“Moo Doo” acrylic on canvas, 36″ x 24″, 2012
Tag Archives: black
New Watercolor to Help Rescue
MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue recently rescued three adult and six 14 weeks old Siberian Huskies from a farm in Pennsylvania. This is one of the puppies. I plan to do several more paintings of the puppies and will be selling them on eBay to raise money to help MaPaw pay for their care until they are adopted.
Puppy Breath 1, Watercolor and colored pencil on paper, 9′ x 12″, 2012
For this painting, I used a combination of watercolor and colored pencil. This is a new style for me. I will continue to experiment with it as I work on more puppy paintings.
The Defender
I haven’t painted in a while. For some reason, the inspiration hasn’t been there. I’ve been tired and even though I’ve had a bunch of ideas dancing around in my head, I just haven’t had the energy to get out the paints…until last night. I’ve been rolling this image around for some time. I did a pretty detailed sketch, but when it came time to paint, I wanted it wild!
This isn’t a great photo of it, but you can get the idea. I love the image of the wolf as defender. The fierceness and the power combine with the beauty of the animal to create something quite primal…
Lupa: The Defender, Acrylic on paper, 2012
I haven’t Used Pastels Since College!
I completely forgot how fun pastels are to work with! My daughter asked me to teach her to draw with pastels, so I dug out my old supply from (how long ago was it it) many.many years ago when I was in art school. It took a few minutes but I quickly remembered how much I loved drawing with them! Here are the fruits of my “labors.”
Luke Loves the Window, Pastel on paper, 9″ x 11″, 2012
Scribbles, Pastel on paper, 9″ x 11″, 2012
Painting Portraits Makes Me SOOOOO Anxious!
Especially those portraits that are not exactly realistic! An artist friend and I decided to do portraits of each other for a project. He drew me with conte crayon (I’ll post his creation sometime soon!) and I painted him with acrylics. If it isn’t really apparent yet, I paint dogs! Well, dogs, wolves, sometimes even birds when I’m feeling adventurous, but I rarely paint people. So, I already felt at a disadvantage. On top of that, this man is my friend, a really good friend, so I really don’t want to make a hash of it. I took a bunch of photos and fiddled with the lighting an composition until I was pretty happy with my plan and then I set to work. It took me a coupe of sessions in front of the easel to get to the final piece…and then I had to deliver it! Happily, he seems to like it! I was a bit worried, because what I captured on the canvas seemed a bit on the dark side. I had set out to do something kind of “pretty” and I had not done THAT at all!
Channeling Michael, Acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12", 2012
I LOVE Painting Wolves!
No matter how hard I try, I can’t get away from the fact that I just LOVE painting wolves. They are perfect subjects: mysterious, expressive, beautiful, fierce. They embody all of the characteristics I love in art.
Lakota Listening, Acrylic on canvas, 30" x 24", 2012
Rescue Me: Puppies
Rescue Me: Puppies, Acrylic on canvas board, 16" x 12", 2012
This is a painting of one of the little pups that is being cared for by Husky House in New Jersy. This guy is very sick and fighting for his life at the hospital. Several of his puppy friends are also quite ill. Husky House has a huge vet bill looming! I will be selling this painting as well as Rescue Me: Prince to help raise some money for their care. Please think positive thoughts for the pups! Stay tuned for information on where these two paintings will be posted for sale!
Stretching
I started running this year. I usually like it. Sometimes, though, it causes a lot of pain. I’m told, that stretching after every run will do a lot to alleviate that pain. But I HATE stretching!!! I’m pretty sure everyone does! So how do I talk myself into doing it? I know it’s good for me…but I just don’t like doing it.
I also find it difficult to paint outside of my comfort zone. If you haven’t noticed already, I really like dogs. I like them as living creatures and I especially like them as subjects! To strengthen my painting ability, though, I think I need to STRETCH a bit. It’s good for me! I know that…so how do I get myself to do it. Stay tuned! I will be testing out some new subject matter over the next few weeks!
Stretch, Acrylic on canvas board, 16" x 20", 2012
Time to S-T-R-E-T-C-H!
Shelter Me!
Shelter Me 1, Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24", unfinished
My vision for the Shelter Me series is to capture the faces and emotions of the animals who wait in shelters for their new homes. This is my first attempt. It’s not quite there yet, but I can almost see where it is going. I took the photo that I am using for reference years ago at a local kill shelter. The dog in the photo, being part pit bull, likely never made it out of the shelter (although I hope I am wrong about that!) It makes me so sad to think about all of the animals that spend weeks in shelters, scared, alone, only to be euthanized. I hope painting these pictures will honor them in some way.
Trying Something New
Henrik in the Wood, Acrylic on Wood, 8" x 24", 2012
Quite a few years ago, I bought a stack of book-matched pieced of wood from a luthier who was going out of business. I’m not exactly sure what I planned to do with them all, but they have been sitting in the basement waiting for me ever since. So, I decided to see what would happen if I tried painting on them. Well, I quite like the results! In areas where I thinned the paint with water, it absorbed nicely into the would, giving it a stained effect. Where I applied the paint heavily, it sat nicely on the surface.
This piece was a gift for friends who have a beautiful dog named Henrik. He was a shelter dog and has begun to thrive with their love. This may be the style that I adopt for my “Rescue Me/Shelter Me” series. I still haven’t decided. I am excited to get started working on it. I know exactly who my first subject will be! His name is Luke and he is a guest of MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue. He and his friend, Dora, came into MaPaw from a local shelter. Soon after arrival, they were both found to have Canine Influenza. Sadly, Dora did not make it. Luke spent several days in critical condition, but is now improving. Their vet bills are quite high and my hope is that the sale of Rescue Me: Luke will help offset them just a bit.
