“Dreaming of Tomatoes” Smooth 1:6 Scale • Joy Beckner

Our twelve-year-old, standard, smooth dachshund, Anna von Pumpernickel Gesundheit, modeled for this, my second animal sculpture and the first to be cast in bronze. Anna’s age and health inspired the piece. Anna was with me while I was putting up Christmas lights when I realized she was nowhere in sight! She had sneaked to the tomato bed where she was looking for ripe, summertime tomatoes! That’s when Anna, in bronze, became “Dreaming of Tomatoes” SS. The clay was completed in December 1995 and the first bronze was cast in February 1996. “Dreaming of Tomatoes” SS was accepted in the first national exhibition I entered, The Art Show at the Dog Show, 1996.

“I still remember the day I walked into Chaparral and saw ‘Dreaming of Tomatoes.’ I picked it up and never put it down. So, when I saw ‘Siesta’ in the same patina, I just had to have it. I wanted them to be together, so when I saw this position…well, putting them in a wooden bowl just seemed like the perfect way to let them snooze in peace.” Gayla Wiedenheft, MT.

Each was made by hand, one at a time in the USA. In late1999, I limited the edition of “Dreaming of Tomatoes” Smooth 1:6 Scale, to 99. Below the ’40s, each is simply signed and numbered. All were hand-made in the USA.

Numbers 40 and higher are signed, numbered, and include my mark, .