COWGIRL

6x9 oil on canvas
A few months ago we adopted this little puppy (6 months old this week) from the Tzu Zoo Rescue group, which we found through Pet Finder. In addition to painting during my summer break, I also took a lot of breaks to house train, play, clean, play, pull things out of her mouth...the same mouth with the very sharp teeth...play, house train, and play!

Her name is Cowgirl and we love her. My summer break is over, but when I come home, Cowgirl is waiting for me with her whole little body wagging, and we play, play, play!

If you're thinking of a new pet for your family, please check out Pet Finder, it is a great way to find a rescue group near you.

SOMEONE'S HOME

8x10 oil on canvas panel

My husband is pretty tolerant of my need to photograph things as we are driving and this painting is an example of his patience and tolerance. Several months ago we were driving back home and stopped in central Louisiana at the same restaurant we always stop at for breakfast. Just off the interstate, across from the restaurant, is a winding road that we've always wondered what was down there.

Score! We discovered horses and cows grazing, beautiful aged barns, old rusted trucks, and a swamp with nesting white herons...a plethora of painting opportunities! After an hour of picture of taking, which felt like 10 minutes, it was time to continue the 7 hour drive home. This home with its private dirt road, and the rickety little fence was among one of my favorite shots. I wonder what is waiting to be discovered on all of those other off roads?

DO-SI-DO for Edward Burton

This is for Edward Burton's moleskine of The Flying Moleskines and my response to his music theme. Until I read Edward's introduction in his book, I had no idea what I was going to paint for his music theme. When I read "people dancing", I knew immediately I would attempt this painting.

At my school, after studying Pioneer times, 2nd grade has a day where they celebrate the Pioneer life of long ago. The children are dressed in period costumes and have fun experiencing Pioneer times. One of our grandmothers dresses the part and tells "stories" of her travels West. After her stories, she plays her autoharp and the children dance. This is Jules dancing with one of our parent volunteers. I don't have favorite students, instead I have a whole school (250 students) of favorites. Jules is special, she loves art and I love her!

I posted this video not too long ago, here it is again, you can see a real quick shot of Jules drinking milk in the dining hall and then later eating a sandwich. As sad I as I am for my summer vacation to end, after watching this video again, I cannot wait to see my students!

DUFFY

11x14 sold

I don't know a lot about Duffy, but I do know Duffy has a very important job. Duffy goes to work everyday with his owner, offering snaggletooth smiles and hugs to the customers...at least that's what he gave me when I visited their incredible antique store this past Christmas in Opelousas, LA.

This was my first Pomeranian to paint, there sure is a lot of hair on such an itty bitty dog, and not just long hair, but very, very thick hair. Anyway, there had to be a perfect balance of showing Duffy with not too much hair and not too little hair, all the while showing the depth of his coat. My brother deserves a great big thanks for taking new pictures for me (when I met Duffy he was a young pup), thanks Shane!! This portrait is going out in the mail this week so Duffy and his Mom can enjoy it together!

Thank you all for your comments and encouraging e-mails. I have more pet portraits to share with you, it was a very busy summer with lots of pets on my easel. I would love to take a break and do a little plein air painting, but painting outside is impossible in 100+ temps. I hope wherever you are the weather is a little cooler and you are enjoying your summer. Take care!

JOLIE BLANC

8x10 oil on canvas sold

Before I begin this story, let me explain that this memorial portrait is for a family that lives in SW Louisiana where many people speak French.

Many years ago a puppy was needed for the perfect Christmas surprise for my client's daughter. A visit was made to an older gentleman's home and my client sat with all the puppies trying to make a difficult decision. Can you imagine them climbing on top of her, playing with each other, and giving her sweet puppy kisses, you can only have one, but you want them all! One puppy in particular caught her eye, this puppy stayed close to her mother and was very, very calm. She asked about that puppy, and the gentleman responded, "Oh, that's my Jolie Blanc". He went on to explain that she was the only blonde puppy in the litter full of darker colored puppies. He named her Jolie Blanc, which is french for Beautiful Blonde. She was the perfect Christmas present and her name would remain Jolie, because she was the most beautiful dog this family would ever know.

Jolie remained a very calm dog her entire life, she was easy to train and brought her family years of love and enjoyment. One of Jolie's favorite things to do was fetch the morning paper and deliver it to her Dad each morning while he remained in bed. I don't think I've ever met anyone who keeps a bag of dog treats right beside their bed, but there they were kept and every morning Jolie enjoyed her Beggin' Strip while Dad enjoyed his morning paper.

TROOPER

8x10 oil on canvas sold
Trooper was on the euthanasia list, weighing in at only 31 pounds when the most wonderful family adopted her and gave her the loving home she deserved. She was one of many rescues this family would grow to love, but she was the most loyal and loving dog this family has ever known. As her family rescued countless puppies and kittens, Trooper was known as "mother" to each rescue that came to live with her. She was incredibly intelligent and infinitely patient with the entire home, from critters to kiddos, this family could count on unconditional love from Trooper; she even once protected the house from an intruder. Trooper weighed 100+ pounds when she died of leukemia, never letting her family know how badly she felt until the very end.

I love painting memorial portraits, but they can be some of the hardest to paint because I usually have limited photos to work from. I am including a close-up scan of Trooper's photo, surprisingly she was easier to paint than I thought, perhaps she was mothering me along because happily her painting seemed to just happen. Thank you so much for looking and reading Trooper's story.

SUMMER SLUMBER

8x8 oil on canvas

For those of you who were wondering what my husband looks like, here you go! This was painted for the Summer Time theme for our new blog, Some Texas Artists Like to Paint. You can read why Jay became a subject for this little painting here.




My summer is going by so very fast, once July gets here it's time to start thinking about returning to school. Last week I had lunch with some great blog friends: Gwen Bell, Ann Rogers, and Nancy Medina, after lunch we checked out the awesome art at Southwest Gallery. If anyone has an extra $40K, there's an incredible John Cook painting I'm coveting! To see Mr. Cook's paintings on the SW Gallery website, click on events, then his name, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

TOLERANCE

6x9 oil on canvas

You might see more paintings of this couple, the cow did not change her posture very much, but her friend flitted about displaying her fine plumage for all to see.

Isn't summer great? My summer has been filled with a lot of painting and a lot of lunch dates with friends. Today began with a few hours of painting, then a 5 hour lunch with a long lost friend. Later this week I am joining some very special blogging buddies for lunch, two I have already had the pleasure of meeting and two I look forward to meeting.

Like I said, summer is great...painting and lunching...lunching and painting! ;-)

BALLERINA BELLA

9x12 oil on canvas board nfs

Summer before last a wonderful friend came for a visit and she brought her granddaughter, Bella with her. Bella arrived dressed in her little ballerina outfit and happily posed for the camera. Not only was she creative with her poses, she had most expressive eyes that seemed to match each pose she struck. For once I enjoyed painting a hand, especially her little knuckles.

Happy Fourth of July to all of you!

LONGHORN LADY

8x8 oil on board nfs
It's my turn to paint in Sheila Tajima's book for The Flying Moleskins and Sheila has requested we paint something that we love, for me that would be cows! I have always loved cows, but it was not until we moved to Texas that I fully appreciated longhorns. Of all the different cattle breeds, the longhorn breed is one of my favorites; they are massive in size and so elegant with their huge set of horns, to see them up close and in person is amazing. Thank you for visiting and please visit here to read more about this particular longhorn lady.

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!

GOLIATH & SCARLETT

8x8 sold

I don't have the opportunity to paint a lot of cats, so when my newest client approached me about painting her 6 cats, I was more than pleased! So as not to overwhelm you with all 6 paintings, I am showing you the first and the last one that I painted.

At 3 weeks of age Scarlett, with the olive green background, was an itty bitty thing living on the side of the road at a vacant general store. My client's family was passing through Kendalia, TX as a major thunderstorm was approaching when Scarlett and her brother, Paxton were discovered. Too tired and weak to even try and run away, they were rescued and are now 3 years old.

Goliath (light blue background) came to live with this family only 6 months ago. Goliath is about 12 years old and came to live at a local vet's office after his owner died and his foster mother fell and broke her hip. He is arthritic and has several medical issues, but he can rest easy because he has found a wonderful forever home.

There were many challenges I had to balance in this assignment. Because I do not have as many cats under my belt as I do dogs, I really had to concentrate on the individual and unique features of each cat. This collection will hang as one group and the client requested that each background be a different color. In addition, I had to make sure that the cats were all about the same size so one would not stand out from another. Whew, I learned a lot about cats and certainly fell in love with each of these precious babies.

Thank you for visiting and commenting on Gus' portrait. I will post and share the companion portraits to Gus one day soon. If you hear any whooping and hollering in NE Texas, it's only me celebrating because school is out and I can be a full time painter for a little while!

GUS

8x10 oil on canvas sold

This is one of 3 portraits I recently painted for a client. Without a doubt, it was difficult for me to part with this portrait. As I began my blocking in process and began to see his portrait develop, I could not help but feel that it had an old fashioned and nostalgic quality to it. I loved his one floppy ear, his warm eyes and the way the light fell across his face.

My client's children found this bulldog mix sleeping next to a gas pump at a gas station outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The owner of the station thought he had been dropped off by a trucker. They tried unsuccessfully to find a shelter that would take him, but there was no room for him anywhere. The only thing they could do was bring him home to, you guessed it...Mom in North Texas. Promises were made that the bulldog mix would only stay with their Mom for the weekend and then first thing Monday morning they would contact the Dallas area shelters. Somehow this bulldog mix dog knew he only had the weekend to win this family over. He got along beautifully with their little terrier, bonded with Dad on his evening walks, and Mom, admittedly a sucker for a cutie, fell in love with him. Well, come Monday morning, this bulldog mix had found a home and a name, Gus.

JOLIE FOR DANA COOPER

approx. 5.5" x 16" nfs

oil on gessoed moleskine

For Dana Cooper's moleskine titled Dreams and The Flying Moleskins blog, I chose to paint this beautiful retriever named Jolie. This is a preview for an upcoming memorial portrait I will be painting for Jolie's family. She was named Jolie Blonde after a very well known and beautiful Cajun song. There are many versions of the song Jolie Blonde and you can search ITunes to listen a bit. When I complete Jolie's official portrait, I'll tell you more about her and the joy she brought her sweet family.

Thank you so much for your kind comments and e-mails about the video I posted for my school. It is truly a special place, filled with the most wonderful people! Take care.

West Dallas Community School

I'm taking a break from posting a new painting to share this video of my school. It would mean so much to me if you would take a couple of minutes to watch this short video. West Dallas is one of the 8 poorest areas of the United States and we are funded through private donations. These are the smiling faces I get to see and teach every day. Thank you so much for watching, Enjoy!!

TAHOE

8x10 oil on canvas sold

One of my very favorite clients commissioned me to paint Tahoe for a friend of hers. As I painted this portrait, Tahoe was in the battle for his life. Despite their giant size, Great Danes are known for their affectionate and gentle temperaments.

Memorial pet portraits are the hardest to paint because I cannot meet the pet and sometimes I am limited on whatever photos are available. In all of my pet portraits, I really try to capture the uniqueness of each family pet, and I hope, in this case, that Tahoe's portrait speaks of sweet love and gentleness.

LAKE MARTIN AGAIN BETTER PHOTOGRAPH

This is the same painting for Dominique Eichi's moleskine, just re-photographed, and a much closer representation to the actual painting than the previous post. Thank you so much for your earlier comments, as always your visits are much appreciated.

More pet portraits and other paintings to post soon. Take care; I do hope you are enjoying a beautiful Spring wherever you live!

LAKE MARTIN PATHWAY FOR DOMINIQUE

oil on watercolor moleskine sketchbook paper nfs

This is my contribution for Dominique Eichi's moleskine and for our blog, The Flying Moleskins. The theme for Dominique's book is landscapes/pathways. Dominique is from California and I'm not sure if she has ever been to SW Louisiana, but now she has a painting of one of my favorite locations called Lake Martin. Please go to the flying moleskins blog here and you can read all about this colorful swamp. Thanks for visiting my blog; I appreciate your comments and e-mails very much. Take care.

BUDDY & IZZY

11x14 oil on canvas sold

I received several photos to work from for this portrait. In each photo sat Buddy, ever proud, faithful and solid as a rock and then there was the other little guy, Izzy! Izzy was all over the place in the shots and I could not help but think of him as a child's toy. Wind Izzy up and watch him pop up out of the bluebonnets! Speaking of bluebonnets, soon we will have fields of the most beautiful display of Texas wildflowers, a gorgeous sight to behold. Take care and if you're on Spring Break, as I am, I hope you are having a great start to this beautiful Spring season.

LAKESIDE PARK

8x16 oil on canvas

After a very difficult week, I joined several artist friends today for a much needed respite from school and home. This painting did not begin easily, it began as a different view of Lakeside Park, but it soon became a lovely color of mud after wiping down my first start only to begin anew. As beautiful as it was in Dallas today, my mind was on information overload. This area in Highland Park is lovely, trees are beginning to bud, children were romping through the park, and dogs were happily tugging on leashes, but boy did I struggle. This painting almost became another wiped out canvas until I picked up the palette knife and attempted to try something a little different.

In addition to my regular painting friends, I had the pleasure of painting with Ann Rogers. This was Ann's first time to try a little plein air painting, and despite my painting difficulties and whining because I was cold, Ann happily painted and her amazing results can be seen here. Apparently I did not whine that much, because Ann has agreed to meet up with us again.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful words of comfort for our little Zoe; you have each helped my family more than you could ever know. Take care!