Tuesday, March 31, 2009

SHEP WEST

8x10 oil on canvas sold
This is one of three commissions I recently completed for a new client. Shep is a beautiful rescue German Shepherd and I think one of the largest shepherds I've ever seen; he is such a happy guy. The three paintings will hang as a group in their breakfast room; you can see the other two paintings of MiMi and Ollie on my website at angelaelledge.com. All of the West's dogs are rescues. MiMi's story of how she came to live with Sally & Dale is heartwarming, but first you have to have a little picture of her. She's a little black terrier mix of some kind, has lots of straggly white hair growing all over the place, black wide lips, and a little snaggle buck tooth. After seeing MiMi, Sally cried for days begging Dale to let her have her because "no one would love MiMi like I would". End of story: MiMi lives happily ever after with Sally & Dale!

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sally and Dale on these paintings, not only did they pay me, but I walked out of their home with a brand new printer they thought my school could use (and yes, we did!) and an awesome bottle of wine! Sally and Dale came over to my house to preview the paintings while they were still wet and they spied my bottle tree loaded with colorful bottles I have collected. This wine is a Meeker Merlot and is known as the Handprint wine. As I understand, one of the two owners of the Meeker vineyard paint their hands with bright and colorful paint and they add their painted signature handprints to the bottles, really cool. After we drink the wine, this is one bottle I can't wait to add to the bottle tree! Thank you Sally & Dale!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh this is so beautiful! You've captured the strength and yet friendly disposition of this Shepard. You do such awesome work. I love it and the info on the Meeker Merlot...sounds yummy.

Vern Schwarz said...

Great portrait Angela, I can see why they love it. Sounds like you made a couple of new friends there

L.Holm said...

Fantastic portrait, Angela! What a sweet shepard, and what great clients! Mimi and Ollie are cuties, too. Your pet portraits are wonderful!

Helen Parkhill said...

You captured Shep beautifully . . . those eyes speak volumes. Well done!

Unknown said...

Angela this is beautiful! Love your smooth brushwork and a lovely colour scheme

Olga Wagner said...

Angela...What a great portrait...Owners must be thrilled...

Edward Burton said...

A very sweet and very beautiful portrait, Angela. Also, a very sweet story about Mimi. And as Liz said, what great clients!

Art with Liz said...

Oh Shep is beautiful. Such a happy chap and sounds like he's got fantastic parents.

Angela Elledge said...

Ya'll are the best! The support and encouragement I receive from each of you is very special to me because of the awesome level of work each of you are known for. I am about to begin another portrait for them and I really look forward to the new challenge they have presented me! It's going to be a fun one.

Diana Marshall said...

beautiful portrait of Shep, so full of his personality and gentleness. You are very talented!

Angela Elledge said...

Diana - Thank you so very much; I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I have more of these to post, so stay tuned.

Gwen Bell said...

What a great portrait! I know the West's are thrilled. You've captured that intense intelligence mixed with kindness that Shepherd's have. I'm off to your website to see the other 2 portraits.

Angela Elledge said...

Thank you Gwen; wonderful clients to work with and great dogs to paint. Thanks for visiting.