Stewart is a wonderful dog.   A rough-coated Collie, he is beautiful and majestic.   I met him and photographed him for this portrait, and he was very well mannered with an outstanding personality.   Painting Stewart brought back memories of my Lassie from many years ago, another dog who loved people and was also very easy to train.   She often impressed people with her abilities to work or play or even to save Timmy from the well.

On reading up on the Collie, the breed was found in the early 1800s in northern Scotland as a sheepherder, and first shown at the Birmingham Dog Society show of 1860.   It is said that, on a visit to Balmoral, Scotland, in the early 1860s, Queen Victoria took an instant liking to the Collie.   Well, I don't know if I agree with her on everything, but I'm with her on that.