Otter!

Okay, this one is an 8x8, painted from a Pinterest site sent to me, and I tried to find the photographer but had no luck~
I really REALLY liked this one, and I want to try it BIGGER!

It truly shows that acrobatic flexibility that I adore in the otterly world...

Auction is on-line HERE!

Sunday is TOADally Awesome!!!

Alright-  I know-  but if I'm trying to come up with puns for otters, I may as well do it with toads too!
So my sis is in town from Australia and Max and I went down to the folk's house last night for a sleepover and spent today mostly running around doing family things, which was absolutely fantastic!  We went along to church this morning and Max had a great time in Sunday school, made a bunch of new friends who he insisted on visiting and running with while we waited in line for the pancake breakfast afterward-  I love how he so easily likes people, and genuinely wants to be with people-  I hope that stays!
And my sis, who is the one who is always wanting to know more about family history and all, had us all go to an Apple orchard on the way down to Farmington (where I was born) and after that we went on a drive around the area, which is Rosemount, MN, and the Dakota County area that the Uof M now owns but was once owned largely by my father's father and brothers before the 1940's and the war.  We took a ton of photos, so I am giving you fair warning that some of these paintings coming up may NOT be of animals at all!
Just letting you know...

And yes, this is another small toad, held by Max, I think still from the shots I took at Joe's birthday party!

Auction link here-  someone seems to be liking the toads!  They are getting bid on!

Otterly Webby!

Here is another selection from Jiri Bohdal's website!  In this day and age with such a wide visual world available, I still prefer to ask permission....
Thanks Jiri!

And I may go back into this one on the feet-  I LOVE the muscular webbed look of those front paws...

And I am also very pleased with the face of this fellow... as well as the fun sheen on his fur with all the blue!

Auction is here!

Friday is a Toad.

Dang.  Man.  I do have to admit I am liking the amphibians...  it just feels strange to be painting them in October though...  They just don't signal "Autumnal Equinox" at all.  Wrong flavor, I guess.  I still like them though...

Had trouble with the background on this one-  I wanted it to be simple and unobtrusive, and I'm not sure I succeeded...
Auction link is here!  Take a look at what else is for sale!  Yes, I am a glutton for punishment!  Buy something!  Make me feel better!
6x6 acrylic on panel!

Yes, another frog...

Wow.  I gotta say, this is a lot tougher during a month of so much other stuff going on-  I don't want to apologize for this one, because I really like it, even though I'm not sure it's quite finished...

but he just had these juicy jewel tone reflections as he lay there on the damp bottom of the cardboard box...

To bid for him, !  click here!!!!!

AnOTTER Toad...

...just finished this one-  Max found it at the zoo last week!  Right out front, poor chilly little guy... I hope he's tucked into the mud soon!

I am so loving these critters!  Here's the link for this one's auction!  Go ahead and BID!  Get an early Christmas present!

AnOTTER One!

Ha!
Took me a while to think of THAT one!  This is a European River Otter-  Ever read "A Ring Of Bright Water" by Gavin Maxwell?  There was a movie made that I saw as a kid and still remember the awe of watching these critters run and play with Gavin, and the horror of ...oh I shouldn't ruin it for you!  Its a wonderful book, kinda crazy-  read the Wikipedia link...

And YEAH!  These have been getting bidded on!  Go here to bid on this one!  Actions start at $25!  You might be lucky enough (like  MICHELLE!  Who got my favortite FROG for $25!!!) to be the only one bidding!

Monday- YES! Permission granted!

I have had a hard time finding photos of otters underwater, which is what I REALLY want to paint!  So if you've taken any while at the MN zoo (where we have otters in the MN wing and in the Russian wing!) SEND THEM TO ME!!!!
After getting some beautiful images sent to me on Pinterest (thanks Rose Red!) I sent an e-mail asking photographer Jiri Bohdal for permission to use some of his images as reference for my otters and he gave it!  Here is a link to his site, which is FULL of beautiful animal images, all of which you can purchase on-line!  And just LOOK at his list of all the critters he's snapped!

Yay!
So I like this one~

He's kinda got that lovely goofy charming playful otter face going...  though I do want to try this again, maybe bigger....

Alright! HERE is the auction for this one!

Wahoo! 'Nother Otter!

This  is from one of my own photos, of the river otters in the Minnesota exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo~  I love watching them swoop and dive and play!  Really terrible photos, but I can still see some detail-  this guy is just below the surface, breaking the surface of the water-

And you can click here to bid on the auction!  Starting at $25~

Saturday October 5th! OTTER ATTEMPT #1

Okay folks-  here we go-  Sue Chaplain had these pics on her website, "Backyard Biology", taken by Debbie Reynolds, and sent to me on Pinterest by Red Rose!  GOD I LOVE the internet!  And Sue gave me permission to use these, though I haven't spoken to Debbie....

From the MN River Valley!

This one is 8x8, Golden acrylic on black gessoed panel~  I think it worked... he's got kinda an otter-ish gleam in his eye...

And his auction is HERE!  Starting bid is $25~

Yeah, sorry... been busy- its anoh=ther frog,....

Okay the photo is a bit blurry-  conferences all day, friend's art opening ( YOU ROCK MICHELLE!), home, let the kid watch too much "64 Zoo Lane" and this is what I am capable of....


Yes.  Another frog.

I am NOT doing this as a teaser.

I really REALLY want to paint OTTERS.

If you want to buy this click HERE~

Another TOAD! Otters TOMORROW!

Max and I went to the MN zoo today and the first thing we saw was a TOAD!!!!  Not this exact one... but a TOAD!  And I took pics of the otters in the tropics- so we WILL have otters tomorrow!  And I have had a number of lovely otter pics sent to me too!  So YAY!
 We had limited time and spent a good chunk of it in the aquarium area, mostly deserted which was great so we both got to pet the sting rays and the nurse sharks!  Totally different textures, by the way-  stingrays are squishy and soft and sharks are tough and scratchy...

And toads are LUMPY.

And you can have this toad for your very own!  Click here to join the auction!

Tuesday is PEAR day!

Okay~  this is an OTHER.
My demo from class tonight~

Poor, lonely pear...

And it can be YOURS if you want to bid HERE!

The auction starts at $25 and you have a week~

Wahoo!

OTTERS and OTHERS! An OTHER today!

Maybe an Otter tomorrow!  Lisa just sent me some great pics!
So here is one of Max's many frogs he caught on Sunday's expedition with Rosemary to Big Marine Lake!
Thanks Rosemary!

And I'm posting him in DailyPaintworks for sale!  Check out his auction HERE-  8x8 acrylic on panel, usually sells for $95-  maybe you can get him for $30!

One more time!  You can go HERE to bid for him NOW!  and maybe get this lovely, glistening, fresh frog for less than usual!  Wahoo!

Monday Moods!~

Okay, so here's another shot at Ireland.... can't really escape these I guess.  This one is somewhere around Connemara, and I'm entering it at the Bloomington Art Center along with another one I'll maybe post later this week-
I've also wanted to start a new month of daily paintings, so I am now announcing October is "Otters and Others" Month!  Wahoo!  I've been wanting to paint a series of Otters, I have a pile of frogs and toads I want to do, and there are still a lot of goats I haven't painted yet, as well as some bears, and the random Maxie....
SO if you have any photos of otters, I would LOVE to see them!  I'll just be painting these at 6x6 or 8x8 and I'll be posting them at my Daily Paint Works site as well,  because I want to get that bit more active again~

Yay~  another challenge.  Can't let myself sit still TOO long, ya know!

oh, and if you are INTERESTED in this one, it is 16x20 acrylic on canvas, $400 unframed

Sunday Sept 29, 2013

So, I went to a wake and memorial service last night for Tom Dale, "Tom the Tailor" as he was more widely known-  I am still somewhat in that shocked state, where I am trying to make myself understand that this is for real, I won't see him again, I won't have that bear hug again, or that face-splitting grin he gives you when you show up somewhere as if you were the exact person he was hoping to see...
Damn.
The one beautiful thing (actually, the MANY beautiful things...) was the huge amount of people I haven't see in way too long who fell right back into that sense of family I'd had when I had ridden motorcycle a lot more often with them.  And who were able to understand the giant ragged hole in my heart because it matched theirs~

I painted this toad last night after I got home-  Max had found it a couple weeks ago over at Linda and Joe's house and I have been wanting to paint a series of them-  I like it.

And this morning, Max said to me when he woke up, "I want to die when you die.  I want to be right next to you when you die."  I had told him all about Tom, and dying...

God I love my kid!

Saturday September 21, 2013

Okay, yes, I am fine- I had a fall last Friday (the 13th) down our wooden stairs at 11pm at night, requiring 6 stitches in my chin at the emergency room and a visit to the dentist last saturday morning to get two broken teeth checked out and capped.  The biggest problem has been my jaw, which I think bore the brunt of the fall and caused a bit of discomfort (and a funny lisp) for the beginning of this week...  along with the psychological discomfort of experiencing an accident, something that you can't control that disrupts your life.  Man.  That's the part that I think is the hardest to recover from...

At any rate, I've been fortunate to have people pestering me for their dogs, so here's a few I've managed to paint!
It does always make me feel better...

Saturday, Sept 7!

Wow, trying to figure out the on-line USPS shipping label thing, and not having a heckuva lot of luck...
and I have been painting too, and wrapping and packing dogs!
So here is one of the 20 Min/20 Buckers from Aug 24 of LOLA~

 And a commission from last year that got lost and then found!  It is hard to paint a commission until I get a photo...  so make sure you get me them!

I do like the whiskery bits...

Sunday eve~!

Whew!
i STILL have a ton of photos I want to paint from both Ireland AND England!  God help us all!  Here is a lovely urn from Ashford Castle in March, looking out over the plaza to the green islands in the lake...

This piece will be with me at the Riverview Cafe this coming weekend!  8x10, framed in a lovely gold frame, $160!
Wahoo!
Yes, do come to LOLA and see what I'm up to!  This Sat and Sun, Aug 24 and 25 from 10 to 5 each day~  more info HERE!  Including MAPS!!!!

Thursday! Aug 14-

Here's a building commission I'm working on-

and I'm still trying to figure out whether the "20 for 20" is worth it or not...  I love painting, I love getting paid for it, I love that people want my work!  I don't want to sell myself short...
still trying to figure this out-
And if you didn't catch what I was doing, up in Two Harbors last weekend, I would take photos of the dogs who came into my booth and offer to do a twenty minute "sketch" for $20-  many people took me up on this offer and I had a great time and came home with actual cash, rather than waiting for someone to contact me later about a commission...
BUT I wonder if this would prevent people from commissioning later... how can I know?  Hmmm~
And I won't do these just anywhere either...

ANYWAY~
Here are my classes' cupcakes from last night!  Pretty sweet, aye!  Hee!

August 13, tuesday!

wow~
bit late again!  SO this weekend mom and I were up in Two Harbors for a little art fair (sorry I didn't have a lot of info earlier!) and it was sweet to be there with them-  stayed at the Municipal Campground which had rather limited internet....  but great lake views!  Max loved being there with grampa and grama, and stayed up MUCH later than MY world would have allowed, in order to roast hotdogs and watch for meteors-  though Max called them "Meat-eaters" and wondered what they could possibly be doing falling through the sky...
These are all from my attempts at "20 Dollars for 20 MInutes" sketch/paintings-  seemed to work ok-  I may try it again at LOLA....

Thanks to Tracie Thompson for mentioning it to me!  She says she does it at the St Paul Art Crawl!  And you can go see some of Tracie's amazing work at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe right now!  Up through September!

MOnday!

WHERE is this SUMMER going?!?!  Holy moly!
Okay,  here's a commission I finished recently... trying to stay on top of stuff!

AND some of my amazing students' work from this session!    And some are still in progress~
YAY!

August 3, "The Lily-Apple Pig!"

So I spent the day biking over to Uptown (MAN are my legs outa shape!  And biking in traffic still terrifies me...) for the Kitchen Windows Culinary Arts Competition!  I was paired with Chef Dustin from the Lowry, and he did a great job of cooking pork~  we both had to include three ingredients, Peace Coffe (ground or bean), spices from somewhere else, and edible flowers!  Our mystery ingredient was the pineapple-  so I used the unground coffee as texture in the pig's ears and coffee beans for the tiny little eyes, the spices as texture in the background, and the edible lily in the pig's ear and snout, as well as apple rings for the nostrils!   Oh and I added another flower behind the pig's ear.  I think I should've used the yellow one...
 I also mixed tomato paste into white paint for the textured background and used the pineapple rind to add more texture there as well!  And then I had enough time to make a platter for Dustin to put the plate on!
And we WON!
Yay! So I don't know yet whether we are competing tomorrow or not...  if NOT, then I'll be at Wet Paint from noon to 3 for the Sketch-A-Thon for Paws on Grand!  Either way, both events are FUN!

August 1- Yup! Dogs!

Here's Nigel, who I painted last night at my Painting Class, because I just couldn't resist the challenge of a white dog, AND he shares an uncanny (hee!) resemblance to local roller-blading Santa, Erik Riese...

AND here are the dogs as I am prepping them for their big appearance!
Come on over to the Riverview Cafe Friday night!

6-8pm!   The wine bar will be open too!  Food and treats will be available!

"30 Dogs in 30 Days" Painting Video