And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

..so Piglet started bailing!

Unfortunately, our sump pump didn't!

We were flooded almost a week ago, and are still in the midst of clean up and re-flooring.

Hence no posts and I might not be back for another few days Hope to have something up next week!

Good News!!

While my news is not on an Olympic scale :-), I'm pretty thrilled to announce winning a Third Place Award in Watercolours for "My Ball" and a Fourth Place Award in Drawing for "Soulful" at the Art Show at the Dog Show.
Best In Show was awarded to Marla Ruch Parnell and her stunning collie pastel portrait, "Sunbath"

And I must pass kudos and congrats to both the Canadian and American Men's Hockey teams for a incrediable Gold Medal game this afternoon. Even though I am Canadian, I'm not a huge hockey nut, but throughly enjoyed the play and was glued to the TV... In fact, the entire games were great; being more of an armchair-type athelete myself, I found the Olympic athletes amazing to watch!

Miniature-Chickadee

Well the miniature chickadee is finally finished :-)

It didn't take me long to do it, I was just busy with other "stuff"..too much "stuff" and not enough ART!

This is a 3"x3" watercolor and I am still musing over a title. I was leaning toward "Dinnertime" or "What's for Dinner?" but am not sure. I snuck in a little caterpillar on the side of the stump in the foreground, so one could read that the chickadee is thinking whether to go vegetarian or not...!?!

I'll have to ask my hubby for his input. He's the Title Wizard around here.

Update: So the Title Wizard is in fear of being dethroned!
I'm going with Laura Hardie's suggestion of "Food for Thought" with this painting. We think it's a perfect fit, plus it's the name of the school snack program I volunteer with!
Thanks very much Laura! (P.S. Be sure to check out Laura's wonderful portraits on her blog)

118 Valentines!

Paintings, starting from top left:
• Jack, • Pumpkins are 'posed to be orange!, • Shadows,
• An Alabama Cow, • The Pina Colada Sarong , • Passin' Thru,
• Pupcakes, • Portrait Challenge, • The Road Ahead

One of the secret projects I was working on in January can now be revealed!

For the last year or so, I have tried to regularly participate in the Different Strokes from Different Folks painting challenges moderated by Karin Jurick (My submissions are grouped above).
Well, this week Karin got an early Valentine's Day gift from DSDF artists in the form of 118 paintings!

In January, artist Jill Polsby organized an amazing gesture of appreciation and thanks to Karin by contacting artists and asking them to paint a portrait of her. (Below: My small 'Karin' watercolor)


These portraits were then collected and put into a book and sent to Karin.

All artist were to keep 'mum' about the whole project until now, and it has turned out to be a wonderful group gesture and I was happy to be included. You can view the online version HERE.
Thanks to Jill for all her hard work and to Karin for her DSDF undertakings :-)

And to all, Happy Valentine's Day--go do something fun with your special someone!

Miniature - Chickadee (Work in progess)

Chickadee miniature WIP
3" x 3" - Watercolor on WC board

Here's one of the minis I am currently working on.
When we go for our walks to a nearby conservation area, the woods are filled with chickadees who have learned that hikers are suckers and almost always have food.
It is great to see young kids able to have one land on their hand or heads to grab a seed.
Needless to say, I have lots of photo reference :-)

Sketching...

The paintings are coming along slowly due to the sore throat that came on fast...and I was doing so well this winter season with only one small cold!
Oh well; to show you that I have been doing something, here is a small sketch. I'd really like to try this in miniature, so fingers crossed....

Quick Note

A quick note to ask all my visitors not to give up on me!

I have been busy, but nothing 'postable' as yet :-)

There are 2 'secret' projects that I have to wait to get an okay on and I am also working on paintings to submit to the Dundas Valley Art Auction (in March/April) and the Egyptian Event. Throw in a website revision (not live yet) and a sick child and the month just flew by.

Please check in later on this week for some work in process sneek peeks, and thanks for your patience:-)

Going to the Dogs!

Well, this year is opening with a blast:-D

I just got news about my entries for this year's Art Show at the Dog Show exhibition.
I have had three works accepted and am thrilled!

These will be displayed amoung 3 different location in Wichita, Kansas, between March 3rd thru April 11th. I will post more details soon, but now its off to the framers!

Going "to the Dogs" are:

"What's up Dach?"
4"x6" Watercolor


"My Ball"
5"x5" Watercolor


"Soulful"
5"x5" Colored Pencil on PastelMat

Cavalier Portrait

"Kiss Me Kate"
Miniature Watercolor Portrait, Approx. 2.5" across

Here is another Christmas special...I know everyone who loses a pet says this, but this girl was definitely taken from our family far, far too soon. (Pennies shown for scale)

DSDF End of the Year Portrait Challenge

"Dave"
Approx. 5"h x 8" w, watercolor on board

Reference for "Dave"

Here is my painting for Karin Jurick's DSDF end of the Year Portrait Challenge. I chickened out last year, but was determined to take part for 2009. Karin got a huge response this year and it is very interesting to see the final pieces. Make sure you check it out!

My entry is done in watercolor and I really tried to use looser strokes and concentrate more on warm vs. cool colour to get my form. It was relaxing to do, probably because it isn't a commission and there wasn't the pressure to make it look exactly like someone. I pretty happy with the result :-)

And here's wishing everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2010!!!

And now for something completely different...

"Walleye Strike"
12"h x 16"w Watercolor and Colored Pencil

Not my usual subject matter for sure, but doing this fish commission has given me a new respect for all those artist specializing in this genre. Fish have a lot of parts, fins, and gills and so on, and you have to depict it correctly because really serious fishermen know the difference!

And this was a commission for a serious fisherman; I needed to paint a walleye, going after a specific lure that has been a personal fav this fisherman for ages (hence the paint chips all over it!)

It turned out fairly well, and all were very happy with the finished piece.

I have tried to include a few steps of the process below. I did use Friskit to mask out the fish and painted the background first. After taking these pictures, I did enlarge and darken the 'black' spot at the bottom end of the dorsal fin, which is a typical walleye marking, along with the white spot on the tip of the tail.

Dog Portrait - "Terry"

"Terry"
Watercolor and Colored Pencil, 8"wx11"h

Well the feasting is over, the prezzies unwrapped and the long afternoon naps taken, time to get back to doing some work!

Remember my "nose" post earlier this month? Well, here is the rest of "Terry"

Hope everyone is having/had a wonderful holiday!!

Dear Santa....

I hope everyone out there is reaching their Christmas finishing line! I am working on my final portrait, and will have a few to show once the season is over.

In the meantime, here's what's on my Christmas List....in the future...


Almost 5 week-old blue picardy spaniel pups at Brighthope Kennels. We had a lovely visit, but I wasn't able to sneak one out under my coat--Vicki kept on counting them all to make sure none were missing!!!

More Painted Ponies

The Trail of Painted Ponies had a special call to artists this month; to design a pony to be painted and auctioned off at the the 2010American Heart Association's Heart Ball in Washington,D.C. The theme was "Horses and Hearts" and "Take the Reins for Heart"

I submitted 2 designs;
One was a very whimsical, decorative pony entitled "Pony of Hearts"
Taking inspiration from carousel horses, but heavy on the hearts, I also gave a nod to the Native aspect of the Trail of Painted Ponies and embellished the saddlecloth with small iconic ponies.

The other was a more emotional piece, entitled "My Pony Reigns in my Heart"
This piece featured memorable horses / breeds that inspire us with their courage, bravery, persistence, willingness to help and partnership. There were so many great horses to choose from, but I narrowed it down to: the Thoroughbred (featuring Ruffian),the American Quarter Horse, the Polo Pony, the Show Jumper (and on opposite side) the lovable, kids' first pony, the Arabian, the Service Horse, working with Riding for the Disabled groups and Brigadier, a mount on the Toronto Police Force who was killed by a hit and run driver while on duty (Check out photographer Anne de Haas' great tribute to him).



The winning artist and figurine will be published on the TOPP website after Christmas.

In the meantime, my pony The Front Runner, is now available for pre-order. It is being offered as a Winter 2010 Figurine and as a collectible Autographed Figurine (Limited edition of 75). The actual ponies will arrive sometime in March and I can't wait!

The Nose Knows?

I promise I HAVE been working...although it may not seem so by looking at this blog!

I have a couple of commissions on the table right now and have just finished up a special project (Hopefully I can report more on that one by the end of the week).

And why the nose you might ask? Well, to prove that I have been drawing and painting, I have posted a portion of my most recent commission work, and unveiling the entire piece has to wait until after Christmas!