Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

And the happiest of New Years in 2008!

Ziggy, Emma, Ribbon, Flash, and Encore (and Paula, behind the camera!)

Some more new smalls

A few new pieces

Here are some small new artworks for the holiday season. If you want to know where any one (or more) of them are, feel free to contact me and I can direct you to the appropriate gallery

Stretch (oil on linen, 16x20)

This painting is earmarked for the American Society of Marine Artists Member's exhibition which will open in Wilmington, DE in 2008. More information to follow as the details are sent to me. The painting is available but must be permitted to hang in the show and go on the year-long tour.

Bobby

I lost my special Good Boy last week. My Bobby, my heart dog, my first Aussie, the dog from whom I learned the most about training, showing, and just Dogs, was killed early Saturday morning the 10th of November. He'd gone walking with his Poodle housemate Ziggy and my sister, and after an hour, as they were approaching the car at dusk, in the drizzle, he simply went walkabout into the woods never to be seen alive again (by us, at least). After calling to him for 2 hours she called me and I returned home from Easton to join in the search. Overnight I made 'lost' fliers and went back out to call again, but all along I worried that rte 32 would be the ending to this story. Early Saturday morning we met up to resume the search and to distribute 'lost dog' flyers. Within 10 minutes of my sister's having posted a notice in the area I got a cell phone call from someone asking if I was the person looking for a dog. To keep it brief, she was calling from literally across the road from where I was putting fliers in mailboxes, to say she'd found him roadside. He was right there, dead. He'd been hit, probably within the past couple of hours judging from his condition. I got another call later in the day from someone asking if I'd found him (they saw a flier we'd not retrieved from a power pole, I suppose) and she told me she'd had him in her house for 6 hours...he'd been at their kitchen door barking at 10pm so they let him in and fed him (happy dog now!) and went to sleep in the kitchen (extra-happy dog). But at 4am he barked to go out, and these kind people let him out to pee, thinking they could just call to him and he would come right back in but of course he trit-trotted right up the driveway and out of sight. He was killed on rte 32 right at their driveway, probably within an hour of leaving their house, just being Bobby. And if I had put an ID collar on him before I went away that week like I used to do, he'd be home with me right now because the Powders would have called me, hopefully right away when he first arrived there. But I didn't, so we all failed him.
He was 11.5 years old.

Ringtails (20x10)

My first Scratchboard in a while, wanted to do this pair. They are ring tailed lemurs and they will be with me at the Waterfowl Festival (Elks Gallery) next weekend. Hope to see you there!

Glide(24x36)

This painting will be at Troika Gallery for November.

Black&Tan Rooster (10x8)

A little something for Troika Gallery in Easton, MD this coming week.

Eastern Waters Son (10x8, oil)

A friend's handsome Chessie

Evening Preen (48x24, oil)

Finally some new work posted! These paintings are destined for McBride Gallery's Autumn Celebration show opening October 25

Red&Black Rooster(10x8, oil)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

12x24 oil of my puppy's aunts, cousins, whatever.

Red, White, & Blue

McBride Gallery is having their summer theme show this next week, with red, white and blue being the theme to commemorate the July 4th holiday. Since I am not inclined to wave flags, I went with the more literal interpretation of the title. So I have 'Red White & Blue (9x12, oil, of an egret) and 'Redwing' (8x8, oil) for the show, along with my recent koi painting 'Flotilla', shown further below. The reception for the show is Friday July 6 evening but the show will hang for several weeks.

Aussie Clay (10"long x 9" tall x 4" wide)

Now I have all of my sculpture clays up on the blog. This is the Aussie I started at the USASA Specialty in MO in April; still working on surface treatment and head, but hopefully have now gotten the balance right. I did the first hours of this sculpture sitting ringside during Bitch classes (not for me, silly, I already know how to do that!) at the Nationals, so I got a lot of lovely Aussies to look at while working, and input from many master breeders. Pulled this back out to work on this week and then I was able to identify a couple of areas needing revision (I love a long neck but it was really too much!) like reducing the ruff, shaping the head to a more feminine profile since I am trying to portray a bitch, and of course portraying coat texture.

Sheltie Clay (12" long x 9" tall x 5" wide)

This is actually the first sculpture I created but it has sat on the shelf for a while as I ponder surface treatment (depicting plush thick Sheltie hair without getting too detaily) and getting the head/expression just right without again getting too detailed. Body mostly modeled on the Sunebank/Caerleon body type because I like their balance and amount of coat carried (not too much).

Might be close but not sure this one will be cast anytime soon. On this and any of my clays, please contact me if you are interested in the precast price.

Great Blue Heron clay

Maybe finished, almost ready for the foundry. The same heron as shown in earlier post but with some anatomical refinements.

Flotilla (oil on canvas, 24x48)

Finally a new painting, Koi I saw at the National Arboretum last fall.

New Poodle Clay

Well, this is an in-progress look at my clay of a Poodle in sporting clip. It measures about 7" top of head to base and 13" long. When finished it will probably go into bronze. I hope to complete this and have another started to work on at the Poodle Club National Specialty in Salisbury, MD in 10 days.

Sleeping Beauty

She really was asleep, she does this a lot.

Lord of the Manor (20x28)

This year's Birds in Art-work. My model was found at last year's Howard County Fair in Maryland.

Toy Time (10x13)

Newest Poodle art, 3 toys.

USASA 2007 National Specialty Print Art

This is the image being used this year for the AKC Australian Shepherd National Specialty Show at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri this month. The art will be seen on souvenier tees, aprons, tote bags and tapestry-type throws. Orders have closed but there will be a few items available for sale still.

As for the print, this year we are offering the art print for the top trophies. There are 3 large prints framed to 18x24, for Best of Breed, Best Opp Sex, and Most Versatile. Another 19 smaller version, framed to 14x18, will be used for the next tier of awards (ie Winners Dog, HIT Aussie, etc). The print will be given as judges gifts and I will have 6 only, available for sale at the show, framed to 14x18 with double or triple mats. Contact me if you would like one of the 6 prints I have available for sale, framed only. The total printed edition for this art is 3 large prints and 35 smaller prints.
I show the art in 2 forms: the painting as it is printed for framing, and with type overlaid for the logo items like tee's, etc.

Young Divas (12x16)

Lovely puppy girls

Cat on Sill (16x10)

This cat posed for me a few months ago. This and all the subsequent scratchboards shown below are a part of the Black & White exhibition and sale currently hanging at Troika Gallery in Easton, MD, through early April. The show is my scratchboards and my friend Terry Miller's exquisite graphite works. Please go see it!

Yellow Ducklings, Brown Ducklings (18x12)

Followers (20x30)

Herring Gulls in the search

Nuzzle (17x20)

Frederick County residents

Finding the Spot 15x11

Self-explanatory, I hope

Longtail (18x12)

My favorite cat

In the Fold (19x27)

This is one of the larger pieces in the Troika Gallery show, of longhair sheep at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival in May at Howard County Fairgrounds

Chickadee (8x8)

A bird from my garden

Formal Trio (Jackass Penguins)

These birds were such fun to watch as they interacted with their keepers at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore a couple of months ago

Ivan The Cat (8x8)

This is a friend's beautiful cat, done for the Black and White show I recently did with my friend Terry Miller for the Troika Gallery in Easton, Maryland. The ashow will hang until early April.