Friday, November 23, 2012

My Dear Cisco




This is Cisco--an adorable companion to a lady named Bridget. A friend of hers contacted me to do a portrait of him--he was sixteen years old. She managed to get a photo and sent it to me in August. I heard in September beloved Cisco had died. The portrait was finished so I sent it on to my client. She waited a few days, then arranged a time to give it to Bridget.
Beyond the tears of sadness and of happiness a wonderful expression of gratitude came my way. I know what it is like to lose an animal--I have lost many in my years. I wish I had portraits of all of them. I was so glad to be part of that whole friendship.
I am currently working on her new puppy!
Here is the painting of Cisco.

Please feel free to comment.
I love to hear good pet stories!
I will be posting more about my artwork.

The Gardener



This is a photo of Jerry sitting under the young oak at the corner of the sun room. It was one of those very hot and very sunny days in the summer of 2012. The sun was shining through the tree and the hat onto his face leaving patterns of sunlight that were mesmerizing and screamed for a painting.
I downloaded the image to the computer, saved it, then printed it off for reference.
As I prepared the watercolor paper and thought about how I wanted to express the magic I saw the day before under that tree, I decided he needed to be up close just like in the cropped photo. I use the computer as a viewfinder trying out different compositions. The picture library helps me make some decisions I used to use pencil and paper to accomplish. I work out the value here as well.
I wanted the background to be very "watercolorish" with no details--only colors and hints of a green summer day.

Here is the finished watercolor now hanging in Les Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport Missouri. It was very sunny the day we hung the exhibit but I wanted a few photographs--though they were not the best quality.Thanks to James and Heather and of course my gracious model and best friend Jerry for helping to hang the exhibit.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Rage in the Sunshine

This is a painting of my eighteen year old Maine Coon Cat. He was named Rage by a pizza delivery boy in Texas many years ago. Rage was found as a small kitten stuck to a screen door when the pizza was being delivered to a house. He loved sitting in the sunshine--I think it was a hard transition from warm Texas to sometimes very cold Missouri. Rage was my best friend when friends were few and far between. He will forever be sitting in that red chair.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Pet Paintings and Others

Spilled Milk, 2009

Lexie, 2012

Bandit, 2012

Untitled, 2012

One Woman Show at Les Bourgeois Winery

Great happenings this month. Fifteen of my paintings are hanging at the Les Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport Missouri. And my first ever ad in a national magazine.

The showing of my paintings at Les Bourgeois is a result of the winery selecting one of my paintings to go on the label of their Collector Series wine. The painting of Bleu (a mixed breed rescue dog belonging to a couple in Ft. Worth Texas) has gotten a lot of attention from art lovers and dog lovers alike. He is in the ad in the December issue of FOLK magazine along with three of my other paintings of pets.

I was honored to be part of the Les Bourgeois winery and have Bleu's image on the bottle of Traminette. The opportunity to show my paintings was greatly appreciated as well.
The ad in FOLK magazine is beautiful and in a great location.

Amanda DeGraffenreid from DeGraf Design created the ad on very short notice. She did a fantastic job designing an ad that communicates how I feel as an artist and as an animal lover.

I can't say enough about FOLK magazine--I think it is simply fantastic. The stories make you think about the things that are really important in your life and the photography is well--magical. The Christmas issue is brimming with stories about real country artists and business people. The kind of people you want living in the house next door. People with whom you can share a cup of coffee and a laugh. People not exactly like you--but close enough.

The third panel in this triptych of great happenings was the Columbia Humane Society Auction at Les Bourgeois November 5th. I donated a watercolor painting of Bleu and a bottle of Traminette with Bleu's image on it to the auction. Someone attending the auction told me a gentleman was overheard saying "that dog is going home with me." And apparently it did! I am so happy other people find my work with pets compelling enough to hang a painting in their home because it makes them smile even though they have no connection to that particular dog or cat.

I will keep painting and hope people keep smiling!!