BOAT AFLOAT

5x8 oil on canvas panel
Let me first say I found this DSFDF subject to be particularly difficult. I am not much of a water person, I don't mind looking at water, but actually being submerged in water or in a boat is not one of my favorite things. I almost scrapped this one, but remembered Karin's words about not painting this as 2 separate subjects (water and boat/boater), but instead to see this as a whole. 

I don't paint many figure paintings and I found this to be very difficult, as well. Many of you paint beautiful paintings of figures and in such small formats...I now have a different level of appreciation for those of you who do small format figure paintings, it is absolutely incredible the way you make each stroke count. So many lessons learned, but I don't think I want to take a ride in a boat any time soon!

JESSIE, FLYBALL CHAMP

8x16 oil on canvas, sold
I normally do not do this, but I am posting this commissioned portrait before my client has seen it for herself (hope she does not mind). I painted Jessie this afternoon and am very happy with this portrait, she has the most beautiful fur and very bright watchful eyes. I apologize for the glare on the picture, I'll have to reshoot it after it has dried. 

Not too long ago this same client sent me pictures of her dog wearing a Santa hat, she did not want a painting of her dog wearing the hat, but I loved the shot and she gave me permission to paint it for my portfolio...long story short, she loved it and bought it anyway.

Last week she sent me more pictures of Jessie and requested a painting of Jessie with her all time favorite toy, a frisbee. Lee was so kind as to allow me to select the canvas size and gave me free reign to change the color of the frisbee, it seems Jessie has frisbees of all colors. Well, I didn't change the frisbee color because I loved the pop of lime green, what I did change was the dead grass in the background. If you look closely you can see Jessie's tongue and fur from her ear through the frisbee, that was my most difficult part of the painting and as scared as I was to attempt the translucent feel of the frisbee, it was actually very easy. I hope it comes across as translucent...it does to me. 

I've also posted a photo of Jessie from one of her most recent competitions, doing what she loves best! Somewhere below in an earlier post, is the post of Jessie wearing her Santa hat. Just recently Jessie placed first in her division and will be attending the Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship...way to go Jessie!

OLD EYEBROWS

16x20 oil on canvas, sold
This is Old Eyebrows, a Texan longhorn with not only a beautiful set of horns, but an unusual face, as well. This was a commissioned portrait for a Father's Day present. From his livestock, Old Eyebrows is his favorite, more than likely because of his pronounced and distinguished eyebrows! 

MOCHA

12x24 oil on canvas
This is the portrait I've decided to submit in a pet portrait exhibition. Mocha's portrait came about from another client who makes the most amazing jewelry for pets, so beautiful and "un-pet-like"that I want to wear the jewelry myself! Stacy was kind enough to loan me a variety of pieces and when I saw the turquoise, I knew it was meant for Mocha. Mocha, a Great Dane, was lovingly rescued by the Bissell family and has the sweetest disposition...she's just a great big lap dog! Elise Bissell is an incredible photographer and a full-time rescue/foster parent. Note to Sheila:  I will be working on a portrait donation for Elise's Take Me Home Pet Rescue and will be submitting it to you for your new website, look for it later this summer. Thank you all for looking and visiting my blog; I appreciate it very much.

The Pathetic Blogger Award

Thank you for visiting and commenting and for those of you who have e-mailed me recently, I will be returning those e-mails shortly. Although I have never heard of a "Pathetic Blogger" award, I thought I would go ahead and award myself the P. B. award. In the last couple of weeks I have not had time to visit blogs and comment, much less post anything on my own blog. Instead, I have managed to wrap up the end of the school year with a beautiful art show of my student's artwork, deal with the dorm room explosion (miles and piles of dirty laundry) that returned to my home, celebrate my 50th birthday last week with a dinner party for about 40 people, teach a 4-day workshop on Henri Matisse to little ones, come down with, what we in Texas refer to as, the crud, and work on a couple of paintings for a pet portrait contest...and to think, I'm supposed to be on summer vacation! Hopefully I can catch up with my blogging and posting and maybe participate in a DSFDF painting challenge one day soon. Take care.

SOULFUL GUS

8x10 oil on canvas sold
Gus, a black labrador, was a fun little commissioned portrait. There's something about labradors that make my heart melt, with Gus it was his soulful eyes. In the photo references I was given, Gus' expression never changed, he just had that loyal and meaningful "I'll stay by your side and be your best friend" look that I love so much from labs. 

ZIGGY MARLEY

8x16 oil on canvas panel
This is Ziggy Marley and if you recognize him it's because you've probably seen and read about him on Beth Connolly's blog. On Beth's blog, her latest post shows a photo of Ziggy proudly wearing his well deserved blue ribbon for mastering an advanced obedience course. The photo I used for this painting was taken by an incredible photographer, Lisa Prince Fishler who, along with Beth, granted me permission to paint Ziggy. Please visit both of these sites; I appreciate this community of bloggers and artists so very much, everyone is very willing to share, support, and encourage.  Thank you so much Beth and Lisa!

This was one of those rare paintings where the time flew quickly and before I knew it Ziggy was signed and ready for posting. Thank you so much for visiting and commenting; it means so much to me!

TWO MORE SMILING PETS

K.C.

8x10 oil on canvas sold

This is K.C. showing off his special little grin. This portrait is a birthday gift for the "grandmother" of Shep, Ollie, & MiMi West (see earlier post). In the photos I was given, K.C. has the exact same expression in all of them....only a smile a mom could love!
WILSON 

8x10 oil on canvas sold

As I was working on K.C.'s portrait, I received a phone call for a special birthday present for Wilson's dad. Imagine my surprise, when I received the photos of Wilson, again another unique smile, and the same expression in all of his photos, as well...only a smile a dad could love!

PHOEBE LOVE

8x10 oil on canvas sold
This is one of my most recent commissions, painted within the last couple of weeks. Phoebe is a beautiful lab, loved dearly by her owner, Mrs. Love...don't you love her last name? 

When Mrs. Love described Phoebe to me, she talked about her alert eyes, apparently Phoebe smiles not only with her great big grin, but with her eyes, as well. When Mrs. Love picked up Phoebe's portrait, she loved everything about it, especially her eyes. She left smiling and left me smiling.

MY WEEKEND WITH HENRY FINKELSTEIN

6x12 oil on canvas
16x20 oil on panel
8X16 oil on panel

Another great weekend to talk about, but I will keep this short because I have so many photos to post...I spent a long weekend studying with Henry Finkelstein, an abstract expressionist from New York (3rd from left on back row in group shot). Our plein air painting days consisted of 30-35 mph winds, very gray days, rainstorms, and the occasional burst of sunshine. Our days began painting in the morning, breaking for lunch with a critique, and then back to painting into early evening. Before we sent Henry back to New York, we celebrated with a wonderful party last night. Artists are just the best people, I have made so many new friends, here in blogworld, and through workshops. We had so much fun painting together and plan on painting again very soon. I love seeing photos of artists at work and hope you enjoy seeing these amazing artists and their incredible paintings. Please keep in mind these landscapes were pretty quick, but hopefully I have some good studies that I might develop into larger works soon. 

THE BEST WEEKEND

For those of you who know me, you know that I am crazy about cows and when I meet another cow person, I'm in heaven. My husband and I were the weekend guests of the most gracious host I think I have ever known. Not only was John happy to share his lake house in Corsicana with us, but he shared his cattle, as well.

John has a very impressive selection of longhorn, a variety of colors, hide patterns, and different types of horns. Just two weeks ago, one of his Longhorns gave birth to identical twins...the 3rd set of Longhorn twins he has had on his ranch...as I understand, this is quite rare. In addition to a variety of cattle, he also has horses and two donkeys. This was my very first time to see donkeys up close and pet them, what sweet beautiful animals. 

It rained almost the entire time we were there, but did let up a little in the afternoon for some plein air painting. Here we were guests in splendid cow heaven, enjoying ourselves immensely, and John surprised me by commissioning me to paint one of his longhorns...a weekend (for me) doesn't get better than that! :-) 

Some things to note in the photos: this longhorn is called a tiger striped longhorn, back view of the lakehouse on Richland Chambers Lake, and me and my husband...check out my polka-dot rainboots...absolutely the best $25 I've ever spent!

ADORE HIS SACRED NAME

11x14 oil on canvas nfs
Every morning we open our day with a morning assembly where we pledge, pray, and sing our hymn of the month. One of our teachers teaches all of us how to sign our hymns, so in addition to learning the lyrics we also all learn a little bit of sign language. This is Madyson, a Pre-K student, signing the hymn, Lift High the Cross. Madyson is signing the word, adore... Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore His sacred name! I am determined to learn how to paint hands, so there will be more of these sign language portraits to come. 

On April 1, Madyson ran up to me to tell me April is her birthday month, April 13 to be exact. Happy 5th Birthday Madyson!

I CAN TIE MY SHOES

10x10 oil on canvas

This is one of the paintings I worked on during my Spring Break vacation a couple of weeks ago. I am, happily,  very busy with pet portrait commissions, but thought I would, selfishly, fit in a little painting for myself. I try to have my camera with me at school so I can capture little moments such as Aaliyah learning how to tie her shoes. I have so much to learn, ugh those hands. So many of you paint such beautiful figures, please keep in mind I am learning, but aren't we all? 

Lemonade & A Passion for Painting Award

Two very kind and generous, not to mention, incredible artists presented me with The Passion for Painting & The Lemonade Award. I just recently posted things about me a few posts down, so I thought I'd take a break from talking about myself and ask you instead to visit these two rather cool artists, they are: Tom Pohlman, and James Parker. Tom is quick with the brush and makes his paintings look effortless with bold, crisp brushstrokes and just as effortless is James' quick wit with a pen and brush. Please visit their blogs; you won't be disappointed.

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!

HACKBERRY CREEK

This is the plein air I did last weekend at Hackberry Creek near Turtle Creek in Dallas. Because this area is so beautiful and bursting with Spring everything, I had great difficulty in selecting a scene to paint. If I were to be honest, I would admit I can never decide what to paint. Thank goodness for my plein air buddy, Paula Mele, who finally said, paint this! A couple of posts down is a photo reference to this painting.

We were unable to paint today because Winter decided to visit North Texas at the end of March, hopefully we can revisit Hackberry Creek next weekend. So instead of a little plein air painting, I was able to deliver a painting for an exhibition, paint a pet portrait commission, and bake a chocolate chip cheesecake for my daughter's 19th birthday, another busy weekend. Tomorrow will be a non-painting day, we will celebrate Taylor's birthday in Tyler. 

A Passion For Painting Award

I have to tell all of you how much I appreciate your comments and e-mails; I love the way blogging helps us to connect with artists and people who may be interested in each of our unique style of painting or subject matter. The connection that has happened in such a short time with many of you has been inspiring and moves me to want to learn and grow, not only as an artist, but as a person.

The oh, so very talented, Liz Holm surprised me with an award called, "a passion for painting award", designed by Kim Ratigan. Liz is one of those artists that is unafraid to share her heart, through her art, as well as her life. Thank you very much Liz, I am honored that you included me with such talented artists.

The award states that I am to list 7 things that I love and pass the award onto other artists whom I admire. 

In addition to painting, here are 7 things I love:

1. God's Word.

2. My ever so patient and kind husband and the precious daughter he gave me.

3. Teaching my students at West Dallas Community School.

4 .Very cold, wet rainy days, but only if I can stay home. 

5. Cows.

6. Clients who become emotional upon receiving their pet's portraits.

7. The smell of a clean house, Sparkling Wave Pine Sol is my new favorite clean house smell. 

Here are a few of my artists picks:

1. Nancy Medina

2. Olga Wagner

3. Sam Dolman

4. Judy Mackey

5. Steve Conrad

A VERY BUSY WEEKEND

In addition to painting up a storm during Spring Break, I ended my Spring Break week with a plein air outing on Saturday morning. The 2nd photo is a shot of Rex Morgan amongst the red bud trees in a beautiful area of Dallas called Turtle Creek. 

Sunday was a very busy day, as well. We visited the Dallas Arboretum (3rd photo), which is on White Rock Lake and I got to meet Nancy Medina and see her awesome paintings in person. In addition to meeting Nancy, she introduced me to her blogging/painter friend, Judy Mackey, who just happens to be a long ago high school friend of our very own, Sheila Tajima. I love the way this blog community works...who would have thought the internet, the DSFDF blog, and a whole bunch of great artists and people could connect through a   laptop... WOW! 

Nancy and Judy are planning on painting with us this Saturday at the same Turtle Creek location. If any of you are in the Dallas area and would like to join us for some plein air painting, please e-mail me and I'll forward the info to you. 

GREAT AUNT TEE

8x16 oil on canvas panel, nfs
This is my father's aunt, a Catholic nun with the Sisters of Charity in Evansville, Indiana. Her given name was Charlita, we know her as Aunt Tee, but at the convent, she is affectionally called Charlie!

In a much earlier post, is a painting of my late grandmother, Cricket, Aunt Tee's sister. She is now in her late 80's, and is the last sibling from my Grandmother's family. Aunt Tee loves to fish and rarely misses a day of fishing at the convent. To get around the grounds of the convent, she travels by scooter with a license plate that says, "here comes trouble". Every year, Aunt Tee returns home to SW Louisiana and is honored with a family reunion and a catfish fry. One of my brothers has a large, well-stocked catfish pond and at the party, Aunt Tee spends her entire time fishing. My other brother, was able to set his camera up on a tripod on the opposite side of the pond and snapped hundreds of pictures of Aunt Tee, each photo portrays a very serious little nun, dressed in a light blue habit, fishing until sundown.

With it being Spring Break this week, I was quite the prolific painter. Most of the paintings I painted were commissions, but I managed to fit a few in just for me. This is a study for a larger painting I have planned of Aunt Tee, perhaps this summer.

ANOTHER SUSHI PAINTING

6x8 oil on canvas
My first sushi painting, and now I can take it off my list of "things to paint". For other artist's interpretations, please visit DSFDF.