Dream Job is a painting about purpose, but not the kind we spend years searching for or redefining. It is about the kind that arrives fully formed, unquestioned and instinctive. Alice, our labradoodle, sits quietly on a grass tennis court with a tennis ball held gently in her mouth. Around her, scattered along the baseline, are more tennis balls than she could ever carry at once. She is not distracted by them. She is calm, focused, and complete. This is her place.
The Story of Alice runs through this painting as it does through several others. Alice joined our home in October 2013 and quickly made her intentions clear. Tennis balls were not simply toys; they were a responsibility. Some dogs chase, some guard, some nap in the sun. Alice retrieves. Not with frenzy, not with impatience, but with a deep sense of order. She understands the cycle: throw, return, wait. She knows when the job is active and when it is finished. That understanding is at the heart of this work.
The setting matters. This is not an informal patch of grass or a suburban lawn. It is a tennis court, a place of structure and discipline, defined by crisp white lines and a clearly marked purpose. The net divides the space, separating play from pause. Alice sits beyond the net, where the balls gather once the game is over. She occupies the aftermath rather than the action. Her role is not glamorous, but it is essential.
Composition plays an important part in Dream Job. The court stretches wide across the foreground, a horizontal plane that draws the viewer in and slows the eye. The net post on the right stands as a strong vertical element, anchoring the painting and quietly asserting order. Alice is placed just off-centre, small within the frame, yet impossible to overlook. The surrounding hedge and flowering trees create a dense, enclosed backdrop, rich with colour and detail, acting almost like curtains closing around the scene. There is nowhere else to look. The painting belongs to her.
Colour reinforces the mood. The grass is luminous, layered with warm yellows and greens that suggest late afternoon light. The garden beyond is abundant, overflowing with foliage and blossom, hinting at care, time and patience. The tennis balls echo the tones of the court, visually linking Alice to the surface beneath her. She belongs to this space as much as the lines painted onto it.
There are no people in Dream Job. The players have left. The noise has faded. Alice remains, sitting upright, ball in mouth, surrounded by the quiet evidence of her work. She waits without anxiety, without expectation. Unlike us, she does not wonder if this is enough.
Dream Job is a reminder that fulfilment does not need to be complicated. Sometimes it is simply knowing your role, doing it well, and waiting contentedly on the grass for whatever comes next. Alice, the perfect ball dog, has already found everything she needs.
Oil on fine portrait linen: 95 x 125 cm; 37.4 x 49.21 in (Sold)
