Drawing of Mousy

This is the preliminary drawing on canvas of a new portrait I am working on. It is of a stuffed animal named Mousy who is the beloved childhood toy of a very dear friend of mine . He is worn and floppy and shows all his years of love and affection. I've gotten very attached to him as I've been working on the portrait and I can't wait to see how it develops!

Curious Portraits

I am very happy to finally have my new ETSY shop Curious Portraits up and running. It has taken a lot of work but I think I finally have all the little details ironed out! I've already made a few sales and have been featured on 4 different treasuries (2 of which I've posted below) so I am very encouraged. I hope you will take a look and let me know what you think.

www.curiousportraits.etsy.com

Parisian Puppy Portrait

It's been awhile but I managed to finish the Parisian Puppy Portrait. So named because I found him in a shop in Paris in 2000 and thought I'd love to have a real puppy just like him. I never guessed that Bingo, who looks so much like him, would come into my life the very next year! I started painting him weeks ago but have been busy setting up my new Etsy site Curious Portraits which I hope will be up and running by next week.  Here is the final and two shots of the portrait in progress.

TEDDY BEAR PAIR

I thought I'd wait until I finished both Teddy Bear portraits to post them. I think they make a lovely pair and the fact that they were 2 of my favorites as a child makes them even more special. I felt so emotional yesterday when I finished "Brownie" and hung him on the wall. I remember how intensely I loved them, much the way I love my dog Bingo now! 

New Dog Portrait

I just finished a portrait of a very special dog that lives on my street. His name is George and he has been bravely battling cancer and recently had a leg amputated. His owners love him so much that they commissioned  me to paint his portrait. He is such a joyful dog and never lets his troubles get to him. He is an inspiration!

PONYTAIL BARBIE SERIES

This weekend I was determined to finish this series of Barbie portraits. The more I paint her the more I see differences in her expression and mood. I think for the next set I will work larger and on canvas. (These and the Bubble Head Barbie series are painted on 6" x 6" wood panels). I am toying with the idea of background or even clothes. The fashion possibilities are endless, so many favorite outfits I remember from my childhood. ..

Sock Monkey Portrait

A few years ago my friend Keith loaned me his childhood sock monkey to photograph for a project I was working on. I took some great photos with the intention of eventually doing a formal portrait of it. I had done a portrait of my favorite childhood toy, green bunny years ago and always wanted to do a whole series of toy portraits. Well last week I finally felt inspired out of the blue to do the portrait. It came together so quickly and I couldn't be happier with it. .

Daisy's Portrait Continues

Slowly but surely Daisy's portraits are progressing even though I never seem to find enough time to work on my own stuff. I am still excited about these portrait;. Daisy's expressions and personality are so apparent in all the photos I have of her and it is a challenge to capture them. Let's face it, most squirrels look alike. I have 5 of them now that I feed (all descendants of Daisy no doubt) and I must confess that I cannot tell them apart. Maybe squirrel features develop over time, after all Daisy was at least 4 years old and the present squirrels are 1 year at the most. It will be interesting to watch them grow and see if my theory holds water.

Terrific Figure Drawing Experience

Last night was my first experience with Dr. Sketchy's Anti-art figure drawing evening at the Slipper Room. It was different from any life drawing workshop I've ever attended because the models are all burlesque performers! Last night we had a contortionist in the spirit of the Olympics. She was amazing. I've never been so challenged by body positions in my life. Following are a few 1 minute sketches just to give you an idea of this woman's abilities. The long poses naturally were much more classical. It was great to be drawing from life again, it has been awhile and I was rusty but I look forward to improving. The place was packed and it wasn't very easy to see but next time I plan to get there early, have a glass of wine and secure a spot near the stage!

                      

New Barbie Series

I have finally begun work on my next set of Barbie portraits. These are all of the same blonde-ponytail Barbie from 1960 or 1961. I'm not a Barbie expert by any means but I know she isn't the first one from 1959. ( I'm saving her for a later set of portraits). I thought I'd choose one to show in all it's stages and then post all three when they are finished. There is something so appealing about approaching these in a classical way; building them up from a "grisaille" underpainting. It is so much fun!

Merry Christmas

I finally finished painting my Christmas card and am ready to send it out, miraculously ahead of time! I usually use a dog portrait or do a special Christmas themed painting of Bingo but this year I thought it was finally time to immortalize my courtyard squirrels. This is Daisy on the left and Pip on the right enjoying some holiday cheer!

Nancy Drew-role model

It is hard to believe that I haven't written since Halloween. I've been so busy with work not to mention the usual holiday madness but I wanted to take a moment and write on a subject that is close to my heart. I went to my Sister's for Thanksgiving weekend and found that my Brother-in-law had unearthed a box containing my old Nancy Drew books. Lifting the flaps of this old cardboard box felt like opening a cask of golden treasure. I immediately pulled them out and spread them on the bed to admire them. Such memories came flooding back to me. All the mystery and excitement that would fill me each time my Mother came home with a new story. My cousin Cindy and I were so obsessed that we spent many summers completely role playing and seeking out mysteries in our stubbornly uneventful town. I put my books in numerical order to find that many were missing, either lost or never even read so I began a quest on ebay to fill in the missing gaps. Naturally I had to have the ones with the covers from my era: not the original ones from the 1930's nor the mod ones from the 1970's but the ones in between from the late 1950's. Those are the covers that filled me with anticipation and even inspired me artistically. I've also gone on to research the history of Nancy Drew and Carolyn Keene the nom de plume of several authors. I am also eager to read the book Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the women who created her, Melanie Rehak which I just purchased. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by all the criticism out there about the character being so perfect in every way etc. Having re-read a few of them recently though I feel obliged to defend her reputation. Yes, she was always mature, considerate, calm, compassionate. She was always striving to help others who were less fortunate than herself and never accepted money for her efforts. In other words she was perfect. But aren't they qualities we would want to take on ourselves? Isn't the character of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote  (another of my idols) a mature version of the same person? How many times have I faced a problem and asked myself "What would Jessica Fletcher do in this situation?" the same way  as a young person I would  put myself in Nancy Drew's mind. Of course I recognize that the stories are dated and often reflect some of the racist, sexist and classist beliefs of the day. Over all I admit that I still admire her and recognize what a positive influence she was on me and how she made me believe that as a woman I could be educated and independent; thoughts that were just taking hold in my generation growing up in the 1960's.