Brutus...a lovely tribute to a handsome guy

I've got lots of great process images for the creation of this fun commissioned pet portrait...and this photo of Brutus at home in Alabama with his brand new tribute painting is the cherry on top. I hope to put together a page on my website showing all the steps and maybe even do a little postcard or brochure. Right now my pet portrait information pages look like this. Jean, his wonderful owner left me a really great review at PetServicesReview.com, thanks Jean I do hope to see you in October at Kentuck!

Here's a full photo of the completed painting:

5 Degrees & a Snow Day...

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This first photo was from yesterday, Alice will go out and sit on the deck when it is a mere 5 degrees acting as if it is a balmy 75 degree summer afternoon...she has also been known to sit there in the rain and in the snow. She is pining away for the neighbor cats who have opted to stay in for the winter. The words that set her off and we must whisper around here are: cat, kitty cat, chatty kathy (as we often call her since she is quite the talker) she gets so excited...ironically to get her to come in from those freezing temps I just say "here kitty, kitty" and she comes running..it's hilarious. The only other magic word is 'treats'!

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The girls (well, Alice) had fun in today's snow storm...Izzy doesn't like to spend much time in the cold, she prefers to lay on her bed next to the old radiator snoozing away. She is such a sweetie, we went to the vet today for a blood test, she is on a new drug called Rimadyl which has really helped with her arthritis but it can do some funky this to an old gal like her so we had to make sure all was well...and it is! : ) While waiting for our results we met a 15 year old Beagle named Gus...he looked like a very wise old dog. Okay..time to go out and shovel some more snow!

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Brutus....inspired new portrait design!

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I've been working with a wonderful new customer on this handsome sweetie's sketch all week...he lives in Alabama and his name is Brutus. He is a rescue and has brought much joy to his new home and canine playmates. His owner told me that he loves pig ears and I thought hmmm..those aren't going to look so great in a painting, so I thought of the cute little pig with words and pulled this design idea through for his other favorite things. I love it, this is part of the fun of doing commissions it makes me think 'outside the box', well I guess I tend to think 'in the box' with my style...but you know what I mean!

I hope to meet Brutus in person next year if I get back into the wonderful Kentuck Art Fair again.

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Open Studio Becomes Winter Wonderland

We had a busy day here yesterday...as usual, I forgot to take pictures while people were here! The weather was clear at the start but by the evening we were having a little snow storm - so beautiful...! We'll see how today goes it's very sunny and bright outside but the 6+ inches of snow we received over night will probably keep many folks in for the day. Either way, yesterday's sales made it more than worth the effort, and it was fun to hang out with customers, family & friends, my Dad & his wife are here visiting from Wisconsin. We had an excellent dinner at Buona Terra last night and take out from Friendship Restaurant on Friday - our new asian favorite - found on YELP.

Buster! and the Wonders of Reflexology...

I recently completed this Commissioned Portrait of Buster - this sweet furry little guy belongs to Nourhy of Now Studio in Bucktown. Nourhy is a very talented and intuituve Reflexologist and Massage Therapist. I feel very fortunate to have received her wonderful reflexology treatments in trade for this portrait. In addition to making me feel better I have learned a lot from her, and highly recommend her services! (Ironically I lived just blocks from her studio for many years...but did not find my way there until moving out of the neighborhood.) And I should mention the photo of Buster was taken by David Sutton.

Autumn...I can see clearly now

The screen is gone and a whole new world has opened up out my kitchen window. Alice & Izzy prepare for winter hibernation.

Speechless...

I think I have allergies, not normal for me. But I started feeling strange over the weekend, and worse Sunday afternoon as I set up to show some work at the River North Dog Owner's Association's "Social at the Park" Fundraiser for their new dog park. I was a little hoarse to start with, but by the end of the evening I could only whisper...that's all I can do today. It's hard to be quiet, so when I speak I whisper, and it's kind of funny because people start whispering back to me...like we are discussing a great secret!

The event was set at the end of Erie Street on the terrace of the Erie Cafe overlooking the river and a lovely Chicago skyline. The weather was perfect and it was lots of fun seeing so many different sizes and kinds of dogs - all for the most part getting along.

Plaster Cat

The other day, Ollie from Treehouse Animal Foundation delivered a plaster cat for me to paint for their fundraiser coming up in the fall. This one is much more realistic than last year's larger than life feline.I'm not sure how I'm going to paint it... the other one was allflowers, I called it "Botani-cat". Alice was a bit more curious aboutthis kitty than Izzy, she loves cats and misses Oliver, we all do - it'll be a year on Monday since he left us.