30 Dogs in 30 Days List!

All right!!!! We are all set to get started tomorrow morning! Here is the list of Dogs and their Owners and their DATE of creation!!!

July 1- Bob's bichon Cody
July 2- Ruth's greyhound, Grey Girl (and Frank the Pug will happen too!)
July 3- Megan's viszla, Sasha
July 4- Bethany's short-hair pointer (I think) Warren and maybe Gurdy too
July 5- Tini's great dane Nala
July 6- Elizabeth's standard poodle Tony
July 7- Karen's bloodhound Tighe
July 8- Kelly's pekingnese Cricket
July 9- Janis' whippet
July 10- Brenna's Finn
July 11- Peggy's shepard mix Kenai
July 12- Paul & Jeff's Gussie
July 13- Andy & Kathy's Panchan
July 14- Katherine's long-haired dox Henri
July 15- KelliRae's retriever Matilda
July 16- Jennifer's golden Bella
July 17- Pat & Mary Laurel's Glacier
July 18- Kate's portuguese water dog
July 19- Cami's collie
July 20- Liz's Bella
July 21- Sara's borzoi
July 22- Mary & Kevin's dox and basset
July 23- Alex' boxer
July 24- Tanya's mom's black lab Nika
July 25- Nick's retriever Max
July 26- Jean's german shep Penny
July 27- Susan's mini-greyhound Marc
July 28-Mel's papillon, Rupert Fritillary Cathcart
July 29- Kathy's terrier Garcia
July 30- Ginna's daschunds Beans & Frank

I have a waiting list forming as well, and will see if I can fit these additional dogs in! As it is, there ARE 31 days in July, so someone will probably be popped in at the last minute. Also, I am talking to the Minneapolis Parks about having an evening showing of the works on August 2 somewhere. As soon as I know, it will be posted HERE!

Stay tuned for more caninine FUN!!!

Pre-Painting 30 Dogs...

Okay, here is an example of a piece I really can't stand. Some of it works, but really, I've spent too much time on it and can't fix it, so it is being gessoed over and started again. I am painting about a piece a day at this point just to get into shape for my marathon month coming up next week here! A few will be posted for your viewing pleasure...






and if you are wondering what bugs me the most about this one, it's the sweet peke's eyes- they are just not working. And I am afraid the problem is the photo was taken with a flash so the eyes are funny-
here, I should just include the photo too.

and i can see i made the head too big too~ ah well~ if at first I don't suceed, I gesso it over and do it again! Just like Underdog-
kinda~

PREPPING for "30Dogs In 30 Days"!

This is the ever-cheerful, squinchy-faced pug named Millie-Pig, painted from my friend (her owner)'s Facebook page~ I have requested a larger photo so I can do a larger painting. This is a 7x7. She is VERY squinchy.
And my "30 Dogs" are chosen for the "30 DAYS"! I am FULL! Wow~ I can't believe how fast that happened- I thought I'd have to beg people to let me do their dogs, but no, I have to put a couple close friends on hold for a bit so I can do some lovely new dogs~
Oh the joy of the shape of a dog! My favorite bit is honestly the hindquarters, the shape of the haunch. I just love the curve of the back, to the tail, to the back leg sliding into the more delicate bones of the ankle to the point of the nails~ ahhhh~

Okay, here is a link to my "30 Dogs In 30 Days" website- I am trying out some of the new things I'm learning about the internet, the first rule of which is "R.T.F.M"- Read The F#@ing Manual"- so I am learning... although I do believe a blog works as well for a website... we'll see~

I've been getting lovely pooch photos in the mail (web-mail...) and some visits from local dogs too! This is going to be fun~

Wow~ my brain is RINGING! i just had an excellent workshop from the Creative Capitol people at the Loft all day, and then walked outside and WHO WAS WAITING FOR ME but MAX and DUANE! they'd biked in to bike me home~ and so after putting Max to bed (over and over again- he was would up, perhaps after falling into the bathtub he scared himself...) I got onto my e-mail to check on my "30 Dogs In 30 Days" project and WOW is this generating a lot of interest! I am having a GAS checking out dog photos that people are sending me! My list is filling up FAST!

So a brief explanation, as more details will follow as I figure them out- this is way bigger than I thought!
I want to really commit to a daily painting practice because I have found over the past year, after Max's birth, that I CAN be a mom and an artist too, and that I can find the time to do this if I make it important enough to ME. SO, I have decided that 100Dogs In 100 Days is a bit too much at this point, not that I doubt I could do this, I just don't want to stress my new young family (Duane especially) too much... so I am going for "30 Dogs In 30 Days" and am selecting July as my month. I will be doing one 10x10 unframed acrylic painting a day, on a black-gessoed panel, using my favorite Golden acrylic paints. Each piece will be posted as it is finished on this blog, perhaps along with pithy comments and maybe a video or two of me working, since that sounds kinda fun too~
So stay tuned folks, and spread the word!
Oh and I am looking for a space to display the finished work for a brief time in August, since some are commissions and I will be wanting to get them to their owners- so if you know of a space or have any clever ideas, please let me know!

Just finished a lovely Corgi commission, name of Fortinbras, which reminded me of course of "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline L'Engle, in which the main family has a large black lab named Fortinbras- but I was told that THIS Fort is actually named after the Shakespearean Fortinbras in Hamlet~
which is lovely too and allows me to practice making links on my blog which is really actually quite fun!!!
It is now officially summer and I am quickly forgetting what day of the week it is, which is one of my favorite parts. Max's nose is almost healed from his meeting with the WPA sandbox at Powderhorn Park last friday while we were playing kickball with a giant yellow excersize ball for Chris's 30th Birthday~ yay!
And now I think we're gonna walk to Scotty's studio for a shiatzu and maybe a chai on the way- I don't think Scotty has a website up yet... oh yes he does and it is excellent! check out the link! This is really fun!
And one last thing- I am hoping to do a "Thirty Dogs in Thirty Days" project beginning in July, so if you or someone you know has a hankering for their dog to be immortalized by me, let me know! Slots are filling up fast!

...late paintings~

These are from earlier in march, I think- "Standing In The Sun" is another lovely large one- it will hopefully go to the Birchwood...

and "Looking" is the companion piece to "Listening" that I posted earlier...
man~
when Max naps, I try to catch up, but we'll see how often I actually have to NAP!

Grand Marais again~

Every year since 1990 (or maybe 1989?) mom and I have gone up to the Artist's Colony in Grand Marais MN for a week of painting and writing and thinking with Elizabeth Erickson. It has always been an amazing experience, and I usually spend the first day in fear of the white canvas, quietly freaking out and snapping at anyone who comes close. It is that uncomfortable factor of knowing it is up to me. No one can tell me how to do this, how to put the paint out, what color to choose, where to put it on the canvas, what kind of mark to make. This is absolutely terrifying. All sense of the falseness of my attempts comes to the front of my skull, and the fact that I have no idea what I am doing is screaming at me. Everyone else is so confident and sure of what they are doing. Who do I think I am? man.
and i mean, EVERY YEAR.

So somehow, I pick up the brush and choose a panel, paper, canvas, choose a color, and begin.
Since I am no longer the most important person in my world all the time now, this past year and this year weren't quite as terrifying. There was still this sense of what am I doing? but by now I am more accustomed to the NEED of this time, and the exploration into myself, and also the fact that I've been trying to paint pretty regularly gave me confidence that this wouldn't be the last time I paint for months.
And so I didn't paint any dogs.

I painted whales.

And Max and Duane.
The whales came because of the oil spill in the Gulf, I think. They are the first things I painted back in 1989 at CSB. I loved those. Still have a few.

And the paintings of Max and Duane came about like the dogs originally started- because I love the beings and the spirits of these beings, and so I want to get them down in color with my eye and hand. These pieces felt really vulnerable and intimate to me, to do them. I am very much aware of the fact that Duane and I are older than the usual idea of parents, and I am protective of our time with Max and want to enjoy and hold onto everything I possibly can, for him and for us. The delicacy and limited time span of a life are somehow very in my mind these days. I am incredibly grateful. And I hate it when I feel petty and obsess with inane material things, like trying to get shows or worrying about who will like my work, or whether we will have enough money to live on...
life is so sweet and rich and full right now, I am constantly tearing up at my own joy~

we're heading up to Grand Marais today when i get home from school! it's the annual retreat at the Art Colony with Elizabeth Erickson, the Women's Art Institute Studio Retreat- mom and I have been going up every year since 1995, i think... missed one in there somewhere...
and every year i have the same struggle with the blank canvas... it is amazing how my ego gets in the way, how i have to fight myself to let myself play- i supposedly know enough to not judge myself but i know i do anyway. Will others like this? is it working? what am i doing? who do i think i am anyway? you know, all that angst...
and then inevitably, i get out of the way of myself and something comes from somewhere, and i am able to begin...
we will see what happens-
stay tuned....

Yup i've been a little busy again~ this time trying to make bunches of Franken-t-shirts and Franken-T-skirts for last weekend's HandmadeMN Spring Market...
this is a video (i HOPE) that Liz Hurley and her wonderful husband put together, one of four of HandmadeMN artists demo-ing their talents~
So if THIS doesn't work, i do have a link... FRANKENSWEATER video

And THIS weekend, among other things (3rd Sunday Brunch, Lyn-Lake Street Fest with HarMar SUperstar, Art Cars at Art-A-Whirl) I am attempting to have art at the Grain Belt Brewery Building for Art-A-Whirl, and on saturday morning I am giving an Artist Talk at Bohlander Gallery between 1oam and Noon~
Bohlander Arts

This is the smiliest dog I think I've painted! A commission, it took me a little longer than normal because of the size and interruptions...
I really like his eyes-
I have fixed the background- need to get a better shot to put on my website~ before I get it to the owner!

Such gracious green everywhere today! the trees along 38th street are already bowing towards each other across the asphalt...
I may need to paint trees very soon...
I made two Frankenskirts last night for the sale next weekend~

NEWEST!

This is a companion piece to LOOKING- this one is titled LISTENING- really, if you look at their faces, their eyes are soft-focused, staring off into the distance, and their EARS are at attention~ Maybe I didn't get Bing's up high enough, but Duane thought Gus' were too big and I said huh-uh! Those are the right size!
But this is what they like to do best, esp on a lovely spring afternoon when it is just a bit cool and there's a smidge of sunshine in the backyard- they have a habit of lying near each other companionably, and yet with enough personal space that no one feels crowded~
i love these guys!

Listening

The dogs in the yard- duane took this one~ I am SO fortunate to have married a fellow artist who is capable of great compositions. This is probably our most common collaborations- his photos inspire my paintings.
I am feeling the need to paint something else soon tho... poles? trees? max?
hmmmmm~

Rotta Love at Northrup King Gallery 321- Opening sat April 10th 3 to 9
i already sold 2 pieces last thursday! sorry- it's my spring break and i've been REALLY tired- i think my body and heart are doing that thing where you give yourself a time-line and you PUSH and PUSH and then you MAKE it WAHOO! and then afterwards you are exhausted and a little depressed because it is over...
so, i did do a gigantic Bingo...
and i have a few more fun commissions coming up,...
and i gotta make some FRANKEN-tshirts and t-skirts...
whew~
these are the ones that sold!

somehow his eyes look crossed to me...
okay i am deciding i don't like this one... needs to be redone...

Monday's do tend to feel the same, somehow... maybe it's more the Sunday night scenario, the end of the weekend, the necessary return to the schedule and the work place, altho the way we live our lives we're ALWAYS working! I don't think either of us would be happy any other way~

lovely mornings~ small child can't sleep past 6, and taking him into our bed doesn't make him more likely to snooze... but dang, how can you not laugh at those cat imitations and at his fumbling for your lips and ear lobes...
now, dogs on the other hand... once they hear us moving, they think "Breakfast!" and are all clickety nails and flapping ears and running up and down the stairs...

Just finished a couple yorkies for a commission for a friend's parents- really sweet dogs! I got to go meet them and take their photos in the bright shiny sunny kitchen- Felix and Oscar, litter brothers, pushing 85 in dog years... or is that human years?
It is funny how you can really get a feel for an animal's personality, and how DIFFERENT they can be!~
I've always loved aniamls, sometimes more than humans...

Snow Bingo

Another shot from the dog beach a couple weeks ago~ Duane is excellent with his random camera shots and he always has it in his belt holster too, takes sweet action shots of dogs and telephone poles and things that I can paint later... but I actually took this shot- I think Bingo thought I was gonna give him a treat...
I love the contrast of the snow and the shadows...

Dog from LOLA last summer~

This was a fun one to do, actually yesterday morning while Max and Duane took a good 2 hour nap- amazing what you can get done when you are super aware of time!
I may do another from another photo of the same dog- sweet bull-dog/pit pup~ got lots of good shots of dogs that weekend! It was last august, the last weekend- our LOLA Art Crawl, the first annual! And we had a meeting yesterday to plan the next! keep yer ears on~