A WHOLE LOTTA SOMETHIN GOIN ON!

I have been a terrible blogger lately but thats because so much has been going on. I have been invited to participate in Art Fits Vermont. I have been asked to paint one of the wooden puzzle pieces that will be on display and then auctioned off to benefit the Addison County Humane Society. Thank you to Jackie for inviting me to be part of this! Jackie and her husband, Craig, were the winners of the painting I worked on at the HSCC Walk for Animals in June! Craig and Jackie have a YellowDog (Jackson) of their own--cool, huh?!

I have been working on a few commissions. My latest piece was commissioned by Mike, a very nice guy who I soon discovered lives not very far from me. He gathered a bunch of photos and shared a lot of great details about his 'Crowded House' of kitties. The painting was for his wife, Mary's, birthday. How nice is that?! Now that the gift has been given I can share this photo:

Mike called to say Mary loved it so Im very happy! Happy Birthday, Mary!

Tonight Im finishing up a birthday present for a little girl with a new baby sister. I think that calls for an extra special birthday present. Photos to come soon!

I will have a tent at Woofstock on October 4th in Middlebury. My next month or so will be prepping for that with almost all new pieces as well as working on my stuff for upcoming holiday shows. Busy busy busy. Thats a good thing.

I have a couple very different pieces to show you soon. Im very excited and although Im super busy, I have to try to get some of these ideas in my head onto canvas. Check back soon to see how things turn out!

And finally, YellowDog had surgery yesterday. He had a lumpectomy and he had some teeth pulled. Poor little guy! He had a benign cyst removed from his right front leg so he now has a very large bandage that goes from shoulder to toes. He also has a small shaved and bruised spot on his left front leg where he was supposed to have a catheter but the vet told me he just wasnt having it. While he was under, they checked his teeth because they have been bothering him. He had a large molar pulled and two lower incisors. He has been amazing. He is hobbling around with his leg bandaged and sore mouth full of his same piss and vinegar (as my grandmother would say). I just need him to sleep. Because I need to sleep. Here is a pic of YellowDog post surgery. Please excuse the tufts of hair I had just removed from him and the blanket covered couch (just in case he decided to rip off his bandage). If you look close you can even see the shaved patch on his left leg and the space where his incisors were:

A little sleep and we will both be good. Im sure of it. Speaking of which, I think I need to go him him some love and get ready for an very early night.

A whole lotta nothin goin on

I guess thats not true. There is a ton going on. Friends from San Diego in town, friends from Montreal in town, friend from VA (soon to be of Munci, Indiana in town, new BEAUTIFUL privacy fence being installed (to keep out the oh-so-cute but oh-so-not friendly neighbor dogs), pipes being fixed (as I type this I believe), yard sale and major house cleaning. *phew* There is some not so great stuff going on too but who doesnt have that?!

But very little artwork. Im having a heck of a time finding the canvases I need. If anyone can suggest a good place to find quality (but not super pricey) gallery wrapped 3"x3" and 6"x8" canvases, I would be much obliged. Like free painting obliged. Even the art store in the area with nice helpful salespeople arent able to assist. Seriously, if you have a connection please drop me a line yellowdogart@aol.com .

I hate blog entries with no pictures so with that said...

YellowDog turned 13 years young on June 2nd. I am terrible for not posting about this sooner but time really got away from me. This is actually a picture of his cake from last year. Crazy cool, huh? The cake was made by PupKat Bakery and is made specifically for dogs. She also setn along a bunch of special treats and a beeswax candle and a card. His favorite part was the doggie chocolate candies on the cake. He shared with all his four legged family and friends and we still had cake left over. This year YellowDog had steak, steak, doggie ice cream and more steak.

YUMMM

Nothing new to post in terms of art work. Lots and lots of fun ideas I cant wait to start working on but I have been busy with other stuff lately. Soon, hopefully. Im am treating myself tonight. This is what is keeping me busy this evening...

ART SUPPLIES MAKE ME HAPPY

I walked past the art store on my way to the dentist today and I had a few minutes to spare (thanks to scoring an excellent parking spot downtown?!) so I popped in. Im always on the look out for my 6 x 8 canvases. I wont bore you with that story again but for the new comers lets just say that it isnt as easy as you would think it should be to purchase some simple canvases in this area. But Im not writing this to gripe--IM VERY HAPPY! I walked in and there on the shelf were ten lovely 6x 8 canvases. I tried to be frugal but each and every one had my name on it. MY NAME ON IT. And by name I mean the bright orange clearance tags you can see in the picture below.




So I bought them and ran to my dentist appointment. After the appointment I had to walk past the art store again. Well, I am trying very hard to find a very very dark gray acrylic paint so why not stop in and check while Im downtown!? What can it hurt? MY WALLET! Thats what it can hurt. But again, Im happy. I found some really fun canvas sizes more than half off. I would have been crazy not to, right? Dont answer that. I took finance courses, I know its stupid to buy something you dont need just cuz you have a coupon. Anyway, the reason for this post is really to show you that art supplies make all the creatures in my house happy...





Those are the bags from the art store. And no worries, I do not leave any bags out when I am not home as Missy will climb in every single crinkly bag she can find. Crazy.

HOT STUFF!

Sunday was a huge success. The HSCC raised a record amount of money for their Annual Walk for Animals this past Sunday. Everyone involved deserves a huge thank you. It takes a lot of work to plan and carry out such and event and it takes wonderful supporters to make it such a success.

It was HOT. I was simply sitting and painting and I was completely wiped by the time clean up time came around. The heat should break a little later this week so I will be able to finish the piece I was working on at the event. Im excited to see it come together.

Some pics of my set up and event participants:

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!