AZALEAS IN THE PARK

11x14 oil on canvas

This month our theme for Some Texas Artists Like to Paint is flowers. Oh, dear it is official, I am not a flower painter. I attempted a few this week, all wipe outs and one so bad, I just threw it in the trash. As I wailed and threw fits, my sweet husband very confidently suggested, "just paint like Nancy Medina". As you know it doesn't quite work like that, but I do like that a few posts down on our little blog she refers to a glass of wine, now that I can do.

Ann Rogers encouraged me to post this painting for the flower theme. She and I went out last spring together and painted one day in the Turtle Creek area of Dallas. Each Spring the azaleas put on a show and just scream paint me, so we did!

HER BELOVED GIO

8x10 oil on canvas panel nfs

I admit I sometimes get behind in visiting other blogs and there are times when I will visit a blog and keep reading until I feel "caught up" on that artist's blog.

About a month ago I was visiting Sherry Massey's blog and found myself reading and reading and realized how much I had missed. Sherry and her husband fell on some very hard times and for what must have been a most difficult decision, returned their beloved Gio to the breeder with the understanding that they WOULD be back to take their Gio home with them once their lives returned to a sense of normalcy. During that time something happened to Gio's health and the breeder made the decision to have him put down. With tears streaming down my face, I read about her love for her wonderful friend and their shock in learning of his untimely passing. Life can be so hard and so unfair, I find things that cannot be explained are the hardest to accept, and to me, this was one of those times.

Perhaps it's just a highlight on the top of Gio's head, but I saw a heart and thought this could be a little valentine gift for Sherry. Happy Valentine's Day, Sherry, this painting is for you! I know it is not the same as having your precious Gio, but I do hope, in time, it will bring you some comfort. I hope you are reading this or perhaps someone will send you this way, please e-mail me with your contact info and once it is dry, I'll put your painting in the mail for you. Take care all and Happy Valentine's Day to each of you!

EIGHT FOR TEN

5-1/2"x14" oil on panel

Ok, so by now you all know about Carol Marine's new challenge at Daily Paintworks, go here to see all of the amazing results. Ten minutes per little painting...do I even need to tell you the first one is in the upper left hand corner and the last one, #8 is in the lower right hand corner? Ten minutes was difficult for the first row, but by the time I got down to the second row, I found myself not needing the full 10 minutes, Carol was right, it gets easier and you do get a feel for what you can accomplish in 10 minutes. Ok, so I failed in subject matter, she specifically said paint an object; however, I am not a still life painter and find painting such things tedious. After failing miserably with a few asparagus, I fell back to a photo of what else, a dog.

CASSIE

8x10 oil on canvas sold

Cassie is an Ibizan Hound and belongs with the set of 5 portraits I recently painted for Cowgirl's foster mother. I had never seen an Ibizan before this time, this smooth hair beauty is gorgeous and a delight to watch in action. Because Ibezians are sighthounds, Cassie's attention span was unbelievable; she has the ability to hyper-focus on one very small thing, which was most helpful in trying to photograph her for this painting. Also, Ibizans have the most graceful necks and a regular dog collar will simply slip off their heads, instead they need a martingale collar. Cassie and Pocket (you'll see her portrait next) have a collection of collars from 2 Hounds Design, please take a look at their beautiful collars and leashes here, truly works of art. Although Cowgirl does not have the graceful neck that Cassie does, I will be ordering a gorgeous collar for her, she does deserve it, does she not?

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.

LONGHORN RANCHER by Angela Elledge

8x8 oil on canvas panel
I met Kermit several years ago while visiting home one summer. My brother had kept a newspaper article for me about a man who had left his successful career to return home to SW Louisiana and begin a career as a longhorn cattleman. I boldly called him and explained that I was interested in photographing his longhorn cattle for future paintings. We had 3 cameras working and took well over 800 photos...click and shoot, edit later...what did we do before digital photography? Not only did I leave Kermit's ranch with an abundance of material for paintings, but he would not let us leave without a huge bag filled with an assortment of longhorn steaks! If you've never been to Louisiana, you're missing out on meeting some of the kindest people around.

And speaking of kind people, that just happens to be all of you, too. Thank you so much for your comments and e-mails! This was specifically painted for this month's challenge, Cowboy Up, at Some Texas Artists Like to Paint, another group of really kind folks.

A DOG NAMED EAST

This is my contribution to The Flying Moleskins and Adebanji Alade's moleskine. The Flying Moleskins has been an exciting journey and of all the books, Adebanji's theme of homelessness scared me the most. I knew I wanted to paint someone with a pet (what else could I possibly paint).

I, like some of my fellow F.M. artists previously explained, had to get out of my comfort zone and look at our homeless population with different eyes. It was not until 3 days after Christmas, driving back home, did I find what I wanted for my contribution to Adebanji's book. In Longview, TX, we discovered this young couple on the side of a gas station on a horribly wet, cold, gray day. She had beautiful bright pink hair and the most wonderful patchwork long skirt. He stayed busy lettering his sign and for awhile their dog stood stoic and tall, a watchdog on duty. On cue, he jumped in her lap and demanded kisses, which of course she supplied over and over. After awhile they took off on foot, walking North, not East, by this time they had put a large oversized coat on the dog so that he would stay somewhat dry and warm. Despite their circumstances, it was obvious they love their dog!

WATCHDOG

8x10 oil on canvas panel
This is my contribution for Some Texas Artists Like to Paint for this month's chair theme. Cowgirl (who was supposed to be a petite little lap dog, now weighs a whopping 26 pounds at 10 months) loves to do important things like watch for dangerous activities out the front windows or the back french doors...dangerous activities like neighbors walking pets and heaven forbid, leaves blowing in the wind!

The last couple of posts have been so difficult to photograph without a chalkiness or glare upon the image, please squint and pretend the chalky colors are actually rich and deep. Now that Christmas has passed, I can begin to share some of the commissions I have recently completed. Thank you for your comments and visits, I wish each of you a very Happy New Year!

DUKE

oil on canvas 8x10 sold
Do you remember Trooper (seen here)? Trooper's family rescued Duke and he has a story to tell, as well.

Duke was discovered one stormy night, when my client received a phone call from her boss. Duke had wandered onto his property and was attacked by several of his boxers. Her boss placed Duke safely in a horse stall and called her because he knew she rescued animals. She and her husband drove over immediately and discovered Duke huddled in a corner of the horse stall, covered in blood and shaking from both the thunder and lightening and the recent attack. It was obvious Duke was hurting bad, he whimpered and cried, but never once bit either of them. He was placed way in the back of the SUV where she held and comforted him, all 65 malnourished, covered in ticks and fleas pounds of him. During the car ride to the Emergency Vet, Duke never stopped licking her hand. It was discovered that Duke was heart worm positive and had numerous lacerations and puncture wounds all over his body.

As he was healing, he was given the name Duke, fliers were put out in the area where he was found, but no one came to claim him. My clients decided that because of his submissive, almost frightened personality, they did not think it wise to foster or adopt him out, it would be best for them to keep him. They simply did not want to traumatize him further and besides, they were in love with his sweet demeanor. Duke was home!

Duke lived with his new family for 9 years, he recently passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. They are not sure how old Duke actually was, he was the best dog ever, never once harming the numerous cats and dogs they owned. For 9 years his family loved him and he loved them. One of Duke's favorite thing was to spend hours and hours roaming the pastures and chasing and "treeing" squirrels. Duke got along with all of the family pets, even the cats, which apparently on cold winter nights, Duke could be found with all the cats huddled close to him keeping warm; Duke was home!

DOLLY FOR DEAN HAVEN

approx. 8x10 oil on gessoed moleskine

The current moleskine I had the pleasure of painting in for The Flying Moleskins was for Dean Haven. Earlier this year Dean lost his sweet little poodle of 17 years. I really wanted to work directly from the photo he posted of Dolly, but was unable to see enough detail. I just happened to finish a little commission project that included a white poodle. I had rejected one of my reference photos because one eye was completely covered in fur; well, little did I realize that that smiling photo might just work as a reference for Dean's Dolly.

I appreciate your comments so much. I have been very busy painting away, but just not posting as frequently as I should...more paintings to come. Take care and I do hope you are enjoying this beautiful Fall weather!

HONEY PIE

8x10 oil on canvas sold

Here's a little commission I just recently finished (yes, I've been painting, just neglected posting) for one of my favorite clients. You might remember Bandit, the Blue-Eyed Brown-Eyed Wonder Dog, Bandit's Mama and I teach together and she so kindly commissioned another portrait.

Now, first off you have to love a dog that is so special she has a first name and a middle name. Now imagine Honey Pie's name spoken with the sweetest little Southern Mississippi accent, well it doesn't get any sweeter than that. Honey Pie's story is funny in that my client and her brother grew up "pet-less"...no hamster, kitten, or even a goldfish, never mind a DOG! After the kids were grown up and gone, Mom decided she'd buy herself a little birthday present...a 6 week old Cocker Spaniel...imagine her husband's surprise/shock when he came home from a game of golf to find her birthday present. As you've probably already figured out, it wasn't long before Honey Pie wasn't Mom's dog, she was Dad's dog!

Honey Pie's favorite word is CHEESE! Not too long ago, she tore out of a screened porch to chase a squirrel. Can't you just see her family running around the neighborhood looking for Honey Pie, all the while yelling CHEESE, CHEESE? Honey Pie promptly returned home and, of course waited for her promised cheese reward. Although her days are spent with her Mom, at the end of the day, she faithfully waits at the back door for Dad to come home. Once Dad is home, it's all about the two of them, even though Honey Pie is Mom's dog, don't forget she's really Dad's dog.

Happy 60th Birthday, Ken!
Love, Cam, Jordan, Adams...and Honey Pie, too! :-)

DAVE'S CATCH

8x8 oil on canvas board

Dave is one of my plein air painting buddies and a man of many talents, not only can he catch his own fish, he can cook them up, too! This is another one of my little 1 hour painting studies and was so much fun to paint. This month's painting challenge for Some Texas Artists Like to Paint is fish, take a look here for more paintings on this subject. Thanks for the photo reference, Dave!

HENRY...for Vern Schwarz

8x10 oil on sketchbook paper nfs

This painting is for Vern Schwarz for The Flying Moleskins. Actually this painting is incorrectly titled, it should read: Henry, My Nemesis! I met Henry while painting plein air a while ago. He walked up to me wearing a blue on blue polka dot choker collar, he had a sleek short hair cut, and the wildest pompadour, complete with a topknot. His owners graciously allowed me to photograph him; Henry was obviously comfortable in front of the camera as every shot of him was perfect, all ready for a painting.

Now, for the nemesis part. Henry has been the most difficult dog I have ever painted, I should know, this is my 4th painting of him. My other 3 Henry paintings...ready for a bonfire come winter...include his full body. Something about that wild hair-do with the sleek body did not make a lovely painting, too much of a textural weird contrast or at least that's how I've justified those 3 bonfire failures. My husband (thanks, honey) has assured me "not all dogs are supposed to be painted and this one is just ugly".

I still don't know why I selected Henry for Vern's book, I just felt compelled to paint this dog and succeed for once. Cropping that wild pompadour with the topknot and focusing on Henry's face was a huge help, I am pleased with my 4th and I guess final painting of Henry.

TAKING FLIGHT

6x9 oil on canvas

Taking Flight is a companion to Tolerance. On my summer break I tried a little exercise of limiting my painting time on smaller canvases. This is one of those paintings where I layed down the brushes when I reached 45 minutes to an hour, a very difficult thing to do for someone who likes to fuss over details. I think the color seen here, at least on my monitor, is closer to the true painting than what is seen in Tolerance.

I've tried a variety of palettes and my favorite is the grey disposable palette, I like that I can write directly on the paper with a sharpie. For a while I saved those palettes because there were important notes I liked to reference. Well, that soon became a pile of papers that was difficult to flip through and I eventually trashed it all, including my notes. I just happened to have an extra moleskine and realized that would be the most perfect place to include color studies and my notes. So two fruitful things this summer, limiting individual painting time and recording my color studies and notes in a more organized manner. What did you learn this summer while painting?

GREAT AUNT TEE #2

6x12 oil on canvas board nfs

A while back I posted my first painting of Great Aunt Tee (seen here). Some important things you should know about Aunt Tee, she loves the Lord, loves to fish, rides a little grown up tricycle and a scooter with a license plate that reads "Here Comes Trouble", and has been known to take a shot or 2 or Crown Royal! Oh my, did I really just share that?

The original Great Aunt Tee painting brought a very pleasant surprise to my family. A very long time ago my father and his siblings lost touch with a cousin that they had not seen in 60+ years. That cousin and his wife were each on a computer one night working on different search engines searching for any relatives they could find. They had very few names to work from, but the one name Michael could remember was Sister Charlita Wills - Aunt Tee. He typed in her name and my blog came up referencing my painting. Michael took one look at the painting and knew immediately that that was his Aunt from his childhood! They contacted me through my website, I put them in touch with my Dad, and I believe there is a plan to get together next summer. You just never know what happens when you post a painting!

Thanks to my brother I have hundreds of photos of Aunt Tee doing what she loves most. Here is a short little article and a wonderful picture of Aunt Tee on her tricycle, which just happens to be fully loaded for the unexpected fishing excursion! I do hope you read the article, it's a quick little read and she's oh so cute!

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.