"George"

Oil on museum quality Ampersand Gessobord panel  6" x 8"

It's been a while since I was standing at my easel.  A motorcycle trip to upper-state New York and a plethora of domestic stuff have kept me away.  As you know, cold starts scare me, but to paraphrase Professor Higgins " By George, he's got it, I think he's got it."  Apropos, as this venerable Jack Russel is named George.  I have painted more than a few Jack Russel terriers and they have all been wonderfully sweet.  George was no exception.

"Roxy on the Beach"

Oil on museum quality Ampersand gessobord panel - 8" x 10"

There is an expression on Glee for when two songs are combined together. It's called a "mash-up." (Ooh, did I just out myself as a Gleek?) That mash-up moniker would be apropos of this painting as it is both pet portrait and seascape. I can count on one hand the times I have painted the ocean. Loyal followers may remember my painting "Out of the Box" as the other daily painting of the beach.

This is Roxy, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Last week her owners gave her a final hug and sent her across the rainbow bridge. For many months she had been fighting a form of degenerative myelopathy and since December had been using a doggy cart/wheelchair to take walks – which she thoroughly enjoyed. This worked well until she finally lost the use of one of her front paws. She continued to go downhill and they then had to make that terribly painful decision. I've been there too many times myself and know the pain they are going through. I hope they find some solace in this painting.

I wish you could see this painting in person. It is one of those rare paintings that pops off the canvas. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Corgis. I had a little guy named Pippin back in the 70's.

"Voltaire"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel - 8" x 10"

The fact that I feel I can post this painting, a surprise gift for a friend, with impunity speaks volumes about how last year was such a loss to my artistic creditability. The few faithful souls who clicked on this blog day after day, searching in vain for new work, were left mostly unfulfilled from May until year's end. I'm trying to not let that happen again. Voltaire, or Volt for short, is an American Bulldog and a real sweetie. Alas, once again the photo isn't nearly representational of the real piece. Subtle pinks and blues appear garish and disjointed...Arrrgh! David, if you do see this, it is really pretty nice.

"Louie"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel - 6" x 8"

I still had a bit of paint mixed up from the previous night's session and thought I could put it to good use. Whoever it was that gave me the tip about freezing the palette to retard drying - thank you, thank you, thank you!

The leftover pigment was used to paint this piece. Have you ever known a standard poodle that was afraid of the water? Well, I have. His name is Louie (or should that be Louis?) Whatever. Anyway, Louie has the same enthusiasm for the water as I have for boats. He'll fetch a tennis ball all day, but throw it in a pool, river, stream or estuary and all you get is a quizzical look, as if to say "Surely, you don't expect me to go in there and get that!" This day, my friend was determined to show him how much fun it is and gave him a little(?) nudge into the pool. He was not amused.

The photograph of the painting is not particularly too good. I didn't post it last night, thinking that a wash of north light might help. It didn't. Like people, some paintings just don't photograph well. Here it is nonetheless, just to prove I'm still stroking away.

"Gideon"

Oil on museum quality Ampersand Gessobord™ panel 8" x 10"

Once again I have been called into service to paint someone's dearly departed companion. This is Gideon in younger and happier days. I'm told he had 15 wonderful years with his owner since being adopted from Cocker Spaniel Rescue of New England. Rest in Peace Gideon.

"Dallas"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord™ panel 8" x 10"

See - I'm not dead, although my old hard drive is. What a nightmare trying to salvage my images and reload all my programs onto the new drive. Although I have a huge 1T external hard drive, I had become lax about backing up. Lesson learned. Back up your work every day or at the very least once a week. It is also a good idea to keep your program and driver disks in one handy place in case you have to reload them. I have been painting during all this mess but most are Christmas presents and I didn't want to post them for fear of blowing the surprise. This is one such painting, but I doubt the recipient is aware of my blog. I was not told his name but he reminds me of Tramp from the old TV show My Three Sons.

This just in: "His name is Dallas and he's a rescue dog...he has a new family in Ellicott City."

"Asta"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 8"

This piece is much nicer in reality. Try as I might, I couldn't get the subtle coloration to come through. Perhaps It is the late hour. That said, I won't be writing much about this piece tonight other than to say that Asta is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met. He is the canine equivalent of JJ and that is high praise indeed. He is also the top dog at my favorite restaurant - The Dogwood in Baltimore.

"Bella"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 10"

I was channeling my inner Matisse tonight with this painting of Bella. The jury is out on the contrasting colors and vertical stripes. Again I wanted the paint to show so I didn't get too fussy with it. I may be horrified in the morning. Hitherto I had not painted a vizsla, so it was a challenge on many levels.

"Oh Lucy!"

Oil on linen mounted on board 6" x 8"

...you got some splainin' to do! Actually I've got some splainin' to do. Today's painting was an experiment with painting on a more textured surface than I have been using for these little studies. I had an e-mail from someone who liked my work but preferred a more textured surface than my usual ampersand panels . Oddly enough, I find the brushwork is more pronounced on a smooth support, as the stroke has no place to hide and is there for all to see. I'll grant you that you do get an evening out and diffusion of light reflected off the surface of a cloth support but on such small work it is tantamount to painting on burlap if you scaled it up. I personally like the bit of tooth that ampersand panels have.

I met Lucy last week at a friend's house. I assume her appellation was derived from a certain wacky redhead that we all know and love. She is a sweetheart.

I've had to begin comment moderation as I have been getting a lot of spam on the comment page lately. Sorry about that but your feedback is still important to me so keep 'em coming.

"Carmel"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 5" x 7"

For some perverse reason I wanted to try and paint my sister-in-law's dog, Carmel with a single worn out bristle brush. I was mostly successful, with the exception of a small sable brush for the detail in the eyes. I kinda scrubbed in the oriental rug rather than get too fussy with it. There is some fun greens and blues in her fur. According to my niece's facebook page, Carmel, whom she lists as a sibling, is spelled "Carmel" although I think she was named for the candy (caramel) How does one pronounce caramel anyway? Is it like that town in California or does it have three syllables as in Car-a-mel? This burning question (even more than TP - over or under?) has plagued me for years.

"Muzzy"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 6"

I find Facebook an interesting Internet phenomenon. One can lurk in the shadows and yet keep abreast of one's friends' and family's goings on. I personally have no idea or care about what happens in Farmville or what all those hearts and gold stars that all my Facebook "friends" bestow on each other mean. What I do care about is when I read about something extraordinary - whether happy or sad - that happens to one of my friends. "Friend" is a word that is thrown around a bit too casually these days. I have always counted myself blessed to have so many people in my life that I consider true friends. You know - the ones you can call in the middle of the night when you have broken down on some God-forsaken country road 50 miles from home and they will rub the sleep from their eyes, pull on their pants and come get you. It's what friends do. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased and fascinated by my Facebook "friends." It's nice to know that even a few total strangers consider me interesting enough to want me as their "friend." But the real point of this is that I recently saw a post about the passing of my friend's friend's dog. I only met the dog's owner once or twice at a party, but I was so moved by the photos of his beloved Muzzy and the touching comments from those who knew her, that I wanted to paint her portrait to honor her memory. She has a regal look about her, perhaps owing to the Elizabethan collar of white fur around her nape. The floral ottoman allowed for some fun brushwork and gave the painting some quiet femininity.

"Tig"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel - 6" x 6"

Why is it that every time I lay off the brush for a while, I start back up painting a wild creature like Tig here? You may remember back on June 15th 2008 I had a similar experience painting another of my friend Deb's canines, a wee wiry terrier named Elfie. Tig was Elfie's predecessor. I got a little back story from Deb:

"She was a rescue who went through at least 2 owners before she came to me. We didn't know her exact age of course, but we think that she lived to be about 18. She peed by walking on her front two paws with her hind legs in the air - the only trick that any of my dogs have ever been able to do and one that made me laugh every time she did it. (Of course I'm easy to amuse.) I really miss her."

Thanks for giving me a needed jump start Tig - much obliged.

"Millie"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 8"

Posthumous pet portrait week continues at the studio. This sweet little beagle is, or should I say was, Millie, faithful companion to my friends Tom and David. and side kick to Chloe the Jack Russell terrier represented on these pages a few months ago. Chloe has a new cohort in beagle form named Penny who has the same endearing (?) habit of nesting on the top of the sofa cushions. I wish this was a better photograph of the painting. The subtle nuances of the color got lost in translation. C'est la vie.

"RibN Redux"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 10"

I went to a Super Bowl party yesterday at the home of my friends, the Jokesters. Bless them for the invite, as we don't have television reception where we live. It's the price we pay for living in paradise. We are trying to get cable to come down our road but so far Comcast is not receptive to the idea. I don't really miss TV except for things like the Super Bowl and the Olympics, well, and the Food Network. Given that New Orleans is our second home, I need hardly say, a good time was had by all. Whoo Hoo! - Way to go Saints! Laissez les bons temps rouler!! Cheering on the Saints with us was one of the sweetest dogs on the planet, Marianne and Steve's Australian Shepherd named RibN. His appellation is derived from a ribbon of black fur that dissects his right side (or is it his left?). Aside from his good nature, he is a thing of beauty and I thought today would be a good day to reacquaint myself with the breed.

Well that's settled...

Our old house that is. We settled on our old house last week - lock, stock and barrel and now have furniture to sit on - yea!. It has been said that moving is one of the most stressful events in one's life and I am here to tell you that is a huge understatement. We have 16 years of wonderful memories from that place and hope the new owners enjoy it as much as we did. All this is my feeble attempt at an excuse, albeit a good one, for not painting for so long. The work of opening boxes, hanging artwork and organizing goes on but without the hectic pace of getting our old house ready to sell. I have covered the paralyzing, debilitating fear of the "cold start" ad nauseam on these pages so I won't bore you again with the details. Suffice it to say that I am suffering from it in a big way just at present and am attempting to work through it. I swished a little paint today just to test the water. I'm not sure I am happy with the result but I thought I would put it up for edification. You can't say it isn't energetic.

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 10"

Post Script:
In the sober light of day this painting of Mac McDoodle is not without charm. It was fun to splash around in all those colorful curls. Thanks, Mac.

"Buster"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel - 8" x 10"

One of the saddest things that I am asked to do this time of year is paint a posthumous portrait of a beloved pet. Having been there myself, I know the pain of losing a longtime (and sometimes not so longtime) friend. This is Buster, who crossed the rainbow bridge this past October.

This may be the last piece I create in 2009. I promise the new year will be full of new, exciting and consistent work (fingers crossed).

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Chase" (not dp)

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel - 6" x 8"

This sleepy little guy is, or should I say was, Chase. Sadly he has recently joined the morning stars. I can only assume that his appellation was derived from what terriers are prone to do - chase things. Squirrels, cars, cats, people, even their own tails are all fair game. Of course it is possible that he had a brother named Sanborn which would have been apropos since terriers as a group seem like they have had one too many cups of coffee. Then again his owner might have used his Chase credit card to purchase him from the breeder. Oh well, these speculations are profitless. God speed, Chase.

"Sprocket"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 8"

Dear old Sprocket was the American Bulldog belonging to my friends Lauren and David. Every dog has his day and sadly his has come and gone. He was always a playful pup who got his way - no napkin was safe on your lap nor shoelace left tied. This was Sprocket in his later years - ear thrown back, gums flapping in the breeze, that unmistakable grin. I'm sure Saint Peter is throwing him that slimy kong right now (and missing the tassel on his robe.)

"Fabulous 5"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 8"

Although my idea of having a few "black and tans" normally takes place at my local Irish pub, this motley crew also put a smile on my face. The image was sent to me recently by Anne Stark, breeder of champion dachshunds and whippets. She seemed to think I could have fun with this and she was right. Her pups can be seen on her website "Piper's puppies4u."
Thanks for the amusing reference, Anne.

You may ask why the blue eyes? The original reference of these pups was most assuredly made with a flash which reflected back as blue. I toyed with the idea of making the retinas black but I liked the cobalt accents dancing around the panel. I think it livens up the painting.

"German Shepherd"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 8"

More on this painting tomorrow.