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.

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.

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)

Vida ( see all proofs)

Jack ( see all proofs)

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.

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.

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.

The Movie Bolt

Last night we watched the kid's movie "Bolt". It was a fun little animated romp. They took the classic story of animals banding together on a long journey home and somehow managed to make it fresh and contemporary. If you like dogs and you like animation this is a must see. Oh, and there is a very fun hamster character in it, along with a kitten named Mittens.

Lighting Candles For Sweet Boys & Girls

"Our Atticus"

Sunday marked our 4rth year without our boy Atticus. He was Dan's soul-dog and we still grieve for him. We lit a few candles this weekend for him and for the many other pets we saw pass this last month. Bunky, Kylie & Skippy are all romping around with our boy at the rainbow bridge. I have also worked on several memorials this month. Rudee & Fritz, my last 2 kitty projects were both memorials.

Our heart also goes out to Mark & Lori. This weekend they wrote me a sweet and sad letter about Pino. Their little poodle-boy passed on March 8th, just 19 days shy of his 14rth Birthday. We had created artwork for them awhile back, I think it was early 08. I am so glad we had the opportunity to work with them while their pretty boy was here with them. Mark's letter brought tears to my eyes. I never know what to say to people when they loose a fur-kid and in reality there is no perfect thing to say.

"Sweet Pino"

Dealing With Pet Grief:
There are a gazillion ways to handle pet grief and everyone will have a different coping method that will work for them. I can share what worked for us when Atticus passed. When our boy left us it was a lovely spring month and we spent every single weekend we had out in the backyard working together on flower beds and new gardens. Even though we still had our girl Nessie the house seemed strange and quite. Being outside with our hands in the dirt seemed like the best way to cope with the loss of our little earth dog. The sunshine was good for us and I know it was good for Nessie. Neither of us said hey let's work outside today we will feel better, but it turned out to be the best medicine we could find.
Creating new routines:
The times in our lives where we miss them the most are really the common moments, the small daily routines and tiny rituals that our pets were a part of. I think when a loss is new and your heart is so very raw it is important to create some new routines that will move you forward a bit. You should be going to new parks, planting, reading, writing, whatever you need to do to find yourself out in the world living life. We often found ourselves thinking "Atticus would love this place". The goal is not to forget, but to keep living and keep loving.
Respecting everyone's loss:
The other thing I would suggest is that it is very important to respect and try to understand a partner's grieving process. No two people will process the stages of grief on the same time table. People can try to help each other and yet ultimately our grief is our own. Don't forget to be sensitive and aware of how your other pets are handling loss. Our little Scottie girl Nessie was so heartbroken that she did not even get excited about biscuit treats, and she was a real chow hound. We adopted Ajax before we were emotionally ready because we knew that our little Nessie was ready, and she adored her one year old puppy boy. He brought her out of a deep depression.

Today I am wishing peace and comfort to everyone that is coping with loss. I welcome any comments that may offer additional perspectives and approaches. Few of us are experts on grief, however I know that many of you have been down that road so please share if you can.

Rudee The Calico Kitty

"Rudee" ( See All Proofs)
11 x 14 canvas

This sweet kitty was a joy to work on. I loved that wonderful draping arm, a posture that was present on many of the photos that my client showed me. They went with the top sample, and I have seen that ground printed up and it always looks so lovely. Sometimes background patterns can seem distracting however in this case I think the composition really is served well by having something pretty and soft going on at the left. Rudee's eyes are large and they draw you in, so there is no way that you are not going to be able to connect with this pretty kitty. The blue and orange play off of each other well I think.

From Rudee's Mom:

" I simply LOVE it! I have to tell you, just looking at it has brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful picture of my Rudee, it is something I was always cherish and hold very dear to my heart".

New Kitty Art

"Fritz" ( see all proofs)
18 x 24 canvas

This is Mr. Fritz. He is one of 2 kitty cat projects that I have in-house this month. Tomorrow I will post Rudee the Calico. I have a few tamer color options on Fritz however I really enjoyed bumping his orange to an almost electric level.

I love cats and miss having kitties. I had 2 black cats for over half my adult life, their names were Deimos and Phobos. My boy was Deimos and Phobos actually became Phoebe so she could better learn her name. I named them after the moons of Mars.

I will probably be off most of the weekend although we might be meeting with one client for a project pick-up. You guys have a great weekend and get outside with your dogs! Or stay inside with your cats ...but relax and have fun!

Pug Tail

"Pug Tail ... Emmitt is a very good boy"
18 x 11 on stretched canvas

This digital collage if of Mr. Emmitt. He has the curliest tail on the planet. He is part of my Catch you on the Flip Side Project. He has been listed in my Etsy shop, but his Mom Melissa has 1st dibs. A smaller and less expensive 9 x 5.5 paper print is also available by request.

I am really enjoying these fun experiments. Even the size formats are different and unknown to me when I start. Melissa sent me just the tail ( shown below) and I knew I wanted to do something that would include a full body silhouette, but I was not sure how it would come together until I started playing. Next week I have 2 Jack Russells to work on and soon I hope to get to a very cute row of little puppy butts.

Meet Rita

"Rita"

This pretty little King Charles Spaniel belongs to Dr. Shawn Messonier. I was thrilled when Dr. Messonier contacted us about a possible radio interview this spring. You have to check out the Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats by Dr. Messonier. I have a copy myself and I can't say enough about what a good reference guide it is. So many of us want to try a more natural approach to caring for our fur-kids and this book gives you the information you need in order to make the choices that will work for you and your lifestyle. You need this book!

Doggy Butts at the lake

Last week we played hooky one day .... well sort of. We really were on a mission and we went to the Dallas Dog park at White Rock Lake and started a new project. Lola and I are going to be uploading some experimental videos soon of dogs and their humans. We are still in the editing stage right now. Above are a few still shots I took as we sat in the sun and watched dogs frolic.

If you have never been to a dog park I would encourage it. If you go to dog parks all the time, I would suggest you try going once without your dog. I really love just watching the pups play without having to worry about where my own pup is and if he is playing well with others. Of course there is that problem of walking in the door reeking of other dogs ... they always know when you cheat on them.


You can see more dog park photos in my Dallas Dog Park Flickr Set.

Bruce Metcalf

© 2008 Bruce Metcalf
photo shared through creative commons license

The other day I was stumbling around Flickr, which lead me into some blog browsing, which lead me to Bruce Metcalf. His name sounded familiar and then once I clicked through to his blog my entire college history came flooding back to me. Seeing his work reminded me of my younger days as a jewelry and metalworking student. He is the sort of artist we would admire in American Craft Magazine. Metcalf is a legend in fine crafts. He has one of those blogs where content rules and frequency is not a concern. What you will find on his blog are a few very well written posts. I really enjoyed the post titled " Craft Identity in Craft Education".

Reading his blog I found myself longing for my college days when I spent so much more time in my head. In our 20's we burned the candle at both ends and while we worked hard in the studio there was always time for thinking, more thinking and discussion.

Below is a great video interview the folks over at Etsy did with Mr. Metcalf.

Catch You On the Flip Side

"Pin The Tail on The Donkey"
17 x 14 on Canvas

Detail Image ( above)

This is Ottis. He belongs to Manon Doyle. I have had a huge response so far to my request for Doggy Butt photos. My "Catch You On the Flip Side" project is still going strong, so keep those 1mb photos coming. You can e-mail photos to collins@artpaw.com. I can not promise that everyone will be included, it really just depends on the amount of pics submitted and image quality. I am going to try to do one a week and post to the blog.

Ottis Original photo ( above)

The Color Green

Star Trek Woman

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Great time to talk about green.



Green In Culture:
Green was symbolic of resurrection and immortality in Ancient Egypt the god Osiris was depicted as green-skinned.

Many flags of the Islamic world are green, as the color is considered sacred in Islam.

In the Celtic tradition, green was avoided in clothing for its superstitious association with misfortune and death.

Green Artist Quotes:
"Absolute green is the most restful color, lacking any undertone of joy, grief, or passion. On exhausted men this restfulness has a beneficial effect, but after a time it becomes tedious."
Wassily Kandinsky

"When I go out into the countryside and see the sun and the green and everything flowering, I say to myself "Yes indeed, all that belongs to me!".
Henri Rousseau

"They'll sell you thousands of greens. Veronese green and emerald green and cadmium green and any sort of green you like; but that particular green, never."
Pablo Picasso

Dozer In Shades Of Green

Related Posts: The Color Green

The Challenges of Customer Service in The Digital Age

"Prince"
CLICK HERE TO SEE ENTIRE PROOFING SET

Where's My Proof, Why haven't I heard from you?
What to do when client e-mails get to you, but all your replies to them get filtered out.

Here at Art Paw I try hard to provide a very high level of customer service and yet occasionally things do go wrong. I am currently struggling to proof a client that did everything right and filled out her web-form and paid on-line. I thought I had done everything right as well, e-mailing her within about a week of payment with a large proofing set to review. I waited a few days so she could mull over the proofs and then e-mailed her again when I did not hear back. In my 2nd e-mail I assure her if she needs design changes or color tweaks I am more than happy to oblige. A day passes and still no reply ...obviously she has a junk folder that is weeding out my e-mails. I am not receiving bounce notices so I assume they are hiding in her spam folder.

No problem, she did everything right so I have her contact details and I give her a call. We try sending from a different e-mail, and we try sending to a different e-mail. She warned us that the 2nd work e-mail she has may bounce due to aggressive spam filters, and indeed it did. All of our attempts to contact this client via e-mail are leading us no where. I am totally confused as to why nothing is working. I have added a thumbnail to her proofs from our main homepage and her artwork is featured here. It is my hope that with a few more phone calls and some verbal navigation we will eventually iron this all out. She has been really patient in all this and for that I am so grateful.


So I can be satisfied that no matter what happens I have done everything I can? Or have I? Should I take greater effort and explain to people at the point of ordering that they should use our toll-free number to contact us if they have questions at any point. Should I go into lengthy explanations about spam filters etc. and let people know that they may need to check their spam folder or filter settings? Should all of this additional info clutter up my ordering page, or should I just be happy that things work right 95% of the time? Should I risk spoiling surprises and leave phone messages every time I send an e-mail proof out?

At any rate her project was really a fun one and I am eager to see it printed out. I have to say that my frustrations are not with her or her project. The challenge is navigating the digital waters of communication. For help I googled "getting pass spam filters" to reach your clients. Of course all I could find was info on "e-mail marketing". It seems nobody has any advice on how to use e-mail for existing client interactions, or project management.

If you are a fellow artist & business woman please leave any advice you may have on this matter.

Pug Poster Give- Away

Check out the contest over at Dog Art Today. To celebrate her 2 year Blog anniversary Moira is giving away a terrific poster of Valentino & his Puggies.

Fab Blog Award

Wow what a crazy busy week. Been meaning to post about a Fab blog award that Manon Doyle gave me earlier this week.
Here are the rules....
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post rules on your blog
3. Write five random things about yourself
4. Tag 5 random people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person know they've been tagged

Ok 5 random things about me:
1. I am a total computer nerd.

2. My first pet was named Juno ... a white kitty.

3. My first car was a 1972 cougar convertible.

4. I believe art is a way of life, and not just a thing you do.

5. I am a huge fan of Leonard Cohen.

I'd like to give this award to.....

Dog Art Today: because Moira keeps the freshest content happening over there.

Anne Leuck Feldhause: because she is super talented, her name is hard to spell and we keep trying to connect about an artist interview .

2 Dog studio: because she has some really great work on her blog right now.

sitstaysmile: because Jill is just the coolest. She is a great networker and a great photographer.

Kathy Weller: cause she just survived a blog merge...and she is really talented and all that stuff.

There are a lot of other super talented guys and gals out there that I could have listed, but I know some of you are too busy right now to play.

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Ok, this weekend ... more doggy butts for me. You guys have fun, if it is not raining where you are get out to the park with your dogs!

New Etsy Purchase Octopus

"Cordial Creatures - articulated paper doll set"
Mermaid and octopus = friends
"Wool and Water" Shop

Today I am training Lola to update my Etsy Shop. Wow, it has been so long since I listed new stuff I am having to relearn as I teach. Of course when you start listing and playing on Etsy you have to buy stuff ... right? Well the very cool paper doll duo above is from the shop "Wool and Water" , artwork by Amy Earles. I can't wait to receive it.


My Etsy: Today we are uploading some doggy prints and a couple of octopus prints on canvas. Below is Ozzie the Octopus and he can be purchased as an 8 x 10 or 5x7 matted print. I have sold 90 items so far over at Etsy. I am setting a goal to sell 100 items by May... should be easy right?
I have decided that Wednesday will be Etsy good Karma days for me this spring. I am going to start going through goodies I have marked as favorites over the past few months and start making some more purchases. To be a good seller on Etsy you need to learn to be a good shopper. I know Melissa is hearing me on that one, that pug lovin girl knows how to shop!

Support Independent Sellers ... go over to Etsy and buy something!

Don't know where to start? Try their shop local tool. Or their groovy gift guides.
Send your Mom or spouse a list to your favorites. When you see something you like you can bookmark it by adding it as a favorite. Below are thumbnails of some of my favorites. Dang their are a lot of good doggy artists on Etsy.