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Maddy Buttling
maddybuttling@gmail.com








   unsolicited grief paintings


baby, 2021 oil on plywood, 8.5cm x 9cm in private collection Part of a lockdown series where I gave away unsolicited paintings to owners of recently deceased pets. It served as an exercise in creating more carefree works, accepting the strange letting go of each piece, since the paintings were delivered straight away to their surprised griever’s home, the delivery itself became the exhibition space. Baby's owner was devastated when the foxes she feeds daily dug up the remains of her cat. schatzi! 2020 acrylic and oil on floorboard, 17.5cm x 24cm in private collection Part of a lockdown series where I gave away unsolicited paintings to owners of recently deceased pets. It served as an exercise in creating more carefree works, accepting the strange letting go of each piece, since the paintings were delivered straight away to their surprised griever’s home, the delivery itself became the exhibition space. Schatzi! shows ‘Milly’, my aunt’s fourth cocker spaniel, running across my grandma’s hallway. ‘Schatzi’ is a term of endearment used by my German family. With so many generations of dogs and children passing through my omi’s home, the dog’s name is irrelevant, and is referred to as ‘schatzi’. I painted this for my aunt after hearing she had to have Milly put down. bum, 2021 oil on floorboard, 10cm x 10cm in private collection Part of a lockdown series where I gave away unsolicited paintings to owners of recently deceased pets. It served as an exercise in creating more carefree works, accepting the strange letting go of each piece, since the paintings were delivered straight away to their surprised griever’s home, the delivery itself became the exhibition space. Abra's puppy Heidi watches my mum emptying the kitchen bin in 2016. Given to Heidi's owner upon the news of her death. slug-dog, 2021 acrylic and oil on plywood, 13cm x 19cm in private collection Part of a lockdown series where I gave away unsolicited paintings to owners of recently deceased pets. It served as an exercise in creating more carefree works, accepting the strange letting go of each piece, since the paintings were delivered straight away to their surprised griever’s home, the delivery itself became the exhibition space. santa-dog, 2021 oil on floorboard, 15cm x 11cm in private collection Part of a lockdown series where I gave away unsolicited paintings to owners of recently deceased pets. It served as an exercise in creating more carefree works, accepting the strange letting go of each piece, since the paintings were delivered straight away to their surprised griever’s home, the delivery itself became the exhibition space. rachel with pudding, 2022 oil on plywood, 21cm x 28cm Rachel, sitting with her chihuahua Pudding. They are surrounded by a collection of cross stitched cushions she lovingly handmade to memorialise her friends' dead dogs