Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Lewiston Dog Show 2009

Greetings! Can you say "Hi! I'm really cute?" I just finished my first show of the year, the Lewiston Spring Cluster and this little Chihuahua was just one of the many faces that stopped by to visit my booth.Thanks to all who took time out of their very busy show schedules to visit my booth and share their wonderful stories and pictures of their dogs. It was truly a pleasure meeting you and I hope to visit with you again soon. Also, thanks to my past customers who came by to say hello and order from me again. I feel so privileged to continue to paint for you!

I thought I would share just a few of the 200 plus photos I shot while I was there. ( Digital cameras are sooo wonderful.....you just keep shooting and shooting.....!) There were, of course, all shapes and sizes represented and I am always amazed at the diversity that parades past my booth at every show I attend! There was the very large like this Tibetan Mastiff....
and the very small like our Chihuahua friend above. There were some like this Dalmation that looked like they were not too sure they were really enjoying themselves......
"Oh no! I think I've been spotted!!" (Sorry, I couldn't resist! She just has that look like she really wants to hide.) And there were some that just seemed to be genuinely happy to be there like this Bernese Mountain Dog.All in all I think it was a pretty good show for me. I made some sales and took in a few commissions and made some new friends both human and canine. I have a few days off now to recuperate and prepare for my next show this weekend. I'm anxious to see how my artwork will be received at this venue. This next show is an art festival and not related to dogs at all. It will be the first show of this type that I have done featuring just canine art. It's a very popular show in my area and I've never seen anyone doing any dog related art there before so it will be an interesting experiment! I'll report back next week with the results!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Golden Retriever Puppy

Copper is a Golden Retriever puppy that I had the opportunity to photograph last summer. I was able to take lots of reference photos of him and got quite a few that I will be using for paintings in the future. This is the second one I have done of him titled "Copper Highlights" because I really like the way the sun reflected off the color of his coat illuminating the copper colors there. This is painted with acrylics on a hardboard panel and is 6"x 6". It would look awesome displayed on a small, decorative easel sitting on a desk or bookshelf. It will be included in my upcoming show at the Lewiston Spring Cluster Dog Show, April 17th - 20th in Lewiston, Idaho. If it doesn't sell there it will travel with me to the next show at Art Under the Elms at the Dogwood Festival, April 24th - 26th also in Lewiston, Id. It is for sale priced at $175.00 and inquiries can come to me at kindredspirits@clearwire.net.

Only ten more days left now until my first show. I have finally come to a point where I can't think of one more thing to paint, or one more card to make that I could have finished in time for these shows so I guess I'll give myself a break and trust that I have done everything I can to get ready. I will run through the last minute check list and tie up those loose ends, but time now not to stress. I need to relax a little, maybe play in the dirt for therapy (it's warm enough here to start some spring planting!), and think about conversations I will have with people coming in to my booth. You know, mentally prepare.

So, since it's a nice day I think I'll start with playing in the dirt. Somehow, for me, digging up weeds and feeling warm earth in my hands (and if it's warm enough....under my bare feet!) is great therapy for me.