Major Smiling

5x7 fine art card - sold

water soluble carbon 

This is one of my dogs, Major, enjoying the sunshine. He got to enjoy it today despite the cold and despite the fact that he is recovering from a very difficult surgery. Today is one week since they took out part of his intestines to remove two masses. 

He is really underweight and anemic since he was unable to eat/pass food for about a week before surgery. 

Today I had the first promising news. His blood work shows the anemia improving.  We've (I've) been nursing him and syringe feeding him and he is acting more like himself. But it will be a long recovery yet. We're loving on him lots and so grateful for all the vet care he's gotten. He's made a lot of friends who are pulling for him! 

Cards like this one are some of what V....Vaughan and I are going to offer at our "Chocolate and Chiaroscuro" open house November 20th. 

Friends who come to that event get the first opportunity to buy these fine art greeting cards. They are 5x7 watercolor cards and you can send them to a friend or that hard to buy for coworker - or keep them for yourself and put in a frame! The cards are unique, original sketches. Something I haven't offered before. 

Portrait of Major

12x9 oil on panel - not for sale

This is our new dog. He came to us a few months ago and I wanted to paint a portrait of him for his former owner. I feel badly that circumstances led to his needing a new home, but I am awfully glad he is part of our family now. He is a really neat dog. (An Irish Terrier). I can't resist a bearded dog, truth be told.

I'm feeling guilty today because we are packing to go on vacation again and the dogs are getting suspicious. They are generally lazing about a lot anyway though since its gotten so very hot here, so maybe they won't miss us much.

Oh, Romeo

8x10 oil on panel
nfs

Today I packed up my things and went to hang out in V....Vaughan's studio. I sat on her floor and painted while she worked on a painting of a hawk for the SE Wildlife show (I think). We painted...and we talked, and we critiqed, and she showed me her private collection (other artists, not personal), she made a lovely lunch of gumbo (perfect on a rainy day) and some yummy Mexican hot chocolate. My painting was dull. But when a heavy rain began and the thunder started, her "good Dane" as she calls him, was nervous and sat nearby. He was begging to be sketched. So I grabbed a panel and did the above. He is an enormously big baby. And I am enormously blessed to have a friend like V.

btw - I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself and not painting. "Shut up and paint!" I told myself this morning. Thanks for bearing with me.

Fluffy

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6 s/h

Poodle Pup

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6 s/h - sold

I started a short series of dogs last week. Sort of a tribute to the one thing that is keeping me somewhat sane and relaxed lately in these rather trying times. My little Macy sits in my lap and lets me pet her as long as I want. Its a sacrifice on her part, I am sure, but she tolerates it very well. Dogs are always so happy and easy to please. I think God really blessed us with their companionship. Isn't there a saying that we should try to be as good as our dogs believe we are?

This is a friend's puppy who drew lots of oohs and ahhs when we painted downtown a few weeks ago.
Kim, I hope you don't mind my using him as a model.

Beagle Love

6x8 oil on panel
nfs

Another gift for a friend whose family friend will not be sharing Christmas this year. Maybe this little painting will bring a smile.

Macy Again

pencil on paper, nfs

If I dared post a picture of my studio at the moment, you would laugh. Its so packed with frames, boxes, paintings, etc. that I can barely get in. Poor Macy can't follow me in, there isn't even room for her to sit. Besides the mess in the studio, the rest of my life is rather brimming too. I've been volunteering a lot at school this week and not had the time I have wanted to paint. But here is another sketch at least. Macy has very bad posture. I've never seen a dog sit like her before. She rolls over on her hind end so that her back legs are lined up with her front ones.

Macy Sketch and Fall Shoes

Pencil on paper, nfs

I took the day off today. I went shopping with a friend. Very unusual for me. So here I have some more sketches of Macy. And yes, to answer my mom's question on the previous sketch, she is this fat unfortunately.
Ya'll have a wonderful weekend. I'm hoping we get some cold weather. 81 is too hot for mid-Nov. and I want to wear my new stacked-heel "oxford" patent leather shoes. This is really off topic, but I love shoes. My husband calls me Imelda. He buys racing tires - I buy a different kind of tread - and we're both happy.
Hmmm, maybe I should paint these - they are really pretty.

Macy - Doing What She Does Best

pencil on paper, nfs

I had the need to sketch this weekend. And what better subject than my dog snoozing in various positions? She is adapting to her blindness really well now. She loves her walks and does very well on them. She's learned new words which help her on the stairs and when I say "careful" she slows or stops quickly to avoid crashing headlong into whatever might be in her way. She really relies on her hearing and sniffer. As long as I continue to speak to her and let her know where I am, she is confident. She is pretty lazy in the house, though she always was. All in all - she is quite normal and many people don't realize she can't see them.

Jack - 30 Minute Study

12x9 oil on paper
nfs

This is Karin Jurick's Jack. I painted it to participate in her new painter's challenge Different Strokes from Different Folks. I love this concept. She posts a photo and anyone can work from it and it will be posted to the blog. Its fun to see all the varied interpretations and I look forward to doing more. Its so good for artists to do exercises and I am always looking for new ideas.

This was my jump start back to painting. What a long break I've taken. Remember when I said I was going to do something daily no matter what? I'm still laughing at that. Never put things in writing. ;-)

It was very hard going back to work, so that is another reason I am grateful to Karin for starting this. It at least gave me something to do. Otherwise, I'd be floundering with too many possibilities and feeling overwhelmed.