Smokey

I just received the sad news that the star of one of my pet portraits, Smokey, has gone on ahead. I had so much fun making his painting, he was a wonderful joyful subject. He lived 12 happy years, and his owner sent me a very sweet tribute to him in which she details his antics which include: 'burying a turkey carcass in the couch and getting up on the kitchen table and standing there for no apparent reason'. She asked that we all 'do something silly that makes you deliriously happy' in his memory today. And I will.

I try so hard not to worry about my 13 year old Izzy and instead cherish each day I have with her. She is the reason I started painting dogs, the cornerstone of my art business, the one who really opened my eyes to all the other homeless pets out there that need adoption, and my 4 legged soul mate - I can only guess that the love I have for her is equal to the unconditional love a parent has for their child. It's hard for me to leave her behind as I embark on 2 and a half weeks of traveling... I know  she will be in good hands and that crazy Alice will keep her busy while I am gone. I sure do love my pups.

Strolle....

well...i guess i'm not doing so great with that getting in the studio to paint thing. it's been a crazy week, the tribune coverage actually worked out very nicely as i sold the featured painting and i've received several checks for postcard requests.

so what i did do was finish a commission - this is Strolle, or Strolch - a schnauzer owned by a very nice german couple here in chicago who also have a home in Germany. last  year i painted their irish wolf hound: Gorda.  i put a lot of time into the sketch process going back and forth with edits for the client. once the sketch is approved i project the image onto the canvas as shown above on the left (you can see my little projector in the background). this saves me much time when it comes to recreating the proportions. next i go in with color ...essentially blurring it and finish by bringing it back into focus with black paint.  so i did work on some other paintings already in process...i can never work on just one at a time and i hate to waste leftover paint.

The Princess and the Pea

Alice - our own, not so little anymore, princess...and her snoozing pal, IZzy.

Flowerful Canines

I recently painted and shipped these 3 pet portraits to Santa Barbara...Sadie, Chip and Sydney. Adorable subjects and I love that my wonderful clients chose the flower theme. Both Chip and Sydney are Catahoula Rescues. Click HERE to see other Catahoula's from around the country who are in need of homes and adoption.

sketch:

Stripes . . .

I celebrated the New Year by trying something I've never done before. I painted the laundry room walls with STRIPES, it looks great! I was going to try and actually paint individual stripes...I'm glad I had the sense to research it - the key is to paint the entire wall first, then tape it and paint the second color. What a bright cheery space ... now what to do with the adjoining bedroom walls...?!

Alice Chair Art

My 2006 Celebrity Chair Auction donation...a chair inspired by Alice. Istarted this one in my old studio and finished it here, it seems to have taken on the color scheme of our new living space.

The Big MOVE...

I meant to document our move over the last several weeks - that is the amount of time we have taken to transport our lives, countless trips in our pickup! And one hired haul of our furniture. Not the most efficient system - it was quite a roller coaster of chaos and emotion ...we took the final miscellaneous things from the house on Wednesday and still have yet to empty the garage..hopefully tonight!

Packing up my studio was the hardest part...I will have a very different space arrangement but I'm looking forward to starting fresh in a new place and working completely above ground for a change...and who knows what new imagery will emerge living across the street from a bread factory!

The new house is over 100 years old and is very sunny and bright and has these incredibly high ceilings. I chose Peacock Blue for our kitchen and living space - I love it and it also sets Izzy & Alice off very nicely!

Alice looks on as I paint the final pieces in my Bucktown Studio from her favorite ratty green chair that we left behind in the alley...

Laughing Through the Tears

On Friday morning I tearfully answered the door to greet Jenny from Tree House Animal Foundation. She was coming to pick up all of Ollie's things which we were donating to their shelter which houses hundreds of homeless cats. She was also coming to deliver a fiberglass cat for me to paint for the first annual Cats On Parade Art Auction and Gala. I went from crying to laughing when I saw how enormous this cat was - and thankfully, it looked nothing like our Oliver.  This cat is larger than both Izzy and Alice. Having it sit in the middle of the living room all weekend has been good comic relief.