8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. When Melinda’s 8-year-old son was born, he recieved “Puppy,” pictured here second from the left. “Puppy Mommy,” the large one on the far right, arrived for his first Christmas. Puppy Daddy sits next to (and is somewhat alarmingly dwarfed by) Puppy Mommy, and Puppy’s baby brother is at the far left end. The puppy family portrait is one of two paintings commissioned by Melinda for her children — check out her six-year-old’s two knit bunnies here!