May 31, "Yard Flowers"

More of those lovely irises!  There's so much more color in there-  aren't they fun?

6x8 acrylic on canvas, $95 click here to make this yours!

May 30, "Monday Irises"

Still sticking with the irises.... mom gave me some white ones... may have to give those a shot too!  Flowers-  so interesting!
I'll make these an auction!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid!  Click here to join the fun!

May 29, "St Cloud Irises"

So we went up to see Max's cousins yesterday, and it was a lovely damp time, full of coloring and motorized turtles swimming around in the backyard pool, and Debbie had these gorgeous Irises growing on the side of her house. I have a poster of Van Gogh's irises in my art room, and I love them, and this was so fun to paint, because I was thinking of Vincent most of the time I was painting it.....

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click here to purchase!

May 27, "Black Dog On Green"

This is one I've painted before, but I'm looking for those ones that I love to paint again and again!
A black dog is always my favorite-

acrylic on panel, $85 click here to purchase!

May 26, "The Listening Face" in progress~

I wanted to post something today, so here is this one that I'm working on right now-  I can't get enough of my Gus... he's just got so many expressions in that face of his.  I will be taking more photos this weekend, and see if I can get the cataracts to show~  it is amazing, how diabetes and going blind haven't fazed him much.  He's still spunky and eager and sure he knows how much space Duane and I left between us for him to land in when he makes that leap in blind faith...

And I love that face!

May 25, A Mug...

Sorry!  I'm a bit tired tonight... we're dealing with the end of the school year from both sides- the teacher side and the student side, and it is amazing how many details there are!  And last minute changes!  And allergies and coughs and colds.... ack!

So here is a mug, we can all use a cup of tea, right?

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click here to purchase!

May 24, Open Smile

Who is this, you might ask? Perhaps the face looks a little familiar, you've seen it before on my blog maybe... because this is the mug of our favorite family mutt, Gus~  ain't he something?! I couldn't resist painting this one-  he's my son's favorite dog, I think mostly because he's been around the longest, and because Gus tolerates Max's hugs and affections and tugging of limbs and ears.  The patience of a dog is incredible-  and believe me, Max has been scolded loudly for his mishandling of this sweet, patient little guy.  And I'm gonna make him be an Auction too... how's that?  I meant to post this on Sunday night-  better late than never...

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid click HERE to join in!

May 23, Max the Corgi from "30 Dogs 2014"

Hi all!  Shameless self-promotion here!  Dickblick is hosting a Pet Portrait contest and I entered this piece (back on May 11th!) and the voting didn't start until today!  I'm just curious about how far this can go-  there are a LOT of entries, and here is a link to vote for mine, and I also encourage you to take a look through and vote for others if you want!  You can vote once a day until May 30th, and the prizes are art supplies, but it is the notoriety I am in it for!  Wahoo!  So again, here's the link to my page for the contest, and I am honestly pleasantly overwhelmed at all the art work that has been submitted from all over  the place!  Entries don't include much info except first name and name of the city, but it is fun!
I'll be back to my regular schedule tomorrow!  Ha!
And DO think about taking a class with me this summer, either at Grand Marais in June (11-12 for Beginning Acrylic) or June 13-17 (Advanced Acrylic)  or at Wet Paint for a one day class!  More info on Wet Paint is here!  And do please send me questions if you have any~  happy to answer as best I can!  I also am available for private lessons if you'd like that~

this is my entry for the DickBlick contest~

vote HERE!

May 21, Diamond Dog

This is another glorious photo of an incredible face I just couldn't not paint!  Double negative, right?  Meaning I couldn't stand to not paint this dog so I DID!  And I don't know anything about this critter, whether male or female or much more than I took this at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe over a year ago and the dog's owner was kind enough to let me take it.  That's it!  But really, look at that FACE!  Wow~

16x20 acrylic on canvas, $640 click HERE to have this one YOUR wall!

May 20th, Squirrel?

And once again, I've been too busy to post for a couple of days.  I really hate it when that happens... I am off schedule again-  It is easier when I get up a little early and get this done right away in the morning, because then I have the rest of the day to get everything else done and I feel like I've already accomplished something, you know what I mean?  Kinda nice-
So I've hung a smaller grouping of paintings at ArtAWhirl than usual, and I hung all dog painting this time.  In the past, I've only hung Minnesota Mammals and landscapes because my friend Sara Thornton is also a dog painter and she has a studio down the hall, but because I have so many dog-related art events coming up this summer, I kinda need to hang dogs!

6x6 acrylic on gallery wrapped and framed canvas, $85 click HERE to purchase!

May 17, "Pretty On Pink"

Not quite the movie, I know, but I couldn't resist!  This one is painted on a 6x6 cradled panel, right on the wood without gessoing it black first.  So a bit different from my usual fare!  I kinda love it!  It is always fun to swing things up a bit-  and this one required some darker color mixing...  really, it isn't hard to get to that darkest shade of grey, I swear!  You just have to practice it for a few years before catching on!
Come nab this painting this Friday at Art-A-Whirl!  Hope to see you there! I'll be at the Northrup King Building, #394!

6x6 acrylic on cradled panel, $75 click here to make this yours! 

May 16, "Doxie Shadow"

This is a little painting I did last night, of the same doxie from Grand Marais!  I enjoy painting the same critter again and again, and seeing different elements from each one as I do it.  I'll have this little guy with me at Art-A-Whirl this weekend!  Come on over to the Northrup King Building, Studio #394, and see me!  Paintings of pups and otters, and maybe a few other things too~ I'll be there Friday night from 5 to 10!

6x6 acrylic on gallery wrapped and framed canvas, $85 click HERE to purchase or come get it from me on Friday night!

May 15, "Bandit"

Sweet-faced noble dog, free and in the wild!
Had a great weekend!  Hope you did too!

8x8 acrylic on panel, sold!

May 14, Jack and Kelly

This one is a painting I've been wanting to paint for a long time.  I took this photo in July of 2014 in Grand Marais where our entire family went camping for my parents' 50th Anniversary~  and our friend Kelly and her husband and their dog Jack came down for a cake for my mom's birthday!  And this is Kelly's dog Jack sitting on her lap.  I loved the expression of entitled bliss on Jack's face, and the tilt and lean of his body into Kelly's embrace, and the expression of Kelly's hands holding him close.  So much said in just a few gestures... I love it!

18x36 acrylic on black gessoed canvas, $1295 click here if you would like this magical connection!

May 13, "Dacshund Glances"

This little fella was waiting on a sunny sidewalk in Grand Marais for mom to come out of a store, and I was allowed to snap a couple photos.  This is the only one of his face because he couldn't be deterred from his vigil for anything!  I've painted a couple more of Fletcher because he is just so darn photogenic!
And I'm making this one an auction!  Because I feel like it!  And it is Friday the 13th and someone should get lucky!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $25 starting bid!  Click HERE to join the auction!

May 12, "Mo" a re-do~

My client, who ordered this kitty and his brother, wanted a younger, more wide-eyed look, so I repainted Mo from another photo and here he is!  Thought you might want a cat tossed in amongst all the dogs...
And I'll be at the Edina Art Center tonight for the "Art of the Garden" Opening!  Come see me! 5-8pm!  I've got a collection of garden pests for you to choose from! Hee!

6x6 acrylic on panel, SOLD

May 10, "Otto In Green"

And this is yet another sweet pup from this past week-  we had seen a video about Hildegard of Bingen, (who has just been canonized in case you didn't know we have a new patron Saint for us artists!) and then E Erickson gave a presentation of her work (some of which has to do with Hildegard) and she uses a lot of gorgeous blues in her paintings and I had asked which blue was her favorite and had stated that I wanted to play with more blues, and then I went back into the studio and painted OTTO!
So thank you Anna, for sending me this great dog to paint!

16x20 acrylic on black gessoed canvas~ $720  Click HERE to make this your dog!

May 9, "Late Saturday Night..."

Whew!  Yesterday was a long day of excellent critiques with intelligent, generous and kind people, and packing and driving and getting home and unpacking... so I somehow didn't have time to post, darn it!  But know I was thinking of it!  It was funny driving home-  you know how traffic can be really annoying with people cutting in and all, and somehow we get all competitive about it, and it feels icky, so I decided to start naming all the people in the cars, like "Oh there goes Bruce, on his way home to see the new baby!" to a little car zipping in and out, and "Dale's got the trailer on again" as an SUV passes with an ugly truck-bed trailer... it was fun coming up with names with mom, and nobody was irritating!  And we actually passed a red convertible with two older women- guess what we named them?!

This is the second to last painting from Saturday night!  If you can't tell, it is my Gus, who is going blind~  but still acts as if he isn't.  Ya gotta love that dog!  This one will be at Artistry this August! wahoo!

16x20 acrylic on black gessoed canvas- $720, if you want it you can buy it, but I need it back for the show!

May 7, "Josie's Maple"

I don't know if this lively creature is a male or a female... dogs don't have adams apples to tell us, do they?  I loved the unusual angle of this shot and the blue of the sky way back there... and the challenge of the anatomy of a dog's head from this perspective....
This is the smallest piece I've painted this weekend!  I am having SUCH a great time!  Hee!

10x10 acrylic on panel, $200 click HERE to have this head for your own!

May 6, "Into The Light (Gus)"

This is the first thing I painted yesterday!  I kinda like it!  I'm not quite sure if it is finished yet or not, but I'm liking it-  Gus was looking at Max at the dining room table, waiting for him to drop some food, and the light around his form was SO incredible!  I'm painting a couple more of this version...

24x36 acrylic on black gessoed gallery wrapped canvas- not for sale just yet...

May 5, "The Persistence of Love"

Currently, I am having a glass of wine and missing my boys, and having a fantastic time painting DOGS at the Art Colony for my upcoming show at Artistry in August!  Dang!  Don't know if I should post them or not... so here is one from my demo this weekend, of my sweet-earnest-ever loving-will-lick-any-body-part-near-me Gus...

I seriously love this one~

8x8 acrylic on panel, $150 click HERE to see this everyday!

May 4, "Another SchaWHOOP!"

I just can't resist painting these, nearly abstract little ones of the otters-  SO fun to try to catch that movement, that flow-  love the tones too, trying to get those purple shadows and shifting greens....

I'm heading up to Grand Marais with me mum to participate in our annual Art Retreat at the Art Colony- that's not the name of the class, but it's about what it is~  I'm planning on painting large dogs-  if you have any good dog pics, send 'em my way!

And SIGN UP to paint with ME at the Art Colony in Grand Marais in June!  Class is coming up soon!!  Here's the info-
Introduction to Acrylics, June 11-12, click HERE-
Advanced Acrylic, June 13-17, click HERE!

6x6 acrylic on panel, $75 click here to make this YOURS!

May 2, Another Otter for Art4Shelter!

Well, WE had a packed weekend here in Minneapolis!  Wow!  Took down two art shows (I am working on getting my "30 Cats & Friends" art to them, if you are someone who is wondering!) and went to see the Wild Kratts at the Orpheum on Saturday with Max and Duane!  We were in the 3rd row!!! AND got to see them after the show for photo opps!!!  Can you believe it?!?!  And you have no idea who I am talking about if you don't have a kid...
AND we participated in the Heart of the Beast's Mayday Parade yesterday!  Which was WONDERFUL and exhausting and fun!  Still a bit tired today but it was a great weekend! Yay!
Thanks for letting me tell you all about it!
Here is an otter I painted on 8x10 paper for the Art4Shelter Fundraiser coming up next week!  May 11th! 6-9! Come see me!  I'll be there!

8x10 acrylic on paper-  come get it next Wed!