A Brief Reminiscence Inspired by Artur Biernacki's Dachshund

The paper is double-sided crepe, 24 cm.

Many years ago in New York City I roomed for a period with a miniature dachshund named Rose. She was sleek and vivacious, petite and curvy at just over eight pounds, and was always turning heads on the streets of Brooklyn and East Harlem and Chelsea. Men adored her. Women envied her. Children wanted to eat her. Despite all the attention, her tastes were simple. She was never very interested in fancy clothes or expensive jewelry, preferring the simple pleasures of a hard red rubber ball -- just one -- and likewise given the choice would always prefer the comfort of  staying in and burrowing under the pillows on a Friday night over the opera or theater or drinks in the East Village. It was no surprise therefore, even if a disappointment to so many city folk, that she eventually decided to move to Rockville Center, where she soon stopped minding so carefully her figure and grew decidedly plump all around her middle from too many table scraps. Occasional weekend and holiday afternoons she returned to the Big Apple -- it was barely a thirty minute ride on the Long Island Rail Road -- but mostly she enjoyed her suburban quiet. Her golden years she lived in Saratoga Springs, in order to be closer to family. The cold however she despised. Every December to March she spent in a rented apartment in Delray Beach walking distance from the ocean. I was reminded of Rose when I found this charming model by the brilliant Polish designer Artur Biernacki, and inspired to offer this brief reminiscence in her honor.