Festive Critters

I decided on the spur of the moment to head out to nearby Loomis this afternoon. I really wasn't in the mood to clean house (I rarely am!) and instead of the stormy day I expected, it was sunny and nice. My destination was a fund-raising photo event put on by a local rescue.

Four of their animals were there for photo opps. Of course, Santa was there too!













Seeing the critters in festive attire made me realize I still had to take photos of our dog for this year's Christmas card. So here's Magpie in Santa hat and holiday scarf.





And speaking of scarves, I got this one from FieldHaven Feline Rescue - part of their "Louiseware" collection for dogs & cats. Scarf sales benefit the kitties at FieldHaven.

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New Pet Friends

Human friends of mine have new pets that I met recently - thought I'd share photos of them here.

One of the new pets is Zoya, a beautiful African grey parrot. Zoya belongs to Oliver's owner (see previous post for Oliver's portrait), and I met her last week when I delivered the portrait.






And this is Tootsie, a 4 month old German shepherd, the latest addition to another friend's family. They've had her a week and a half and I met her yesterday. She's all black, long, lean & leggy and has an excellent temperament.

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Oliver & Holiday Art

My latest commissioned portrait is Oliver the orange tabby. Instead of the typical "head shot" portrait, I decided to include more of his body in this painting. That white "belt" of his caught my eye and the look he was giving the mouse toy while I was taking photos was something I wanted to capture. In reality, Oliver was getting quite bored with the photo shoot and wasn't in the mood to play with the mouse, but I was fortunate to get a couple of reference photos of him staring at the toy.


The original painting is 8x10 in watercolor on Yupo.

And now for the Holiday Art:
It's after Thanksgiving, and time to offer some Holiday/Christmas art on a couple of on-line sites. Honest, I waited until the day after Thanksgiving to list these things - it drives me crazy the way Christmas merchandise comes out earlier and earlier every year!

I have cards in my Etsy shop - 4 different images (reproductions of my paintings) that come in sets of 5 for $19. They're blank inside and come with a white envelope. Sure, they're a bit more expensive than mass produced cards, but each one is printed, cut and folded by me!

Click on the image below to view/purchase cards.


You'll find the same images on a variety of merchandise, including porcelain ornaments, magnets, mugs & t-shirts in my CafePress shop.

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2009 Calendars

Take a peek at these calendars now available on CafePress!

The first is a 12-month calendar featuring the work of Art for Critters (A4C) artists. My drawing, "Feline Intensity" is on the August page.

Click on the image to see/purchase the calendar.
All the proceeds from the sales of this calendar (and all the other items in the A4C CafePress shop) benefit Art for Critters charities.


The second is my own calendar, featuring 13 of my "Paintings With Petzazz" watercolor critter portraits.

Click on the image to see/purchase the calendar.
Although I'm not donating any of the proceeds from this calendar, I always support a number of local animal charities and Art for Critters charities. Click here to see my current A4C listings on eBay.


If you'd prefer a single page calendar, I have a number of those in my shop as well.

Click on the image to see available single page calendars.

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15th Annual Autumn Art Studios Tour

It's that time of year again - I'm spinning a bit as I prepare for the Studios Tour this weekend (Nov 8 & 9). I enjoy participating in the Tour, but there's a lot to do to get ready for it. Today I scanned 2 goat paintings that I finished yesterday.

"Goat #1"


"Goat #2"
Both are ink, watercolor & color pencil on watercolor art board, 4" x 4"
The originals are still available (didn't sell at the Studios Tour), and they're also available as magnets in my Zazzle shop.

I also went to the Auburn Old Town Gallery to swap out work so I could have just the right assortment of originals, reproductions and price points available for purchase during the Tour. This evening I was working on a new painting. I won't get that painting done & framed in time for the Tour, but I want to have some in-progress pieces available to discuss with visitors. I'll also have a number of pet portraits in a variety of media in different stages of completion. Since the bulk of my work is pet portraits, I like to have samples on hand to show my process.

I've lost count, but this is probably my 10th year participating in the Tour - it's an annual event in southwest Placer County (CA). Sponsored by PlacerArts, art afficionados purchase a ticket and receive a map that guides them to the artists participating in the Tour. This year we have 86 artists showing at 55 locations. Most artists show at their own studios or homes, but some show at group locations - I'm going to be set up at a local Grange Hall with 4 other artists. You can find out more about our group of artists and others in the surrounding area at the web site I set up: GoldHillArtists.com

Another new piece I completed for the Tour is a triptych (3 part) ink on scratchboard drawing of a blue oak acorn & leaves. I created this drawing especially for the Tour preview show - a show featuring a sampling of work from nearly all of the artists on the Tour. The preview show is at Roseville Arts! Blue Line Gallery in Roseville CA.







Each drawing measures 4.5" square

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Jack Russell Terrier Drawing

My latest ACEO (small format drawing) is titled "Happy Jack" - a jolly Jack Russell Terrier. I took the reference photo of a local breeder's dog when I was over there last year taking photos of a litter of pups. Lyndy of Kingmont Terriers lets me know when there are pups so I can head over there to take pix and spend some quality puppy time. She also needed some conformation type photos of her adult dogs, so I have photos of them as well. This dog is Gangsters Tevis of Kingmont (Tevis).



2.5" x 3.5" graphite pencil drawing
Click on the image to see the listing.

I suppose you'd like to see some puppy photos too. Happy to oblige; these little cuties were 6 weeks old at the time:

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