His Name Is

This is an inkjet transfer. Our Ollie is really black with white chest, but this was too good to pass up. Loved the image. We've now had Ollie a month, and he is just the cutest dog. Happy and wagging his tail all the time. But I guess from his coursing days (chasing the lure), he is used to barking - probably because he was in a kennel as well. So, he likes to go out into the side yard run during the day and bark like crazy at the neighbor's golden retrievers. Yesterday I came home to find him not in our yard (yes, my heart skipped a beat) but in the neighbor's adjoining side yard. He had jumped up on 0ur trash can and then jumped over the fence. Little escape artist!!! His freedom has been sharply curtailed.

Caslon

Wow, it has been so long since I've been artistically productive, I'm actually posting some old stuff. Embarrassing..... I have no excuse. No, my muse hasn't left me. I just let other things get in the way. So, I'm scraping the barrel here just so I can feel like I've done something! Rainy and gray here today. I'm getting caught up on preparation for taxes. This is absolutely something I will put off until the last minute. Here I am doing input to Quicken for four months. Yikes, did I let it go that long?

Love is Frustrating

Nike

Grace

We purchased this beautiful watercolor by Ron Krajewski on his Ebay store. He has some beautiful watercolors, sells originals, prints and does portraits. Check it out at http://stores.ebay.com/Watercolor-Art-by-Ron-Krajewski. I could never have done anything like this. It looks so much like our Grace.

Pink Hydrangea

Both of the spreads here are part of my journal for my DH. We just got our new Whippet rescue. He's a three year-old "tuxedo" (black with white chest) and just a real sweetie. I listed all the names here that we (after much back and forth) came up with for possibles - names that we could both live with. And then wouldn't you know, we didn't name him any of these names. His name is Ollie. I'll post a pic of him in the next day or two. He's settling in with our greyhound Lotus. She gets to be the queen bee now. We miss our Grace.

Bikes in Seal Beach

Fruit of Labor

Watercolor on foam core. The idea is to make the sketch and then use a craft knife to etch in the shape and lines of interest. Rub charcoal all over the lines. In some areas as in the leaf, peel away the top layer of paper and fill in with charcoal or pastel. The charcoal or pastels settles in the cotton fiber. I used pastels in the terra cotta area.

Painted Papers

I painted these papers quickly to get my mind off losing two of our beloved dogs. Nike, our 12 year old greyhound, died of cancer. And Grace, our 8year old whippet, died of a bronchial infection. It's very sad around our house right now - two very big holes. Our one remaining greyhound Lotus is so lonely. Animals have the ability to capture our hearts and become family members. As Mike says, he would rather have the animals than take fancy trips all over the globe. Well, I'd like to do both, but it is difficult with three dogs, two cages of parakeets and various and sundry other little ones like his leopard geckos and his red-foot tortoises. We love them all.

Pay It Forward

The very artistic Melissa from http://alterediva.blogspot.com/ has invited everyone to take part in this Pay It Forward.


I think this is a great idea The first three people to leave a comment on my blog will receive a handmade gift from me. Don't look for it too soon - it may be a few months, but I will get them out to you. My request is that once you sign up, copy and paste the above on your blog and "Pay it Forward" by making the same promise. I took the invite to play from Moonwillow at http://moonwillow.blogspot.com/