Best Friends

It's always such an honor to create a commissioned piece. I adore these two friends. Makes me think of this quote.

"Whoever said that diamonds are a girl's best friend never owned a dog."

I feel like I'm that girl...all grown up...and I even have my hair dyed bright orange right now!

"Best Friends"

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Best Friends

I was commissioned to create this sweet piece featuring this trio of best friends. I adore them!

Click here to view my gallery 

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Supporting Characters

How do I know that David and I are perfect for each other?


Appliance repair guy commenting on our fridge's coils: "Your bottom looks good."

David and me: "Thank you."


Oy, you can't take us anywhere...even our own kitchen.



Today I worked on some "supporting characters" for my future whimsical paintings (as part of this class).

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment

With her Best Friend

I took my dog, Hazel, out for a long walk this morning. She gets beside-herself excited when any of us get the leash out. And she loves absolutely every single thing about going walking.

Except...bicycles that zoom by and scare her, some birds that sound really scary and weird, and cars that loudly vroom overhead when we're under a bridge.

Except for all of that Hazel loves absolutely every single thing about walking.


I finished working on this painting this afternoon. Here's the final version and the last few steps that lead up to the end. And I only have a few photos from the tail end because I was so into it that I forgot to take pictures during the majority of the process. Oops!

"With her Best Friend"

You can see that I've added tons of details...all over!

I adorned her hair with flowers and a feather
and added details to her dress.

I think she's done. Just need to paint the
edges of the canvas black.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

With her Best Friend

After over four years of painting each and every day on our kitchen table or some other flat surface (not counting our hallway walls, that is), I finally splurged and got myself and easel! I feel like I'm a grown up artist now! I got it all set up right by our floor-to-ceiling windows last night, put a blank canvas in it, and went to bed. Then first thing after I ate breakfast and walked the dog, I started painting. What a nice thing it is to stand while I paint. And an incredible thing to have our kitchen table back!

While I was painting my big guy came in the room and said, "You need to move all your art stuff over by the easel." I have two shelves and an antique desk devoted to my art. So while Dave and my little guy were gone, my big guy and I moved all the furniture around in the living room. And it's fabulous! I love my wonderful big guy!

The painting I'm working on is inspired by Marie Laurencin. I think this may be the last one in the class I'm taking. I'll definitely revisit her style, I love it!

After painting the canvas gray, I sketched out a woman and a dog.

I began adding some color to her flesh, dress, and background. 

I added more details and began working on a fan.

I began working on her face, added a scarf, and continued working on the dog.

I'm excited to work on it more tomorrow!

 Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Love

Hazel purrs. It's true.

I know that's generally something reserved for the feline variety, but I swear, she does it. But only sometimes. Only when someone is giving her a super big hug, a long enduring hug, and then she starts this slow, sweet, rhythmic breathing with a purr sound. It's the best sound ever...and it's the sound of pure love.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Our Girl

It's been about a month-and-a-half since our girl, Scout, died. Dave has taken so many amazing photographs of this amazing furry friend of ours and I felt it was time to paint one of them. As is my practice, I always take my paintings to a full length mirror we have, stand while holding them in front of me, and look at them. You would not believe how many things I see in the reflection that I want to fix that I had not even noticed when I looked at it straight on.

Well, when I took this painting to the mirror today I gasped and had myself a bit of a cry. I think I got this one right. We love and miss you, Scout.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

A Moment of Concern

I trimmed our big dog, Hazel, today. Actually I started yesterday. With that much skin acreage, it's a two day job.

Our kitten, Tommy, ran in after I'd finished the haircut, took one look at Hazel, his eyes filled with concern for just a moment, and then he ran to her and rubbed back and forth along her legs.

No way a haircut can come between best friends.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

We Were One

I woke up in the middle of the night with one thought. "Oh, I'm not well." My tummy was all cranky and I was a tad achy. So what did I do?  Well I stayed in bed until 1 pm today, of course. Did I stay in bed all by myself after Dave got up? Absolutely not!

No, in this house if you want to stay in bed for a nap, for healing, or just sleeping in, you are never, ever alone because you will one hundred percent of the time be joined by one 85 pound dog and two tabby cats. And they will not move, not one little bit, unless you move and they find that they simply must snuggle a bit closer to you.

So the four of us sleepers...we were one. Best medicine ever!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Trio

I took a lovely nap this afternoon. I love a weekend nap!

When I got into bed our kitten, Tommy, was there. I pulled him under the covers, lay his head on my shoulder, and he and I blissfully slept. I stirred at some point, opened my eyes and saw our big dog, Hazel, beside us and I drifted back to sleep. My little guy came in the room and got on my bed to snuggle with Hazel and I saw that at some point our old cat, Pug, had joined the napping party.

I love my fuzzy sleep Trio!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Cat Dog

So on the face of it I must say our dogs look confused, though when I really look at the situation I must conclude that they are brilliant.

Our old dog, Scout, who feigns deafness, blindness, and an extreme inability to move with any agility whatsoever, has convinced our young dog, Hazel, to work with her in a plot. Yes, a plot. While Hazel distracts us with her crazy irresistible cuteness, Scout ever so gingerly stands up so her front feet reach the pot stand, nudges the cat dish off of the edge, and when it clangs to the ground she goes right back to her deaf/blind/arthritic routine.

So what are we forced to do once this occurs and there's a cat food explosion in our kitchen? Well, we call our dogs over to clean up the mess...which they eagerly do.

Yup, they may look like dogs but they have the genius and appetite of cats.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Going Nuts

Dave loves mixed nuts. They go in his cereal. He'll pop one or two in his mouth as he waits for his coffee to be ready. He'll even grab a handful after a workout. Yum!

Know who else loves mixed nuts? Our dogs, that's who. While our dogs are totally clearly hard of hearing when we want them to stop barking or to come inside when they aren't quite ready, when Dave takes the jar of nuts out of the cupboard and just begins to unscrew the lid, our dogs dash to the kitchen faster than you can say "cashew".

And there they wait, willing to sit, shake, down, play dead, or speak in anticipation of a Brazil nut (Nothing against Brazil, but do humans even like those nuts? I'm convinced they're designed to be dog snacks.).

Yup, our dogs go nuts for nuts.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Bandanna Love

Bandannas.

They might not play a huge role in your home, but at the Parsons' house...they're superstars.

How many ways can we use a bandanna? Well, here's ten just off the top of my head.


1. as a cloth napkin
2. to blow a nose
3. outfits for our dogs
4. a tool to attempt to control my hair
5. a mask when we're working with sawdust, etc.
6. a spill sopper upper
7. a potholder when doubled up
8. a dust cloth
9. something to "whip" your brother with

and our dogs' favorite...
10. a chew toy


Bandannas...I highly recommend them.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Keeping Close

My sweet old lady dog, Scout...

I took her to the vet today for a bit of blood work to make sure she could continue taking her incontinence meds (old lady dog problems). As we sat in the waiting room, she to my left looking away, she kept scooching backward, inch by inch. I found myself moving to the next chair down the line three times as she scooch, scooch, scooched.

My precious girl, keeping close to her mama. Love....

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

An Explosion of Color

OK, fair warning. This blog post is kind of gross...colorful, but definitely icky.

I wish this were about the delightful splash of color that the holiday lights are casting in my living room, but instead this is about a box of crayons. A poor unfortunate box of chunky crayons that became a midnight snack for our misguided, and evidently ravenous dog, Scout.

So this morning we were greeted by a partially processed rainbow of colors...all about our hallway. No additional details will be given. This is my gift to you.

And on this Christmas Day we are every so thankful for the miracle of carpet cleaners.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Following the Light

Dave was clearing out some old stuff from his office and came upon an old laser pointer. Now this is not one of those tiny ones, no, this is a large hand held piece of equipment. And since it was out he figured, why not see what the animals will do with the light it projects.

Well...

Hazel, our 85 pound wonder puppy chicken immediately ran to the hallway and remained there until the laser pointer was put away.

Pug, our senior tabby cat gave it a brief look and bid it farewell.

Tommy, our kitten thought it was the best thing since canned cat food.

And Scout, our old lady dog, had the best time of all, chasing it about, to and fro, until her bursitis got the best of her.

Good times were had.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

For the Love of her Boys

Last night, like most weekend nights, there was a boy fest here at our place.  Thing is, our sweet dog, Hazel, is convinced that she is one of the boys.  So when they closed the bedroom door at about 1:00 AM leaving her on the outside, she fell into deep despair. 

She came into our room and whimpered endlessly.  She jumped onto our bed and shook with sadness.  She sighed often and heavily driving us absolutely nuts.

So after trying unsuccessfully to sleep with my head completely covered by our duvet for at least an hour, I got up, opened the boys door just a Hazel's width, let her scurry in, and returned to my bed.


And "Zzzzzzzzzzzz" filled the house. 

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

I Fell for It

My little guy was playing music for me in the car as is our routine.  I groove on it.  Then the non-radio version lyrics get to me (I'm old, you see), I turn it off with my steering wheel stereo controller, he turns it back on, lather, rinse, repeat. 


Me:  "I'm not a fan of that one."

Little guy:  "That's because it's 'up dog'."

Me:  "What's 'up dog'?"

Little guy:  "I can't believe you actually fell for it and said, 'What's up, dog?'"

Me:  "Ugh."

 Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Pure Love and Energy

I shaved our dog, Hazel, today.  She's 85 pounds of pure love and energy...and let me tell you what...85 pounds of anything makes for a lot of square inches. 

While Hazel was no fan of the process, she put up with me fairly well for the first half.  And then she was done.  Enter my little guy.  He, all 140 pounds of pure love and energy himself, was the perfect support for our pooch.  He let her sit on his lap during part of the trim, and when it was time to do the detail work of her legs he lay on the floor, his head on a towel, and snuggled in and spooned Hazel so she'd relax enough to get to the finish line. 

It was pure love and perfection.  And as my kid said, "You cut off about three smaller dogs' worth of hair!"

And so now Hazel is walking around the house, not quite 85 pounds of pure love and energy (hair does weigh something, right?), feeling quite nekkid and exposed, but quite happy nonetheless.  And I found out that when a super nekkid, happy dog wags their now bare tail it's pretty much like being whipped by, well, a whip.  I have a welt on my leg to prove it. 

Love my girl...and my awesome boy!!!


Here's another miniature painted canvas on an easel.  I adore these little things!  The canvas is 2x2.  I'll be selling it as a package with the easel.  Look for more of these sweet miniatures to come!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

A Little Morning Magic

I went for a lovely walk this morning in my dad's neighborhood.  As I was walking down the driveway there was a lovely doe to my right having a little snack.  She looked at me and then to my left.  I followed her gaze and there were two white spotted fawns.  I kept walking down the driveway and in the cul-de-sac there was a bunny.  I stopped in my tracks unable to move from this magical spot and looked around figuring surely I was in a Disney movie.

After a bit I was able to keep walking.  As I rounded a bend in the road there was a woman standing with her dog.  The dog was staring into the trees completely transfixed by the two bunnies that were just feet away.


Dog's person:  "We can't get anywhere when there are bunnies."

Me:  "I know exactly how your dog feels."


Nice to see that the dog felt the magic, too...only I suspect the dog was thinking of the edible type of magic.

Click here to purchase this piece.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!