TRACKS OF HIS TEARS ARTIST PAINTS IN MEMORY OF HIS BEST FRIEND: A DOG.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Weaver
The Weavers are small passerine birds related to the finches. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical never could refuse Tommy. Whatever his master, a quadriplegic quadriplegic /quad·ri·ple·gic/ (-ple´jik) 1. of, pertaining to, or characterized by quadriplegia. 2. an individual with quadriplegia. forever sitting in a wheelchair wheel·chair or wheel chair n. A chair mounted on large wheels for the use of a sick or disabled person. wheelchair, n , needed, the Labrador retriever Labrador retriever, breed of large sporting dog whose origins are obscure but whose immediate ancestors were developed in Newfoundland and brought to England in the early 1800s. It stands about 23 in. (58.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 60 and 75 lb (27. service dog got for him. The TV clicker click·er n. One that clicks, as: a. A remote control, as for a television or VCR. b. A computer mouse. c. A mechanical counter. . A book. A piece of paper or money that had fallen on the floor. Weaver would pick it up with his teeth and put it back in Tommy's lap. For 13 years, they were inseparable in·sep·a·ra·ble adj. 1. Impossible to separate or part: inseparable pieces of rock. 2. Very closely associated; constant: inseparable companions. . Best friends. The service dog named Weaver, and his master, Tommy Hollenstein, who broke his neck in a 1985 mountain biking mountain biking Sports medicine A sport in which participants use specialized bicycles to navigate rough, steep trails covered with unforgiving rocks Injury risk Concussions, fractures, death. See Extreme sport, Novelty seeking behavior. accident when he was 24. ``He's given me my independence back,'' Tommy would tell his friends. Ultimately, Weaver would give Tommy even more than that before Weaver died a few years ago. He would help his master find the future he thought he had lost forever. Put it right back in Tommy's lap. By all rights, Weaver should have been retired by now, Tommy knew. The rule of thumb said 10 years old was just about the limit for a service dog. But Weaver just wouldn't quit. He was pushing 15 and still sitting faithfully by Tommy's wheelchair every day, ready to carry out one of the 89 commands he knew. Even a stroke couldn't stop him. It slowed Weaver down some, made his panting panting rapid, shallow breathing, a characteristic heat-losing reaction in dogs; represents an increase in dead-space ventilation resulting in heat loss without necessarily increasing oxygen uptake or carbon dioxide loss. and movement harder, but every morning, when Tommy would wake up, there would be Weaver, sitting by his bed ready to go to work. It was only a matter of time, though, Tommy knew. Whenever the end finally came for Weaver, he was going to miss this dog more than anything he had ever missed in his life. Even walking. His friends thought he was crazy, but Tommy always swore swore v. Past tense of swear. swore Verb the past tense of swear swore, sworn swear that, if he had it to do all over again, he would pick Weaver's love and devotion Devotion may refer to:
``I knew I had to find something special to remember him by, something he and I did together that no one else had ever done,'' Tommy says. The answer would be to reach back to a talent he thought he had lost forever after his accident left him paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. . He couldn't paint with his hands anymore, but what about with his wheelchair? Just the two of them on canvas. Tommy and Weaver. Wheels and paws. ``I had friends lay down two big canvases in my garage, and I spilt spilt v. A past tense and a past participle of spill1. some colors - grays and reds - on a big area of it. I said to Weaver, 'OK, let's give this a try, old buddy.''' Weaver wasn't so sure. He sniffed around the canvas a little, wondering what that wet, colorful stuff in the middle was. It sure didn't look or smell like any of the 89 commands he knew. But there was his master inching his wheelchair onto the canvas, and Weaver wasn't about to be left behind. ``He didn't like walking through the wet paint with his paws at first, but he got into it on the second canvas we did together,'' Tommy said. You can see for yourself beginning Saturday through Aug. 16 at Bernard's Gallery in Calabasas. More than 30 pieces of wheelchair art Tommy has painted over the last two years will be on display - including the two wheels-and-paws canvases that started it all. ``To be able to do something that was your passion since you were a kid, and you thought was stolen from you forever, well, it's all pretty incredible,'' Tommy said Friday. ``None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for Weaver being by my side all those years.'' Judy Ginsberg didn't know what to make of the man who wheeled into her art gallery a few months ago. ``He said he was an artist and asked if I would be interested in doing a showing of his work,'' said the director of Bernard's Gallery. Judy asked Tommy to bring in a few of his pieces for her to see while she tried to think of a way to let him down gently. She wasn't expecting much. How good or interesting could wheelchair art be? ``Incredibly good, and I've seen some of the best art in the world,'' Ginsberg said Friday. ``Tommy's art is exciting, full of life and inspiration. You look at it, and it makes you smile. It's exactly what good art should be - uplifting.'' There are hundreds of pieces of Tommy's wheelchair art hanging on the walls and stacked Stacked is an American television sitcom that premiered on Fox on April 13, 2005. On May 18, 2006, Stacked was cancelled, leaving five episodes unaired in the United States. The last episode aired on January 11, 2006. in corners of his Canoga Park home. He has a wheelchair for getting around town, and another for his art. He's refined his style since he and Weaver went paws and wheels on those first canvases. Now, an aide puts the colors Tommy wants directly onto the wheels of his wheelchair, and he swerves and spins his way across the canvases, creating his abstract art. His motivation might be music or a beautiful sunset, and on a good day he'll put in four or five hours with some of his canvasses having up to 35 layers of paint on them. ``On one canvas, I was spinning so rapidly that smoke was coming from my wheels,'' Tommy says, petting his new service dog, Hiley. Tommy loves Hiley, but he still misses Weaver every day, says his mom, Jean Hollenstein. ``Weaver was like Tommy's child,'' she says. ``He kept hanging on, almost as if he was waiting until he knew Tommy was going to be OK before he would leave him.'' The night Weaver died, it was only fitting that he crawl To search the Internet for hosts, Web pages or blogs. See crawler. up and put himself in Tommy's lap. On the wall behind them hung the paintings they had created together - paws and wheels. Weaver had helped his master find the future he thought he had lost forever. He could finally retire. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO ``Wheels of Perception,'' an exhibit of Tommy Hollenstein's art, will be featured at Bernard's Gallery beginning Saturday through Aug. 16, 23538 Calabasas Road, Calabasas. For information, (818) 224-5662, or see www.calabasasart.com. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Tommy Hollenstein spins a visual tale using the tires of his wheelchair in the studio of his Canoga Park home. Left a quadriplegic by a 1985 accident, Hollenstein is mounting an exhibition of his work at Bernard's Gallery in Calabasas. (2 -- color) ``To be able to do something that was your passion since you were a kid, and you thought was stolen from you forever, well, it's all pretty incredible.'' - Tommy Hollenstein (3) These days, Tommy Hollenstein is faithfully served by his new service dog, Hiley, above. But he says he still misses Weaver. Michael Owen
Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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