Top Dog
Butler artist Christa J. Wagner paints unique art and has gained unique opportunities because of her work.
Wagner and her art were featured Nov. 20 at the National Dog Show, hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia.
Next, she has been invited to participate in the Westminster Kennel Club All Breed Dog Show events in February in New York City.
The show attracts about 35,000 attendees and 4.6 million television viewers.
Wagner said all her life she has been drawing and painting dogs, cats, horses, “basically anything with four legs.”
Then, this past spring, she had the idea to paint custom pet portraits using the pages of old books as her canvas. She uses mostly watercolors and pastels.
In May she started attending dog shows as a vendor and said “the response has been overwhelming.”
Since then, she has painted custom commissions for some of the top dogs in the country.
Leading up to and during the Feb. 13 and 14 Westminster main event will be a cluster of shows called the Progressive Dog Club, which is directly linked to the Westminster Kennel Club.
Wagner will be set up at the Hotel Pennsylvania across the street from Madison Square Garden where the five-day dog show takes place.“I have been watching the Westminster Dog Show since I was a little girl,” Wagner said. “So to have a chance to not only attend but to showcase and sell my art is just completely unbelievable and honestly a dream come true!”Wagner also is a member of the band Bare Branches, formerly known as Hand Drawn Mountains.
