See you Sunday?

Sunday is the HSCC's 14th Annual Walk for Animals at Battery Park. I will be painting at the event and the piece will be raffled off with proceeds going to the HSCC. I will also have some new small pieces Im excited to show. They will be for sale along with some of my larger pieces. Come say Hi!

I am working on a couple very very large pieces that will be placed along the route of the walk. I wanted to do four but time has only allowed me to do two. Before even sketching these pieces I wanted to walk the route to see where things might go. Here is a pic of Jackson and my friend, Vanessa as we strolled the path. Jack is about to do what he does best while V kindly handled his leash and allowed me to take pics all morning. That turned out to be an excellent day. Walking with Jack, kayaking with V followed by lobster and shopping. Now THAT is a day off :)

Hope to see you Sunday!

ITS A BOY! And his name is Cha'lie

My father has a highlander cow. He used to have many but now he has just Lucy. Lucy is a super sweet, super friendly wonderful mother of a cow. Charlie (pronounce with an English accent-Cha'lie) was born earlier this week. He looks like a cuddly baby bear. Lucy wont let us find out exactly how cuddly he is but we dont blame her at all. She is very good at making sure his curiosity doesnt get the best of him.

Please excuse the terrible pictures. The weather was very overcast and like I said, Lucy wont let us get toooo close to Charlie. They both have beautifully golden eyes but for some reason they came out a glowing green in every single picture I took today. Having said all that, meet Momma Lucy and Baby Charlie.


Lucy and Charlie taking a walk after dinner.



Charlie is extremely curious and playful.. Lucy keeps him reigned in but the more I snuck around taking pictures the more he tried to play with me. Here he is 'hiding' and peeking at me from behind a fence post. I soooooo wanted to HUG THIS LITTLE GUY!! I dont know if yo noticed int he last pic but Lucy has some serious horns and although she is precious, this is her baby and she would have had none of it so I didnt even try.

LOVE IT!

I have been trying to think of something new for the upcoming HSCC event. I will be painting live while there at the event but BJ and crew are kind enough to provide me with someone to man a table so I may also sell pieces. A percentage of all sales will continue to go to the HSCC and I hope to see everyone there! Stop by and say hello as I believe I can paint and talk at the same time. Anyway, here is what I have decided to tackle for this event...




How cute, right!?! The easel is about 4.5 inches tall and made of solid sturdy wood. I found a variety of small canvases to paint on that will look great on these mini easels. The one pictured here is about 3" x 5" and possibly my favorite. I really like them. Dare I call them adorable? I think people will like them and they will be new, affordable pieces. Now if I can actually paint on these itty bitty things!? Oh, and ofcourse this...



This is Missy. She is not a large cat at all but she looks like a giant next to these mini things. The camera came out and she had to see what was up. Cute, cute and more CUTE!

What I have NOT been up to lately

So I have been less than motivated lately. As in I have been doing NOTHING in regards to artwork other than looking at other peoples work. Terrible terrible rut. I have been doing a lot of cleaning and Im hoping now that I am near the end of my spring cleaning I will be able to focus and make some new pieces. Having said all that...

Here is an older piece. I made this a few years ago at the request of some friends in PA. Please excuse the poor quality of the pic!

Finished Commission

It has been a while since my last post. Although I have been slacking in this area, I have been super busy. Lots of new and exciting things going on I will share the details soon. And all this upcoming excitement means the crazy schedule will continue. But I LOVE it! Soo....

Here is commission I completed this past week. A local news anchor (I wont use her name because I have not asked her for permission and being that she seems like one of the sweetest people ever, I would hate to be rude!) asked me to create this piece for her sister's birthday.

Adorable little guy, right?!



Here is the piece that I sent along for the client. Everyone has been so nice and she has a dog that sounds just like my parent's dog so it had to be done.





I also worked on a smaller version of 'Full Moon' (see earlier post please) which was a big hit at the HSCC event. Rumor has it that the piece sold right away but many others showed interest and one gentleman in particular showed a great deal of interest. The woman that originally purchased 'Full Moon' so kindly withdrew her purchase saying she would buy another piece so this gentleman could have it. That is just a perfect summary of my experience with the HSCC event. I know I keep saying it but everyone has been so amazingly nice. My day job includes a lot of 'not-nice' interactions so I guess its possible I appreciate the little things so much more.

So back to work..on what I havent decided yet.

MY SKETCHBOOK

When I started painting, I did everything free hand and on the fly. I still do everything free hand but I tend to get most of my ideas when I cant actually sit down and paint. Since painting grew from sketching and drawing, I thought why not go back to a sketchbook? So (because Im a dork) here is one of my favorite sketchbooks. And how handy it is to have it labeled so clearly. You know, in case I forget what it is. Is that my kitchen sponge? Is that YellowDog's leash? A baked potato? Noooo, its my SKETCHBOOK! Duh.....silly me. Thank goodness the thing is labeled.

Nothing super fancy and it is just from Barnes & Noble. What I love about this sketchbook is the large (but not too large) spiral binding and the paper. Ooooh the paper. Its a bright thick smooth white paper and it doesnt let my favorite pen (another post maybe) bleed through. I also found the super thick and strong covers provided the perfect set up when it came time to paint. I could prop up the book off to the side (safely out of painting range-usually).

So here are a couple peeks into my sketchbook and the paintings that came from the sketches. You will see the paintings do not match the sketch exactly and that is intentional. Sometimes when I go to paint I find that a part of the sketch stands very well on its own or maybe I picked a huge canvas and I need to add to the background for color or depth or I drew a couple sketches with similar backgrounds but want the paintings to differ more from each other.

SCORE!

It only took two months of trying, one rude salesperson, seven trips to Church Street and two trips to Williston to score these 22 6x8 gallery wrapped canvases. Thats all. No biggie.

When talking to BJ from HSCC a number of months ago about a possible show, the very first piece that came to mind was the 'Candy' series. It is made up of 36 separate canvases and was a perfect way for me to play with color. For every single piece I do, I have several color combos I wish I could try. This piece made that part easy...kinda. Who knew it would be so hard to find more of these canvases to replace those that sold?! I shouldnt complain. I loved working on this piece and people ahve really seemed to enjoy it. What more can I ask for. Well, except MAYBE nicer sales people.

What this does mean is that cat lovers should check abck atthe HSCC very soon as these new canvases will be filled with our feline friends.

EXCELLENT NEWS!

BJ called me this afternoon to tell me that Beth Parent from WCAX paid a last minute visit to the HSCC this afternoon. What a great way to get the word out about the work the HSCC does for our area. BJ is amazing and Im sure that will come through in the interview. The good news doesnt end there. BJ also told me they spoke about my artwork currently up at the HSCC. How great of BJ and how flattering! I adore Beth Parent. I love it when I turn on the news and she is anchoring. And Im not just saying that because BJ told me she owns a beautiful dog! So if you were watching WCAX tonight and are visiting my site for the first time...

Hello! And thank you for checking out my work. My newest pieces are shown in posts below. Email me with any questions. Even better, they are on display and available at the HSCC in South Burlington. I think art is always best seen in person so pay them a visit and check out both their wonderful place and my artwork. I would love feedback so drop me an email at yellowdogart@aol.com and let me know what you think.

Everyone should be able to own a piece of original artwork so I try to keep my prices reasonable. If you purchase a piece currently on display at the HSCC, 20% of what you pay will go directly to the HSCC in your name. The same goes for commissioned pieces. If you see a piece you like but would prefer a smaller version or a different set of colors or would like to incorporate your own wonderful family or friends (of both the two legged and four legged variety), let me know. We will make it happen. Some pieces at the HSCC have been purchased but as they go to their new homes, I will be creating new pieces to replace them.

Please be patient with me as I learn how to update my own site but check back on this blog daily for updates and sneak peeks at the newest pieces!