Nov 5, Viggo!

 I just thought I'd put Viggo back up here, because as I mentioned earlier, I am working on a LOT of commissions and don't want to spoil anyone's holiday surprise by posting them too early, so I'll have to post already sold ones!

I am working on some smaller pieces for a few holiday sales coming up too, like some otters and turkeys- I seem to be a bit obsessed with the turkeys...

I'll be at the Art At Hidden River Holiday Sale on Sat Dec 5, 9:30-4:30! And that same weekend our Studio will be open for the Seward Winter Frolic, Sat Dec 5 10-6!

Then the next weekend I'll be at the State Fair for the Minnesota Merry Market Dec 13-14! !0-4 each day!  The market is the weekend before and after, but that's the only one I can attend-

I also have sweet pieces at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts Holiday Sale which is open Monday-Sat 10-4 and the work is up til Dec 19th!

And finally, I'll have work at Burl Gallery in downtown St Paul for their Small Art Holiday Show- all work smaller than 12x12 and under $100! We'll hafta see what ends up where, people!

Viggo!

sold

Nov 2, A Commission

Didja vote yet? Just checking!

So I thought hmmm, I can't post the commissions I'm painting right now because they are for loved ones' gift for THIS holiday season and I hate to ruin a surprise by posting it all over the internet, so I said to myself what about the commissions from LAST year?

See how brilliant minds work?

This is Cooper...

Oh and if you're hoping to have a pet painted by me before the holidays, there is still time!  get them in soon thought!

8x8 acrylic on panel

sold

Oct 30, Otterly Intent

 I have painted this guy a few times now, just because I love that face so much! And it's that wonderful problem of how do you suggest enough information so the viewer can see what you want them to see? How do you tell them the story of what you see when YOU look at the image? Because we all do not see the same things at all!

Art is such a magnificent element...

It's the Barebones Halloween Extravaganza this weekend yet! Come see it!

And then come paint with me next Sunday the 8th from 2-5 for my first Paint-Your-Pet class of the season! I've got two more lined up as well! Come push some color around!

9x12 acrylic on canvas

$220

Click here for purchase info! Or email me directly!

Oct 29, Paint Pens Play to "Petulant Pom Pom"

I took an online class last night through Blick- it was a Zoom and the artist is Ryan Martin and he was knowledgeable and charming and in San Francisco, and Blick had sent us the kits ahead of time except I couldn't find the panel they'd sent so I used one of mine-

It was fun and weird to paint in color on white, and to have no purple at all- start with the dtawing first, he had us do thumbnails and I did it, and it was interesting how just a little sketch like that DID make the difference in where I placed my drawing. It felt more settled...

The pens were fun and though the end result look strange to me, it still looks like my work, to me!

Tell me what you think!

 

8x8 acrylic paint pens

NFS

Oct 28, Another commission!

 So I figured I'd pop a commission in here because I'm not sure that many people are looking at my work on-line anyway and I do believe this person knows it is being painted for them...

It is nearly the end of October and in my family that means we are up to our necks in Barebones Halloween Extravaganza! It starts tomorrow night, Thursday Oct 29 and is on every night to Sunday at 7pm at Powderhorn Park! It is always an amazing group spectacle pageant with firespinners and stilters and dancers and giant puppets~ it's part of why we say our family religion is puppets....

Here's more info!  Hope to see you!

6x6 acrylic on wood

sold

Oct 27, More 10 minute paintings!

Just because I'm working on a few commissions and I'm gonna have to wait to post them til after they've been gifted!

And I'm also working on new stuff for the upcoming holiday sales!  I dropped stuff off at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts last week- you can drop by there any time for their holiday sale!  I've got a few things there including my biggest turkey...

And I hope you're enjoying our much more fall-ish weather lately... I do enjoy rain and colorful leaves...

9x12 acrylic on black gessoed paper

gifted~

Oct 26, Another Otter

 It's that curve their bodies make, the "I am one with the water, the water is one with me" sense of their movements, the smooth fluid poetry of their soul~

I love otters~

6x12 acrylic on wood

$165

click here for purchase info~

Oct 25, Floater

 I have to admit I'm not the most creative with my titles, and if you can think of a better one, let me know!

This is painted from a photo Duane took (standing right next to me, mind) when we went to the Mn Zoo a week ago Friday- somehow he always takes better photos than me! All the animals were out and being very animally, and there were hordes of families with small children watching them be so animalish- it was crazy! And there we were, us three, our family... it was so lovely!

I painted this one on a magenta ground- can you tell the difference?

10x20 $400

acrylic on canvas

click here for purchase info!

October 21, The Bulldog

 This is another commission~ and I'm going in to whiten up the neck folds a smidge but I wanted to post something this morning!

I voted yesterday!  I hope you go soon too!

6x6 acrylic on panel

sold!

Oct 19, A Completed Commission!

 Sometimes it takes a few goes before both I and my client are satisfied with a painting. I want to make sure they are getting what they are hoping to see, and there are parts of a photo that may not register with me as being important, like the shape of a patch of white fur on a forehead, or a specific collar color, and it helps when the patron lets me know what they are looking for.

This is a painting for returning patrons who wanted to memorialize their beloved pair of huskies. In the original, they aren't quite so close together so it took a few tries before I was able to get them just right- and the background wasn't all lovely warm happy colors, but I made them that way!

This is a good time to get on my list for painting your pet before the holidays!  I do also have a few Paint Your Pet Classes that will be in November- I'll post those this week!

Hope you are enjoying the fall weather and getting out and VOTING!

12x16 acrylic on panel

sold!

Oct 13, Morning Juice

 I had planned on painting an otter a day for OTTER-tober.... but that hasn't happened so far, because I'm a bit busier than expected, which is strange because I'm always busy so why didn't I expect that? Hmm... this getting older and wiser part ain't for sissys....

SO this is an orange I painted in my Paint Love class the other week, as a demo- it is a lovely thing to paint small objects daily. It keeps your eye sharp and your brush moving, and all that makes you a happier person, I swear!

6x6 acrylic on canvas panel

$65 plus tax = $70

click here to purchase!

9/30 more 10 minute pets!

 Yes, there were more!

And now is a good time to actually commission me to paint YOU pet if you'd like one for gift giving for the holidays!

This lovely wet weather we are experiencing in Minnesota feels so great right now, so cozy and inward-turning, it's a great time to be painting- my October session is full but I do have a November series of 6 Sundays, 2-4:30 that I'm setting up right now!

9x12 black gessoed paper with acrylic

donated!

9/28 10 Minute Pets!

This Saturday morning I sat in the drizzle with my lovely friend and amazing artist Lara Johnson and we drew and painted people's pets as they brought them up to us after their Blessing!  This is a tradition at our school during the Homecoming shenanigans and I really love it!

Here's one of the first ones I did- I was able to get 8 portraits done in about 40 minutes- they don't want us to go on too much longer than that for crowd control, I think... there were years in the past where I was stuck there for 40 minutes to an hour after the event was supposed to be done because people really wanted their pet painted!

9x12 on black gessoed paper

for donation to Golden Valley Humane society!

The Ugly Duckling Makes Waves

 I am just so enchanted by these babies and their fuzzy earnestness as they paddle through the green ripples and dark shallows... using such a variety of warm and cool neutral colors, placing the brush strokes in just the right place to suggest that little baby wing, that delicate webbed foot just under the surface...

I am having so much fun with these!  Come see them in person tomorrow and Sunday, 10-4 at my studio in the Ivy, 2637 27th Ave S, Mpls 55406!

12x36 acrylic on canvas

$865

click here for purchase info!

And an Ugly Duckling! "Back Paddle"

 This is a piece I've been working on this week from a photo my sister in Geneva sent of the swans in lake Geneva this spring...

Water and birds, what a great combo! And the colors, and lines... these are fun!  There's a few more coming out from Kel's photos, and you can come see them this weekend at our studio for LOLA!

Sat and Sun, 10-4 at the Ivy Building, 2637 27th Ave S!  Second floor, #210!

9x12 acrylic on canvas

$215 

click here for purchase info!

More pup Commissions!

 This one was such a fun one to paint!

Oh but I DO say that about a lot of them... okay, so THIS one is fun because the faces were not quite so close in the photo and I got to play with them a bit to move them closer, and I am really happy with how they turned out! Plus I got to abstract the background to a color that felt emphatic for the relationship of the two sweet creatures, who are no longer with us.  My patron wanted to be able to have that feeling that they were looking at her again, and I hope I've satisfied that!

Ooo and come see me at the studio this weekend! 2637 27th Ave S, second floor, call if you need directions!

XOXO

12x16 acrylic on panel

sold

Sep 9, Another close up!

 Have you ever read The Four Agreements? I've found myself thinking and remembering those 4 basic ways of looking at the world... because sometimes when it feels things are spinning off faster than you can understand them, you need some way of viewing the world, a lens to look through. And these have always helped me out, when I remember them...

Have no expectations, make no assumptions, be impeccable with your word, and always do your best.

So when I find myself spinning into catastrophic thinking, I can pull up the "Make No Assumptions" and try to live in the moment, and that helps me at least chill out enough to pay attention to NOW.

Painting helps too, of course!

Another pup from the three!

3inches by 3 inches an already sold~

 

Sept 8, another close up!

 It's a week in to school, I'm sometimes feeling like I know what I'm doing, and then something else comes at me and I am discombobulated again....

Dang- so I sit and paint sweet loving companion animals, and that makes me feel better.

Hope they make you feel better too~

4 inches by 4 inches about, and sold~

Sept 2, Close Ups of Work in Progress

 Whew, it was a fabulous weekend!! Thank you everyone who came by to say hi at Millstream! What a lovely day! And so many awesome people and dogs!!!

And then Monday night at Loons Coffee, another wonderful crew of people came by to pick up their dogs and have some snacks with me! I am so grateful for the connections we make through art and community, and by going out and talking to people! What a great start to my week!

I hope you're having a good week too!  This is a close up of Rosemary, the brown doxie!

tiny! Sold!

August 28, Three Cuties on a couch!

 Here is a commission I'm working on- because I want you to know that I am painting!  It's been a busy week, back to school workshops and the kids come on Monday but I still need to PAINT! This one is a bit tricky because of lighting and because the panel is small, 6x12, so gotta work tight which requires more control and care, and the client has given me great feedback so I should be getting this one off in the mail soon!

August 17, Gunny, another Commission!

So my lovely sister is in town and we went to see Josh Johnson at the Orpheum last night, and it was amazing! Sat up very close, and laughed- dang! Needed that so bad. We also had a 3rd Sunday Brunch yesterday, which was super awesome and well attended and especially populated with tall loud teenagers playing games in the living room and then in the backyard and then out in the front yard running around with cardboard armour and weapons... it was so great! One of those soul-filling things, you know... the sense that the kids are alright, at least right now...

And this is a little commission with some big eyes... 

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold