Art Studio, located in our home in Strasburg, Virginia which, of course, is in the Shenandoah Valley. Five Schillingers live here. Me (that is Liz) the painter of Basset Hounds; Jack, my husband, who manages the business, keeps the inventory, packages the outgoing art, and prepares the hounds’ special food; Ruby, the queen and senior member of our Bassset pack; Sluggo, the rough-and-tough male with a heart of pure gold; and Charlotte or CR, our clown-dog. The last three are our primary, though not our only, models.
The Shenandoah Basset Art Studio staff. Left to right: Sluggo, Liz, Jack, CR, Ruby.
Jack and I are retired professors and moved to Strasburg about five years ago where the housing was more affordable and the dogs could have a larger yard to patrol. Though I have been a lifelong lover of art, I did not begin painting in earnest until shortly before retirement. It was the lack of realistic Basset Hound art that compelled me to begin painting them. I do paint other breeds occasionally, usually as portraits (commissions) of specific dogs; but Bassets are my forte!
My models refuse to play poker or pilot fighter planes or do human-type things some famous artists’ dogs seem to do. So my paintings don’t show such things. Instead they portray Bassets doing the things Bassets really do, which involves a lot of sleeping, as well as playing, running, howling, walking, eating, and just hanging out. Despite this rather limited repertoire of activities, they offer me endless inspiration at the easel—
and joy!
In addition to the website, my work is exhibited in and around Virginia, in Washington, DC, galleries, and at BHCA and Basset Rescue activities. Two or three times a year the five of us take our art on the road (along with quarts and quarts of home-canned dog food) to exhibit and sell our wares and meet other Bassets and their people. We welcome news of shows and events
featuring this fine breed.
A frequent visitor, whose company we treasure, is our grandson, Auggie, at right, playing with Ruby.
Not a “virtual studio!” No, it’s the real thing, complete with turpentine smells and the disorder of a messy artist (but spruced up for this photo). Visitors welcome!
I paint in oil and sell original paintings and reproductions plus lithographed cards. Occasionally I add special Basset “finds” to my inventory, which we have come across on our travels, such as Basset-print tea towels from Siberia or Basset Hound hood ornaments cast in England. My new website should allow us the flexibility to keep current with our inventory on-line. We invite your comments and suggestions for improvement!
"Indoor Almanac"
by Liz Schillinger
Since January 2004, I have been regularly contributing humor columns to an area arts and opinion newspaper, the Bryce Mountain Courier, based in Basye, Virginia. Since the monthly newspaper is not on line and since a handful of my friends and family wish to read the columns from time to time, I'm putting them on line, in this inconspicuous place, since I've already paid for the website. Actually, as far as I know, no customer has ever looked at any of these items. If you have, write COLUMN on your order or an accompanying email and I'll refund your $8 shipping cost! (The Courier is copyrighted. Please contact editor/publisher Peggy Boston at courier@shentel.net for permission to reprint.)
