Finished up several commission Pet Portraits, recently...this one was near and dear to my heart. My brother commissioned this narrative scene painting for his wife's birthday last year...and they have been very patient! Willie was an awesome dog and is missed very much...this painting celebrates his life and love of the outdoors, asparagus, tennis balls and his favorite pass time, catching bees!
My clients Jim & Carol commissioned me to do another portrait for their newest member of the family...Sam! Who, I'm told, has quite the a personality "...he is a crazy retriever, a good game of fetch can last hours if you let it, he thinks every toy in the house is his and will pile them up on his bed to prove it, he's the life of the party and isn't afraid to show it, he has superman genes in his dna (can leap tall buildings or sister dogs in a single bound) 6) he's going to be a little too helpful in the garden..." Sounds like lots of fun to me!
This is the 4 foot portrait I did a few years ago of their other dogs, Bud, Waldo, Meenie and Ella:
Meet Bruiser! This was another holiday Pet Portrait Gift Order from December. Did you know that I can personalize this with your pet's name and custom colors if it looks like your Pug? It will save you $100 on your Pet Portrait Print! 
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!
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.
Last weekend I had a wonderful surprise visit from my good pal and fabulous artist, Kerry Rolewicz. We did a trade at the 2007 One of a Kind Show, I got the gorgeous piece below from her and in return I agreed to create a painting paying homage to a road trip out west that she took with her husband back in the early days before kids and mortgages (the plan was to give it to him as an anniversary gift). I was glad to finally get this painting to her, and hope he thinks this gift was worth the wait! (She noted the 4 mountains I put in each panel and the irony of now having 4 little boys...then we had to speculate what the number of trees might represent! Any ideas?)
PS I think I talked her into opening an Etsy Store...stay tuned for a link.
This is one of several commissions that I'm working on. The original 7"x14" painting titled 'Field Days', has since sold so I am recreating it much larger at 24"x48". I created the first one at the 2007 Fields Project Artist Residency, the same year I created my Flower Frolicking Dog Field Sculpture. That experience definitely inspired the painting, that and staying on a farm with beef cattle. It's an amazing program...and I've been fortunate to have particpated 3 different years. You can check out photos here....and here.
...And as long as I'm sharing,this is the painting that I created at the residency in 2008 chronicling my entire experience with the field sculpture the year before:
I had to get my print order in and really wanted to include Deacon as a thank you to my friend Laura Nugent & her husband Donald who I stayed with in Kansas City last month...he will be my first test subject as a Pet Portrait Print. In a perfect world I would have gotten their feedback and made edits...right now I just need an example here in the studio to show my customers!
Laura & Donald if you are reading this...I know his beard is way too big and he looks a little schnauzery, I will be happy to make changes and color edits for your custom gift!
