Remember that line from The Rescuers? “Faith is like a bluebird, you can’t catch it or buy it or wrap it up tight, but it’s there just the same making things turn out right.”
The Rescuers wasn’t my favorite movie mostly because I found Madam Medusa *very* scary, in a way that McLeach just wasn’t. Yet Rufus the Cat and his little bit of encouragement, as well as about a zillion other lines from the movie, are burned indelibly into my memory.
When people in my generation start losing their memories, they will probably still be able to quote movies.
I always preferred The Rescuers Down Under–I think I may have even seen it first–who knows, I was so little. I mean, Wilbur is fantastic, then of course there is the lovable Australian cast of creatures.
….oh yeah, and I painted a blue bird that I can’t look at without thinking of the Rescuers and subsequently Australia (which is so frighteningly on fire)…
The background is inktense, the bird itself is Daniel Smith watercolors, and the black tips on its wings are gouache. The eye, ever bright, is ink.
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Thought you might enjoy seeing this piece I did as a gift this Christmas. Schultz and Rylie were my in-laws’ English Labs. Different as night and day, both entirely and completely lovable.
Schultz has been gone for a couple years now, and Rylie for a year. It’s still odd not having them to greet us when we visit.
Schultz generally conducted himself with dignity and restraint when greeting at the door (but boy, that was a big bark if he was so inclined). Rylie was pretty much always exuberant, always loving, always underfoot.
Neither of them would have tolerated those hats for a moment.
I don’t normally work with colored pencils, but it really seemed best for capturing the buttercream coloring of the dogs–Rylie darker than Schultz.
They leave these gaping holes when they move on.
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At the end of August I collected the last of my pieces from the Firehouse Gallery and moved them all to–plus a lot more original pieces–to the Leesburg Town Hall. I was in such a rush I didn’t really get pictures of everything once they were on the walls–but they DO look good I think.
All the pieces are for sale, of course. I actually last minute switched out one of the works (my Blue Ridge Mountains) just so I could say that. The Blue Ridge stays with me!
I think one of the hardest things for me to do, as a artist, is put the brush down and let a piece be finished. I did that with the Blue Ridge, and it is just so pretty.
pure ultramarine
Here is the one picture I have of the arrangement in the town hall lobby:
It was also cool, then night we held an opening during First Friday Leesburg, to see so many of my products on display. Most of them owned by my very supportive mother–but some of them are mine.
I have these gorgeous painted boots you can see in the back there–not for riding anymore, if ever–perfect for a Kentucky Derby Party, or maybe a Steeple chase tailgate. I have a couple more pairs needing painting, I should probably paint them all up and then list them all at once instead of dripping them out into the world.
Also, you should know: Product pictures are a thing. There are moments when I think, “OH! I can totally do that.” and others, usually when I am holding a camera, when I realize that it is MUCH harder than it looks. Hats off to all you product picture people. Good work!
The exhibit runs to the end of Nov, you should swing by the Leesburg Town Hall if you happen through Northern VA. The downtown is incredibly cute, lots of great food and fun shops, plus, you know, this really awesome art exhibit by this artist you follow on the internet.
I’ve already started thinking about Christmas and I’ll be planning out time to paint. If you’re interested in a commission piece, they are shockingly affordable and make amazing presents. If you aren’t sure about something, just ask me.
You can hit me up here, or go straight to my Etsy shop and place an order there.
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I so enjoyed putting together this portrait. Finley is such an expressive doggo. He had a whole instagram for me to work off! He’s quirky and *bursting* with personality. He’s got a great smile, too.
He sometimes cosplays as Sirius Black, so I put the constellation of Canis Major, and the bright star Sirius, behind him. Orion is there, too, because the hunter loves his dog, and I worked in the hare so he’d have something to chase.
I might possibly have really enjoyed astronomy as a kid. Mostly the names of the stars and the myths they were named after. I can’t find hardly anything in the night sky. I’m sure it helps that I’ve never lived someplace with a really properly dark sky.
We went to a dark sky park one time, but there was too much cloud cover and moonlight to see stars.
I’m *always* diddling around cover ideas for my epic fantasy projects. Always. But, for the first time ever, I designed a cover for someone else. I’m pretty thrilled about it, actually. A college buddy started publishing these awesome sci fi short stories on Kindle, Stories of the Human Ship, and I got the opportunity to make a cover for story 3 which comes out this month!
Are you ready? Here’s the book blurb:
When most of Earth was destroyed in a nuclear war, the alien races arrived to auction off what was left. Now, a band of escaped humans in a stolen alien ship struggle to survive in an unfriendly galaxy. The stars are within reach, but there are no safe harbors.
If you like sci fi, or just good stories, you should go check them out. Story one is The Human Ship. They are free, too, which is pretty crazy.
This story is going places, be in the know early and help it spread!
