Jan 29, Pom Pom Hanky Pants Says Hi!

Yes, she is our sweet little hero, our little bundle of whiney love, our hyper barking doorbell and the one who lets us know whenever anyone walks past the house. 

We took her along to the Sled Rally this Saturday, and that was fun even though there was no snow- cardboard was laid down the hill and the fantastic decorated sleds were pulled along by two helpers! It was an absolute hoot!  The John Deer thresher was wild and just about ran into the crowd, and Julian's life-sized semi truck was the most amazing sight, with smoke pouring out of the pipes and that "Watch Old Bandit Run" that Jerry Reed song playing- actually, all the music was pretty amazing, and it was lovely to get out and see people. The weather is messing with my head too, and I keep thinking it's spring and it feels lovely, but I also want some SNOW!

Ah well, we still have February and March! And probably April at this point...

12x6 acrylic on panel

$160

click here for info!

Jan 26, Reina from Winter 22

 And here's another one that I haven't posted yet!  Still working on those bubbles on my otters... I loved the face on this one!

Such an amazing expression! And that wonderful shaggy fur, and I think I did well with the fun grays!

Lots more fun grays around here today!

12x9 acrylic on panel

sold

Jan 25, Otter Pop-Up

 We went for a walk around 6:15am this morning, and there were areas of really slick sidewalk, and its foggy and murky here. Just in time for those thick heavy winter doldrums! Perfect weather for worrying about all the troubles of the world and feeling sorry for yourself! Ain't it great when the weather outdoors can match your internal weather? Yay Minnesota!

The radio is telling me that there is a Wolf Moon tonight, so I will probably need to post a wolf painting tomorrow~ did you know every moon has a name?

This one isn't quite done yet, but I started it under the influence of COVID this past week~ it needs some bubbles...

24x12 acrylic on wood

$576

when finished! Click here for purchase info!

Jan 24, Swoosh

 I'm realizing I didn't get the bubbles in here yet, so it isn't QUITE for sale yet- I really love the distortion of the water when you can see the otter both above and below. And that TAIL in this one!  SO great!

Duane took the photo- he's simply amazing with a camera. Somehow he snaps these images that capture the movement and poses of these animals better than I ever can, so these paintings are truly collaborations between Duane and me.

Isn't that fun?

It's our anniversary next Friday! Come celebrate Ground Hog's Day with us at Silverwood Park for the Midwinter Melt! We'll be there from 6-9, I hope to have Cake though I'm not sure we'll manage a cake walk.  Duane and I designed (well, mostly Duane!) one of the Footgolf holes, which you'll be able to play!

I'll post this again when it is ready for purchase~ it is a 10x20 so it's $400~- oops!  Nope it is an 8x16 so it is $256!

Jan 21, Such Patience

 This is our beloved little Pompom Hanky Pants, in a typical pose. She suffers our ignorance daily. Poor creature, to have to be strapped with us idiot humans.  I think Max was the first to notice her judgmental face. She does often seem to be measuring us up, thinking that perhaps we could be doing better...

Maybe that's a good thing~

I started this one last year up at the art colony in Grand Marais during my residency. I'm thinking of going back up again this March, but we aren't in our house yet, and it is hard for me to make plans without knowing where we'll be. 

40x30 acrylic on canvas

$2400

click here for purchase info~

Jan 20, Pearl

 Soooo.... you ever get the opportunity to stay home for 5 days with those you love and not have to/be able to go anywhere? 

Yup~ I made it this far without having COVID, but that's over now. We're a family on quarantine at the moment- and it hasn't been too bad. I think Duane had it the worse- we should be in the clear by Tuesday~

And I'm making sure we're taking it easy- we watched almost all the "Pirates of the Caribbean" on Thursday and we watched "Project Runway" and "Vax Machina" and "Magic For Humans" and "Captain Underpants" yesterday, and today we seem to be on a Clone Wars fix- I ordered Max a Star Wars lego along with some groceries from Target yesterday....

And I've been painting otters!  Not done yet- will post later-

This is a sweet kitty from 2022 Holiday season that I don't think I've ever posted~ I'll post the paintings I'm working on soon!

Oh and no third Sunday tomorrow, sorry!  Hopefully we can do a 4th Sunday!

6x6 acrylic on wood

sold

Jan19, Kazoo!

 This is another commission from the holiday season, and I loved painting this sweet kitten! When I heard her name, I just about blew a gasket! Isn't that the BEST kitten name EVER?!? 

Seriously!  Wouldn't you love to have a kitten named Kazoo who loves to sit on your shoulder while you work? 

I can't WAIT until we are back in our house and we can get our own little kitten, and I'll have to come up with a name at least halfway as cool as Kazoo!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Jan 18, Sami

 This is another commission from this holiday season- I don't think I've posted it just yet- and I appreciated the patron's comments to help me make this the best I could. She let me know the fur was a bit lighter at the top, and the color of the harness, and we also changed it so it says "Sami" instead of the brand...

And that the area Sami is looking at was brightly lit and had action happening, which is why Sami was looking that way~

12x6 acrylic on wood

sold

Jan 16, Slippery Thought

 I spent part of yesterday submitting work to exhibitions for 2024-2025, and that always takes time to find the work you want to submit, make sure you have decent photos, write up your proposal and make sure your resume is updated.  It's all those things that you feel like if you were REALLY organized, you'd have them all ready to go and in folders that were easy to find...

Ah well. I came across this one that I love, and that sold at Sivertsons Gallery up in Grand Marais back in 2017, and I think I painted it in 2015-  thank god for my photos gallery because I can search in there by year and by location and find things... that is if I can remember when and where I took the photos...

I'm entering some otters and hoping for the chance to paint some more large works of them!

12x36 acrylic on canvas

sold

Jan 13, Standing Alert

 Here is another wolf painting- I've been working on a few larger ones too, and this is one that I really like. They sure know how to pose, those lovely beasts! 

There's something so regal about them, their stance, that mane, those penetrating eyes...

 I still wouldn't want to meet one while walking in the woods alone...

I have my firsting painting class of the year this morning at my studio!  I'm as excited as a kid! I'm so lucky to be able to do this thing that feels so natural to me- and I'm so fortunate to have people who want to learn along with me!  I call the classes "Paint Love" because that's what I believe we do. I know there are talented artists who are able to paint pain and war and anger with beauty and grace, and maybe I do that sometimes, but I think I learn best what works for me when I paint what I love, when I paint WITH love. Hmm....

Makes me think more big thoughts...

This class is FULL, but I will have some One-Day Paint-Your-Pet Workshops coming up in February!

Happy Saturday!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

click here to nab this one!

Jan 12, Penny

 This is Penny who happens to be a pug, like our Bunny... but it was okay to paint this one. It is fun how different animals are, even though they might be siblings or very similar littermates. 

I remember having a dream long ago about my beloved long-haired rescue tabby Toby- he was my first pet as an adult and lived with me in a lot of different apartments and houses. He was my sacred familiar and kept me sane and joyful in the stresses of my younger life, and in the dream I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pick him out in a line-up of similar looking cats. 

But I could!

And recently my friend Kat posted a photo of her and "a friend" and I responded how much it looked like our Bunny and how I miss her, and Kat replied that it was a photo from over a year ago, and that yes, it was Bunny~

And this is Penny!

6x6 acrylic on wood

sold

Jan 11, Beanie

 And this is Beanie~ she's the love-pup of Isobel, who adores her~ those eyes are just amazing!

It's feeling more like winter in Minnesota now- the temps are heading down and we're finally getting a pinch more snow, with a Winter Storm supposedly headed our way this weekend!

I do love the chance to sit inside while it's snowing outside... and I also like the chance to bundle up and go slopping around in the snow outside, knowing I can get back warm inside when I want to!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Jan 10, Another Commission!

Good morning!

A third thru January now, and there still isn't that much snow but we're hitting sub-zero temps starting this Sunday so that will change the way things feel around here. I may need to wear my silk long johns. Every Minnesotan knows to drew in layers. Maybe that's why clothes are such a fascination to me- that we have to have more kinds than people in other temperate zones... right now I have a long sleeved silk shirt and a fuzzy vest on, and a cardigan to put on over that, with long thick-ish pants and warm socks and boots. Comfortable right now- and I've already gone out with Pompom for a trot around the 'hood and it wasn't too bad... we do like having snow on the ground because it makes the atmosphere lighter after dark.

And this is a lighter after dark kinda cat. This is Leo, who sadly left us much too young. Such an amazing face~

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

 

Jan 9, Bunny the Pug

I painted a little series of 6x6s of Bunny a couple years ago and found this one last night at the Vine Arts Gallery in the gift shop and reclaimed it. It's a good one that shows her sweet little nose and that glowing dark ear.... I miss that little fist of a face and those huge brown eyes, and her snores when she would sleep by our feet...

Happy Tuesday, friends!

6x6

NFS

 

Jan 8th, It's Been A Year...

 Today is the anniversary of our life-changing house fire. Devastating, horrible, shocking as it all has been, difficult and worrisome and all, we are here now. Not quite back IN the house yet, but we are here, at this point in time, and we are doing well. Which is a lot of thanks to YOU all, you know. 

The Rolling Stones were just singing " We All Need Someone To Lean On" which I haven't heard in forever and it struck a chord deep in my heart. We do seriously need one another. Thank you. I don't know where we would be without our generous neighbors and friends who are letting us live in their "spare" house, even though it means they can't begin their own long-awaited rebuild on their home, and we might not be back in our house (and out of theirs!) until February...

I've been struggling with how to honor our loss today... Duane has been cautioning me to not worry about it being a big deal, that just us knowing and taking a walk and talking about it is good. I did pull up some photos last night, and I was struck by how hard the grief can still feel. Fatoosh's green eyes met mine every morning. And Bunny would sit her fat little butt on my back as I lay on the floor to do yoga in the kitchen. Sally and Teddy were always excited at the foot of the stairs to "GO OUTSIDE!" and walk to the lake and back- shaking their shaggy little heads, Sally schnuffliing in the snow....

Oh my heart.

And now we have Pompom... 

Life does go on, my loves~

Sally

Jan 7, Finley!

 This is another commission from this holiday season!  I love how the holidays stretch across the years~ time.  What a concept!

Finley is wearing his good reading dog vest because he is an official Good Dog!

8x8 acrylic on wood

sold

Jan 5th, By A Whisker

 And it's the first Friday of the new year! I hope it's a good one for you! Here's another otter painting- this one's nose appears to be comically big, and it's one of those things where it looks that way in the photo and I repainted it a couple times and this is the way it's gonna be!

The new year is a good time for retrospection, isn't it. It's really strange still being in a rental place and not in our home.  All those things I took for granted for twenty years of living in the same place are up in smoke, literally. I don't know where a lot of things are... we didn't get a lot of stuff out, but Duane did salvage some of my journals, which I've been keeping since the 8th grade. A lot of my dependable memory is in those smoke-damaged pages. So my retrospective-ness depends somewhat on what I chose to write down and how honest I am with myself. And this year I'm working to be more honest with myself in terms of what is it I actually need? For example, am I really still hungry or does my mouth just want to keep working? Or is this activity one that supports my goals or no? And how long has it been since I've talked to a good friend? Maybe I need to pick up the phone and arrange a good walk!

And thanks all of you for following! I appreciate any and all comments- thanks for being a part of my world!

12x6 acrylic on wood

$150

click here for purchase info

Jan 2, Happy New Year!

 Here's another commission from this year!

And I wanted to let you know that I've updated my Pet Portrait Price List for the first time in almost five years! 

Though I DID leave the 6x6 at $150, for now- because...

 It was about time. It's just one of those things that's really hard to do sometimes... to increase your prices. It feels a bit.. self congratulatory? Grabby? So many artists I know have a really hard time with pricing their work, and commissions are essentially how I keep this business going. Plus I sincerely love doing them! Art is one of those careers that is thought to be easy, and joyful, and such a pleasure for the artist that they shouldn't have to charge for it and yes it is all of that, but it also takes hard work and practice and quality materials that cost money and continuing to work even when you don't want to and you aren't being paid for it (yet)... it's schlepping lots of displays and tables and art and setting up at art fairs and talking to everyone who comes through and smiling and updating all your technology so you can continue to contact your clients and let them know what you're up to...

It's a lot!  It's a life! And I am so grateful that it is mine!  Thanks for being a part of it!

Cinnamon

10x8 acrylic on wood

sold

And here's the link to my Pet Portrait Price List again!