The last week in pictures...

I purchase these beautiful tulips earlier in the week, yesterday they were in perfect full bloom and I captured this shot in the morning sun...

Meet Jason Loper...new House Tours Contributing Editor for the Apartment Therapy Blog, my home will be his first official House Tour feature on Monday, March 8th! Jason is also the fabulous designer behind Zola Jones Designs.

Izzy in the suns spot...
A fun card for Eva May and new ACEO's in the works: And artist Vivian Visser who came in to paint with me last Saturday...we made these stuffed pets last year at a "Make Day" party at the Bouzide's. Her finished cat: ...and my unfinished dog:
Hope you have an amazing weekend! Rich and I are off to Starved Rock State Park on Saturday for some hiking and maybe even some tandem biking on the I & M Canal Trail on Sunday.

6 foot commission...signed, sealed & delivered!

 

  On Thursday I delivered this 6 foot commission that has been in the works since last fall. My clients are a wonderful couple from the Roscoe Village neighborhood. It was a fun collaboration, taking their list of things/places they love and then developing a composition around these elements. It becomes a very personal and meaningful piece. I can't wait to see photos of it hung, they have a gorgeous home and the colors are so complementary. I've included photos of the painting at different stages as well as the final sketch that was selected as a basis for the original piece of art.

I love this process and felt great working so big! Let me know if you would like to discuss a special custom painting for yourself!

So long February...

Some fun, random snapshots from the past month... Rich spotted a bee in our backyard a few weeks ago...in spite of all the snow!
I wish M&M's were always pink + red + white. Guess who ate most of these? I love the composition of this photo with Izzy...and of all Rich's guitars, this Danelectro is my favorite. Not only the best shade of blue but sparkly too. Snack spread for game night...really just showcasing how much better our island lights make things look with the right light bulbs. We had been using the wrong kind since installing 2  years ago! Rich modeling an 'ice mask' he lifted from the top of our rain barrel.

Top Ten...

Moira McLaughlin, of Dog Art Today, named my blog one of the Top Ten Dog Art Blogs for Blogs.com. It was an unexpected lovely surprise to be included with these other wonderful bloggers and dog lovers.

More Pet Portrait Reveals...a Yorkie & a Toy Poodle

Butter & Joey...another batch from my Holiday Pet Portrait orders. These two are new breeds for me, Butter is a Toy Poodle and Joey a Yorkie. Really sweet dogs..they live in the neighborhood and came to my studio for a photo shoot before I started working on the portraits.

Dog flys out of kiln in one piece...

Well Snick made it out of the kiln in one piece! I just glazed him...and the dog below which has been sitting on my shelf since the last session. And I put square wheels on a truck which I forgot to photograph..so stay tuned.  I don't think I mentioned that our Lill Street class is now called "dreams, myths & totems in clay" or is it pillars? Corinne Peterson,our teacher makes very impressive large totems that are in corporatecollections and in many public art displays so she is sharing hertechniques in the class. I just don't think I could commit to somethingthat big with a material so fragile..and me so careless. But there areother women in the class taking the totem theme and running with it. Afew photos are below.

Here's Mary working on a beautiful bird sculpture...(she also has a large totem in the works): Natalie's wonderful wall piece, love the stones and the trees: And Haleh's impressive wall totem...she is much more ambitious than I could ever be with clay.

Painting Raffle for Chicago Canine Rescue

Orange Smiling Pup © 2009 13x14 Acrylic on Wood Cabinet Door. Retail Value: $300

I started a raffle for this painting last Saturday at the Chicago Canine Rescue Adoption Event, $1 per ticket or 6 tickets for $5. Several of you have asked how you can purchase tickets. I think the best way to do it is for you to donate money directly to Chicago Canine Rescue via this secure CCR Donation Site, then forward me an email with your donation amount and I will put the appropriate number of tickets for you into the Raffle Jar. I will do the drawing for the painting on Saturday, March 20th and announce the winner on my blog and on my Facebook Fan Page.

Will you be mine?

 

   We had 5 adorable Spaniel mix puppies here on Saturday for our event with Chicago Canine Rescue, all from the same litter. They are still too young to be adopted but you can see each one on the Chicago Canine Rescue site and contact them if you would like to adopt! We had lots of people come in (and a few dogs) so it was good socialization for them and they sure loved to be held and cuddled. It was a fun afternoon and the volunteers were wonderful as usual! PS I'm still selling raffle tickets for the painting in the photo above...all proceeds go to CCR.