Frank Picchione

Katherine Heigl Hates Balls

Katherine's 'I Hate Balls' campaign aims to reduce the number of pets killed in shelters by promoting spaying and neutering. Click here to learn more about this important cause.

Several years ago Katherine and her mother Nancy founded the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. Chief among the organizations many endeavors has been the diligent fight to change policies, bring awareness and stop the unnecessary euthanization of healthy adoptable animals in the city and county of Los Angeles.

In her blog she questions whether society as a whole is also culpable to some degree for abandoned, forgotten and abused animals - not just the abusers, the reckless or the thoughtless - as millions of healthy adoptable companion pets are killed every year in shelters due to overcrowding.

Cornmeal & Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary Poached Pears

Over the weekend I made my favorite cornmeal and olive oil cake for my mother's birthday dinner. It is a dense, moist cake with notes of honey and lemon. In the summer I serve it with poached peaches, but this time I topped the cake with slices bosc pears I had poached in a honey-lemon syrup infused with fresh rosemary sprigs.

Remembering Harry

Today, January 5th, 2012, is the sad day we lost Dudley's cousin Harry. Harry was a sweet dog with a gentle soul and a soft coat. I felt calm when I rested my hand on his smooth head. I will always remember that feeling.

Harry was just a few months older than Dudley. We took these photos seven years ago, when I'd had Dudley for only a week, and I brought him out to Connecticut to meet the family. I remember it like yesterday because Olivia was pretending to have pierced ears and we all went along with it.

Whiskers

Dudley really is a fun dog to photograph because he'll sit perfectly still while tilting his head inquisitively from side to side as I ask him one silly question after another with each click of the camera.

Wolf, by Patty Pendergast

Because of my affinity for wolves and the color gray this is one of my favorite paintings by Patty. To learn more about wolf conservation click here.

My Updated Demo Reel

 

Thanks to Brian Sizensky for all his hard work on my new reel.

McDog

In 1985 William McVey (1904-1995) created this sculpture of his airedale, McDog. The statue now greets visitors to the Cleveland Botanical Garden. McVey was a well known artist whose works include the statue of Winston Churchill at the Brithish Embassy in Washington. McDog lived from 1958 until 1974.

Happy 7th Birthday Dudley

And happy 70th birthday to Martha Stewart!

Dudley's Day at the Office

I am excited to be going to Cleveland for my birthday weekend. I've never been, and I am celebrating with friends I haven't seen in months. While I'm away Dudley is at summer camp at my mother's in Connecticut. He loves spending time in the country, and I know he is safe and well cared for. My mother is even taking him to work with her, which is a daily adventure for him. This photo she sent me of him hard at work is hysterical.

Pitbull by Patty Pendergast

Patty painted this stunning portrait of a stray pitbull who had been picked up by Douglas Worthy. Patty said, "These were the first dogs that Doug picked up when he started Lone Star Animal Recovery... He brought these two dogs to where I work, so that I could see them and I photographed them. The male was huge and absolutely beautiful. The female (bottom photo) was very thin and very frightened. I took a bunch of pictures of her and in every single one of them she has the same expression. He probably had been used to fight. He had a huge laceration on his neck. Very, Very sad." I think he's magnificent.