Women At Work: Kim and Tulia
Acrylic on canvas, 101.6 x 50.8cm, 2013
Collection of Kilpatrick

In 2011, my husband Iain and I heard Kim Kilpatrick perform stories about her guide dogs at an Ottawa Storytellers event. One month later, we received our first guide dog puppy to raise: Weston, a black lab with the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind. Listening to Kim recount her experiences of how guide dogs enrich her life helped us to understand the significant role we play as puppy walkers. I invited Kim to come to my studio with Tulia to sit for a double portrait.