MICHELLE MUSE #3/50

8x8 oil on canvas panel

This is #3 in my challenge series of 50 pets this summer. You might be wondering what happened to #'s 1 and 2...it's quite simple, they ended up in a most disgusting way and will have to be re-painted at a later date. Michelle Muse is a family (not mine) chicken and you'll soon see another painting of her very soon.

The summer is fading quickly. We have decided to build a little art studio and the last several weeks have been busy with decision making, so as decisions are made, I'm still managing to paint each day; I'll post photos soon. Thanks for looking at my blog, hope you are having a great summer, too. Take care!

TINKERBELL

8x10 oil on canvas sold

Many of you know we adopted a cute little rescue puppy named Cowgirl this past May. She is a tail wagging happy dog and has brought us much joy and love after we lost our little 15 year old schnauzer, Zoe. Seriously, we should have named her Happy Girl, instead of Cowgirl. In addition to all that unconditional Cowgirl lovin' she brought us, she introduced me to her foster mother, who just happened to commission me to paint her 5 family pets! So, here is the first of five, Tinkerbell, a Devon Rex.

THE COWBOY ARTIST

8x10 oil on canvas

I'd like to introduce a new blog called Some Texas Artists Like To Paint . We are a small group of Texas artists who have agreed to paint and post monthly challenges established by each other. This month, our first month, has 2 themes, I have chosen to paint something for our Anything Texas theme. We'd love for you to visit our blog and become a follower to see what else we will be painting in the weeks and months to follow.

This Cowboy Artist was quite the character, he was dressed in complete cowboy attire, all the way from the spurs on his boots to a turkey feather in his cowboy hat. In addition to his beautiful art, he even had his white horse saddled up right next to him at his booth. He definitely knew how to draw a crowd to his art. I have quite a few references of him, so I plan on painting a little series of this cowboy artist. Thanks for visiting!

SULLY

8x10 oil on canvas sold

This is one of several commissions I've been working on before Christmas. Sully is an English Labrador Retriever, otherwise known as a "Blockhead" Lab. They are given this name because of their square or block shaped head. I understand, Sully works hard, plays hard, and in-between, naps hard. At the end of his hard day, I've been told he sleeps hard!

I wish you and your families a very Happy New Year, one filled with lots of art: buying, selling, collecting, and most importantly creating!!

MELLO YELLOW

6x9 oil on canvas

September is all about cats on James Parker's fun blog. There were several photos I wanted to try and paint, but the month has zipped by so fast, I barely got this one in on time. My husband and I have a favorite coffee that we drink called Mello Joy, it is only sold in Louisiana and comes in a bright yellow package. We buy it by the case when we visit family and for the first time in several years, we have run out and have had to substitute another not so adequate brand of coffee. As I painted this fellow, I could not help but think of how much I miss my Mello Joy coffee and I wonder if I might look just like this after that first great sip of Mello Joy! Thank you for visiting and letting me ramble; take care.

LIZZIE, RANCH GIRL DU JOUR

11x14 oil on canvas sold

As you read my client's description of Lizzie, I'd like you to keep in mind that all of this is accomplished by Lizzie while sporting a 3-strand pearl choker with a sweetheart charm. This commission is a birthday present for Lizzie's Mama in October. My client requested a real girly pink for the background because, although Lizzie is a ranch girl, she is really a ranch girl du jour! I loved my photo reference of Lizzie, she's on high alert and the following explains why!

Lizzie lives on a ranch with her Mama Wynona, Granny Valli Pearl, and Ricky the parrot. She also lives with several peacocks, emus, egrets, ostrich, cattle and longhorns (did ya'll see that...longhorns, my favorite kind of cattle), horses and miniature horses, goats, sheep and Jonas sheep, antelope, deer, and a multitude of cats...WHEW!

Allowing her to maintain her girlish figure, Lizzie has a list of duties she performs daily from runnin' off coons to roundin' up dogies, a motherless or neglected calf. Lizzie is most interested in FOOD, barkin' at critters, EATIN', chasin' said critters, FOOD, and of course, sleeping under Mama's porch swing...I mean after all, a girl deserves to rest!