Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Bosco The Black Lab

"Bosco" ( See all Proofs)

Today has been a very busy client revision day. I also managed to create a new pet portrait for Bosco the Black Lab. New clients that have placed pet portrait orders after the 17th of April and are waiting on proofs should sit tight for one more week. I should be caught up very soon. Anybody with a deadline concern can call us toll-free at 888-225-4278.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Ollie The Wheaten Terrier


Wow, I can't believe the month is almost over! This week I will be working on getting a few more pet portrait projects finalized. Don't forget that Friday is the very last day for our non-proofing Mother's Day Promo. This promotion is a great deal for folks that are either on a budget or in a hurry. I will not offer this type of promotion again until possibly July.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Mosaic Monday!

Ok, I can't start every week working on a mosaic due to the demands of my full time pet portrait business, however I can do a blog post every Monday and share other people's work with you guys. I think this is a great way for me to fuel my passion for mosaics and stay inspired. Hopefully I will discover some terrific like minded people in the process.

Bosco by Christine Humphries

Stunning work by Judit Bozsar from Hungary

Zoe Afloat, from Susan Crocenzi's Flickr stream

"Kalli" From Flamingo Fanny Mosaics

Also found on Flickr Today:
The Fisherman's Dog by Griselda from Argentina
Dog Mosaic (no.1) by Amanda Neville

Friday, April 24, 2009

My Space Themed Mosaic

"Blast Off" 12 x 12



Blast off baby! This is a piece I did in a tempered glass workshop last weekend. I still need to work on framing and deal with some jagged edges, but it is almost done. I used vintage space stamps, and threw on a lot of glitter, the rocket was found in an old 1950's astronomy book for kids. The book was a lot of fun and talked about "when" we go to the moon some day. I put a lot of gold flake around the fire part and ended up painting over the rocket & glitter a bit for definition. I am not 100% thrilled with my composition ( too heavy on the right) , but that is ok since I have a better plan in mind for my 2nd space themed mosaic. Special thanks to my teacher Katrina for her help and continued support.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Dog Mosaics

I have mosaics on the brain right now. I just completed a tempered glass workshop this weekend and I have the mosaic fever again. I will post my new piece later this week. I did a fun space themed piece. I know you guys would rather hear about doggy mosaics though so I will post some links to other people's work today. I guess I should start with someone I know so check out Jill's new Party Animal Piece below.

From Jill Beninato over at Flickr


"Blue Dog"By Artsyphartsy over at Flickr
( I just bought this Blue Dog)

From Stain glass garden over at flicker

"Chipper" from animal.artist over at flickr

From Ugly Boy Flutes at Etsy

From Rock Candy Mountain at Etsy
someone really needs to buy this leash rack so I will not be tempted!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Doggy Named Picasso

Picasso in Progress

Today I am working on Picasso. I have a bit more work to do and I am having fun with this little Schnoodle. The penguin toy was lifted from another one of his photos.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

2 New Pet Portraits



Today I am posting Bandit & Kam to the blog. These two pets had great photos to work with and I really enjoyed playing around with their art. I think I am actually caught up on orders as of today ... yay... happy dance! I have around 10 pending approvals and only 3 pet portraits to work on next week. I do have plenty on my plate however I do not feel at all overwhelmed or behind on anything. That is such a rare feeling ... to actually be 100% in control of the work flow.

If the sunshine continues I hope to send Lola to the dog park today to shoot for a blog we have started updating again. Check out our Dallas Dog Park Blog. It is just a fun photography blog of random pups we meet at the park.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

What's Your Recent Project?

Me:
I am working on pet portrait orders today. Sneak preview of Bandit the kitty above. I hope to get a few clients proofed on Thursday. This kitty is turning out fun and I will post his artwork tomorrow. Soon I hope to get back to my doggy butt project.

What some of my friends are up to:
Moira has been busy keeping up with news of the first dog on her Obama Dog Blog.

Manon just posted a lovely new painting on her blog called "thinking of you".

Melissa is sewing up more doodles, and making nightlights.

Sheila has just opened her "through and From the Lens" 4-session, 4 week telecourse starting soon.

Christine is working on a cool patio mosaic commission.

Eve just finished a funky octopus mosaic!

Jill created a Party Animal Mosaic.

Kathy is working on Chewy the Doxie.

And How About You?
What are you working on? Do you have any fun new projects in the works? Leave us a comment and tell us what you are up to.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Video Project Preview


A few weeks ago Lola and I started a new video project. It has been a few weeks since we have been able to work on it and yet I am eager to post so today I have a preview on my vlog. We need to interview a lot more people about their dogs before we have a fully edited 5 minute video. This stuff takes so long. I love it working on it though. It is great to always have new and hard stuff to learn in life.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Mother's Day Pet Portrait Promo

I am starting a new custom pet portrait special for Mother's Day. You can save 50% on either an 11 x 14 or 18 x 24 painterly style portrait on stretched canvas if you order by May 1st.

There is a catch ... this promo does not come with our standard gazillion different colorful proofing options. Instead you select the background option you like best from 4 provided samples and then I create the artwork in a similar look and print & ship. You save time and money. My clients often have a hard time choosing from the huge variety of samples provided and since we don't have a lot of time to spare before Mother's day I decided to simplify the process for everyone and let you save some money.

Click here to order today!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone. It is a rainy day here in Dallas so we decided to skip the pooch parade. Dan is still working on taxes anyway. I wanted to find some Easter cuteness so I skipped over to Flickr and searched for "Easter Dog" and "Dog Bunny". There are many more great shots so check out Flickr if you are stuck inside with a rainy day.

" My Big Tommy" posted on Flickr in my Scottie setgreat peeps from image415's photostream
"Easter Bully" From kserack's photostream
"Easter Bunny Harry" from malteserus' photostream
"Bella Bunny" from studio 583art at flickr

Saturday, April 11, 2009

My Tommy Is A Party Animal!

"I'm Making a Wish"

Today I am working on a charity donation project and having a blast working with photos of my own Scottie dogs. Jill Beninato is hosting another group art project that will benefit A Place To Bark. There will be an auction in the fall with proceeds helping out animal rescue. This weekend I plan to create a handful of Scottie Portraits within the theme of Party Animals.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

3 New Pet Portrait Projects

"Enga, Jasmine, Lily & Shara" ( see all proofs)
The project above was challenging because multiple pet projects are always tough when it comes to composition and squeezing everyone on to the canvas. In this case we had 2 Shepherds that were no longer with us with grainy low quality photos. The 2 labs are the current pups and their high resolution pics were great to work with. I used the frame as a device to separate the 2 groups.
In some ways it might have made more sense to put the current pups in the front and the Shepherds in the back however in terms of composition their poses were perfect for front placement. I was also told that Enga was a super special soul-dog and so leading with her to the left made a lot of sense.

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Project for baby nursery ( see all proofs)

This project was a lot of fun and again challenging in that I had 3 subjects to work in and my directions were to consider a jungle or safari theme for a baby nursery. I have been lucky to be able to do quite a few dog art projects for baby rooms and I always enjoy them.

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"Starr" ( see all proofs )

Last but not least is little Starr. This adorable mini Dachshund was just too cute riding on the dash board. I had just used Vincent's Starry Night in the 4-dog project above so it was on my mind and I decided it might be fun to incorporate a darkened version behind the glass. Vincent is seen in the rear view mirror. I also showed a version with the current scene and one with clouds.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Many New Pet Portraits

April has been very busy. Today I will post a few recent projects. I usually do more painterly style works and yet this month several Warhol style portraits have also been ordered. Today we are printing approved projects and shipping out Etsy orders.

Jasmine ( see all proofs)
Sydney ( see all proofs)
Shiloh ( see all proofs)

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Leonard Cohen At The Nokia Grand Prairie


Last night I saw the best concert of my life. At 46 I have been fortunate to see some legendary performers over the years including Elvis, Dylan, Cash and recently Joan Baez. Nobody I have seen before can touch Mr. Cohen's performance last night and his band was amazing. Sharon Robinson & The Web Sisters did a fantastic job on vocals. Javier Mas (bandurria, laud, archilaud, 12 string acoustic guitar) was worth the price of admission alone.

I could go on and on about what a great poet Leonard is or talk about how he sang all of my favorites, and yet in thinking about the concert I keep coming back to the man himself and his stage presence. Mr. Cohen is such a gentleman. As much as I enjoyed hearing him sing I also enjoyed watching him not sing .... yes, watching him take his hat off and hold it closely to his heart as he listened to his fellow band members perform their solos. His respect for them was so powerful. We were fortunate to have 7th row seats and so I found myself wrapped up in the tiny understated movements of his body as he sang. During the evening Mr. Cohen alternated between tiny graceful side to side movements of his feet to dropping to his knees in an almost prayer like fashion to deliver his song to us. When called back on stage for numerous encores, 74 year old Cohen literally skipped on and off the stage with the lightness of being that is normally only seen in children and the mentally deranged. I think he was having a very good time.

Leonard is leaving Dallas to play at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix next. Check out his tour dates on his website.
In 2008 Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and it was also the year that brought him back to the stage, performing in front of audiences in Canada for the first time in 15 years. Don't miss this legendary performer if he comes your way.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Easter Bilby Sketch

"Easter Bilby"
Crayon, Ink, Pencil


Last night I started a new sketch journal. I found a cool image of the skeleton of a Bilby and started a collage and sketch from information I learned on-line about Australia's Bilby. Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia and closely related to the bandicoots.Evidently the Bilby was endangered for awhile and a campaign began to replace the Easter Bunny in Australia with the Bilby. I tried to find a retail source on-line to purchase some chocolate Bilbies, however none of the sites I found gave me a lot of confidence due to shipping concerns. I guess I was hoping to find an American supplier, and it seems that the chocolate Bilby has not reached our consumer market yet. You can learn more about the Bilby over at Wikipedia.

Have a great weekend everyone. I plan to get back on my doggy butt project on Saturday so I can post some new works next week.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

New Collie Art

"Rocket" ( see all proofs)

This handsome Collie is Rocket. I just uploaded his proofs this morning. I am in the process of starting around 7 new commissions. Just when we thought we were caught up a handful of new projects have been sent in. Two clients placed a Rush on their projects and one of those is actually shipping today. I'll be sure and add Sydney and Vida to the blog soon.