From Fear to Fur: One Artist’s Journey

“Blue Lucy” by Jeff Mark Levy

“I grew up being afraid of dogs and now I paint them!”

In the midst of the pandemic, my husband Jeffrey painted dogs. How he got there is a tale. 

Jeff was not just afraid of dogs. He was terrified. If he saw a dog coming his way, he would cross the street, jaywalk, run - whatever it took to avoid a dog. It didn’t matter what kind of dog. Big, little, black, white, cute as pie. They were still dogs.  

It wasn’t always this way. Jeff was a toddler when his dad declared, “We are getting a dog!” They called the German Shepherd puppy Royal. Jeff was just a pup himself and the two became pals. They did everything together and when Royal grew up, seemingly overnight, the dog gladly offered his buddy endless pony rides. They were the best of friends.

One day, Royal passed away and the story gets a bit fuzzy at this point. My guess is that Jeff came across a dog who was not particularly taken with his childish, nonsensical advances. Was he bitten? Scared off by a growl? A showing of the pearly whites? Whatever happened, Jeff was left with an emotional scar and the fear of dogs he developed followed him into adulthood.

As a young man, living in a third floor New York flat above a neighborhood cafe and a small gift shop, he came home one day to find a covered basket at his doorstep. Inside the basket were two tiny gray kittens he’d admired the day before in the arms of the shopkeeper. He simply adored these rambunctious, cuddly, furry felines. One cat passed away, but the other traveled across the country with him to Jeff’s new city, San Francisco.

Slideshow of images: “Chipper,” “Evita,” Roony,” and “Sammy.” artwork by Jeff Mark Levy

One rainy day, something extraordinary happened. It was during a heavy San Francisco rainstorm and we were parked at a neighborhood market. There was a frantic knock at the window of our Volkswagen. A young lady holding a little rain-soaked white puppy with a tiny black nose, a black ear, and the sweetest hopeful eyes, quietly asked, “Can you please take him?” How could we not?

We were now the proud owners of a puppy, three cats, and, oh my, we knew nothing about puppies. This was an unexpected dilemma. Jeff, on coming home from a long day’s work, would find our apartment covered in potty papers and me sprawled out on the kitchen floor reading a pile of books. But it was the beginning of a turning point for both of us.

Neither of us had ever raised a puppy. I proceeded to read every book, take puppy classes, and talk to veterinarians, and I still didn’t have all the answers. Jeff found my new calling a bit crazy, especially when I enrolled in the SF SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers. But, much to our surprise, I became a dog trainer.

Dogs have now been in our lives for 20+ years, and we’ve both come to a deeper understanding of them. That little white dog we brought home in the rain became our pride and joy. Our house seemed to always be full of dogs: visiting friends’ dogs, family dogs, dogs we boarded. As my puppy classes thrived, my formerly fearful husband was now a welcomed visitor during puppy playtime.

Jeff is a graphic designer by profession, but his real love has always been painting. One day, as he was working on an abstract painting in his studio, I casually asked, “Can you paint a painting of our dog, Ziggy?” He did, and it was beautiful. (Ziggy has since passed, but his painting hangs on our wall; we’ll never forget that little white dog who changed our lives). 

Fast forward to the pandemic, both of us home alone with our newly adopted cats, Roxie Heart and Poppy Seed, our newly rehomed dog, Boba, and of course Netflix.  I got busy with projects - organizing cupboards, cooking, and trying unsuccessfully to bake bread. We took Boba, our supercharged friendly girl, on many walks, but early in the pandemic these were largely people-free and dog-free excursions, much to her dismay. 

What delighted us most was finding the time to play with our furry family, cook, read, and take long walks. And of course, Jeffrey painted. 

What did he decide to paint? Dogs. 

And that’s how Jeff went from fear to fur, from terror to Terriers, from jitters to joy.

Can I now refer to my husband as a dog person? I’ll let you decide.