The dog is intended to be my dog Dante (now deceased) drawn from memory, so it was sort of a dream-like rendering and not very realistic. The two black balls started out as dogs. The smaller of the two was upside down and black - to me, a very clear symbol of Dante's violent death by car accident. The bigger black ball was also another dog at first - it hangs over her, and seems oppressive - so I like to think it symbolizes her terrible separation anxiety, which she experienced whenever away from other dogs or people... The three red balls are clearly positive, and must represent the things that Dante loved in her life: Me, Tamara, and Maya. (Any guesses on who's the biggest red ball?)
But that leaves out her other great joy, which was chasing and terrorizing small dogs. Apparently, I need to go back into the painting and render another small red ball.
