Soul Touched by Dogs

Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs
Podcast, the show for dog lovers who

see dogs not as toys or tools, but
wise souls worth our respect and care.

I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.

I talk to poor some humans, people who
do great work for dogs and their people.

So come and join us for
today's conversation.

Anke: Hello, welcome Tania.

I'm excited to have you

Tanja: here.

Hi, good morning.

Nice to be here.

Thank you for having me.

Anke: It's awesome.

And I love your background.

I love your background.

Anybody who's just listening, do
yourself a favor, watch the video.

So Let's start out, give people an
overview where you're from, originally

where you're based, and what's the

day

Tanja: job.

Sure.

So, um, welcome to my rainbow cloud, if
you're watching the episode, and, um,

it's really great to be here with you.

I am originally from Germany.

Um, but I am based in the UK.

I've been here 19 years now,
so, um, pretty much half my

life I've been in the UK.

Um, and my day job is painting,
so I am a full time artist.

I create these very Very colorful,
vibrant, um, happy paintings.

I call them my happiness anchors to sort
of make people smile, sort of give them

a break from their day if they come home
and they see this art and I just want

them to, you know, breathe and feel happy.

And, um, so, so yeah, that's what they do.

They anchor happiness in homes and
offices, um, all around the world.

So that's what I do.

I love

Anke: it.

I love it.

I, I mean, first of all, I think a lot
of people go like, wait, wait, wait,

what, how do you, you know, so many
people try and turn a passion, especially

try and turn their art into a business
and into a full time, um, career.

And so I think that's, there's,
there's material for another episode

for a different show, but, um, Yeah,
the happiness, Anke, and I think it's

almost like, it's just like dogs, right?

Like, you come home and they
just brighten up your day.

Tanja: It is, actually, yes.

When you say that, it's like, I
mean, obviously the dog, it comes

at you, it's so happy to see
you, it sort of wags its tail.

And, um, so the paintings are,
I guess, They sort of hang on

your wall and wag their tails,
you know, like jump out of it.

They're very, they're so bright.

They really are, you know,
they, they stand out.

Um, they, um, you know, you will notice.

And when you, you know, you, so you
walk in a room and there's this sort

of splash of color and, um, those
people who, my collectors, they, they

collect my art because they love it.

So even, you know, 10 years later,
they still get that same effect of

just smiling when they see the work.

And, um, that's, that's my aim.

I think there's so much.

Um, out there in the world that kind
of bombards us and, and, and, and

brings up loads of different emotions.

And I just want to go with
peaceful happiness and, you know,

yeah, that's kind of my, my goal.

I love that.

Anke: It's almost, you know, I remember
like the first time we spoke, my reaction

was, Oh my God, I love you, baby.

You know, and I had the same
reaction again this morning.

It's like, you cannot.

It's almost impossible to feel kind
of sad and, you know, looking at so

much, there's so much life in there,
it's so vibrant and it's just like

you can't come home to a dog and feel

Tanja: miserable.

Exactly, exactly.

Um, it's, it's, it's like, um, you know,
The moment you're with your dog, the

day just kind of, at least for a moment,
you know, the day just washes away and

you don't think about it that much.

And that's kind of what I
go for with my art as well.

I want that, that effect, you know, that
it's almost like a break in your nervous

system or something, you know, like a
little, like this anchor that it's like,

Brett, you're home now, you know, you're
in a good space, you're safe, you're,

you know, you can take a breather and,
you know, just sort of come down from

whatever day you've And, um, actually,
even though, um, so I guess people who

are not that much into my art, they
kind of look at it and it's like, oh,

that's quite nice for children and stuff.

But actually, um, so 90 percent of my
art is owned and displayed by adults.

So it's actually a very small
percentage of people who buy the, the

art or actually, um, the cushions.

I, I have, um, for a while I
was doing cushions and they're

just sort of coming back.

So for example, this is one of them.

And, um, I have a whole, you can
sort of see them in the background.

Um, I have loads of them, , but, um, so.

Very, very few of them, of all
the questions that were then

went out, very few of them are
sort of in children's rooms.

I mean, yes, I have, I know people
who send me photos and, you know,

like with their little ones in the
crib or in the, in the nursery, but

most of them are in living rooms.

you know, on couches.

I had, I had one person, he bought
one for every room in his house,

so he just has one in every, every
guest room, every, every room in his

house has a, has one of my cushions.

And, um, So yeah, it's, it's um, it's
mostly adults who, who really respond

to my art and who, um, who love it

Anke: in their home.

And it's, I think it's
not surprising, right?

Because I think, you know, everything
from kids toys and clothes, everything

is always colourful, but as adults
we don't really get that that much.

You know, most of our clothes are sort
of a little more, you know, and, and that

splash of colour, I think it always works.

And I'm like, I'm

Tanja: just like...

Oh my god, there's a
cushion with dogs on it!

You know, with Ryan Gannis
and dogs, it's like, oh!

I had a cushion, I had a
cushion with this one on it.

Um, but that's just left the
studio, so um, that's not here

right now, so I can't show it.

Oh!

Yeah, it's very cute, yeah.

And, um, I think that's also when I
started doing the, the greeting cards, um,

so I have, I have this one as a greeting
card, you know, they came out so nice.

Um, and I just, I was so excited and
I took them everywhere with me and I

ended up selling hundreds of cards just
sort of in person and it's, it's all.

You know, it's all adults.

And again, it's a very small
percentage of people said, Oh, I

can get this for my grandchild,
you know, grandchild or something.

But most of them are like, I can't
wait to send this to my friends.

And, you know, like send out these
sort of happy, happy greetings.

And, um, that just makes me really happy
to, you know, I just recently sold a print

where, where a collector they had bought,
um, they'd actually bought two paintings.

Two prints and a card at the
exhibition, and then they

commissioned, um, their dog portrait.

So this is actually the Snelly,
she's an actual portrait.

And, um, and then they're just messaging,
like, hey, can we have another print of

one of the prints that, hey, they had
bought, but they're like, we're not giving

away our print, but we want to give a
print to our friend for their birthday.

Can we have another one?

And I just.

So, you know, they just
bought it and we send it off.

And, um, but yes, this, I love this one.

So this is just a print,
um, of the original.

See, they already have the
original, but, uh, so this is Nelly.

And, um, I, it was so much fun.

Um, the original is a little bit wider,
but for this format, it worked out.

And, um.

It was sort of, I'd never met her
before, so I'd done the portrait

from photographs, he sent me loads
and loads and loads of photographs.

Anke: I was just about to
ask you, how does that work?

Tanja: So, um, so he sent me a ton of
photographs and then, um, and then I kind

of went in and I did the first design.

So I, I go in digitally.

I recently learned how to do it,
and that's such a game changer.

But, so, um, this was sort
of the first draft I did on,

uh, on the tablet digitally.

And, um, I didn't have the colors
for the dog in my digital file

because I don't work with...

Um, I don't really have black in
my art, and so the dog is, is,

is black, and I was like, okay, I
need to, I need to do that by hand.

I need to mix the colors by hand.

I cannot do that digitally.

I need to see the actual, I need
to see the, the, the, the paint.

I need to feel it with my brush.

I need to know.

What the paint is like.

So I send it like this.

I send it just sort of like an impression
of the dog with the background, just

as a general approval to sort of say
like, does this, does this kind of work?

And he's like, Oh my God, that's Nelly.

You know, it cannot be any other dog.

It must be my Nelly.

And, um, so that was great.

And then, um, when I had, so then
I had painted the dog and done the

painting and I took a photograph of her.

Um, to, to sort of play around, and I
went back in digitally to sort of design

the face, design the colors, uh, plan
out the shadows, and, um, so basically,

I don't know if you can see from, so the
face was different from the photograph,

and then I went in with all the different
photographs and found, and tried to kind

of make her face more, More smiley and
more, um, you know, see, like, counted.

She

Anke: looks at you,
like, it's really like...

Tanja: Yeah, yeah.

And, you know, I thought of, like,
how many teeth does she have?

Like, you know, I, like,
this is really important.

Like, on all her pictures,
how many teeth can you see?

Like, what, what does her tongue do?

Like, with these...

With these two, you know, it was, this is
a sort of work in progress, so it's not,

it's not finished, it's just not finished
yet, but it was sort of really important,

like, where do their tongues go, you know?

It's different with every
dog, because like, my puppy,

like puppy, she's a year now,

Anke: but she has this really long
tongue and always hangs out to the side.

You know, and the other dog, she
just has a little bit of the tip

of the tongue in the front, like,
very different from dog to dog.

Tanja: Yeah, so it was really
good to have loads of pictures.

He really did send me loads.

And then this is, so obviously, so this
is then how the face came out painted.

So, um, I did make a few
more changes from there.

And it was actually funny, is, um, just
before I was Like I had, because every,

with the paintings, they get more loads of
layers to make the colors super vibrant.

And just before I was kind of
finishing off the last layer,

I kind of, suddenly I was like,
what if the dog is not blue black?

Like, you know, like, what if,
what if she's not a cool black?

What if she's a brown black?

And, or like a warm black?

And I just, for me on my, on the
pictures, it looked different.

I was like, what if it's like,
you know, that would be terrible.

So I messaged like, look.

Just, just to check in, you
know, is she cool or is she warm?

And you know, when I was putting the
brown in the brown hair in the face, I was

like, it suddenly the rest looked so cold.

And then he's like, no, no, she is,
you know, and, and he was like, oh no,

we comment, you know, we always talk
about how, how she's like sort of a bit

bluish and, you know, more cool black.

Okay.

So then, um, I, then they came to
the studio to pick up the painting

and it was a surprise for the wife.

And she had no idea, none whatsoever,
and she didn't even know where they were

going that day, and so she insisted,
well, no, she didn't insist, but

she said, oh, can we bring the dog?

And he was like, I don't know, and so
I said, yeah, please do bring the dog.

And so, they came here, and, um, it was
so fun to, to meet, uh, Nelif in, you

know, for the first time, and as they
came into the studio, and, um, I had,

sort of hidden the painting a little
bit, and then as they walked around and

looked and then she went back in this
part of the studio and had a look around

and then I brought the painting out, put
it on the desk, uh, to display it, and

when she came back she immediately was
like, why is my dog there in a painting?

And then she started crying and she was I

Anke: saw her just thinking about it!

Tanja: Oh, it was like, that was
the best moment because I was like,

what if she doesn't recognize it?

You know, because she
didn't have any idea, right?

So what if she's like, oh, that is a nice
dog, but the moment she saw it, she's

like, why is my dog on this painting?

And she was so happy.

And, um, yeah, it

Anke: was, I think that's just the most
adorable, like, you know, I don't know.

It's just like to see your dog
and, you know, and especially

then if you can have twins of it.

You know, it's like, oh,
you can have it everywhere.

You can have a cushion and
you can have the cards.

Tanja: Yeah, I mean, technically, you
know, if they wanted to, they could,

um, have, I could make cards for them,
um, and then they could use it to send

out to their friends or something.

Um, I didn't, I, I haven't talked
to them about, like, open prints

or, you know, making cards just in
general, because it still feels.

You know, when I paint a dog for myself,
like the, like the, the little Frenchie

here, it's different, you know, it's,
it's for me, and it's, it's, um, of, of

someone who has shared their reference
picture, and it's great, and I will show

the person who, who made the picture
available, but it is, it's for me,

it's, it's, you know, because I want
to paint that happy, cute little faces,

and, you know, I want to imagine them,
like, wagging their tails while they're

excited to be painted, and then I.

I can make prints and cushions
and, and cards and, you

know, because it feels open.

But with the commission, even
though anyone who sees this They

wouldn't know the difference.

They wouldn't know that this is
someone's dog, you know, but I feel

like this is, it's so special that,
um, I wouldn't by default just

make prints or cards or anything.

No, no,

Anke: I don't think so.

No, I think I was thinking of
like prints for these people.

I'd say if you were to do, if you
were to do something like this for,

for my dogs, you know, I would,
yeah, I would want like that.

My cards and my cushions, because they're
my dogs, they mean something to me.

They don't mean that much

Tanja: to anybody else.

So that's just...

And you may want to give, you know, give
a cushion of your dog to someone who knows

your dog very well, you know, like...

They can order that.

But, um, but yeah, so obviously even with
a commission, the copyright stays with me.

So if they wanted to do that,
they, you know, then they just

get in touch and I can talk.

to them about how it works and like
how we can make that happen for them.

Um, but, but yeah, I don't, it
doesn't feel, it feels a bit yucky

for me to do it, so I wouldn't do it.

It

Anke: beats the whole purpose of
it, you know, that you have this,

because it's about the connection
you have with the dog and the art,

you know, so it's not a public.

Yeah, I don't know.

Totally, totally agree.

So if, if somebody gets as excited as
I am, you know, so where should we,

where should they go to find out to
get, you know, more eye candy and, and

Tanja: can get in touch with you?

Yeah.

So I do have an Instagram, um, which
is I guess it will be displayed, right?

It's my little...

Yeah, no, I will,

Anke: yeah.

If you want to say it out, because
this is going to be a podcast

too, if you want to sort of say it
out loud, but it's going to be...

Of course, yeah,

Tanja: yeah.

So, um, my Instagram is, um,
at Tanya Hassel underscore

art, and it's Tanya with a J.

Um, and so usually if you start typing
in like T A N J A It sort of comes up,

at least for me, and it's, it's just a
really bright icon, like, you know, like a

rainbow, like a rainbow little round icon,
um, with, I think it's, it's the face.

I think my face is on there.

But anyway, you would know what
my face looks like because you're

on a podcast if you're listening.

Anke: Yeah, but I think if you,
you know, it's bright colors.

I see, I don't like, I'm, I followed
you and I kind of, I don't remember what

the icon is, but it's clearly colorful.

And so I knew it was you, so there was
no, there's no, there's no mistaking.

So if you like arts, if you love, if
you love art, if you love dogs, like.

Get in touch with Tanya and do yourself
a favor, you know, get you, give yourself

a gift, give a gift to somebody else.

Uh, I promise you, you'll love it.

So thank you so much, Tanya.

That was just wonderful.

A real bright spark in anyone's day.

And thanks for

Tanja: coming.

Thank you for having me.

Thanks so much for listening.

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And if you know a pawsome human
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That's A N k E at Soul
touched by dogs.com.