Christmas in September?

I've heard of Christmas in July but I guess I'm either late or early depending on whether you're a Christmas in July fan or a Christmas in December fan.

Actually, I was trying to plan ahead for once and try to design our own Christmas cards this year.  Even with all this advance planning, I'm not doing so great!

This poinsettia is the only painting that's turned out very well so far but, then again, I'm not spending a whole lot of time painting either. 

This painting is gouache used in a sort of a transparent watercolor fashion.  Of course, I wanted the more opaque look for reproduction which is why I chose the gouache.  It was painted on watercolor paper though.

Is this the design for our cards this year?  I don't know - we'll just have to see what else I can come up with.

A Pet Portrait Painting??!! Oh, My!

Of course I remember that I said I'd retired from painting pet portraits!  But this little guy is special and he's the new rescue from a former customer who's very special to me so I just had to paint him, didn't I?

I've been struggling trying to get a decent photo of him and even tried to scan the painting and this is about the best I can do.  Still off the mark but I'm not an expert when it comes to color corrections!!!!

This is Fritz and he's a Bichon Frise.  He was the pet of someone who decided they didn't want him anymore so decided to get rid of him at 14 years old!  Can you imagine?  Dogs at this age are pretty much deemed unadoptable yet my customer took him in and thinks he's about the best thing since sliced bread!

So I say kudos to Donna and her husband for making Fritz's life so much better.  And I say that what you sow is what you reap.  So to whoever tossed him aside, don't be surprised if, toward the end of your life, you're pushed aside and not deemed worthwhile to keep either.

Not that I wish that for anybody but these precious little bundles of love rely on us to keep the promise that was made when they got a dog.  Most dogs live up to their end of the bargain returning more love and companionship than they get from their humans.  It's time for humans to step up to the plate and give their pets love and companionship as well as care for the life of the pet. 

Getting a pet is a commitment that should be honored.  That's the unspoken agreement that every pet deserves!

All Hail the King!

Here is another photo from the recent trip to the North Carolina coast.  This larger-than-life King Neptune was a fun thing to stumble upon when we were exploring the boardwalk in Morehead City. 

And another fun photo just a little ways from the King.  This is painted in the design of the Cape Lookout lighthouse.

I hope you find these photos as amusing as we did.  The day was a bit overcast but the photos came out better than I'd hoped.  I did tweak them a bit so you could get the full effect.

If you ever get to North Carolina, plan to visit the Crystal Coast as I don't think you'll be at all disappointed.

Home From Beaufort, NC

Got home from a fun trip to Beaufort with two of my four sisters and they left yesterday to fly back to their homes. 

We drove down on Thursday then I did a pastel demonstration at the Artestry Hideaway on Friday afternoon.  It was sooooo hot out there on the boardwalk and not many people were about.  But it was still a fun experience and I was forced to actually make some art!  I didn't get to finish it during that 2 hour session but I'll finish it soon and post it here for you to see.

Before and after the demo, my sisters and I did fun, touristy things and just had a ball.  One of the things we did that was the most fun was going on a boat tour out from Beaufort.  We got to see much of the area from the water including both Carrot Island and Shackleford Banks (or Island) both of which have wild ponies.  While the ponies on Carrot Island are wild and are probably from Shackleford, they were once cared for by relatively modern means.  The horses on Shackleford Banks, called "Banker Ponies" or "Bankers", are direct descendant's of Spanish mustangs brought to the New World by Columbus and other Spanish explorers in the 1400's and evidently have the most pure Spanish mustang blood of all the wild mustangs in the U.S.

I did get some photos of the horses both on Carrot Island and Shackleford Banks but we were some distance from them and the photos aren't all that clear.

The photo above was taken from Shackleford Banks and shows a parasailor.  The area around Beaufort is full of fun things to do.

My youngest sister acted as our chauffeur and spent a lot of time looking at maps and reading brochures.  Because she was doing the driving, we often ended up in places we hadn't planned on going!  The last evening in Beaufort, we thought we were going to dinner at a restaurant a few blocks away and ended up at the very end of Harkers Island about 15 miles or so away!  We also ended up at a local "greasy spoon" instead of the classy restaurant we had intended to go to!  The four hour trip to Beaufort ended up being an over eight hour trip home but we stopped at a farmer's/arts/crafts market, a couple of art galleries and a spice packaging and distributing company along the way!

As I said, it was a fun trip and so nice to be able to spend that time with my sisters!

A Bit of a Plug

Just a quick mention that I'll be doing a pastel demonstration at the Artestry Hideaway gallery in Beaufort, North Carolina on August 23rd at 2 pm. 

I hope you'll stop by if you're in the area.  The Hideaway is a great gallery and the owner, Angie, is fun and friendly.

My sisters and I will be enjoying a little "Sisters Reunion" and taking in the sights of beautiful Beaufort after the demonstration.  I'll hopefully have some photos to show you when I return.

The (Mostly) Clean Art Studio!

 Whew, I'm finally in the short rows with cleaning the studio - at least enough that I'm not too embarrassed to show it to you. 

The views are from #1 - the doorway, then panning to the right until we're back at the doorway again.

I still have some more straightening up to do but at least it's clean!  lol

Take note of the third photo, especially the blue pillow under the desk.  That's where our little Maltese stays when I'm in the studio.  However, lately she's refused to come in because I've been making a lot of noise with the vacuum        cleaner and other instruments of cleaning!  She hates noise of any kind so hides when we make any.

 

It won't be too long before my sisters arrive and now that the studio is nearly presentable, I'm getting excited!  Now I just have to do a little special cooking, make up the beds and I think we'll be ready!  But, this will probably be my last post for a while.  Sisters are special and if they come all this way to see me, I definitely want to spend some quality time with them!

Another Unfinished Find

I think I need to quit cleaning my studio!  I keep finding unfinished work that makes me want to stop cleaning and start painting! 

The iris on the left is a watercolor on Ampersand Aquabord and has a background made from scrunched up cling wrap.  I've tried this technique in the past and it didn't work well for me but I actually like it in this painting.  Of course, there's a ton more work to do on this and I may finish it in gouache instead of transparent watercolor.  It's only when you get further along in a painting can you really tell whether a background is going to work or not.

In any case, the background will need some tweaking as work on the foreground will throw off the background.  In painting, it's work on the subject, then tweak the background.  Tweak the subject a bit then the background's off.  The whole painting process involves working back and forth between subject and background.  The painting just isn't finished until everything is balanced to the artist's satisfaction.