IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOOTS

10x20 oil on canvas nfs

This is Kate, the first grandbaby of one of my very dear Louisiana friends, Tina. When Kate was born 2 years ago, I wanted a very special baby gift and when I saw these pink leather, silver tipped cowboy boots, I knew this was the perfect "welcome to the world" baby gift. Never mind the pink boots would not fit her until she was about 4 years old, a girl can dream and wait for the perfect day and the perfect outfit. Several months ago Tina sent me photos of Kate posing in her favorite pink tutu pajamas (yes, those are p.j.'s minus the pajama bottoms) and the pink cowboy boots! Kate is absolutely beautiful and not only does she know how to put an outfit together, she's a natural in front of the camera, lucky for me (and Tina) I have more photos and hopefully more paintings.

I sketched this little painting out a few months ago, but did not get around to painting it until Dec. 23, thankfully it came together very quickly as it was a Christmas present for my sweet friend. Merry Christmas, Tina.

MY AFRICA

6x9 oil on canvas sold

My commissions come from many different sources, but I have to say receiving a commission from your daughter’s long time friend is a first for me. My daughter is 19, soon to be 20, and I've known her friend, Laynie since she was a little gap-toothed 5th grader. Laynie commissioned me to paint something from her mother's mission trips to Africa.

Cyndi received her painting on Christmas Eve and very kindly shared her journal entry about where the original photo was taken for this painting. As I read her journal entry, I was in tears thinking of my own family, how very different our lives and circumstances are and it’s only by the grace of God, I live in the United States and not someplace else.

Through Cyndi’s church in Dallas, Watermark Church, she and a group of lawyers go to Africa annually on a mission trip in the fall. Among many things, their mission is to assist Congolese lawyers, visit prisons, and spread God's word. The following is an excerpt from Cyndi’s journal upon visiting The Women's Sexual Violence Treatment Center:

"We stopped in front of a small house with a sign in front and picked our way carefully down the rocky slope to the front door. There were people to meet us at the door, and a happy group of women who clapped and sang their welcome to us after we had found a seat in the tiny gathering room. It was hard for me to wrap my brain around the reality of their circumstances. They were counselors to the women who had been violated, but my gut tells me that they too had been brutalized as well. Shara opened the suitcase full of bears and blankets and explained why we had brought them, and they were so appreciative - again they sang and clapped their thanks. Then Rick stood up to speak for us all and explain why it was important to us to be there with them, that we wanted to remind them that God had not forgotten them, that the world had not forgotten them. Then he pointed to a box of Healing the Wounds of Trauma books, to which again we heard the clapping song of gratitude. And then he leaned over and opened an ordinary looking cardboard box packed with Swahili translations of the Bible. And the women literally leaped for joy, they squealed with excitement, they were exultant, and their gratitude was uncontainable. I began to cry and did not stop crying for a long while. We prayed together and one of the women prayed for us. She sang the prayer, and the women joined in the refrain. I joined hands with a woman with a beautiful infant swaddled to her back. Our eyes never met. One squeeze as we said "Amen". I never heard the translation for this but I knew for certain this to be true, GOD was in that place. He was filling their hearts, our hearts, with His Spirit, and the conviction that His word is true, that there is power in His work and that He is able to accomplish His will with those who seek Him and trust in His word.

I was humbled and convicted. They knew what I often forget or take for granted, that the LORD God has revealed Himself in His work, and His greatest desire for us is to seek hard after Him, whether it is at the kitchen table in the suburbs, or the desolation of a place like Goma."

I know this was a long post, thank you for visiting and commenting. Thank you Laynie and Cyndi!

END OF THE YEAR SELF-PORTRAIT

6x9 oil on canvas

Because a few other blog artists recently painted their self-portraits, I thought I'd try the same exercise. It's hard not to fix what you want to change (erase, smudge, de-emphasize, lighten or darken, in my case) as you paint yourself, but a worthy exercise nonetheless. If you have not painted yourselves lately, I would strongly encourage you to do so.

Thank you so much for viewing, reading, and taking the time to leave comments on my blog. This is a community of incredible, committed artists and I am happy to "know" each of you.

I wish all of you a very happy, healthy, and safe 2010.

Happy New Year!

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!!

DSFDF PORTRAIT & MY 100TH POSTING

6x9 oil on canvas

So much to say, I've been overwhelmed with painting commissions, but cannot post much until after Christmas; however, I can post my DSFDF portrait painting. I was VERY intimidated when I first received my photo and then literally just threw my hands up in the air, and remembered it's just paint. Slowly my intimidation turned into fun, and I hope the end results show that I enjoyed myself through the process. I do not know who this fella is, but if you recognize him, please let me know!

Yesterday I had the most wonderful day. I met a fellow blogger and now friend, Ann Rogers, for an afternoon of drooling over the most spectacular plein air paintings. After a couple of hours of oohing and aahhing, we had lunch together and continued our conversation about the gallery exhibition and everything else we could possibly visit about...this may surprise you, I am a talker and so is Ann, there was never a moment of silence throughout our visit. Thank you Ann for a delightful afternoon!!

For those of you in the Dallas area, I would encourage you to see Southwest Gallery's Outdoor Painters Society exhibition (open through January 4th) and for those of you not in the area, here are some of the Texas artists I greatly admire, please take a look at some of these sites, you will not be disappointed!

John Cook

John Potoschnick

Laurel Daniels

Bob Rohm

Jill Carver

Rusty Jones

Ann Hardy

This is only a sampling of the artists whose work we viewed, but definitely these are some of my very favorite Texas artists. In addition to all of these links, here's another one for you: Outdoor Painters Society, there you will see all of the members and their incredible works. Ann, thanks again it was a wonderful cold, wet, and rainy Saturday to meet a new friend and talk art!

Thank you so much for visiting and commenting; I truly appreciate your visits, take care!!

BANDIT, THE BLUE EYED BROWN EYED DOG WONDER

8x10 oil on canvas sold

Well, I have to say, not only do I love this little fella, but I also love his mama and boy, does his mama love him!! Bandit's mother is a young, new teacher at my school...someone please tell me why they're making teachers younger these days....Mrs. Yerger is one of my very favorite teachers and one I look forward to visiting with each morning. Luckily for both of us, our classrooms are across the hallway from each other. Sometimes the little ones have difficulty pronouncing Mrs. Yerger's name and they slip and call her Mrs. Yogurt, that always makes me laugh!

Ok, so time for Bandit's story. Bandit is a Boston Terrier/Border Collie mix and is the dog child of Mrs. Yerger's in-laws. As I understand it, Bandit knows no strangers and loves everyone he sees. He was born with unusual eyes, which sadly means that Bandit is blind in his beautiful blue eye. Apparently Bandit's limited eyesight has not affected his ability to be, and I quote: "the smartest and brightest, most obedient, and best cuddler of all dogs around." I don't know, do ya'll think Bandit is loved?

I hope each of you are enjoying a beautiful fall and looking forward to this time of blessing and thanksgiving, take care!

BEST FRIENDS

16x20 oil on canvas sold

Here is one of my latest portrait commissions. Best Friends posed its own set of challenges, I had to balance these bright blue eyes, strawberry red hair, pale skin, and a very, very black dog or in this case, best friend. Take care and enjoy this wonderful fall weather wherever you might be!

TRINITY RIVER & HENRY FINKELSTEIN

PRAIRIE POND sold

16X20 oil on canvas
PRAIRIE PATH

10x20 oil on canvas

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a plein air workshop with Henry Finkelstein, an abstract expressionist from New York. I attended 2 of the 5 days and painted at the Trinity River Audubon Center. TRAC, just South of downtown Dallas, once an illegal dumping ground and reclaimed by the city, is now a wonderful educational facility for families and students.

In addition to my 2 paintings, I've included an exterior photo of the TRAC facility and a party photo we had on our last evening with Henry.

SUNKISSED

8x8 oil on canvas panel

Another little painting for James Parker's blog. I was a little late with my submission, but James posted it for me...thank you Mr. Parker! The photo reference for this painting was delightful to work with; however, photographing this particular painting and getting it ready for posting proved to be very problematic. I don't know why the colors are so washed out...oh, well I tried.

I've not been the best blogger lately, but hope that you know that I appreciate your visits and comments. I would like to add a slide show of more pets posing with their paintings; however, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to do it. If you know how and don't mind sharing the "slide show secret", could you please e-mail me? :-)

TWEEDLES x 2

Look at what I got in the mail! Several postings back I posted this painting of Tweedles, which I had painted from a photo from James Parker's blog. In addition to these photos of a very photogenic Tweedles, I also received a beautiful & sincere letter of thanks that made me cry & smile all at the same time...this is why I love to paint!

Tweedles, you are the best; please tell your moms hello for me!

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.

LADY LAUREL

10x10 oil on canvas nfs

This little beauty is a possible Italian Greyhound & Jack Russell Terrier mix, lovingly adopted by a friend. She was the last dog to be adopted at the grand opening of a Dallas animal shelter, all it took was for her to lay her little head with those mouse-like ears on her new owner's shoulders and she immediately had a new home. Way to go Laurel, you've come a long way from shelter dog to diva dog!

This was one of those paintings where I struggled with the composition. Initially I tried to place Laurel within an 8x10 format, but she would not have it, such a diva that she is, I finally settled on the square canvas and felt that that helped to highlight her special ears.

GINGER

8x10 oil on canvas nfs

A Pit Bull & Brittany Spaniel mix, Ginger is 2 years old and is very much loved by 2 young teenager girls. I have not had the pleasure of meeting Ginger, but I understand she is the kindest pet and apparently has fur as soft as a rabbit. I especially love the little polka-dots on her face and the tufts of hair on high alert perched on top of her ears. Thank you for visiting!

MOCHA ROCKS & AWARDS CEREMONY

Yesterday was lots of fun; I attended the awards ceremony for the Unconditional Love 1st Annual Juried Pet Portrait Competition in Irving, Tx. I had a great time visiting with Nancy Medina, (I'll spare you the photos Jay took of Nancy & I having a deep conversation about all things art. Nancy, you can thank me later), but how I loved sharing ideas with this very wise painter of all things great and lover of all pugs! Judy Mackey won an Award of Excellence for one of her paintings (sorry did not get a shot of her painting, but did photograph Nancy accepting Judy's award). I've also included a picture of Nancy and her beautiful painting, Winnifred WigglePants. My painting Mocha Rocks placed 1st in the Works on Canvas category, a very big surprise!

Thank you all for visiting. Nancy & I met through this thing called an art blog and I sincerely hope I get to meet more of you. Take care.

PINK DOTS

5x7 oil on canvas panel

Another cupcake for the current Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge commemorating the 1 year anniversary of Karin Jurick's fun and challenging blog.

ANOTHER SUNDAY AFTERNOON

6"x12"

Well, school has started and once I adjust from my summer to school schedule, I am hoping I can paint again and post a little more often. This was painted a little earlier this summer from an itty bitty photo of my Mom's friend and her sister.

The fellowship and friendship that has developed amongst this blogger community is incredible. Nancy Medina stepped up to the plate this week for me and delivered one of my paintings for a show that we were accepted in...Thank you tons Nancy! I wish you could all see Nancy's paintings in person, they are absolutely beautiful and she is a most versatile artist with a variety of subject matter. What she does with paint and a sunflower is amazing! In addition to her outstanding art, she has these 3 cutie pie darling babies she calls pugs. How Nancy gets any painting done with all that tail-waggin' and pug-lovin' is unbelievable. Please visit her blog, if you have not already, and if you think about it, please tell her I said thanks!

OLIVE

8x16 oil on canvas sold

I don't know anything about Chinese Crested dogs, except to say that they are very happy little pups and they remind me of very miniature ponies. When my client came over on Saturday to pick up this portrait and the portrait of Lizzie, Ranch Girl du Jour, she just happened to have all of her dogs waiting for her in the car. I am so sorry I did not run back in the house for my camera, the ever graceful Italian Greyhound, Grace was in the front seat and 3 petite Chinese Cresteds...or in my opinion, 3 little petite ponies, were in the backseat waiting for hugs, kisses, and words of affirmation...too cute and could have been a great photograph!

I've painted a Powderpuff Chinese Crested before, not really a big deal, just a whole bunch of fur, but a hairless Chinese Crested is something else, most definitely a challenging subject.

JENNIFER'S PRAYER

8x16 oil on canvas

I painted this at the end of the school year with the intentions of going back and working on the hands. Well, time has passed and it is no longer the end of the school year. I just returned to school this week to begin the new school year and I still have not returned to these hands.

I always return to school reluctantly, but the minute I walk through the doors, I know that is where I belong. This is Jennifer one of the precious students I get to teach at West Dallas Community School. Jennifer is a delightful 7th grader, soft spoken, very polite, and quite the artist!

I am continuously amazed with the fellowship and friendship that has grown from all of our blogs; thank you so much for visiting and commenting, you are the best!

RILEY

10x14 oil on canvas nfs

I love this story, so I hope you will bear with me because I'm a little long winded.

A couple of years ago I was in a plein air painting workshop offered through SMU, I met some great artists who all around are just terrific people. Our last class was a weekend trip to a lakehouse owned by one of the SMU artists, and now another great friend. It was a fantastic weekend and 2 of my all time favorite landscapes came out of that last class. Since it was about a 2 hour drive to the lakehouse, my husband and I decided to make a weekend out of it and we stayed at a beautiful Bed & Breakfast. After painting all day Saturday, we had a party at the lakehouse where we enjoyed a great evening and all the spouses finally got to meet. One of my new friends from the class was a gentleman named Ron and he brought his wife, JoEl for the weekend trip. They just happened to be staying at the B&B with us, but at the time we didn't know that they were across the hall from us. So, we're all hanging out, drinking wine, eating great food and someone asks JoEl where they live in the Dallas area. I was listening to the conversation and was surprised to learn that they live in the neighborhood right next to ours and the way the 2 neighborhoods nest together, we're almost backyard neighbors! The next thing I knew the 4 of us were involved in a very long conversation, busy learning more about each other.

The next morning we had breakfast together in the B&B dining room downstairs and as we enjoyed the "it's a small world" conversation, we learned that in the last 25+ years our paths had crossed many, many times, but it took the last class of a 6 week semester class at SMU and a 2 hour drive outside of town for us to finally get to know each other. Since then we have become the best of friends, we've dined together, traded recipes and parenting tips, and Ron and I have painted together many times. It's such a small world after all, and there's just plain good folks in this world!

So, what in the world does this painting of Riley have to do with that long-winded story? My husband, Jay contacted Ron about purchasing a painting for me as a surprise. Well, when Jay tried to purchase the painting, Ron would not have any of his money and insisted Jay had to take the landscape as a "gift". So, of course my ding-bat, but adorable and darling husband, accepted the gift and I was mortified...but happy, too. You can see my beautiful Ron Sullivan landscape here and the rest of Ron's outstanding website here.

So, my "gift" to Ron and JoEl is this painting of their cat, Riley!

SAN FRANCISCO

4x10 oil on canvas panel

I don't think I have any words to describe my attempt at this painting; this was the most difficult and challenging subject matter for me. Thank you Karin Jurick for posting this photo, if you had not, I would never have tried to paint this on my own.