The Millennium, 1999
acrylic on canvas

Rodrigue spent much of 1999 working on this painting in celebration of the Millennium. Time begins with the cosmos, a swirling mass of life, energy and ideas. Art, as we know it, begins with the Egyptians. Thus, the Egyptian plucks a star from an ever-expanding cosmos, and humankinds's record of style, creativity and color begins. This artistic record, symbolized by the flight of the butterflies, parallels the cosmos and reveals itself in history through colorful paintings and sculptures left by our ancient ancestors. In the most recent millennium, 1000 years ago, it filled the sails of the Viking ships, and endured through the dark ages, centuries of religious commissions, and the "art-for-art's-sake" which we know today. At the new millennium, 2000, the cosmos' winds and the butterflies continue to inspire new expressions. This artistic freedom, in the form of the Blue Dog, inhabits the future and keeps on flying.