"Best Friends"

A young lady i used to work with asked me to paint these two,

for one of her relatives for Christmas. 

I had a difficult time with it at first as is often the case with commissions. 

But yesterday it started to take on the life i always look for. 

The results are very pleasing to me. 

I was going to call it "Best Friends Forever" but as you know 

the likelihood of these cuties being around still are slim. 

This is why i like to paint cows. 

They give us so much and are only here for a short while. 

I can honour them in a painting and love doing so. 

Acrylic on canvas, 22 X 28.
Sold.

"The Family"

We know a little girl who is fighting a serious illness but is surrounded by her family and friends enveloped in their love. 

Their faith is seeing them through as they rest in God for strength. 

When families stand together, no matter what, miracles are apt to happen, 

like cows jumping over the moon. 

Watercolour on Arches CP paper. 5" X 7" .
NFS.

"Prudence Dear"

Did this a while ago. She's in a gallery in Calgary. 

Trying now to get something going and paint again. The slumps are no fun. 

Yikes! 

I know the best way to deal with it is to just paint. 

My favourite approach is to get out the sketch book and just start drawing. 

It's from the sketch books that the ideas begin to flow. 

The next step is to commit to one or more of these sketches. 

Put them down on canvas or paper. Then paint. 

So far i have about a half dozen drawn and ready to go. 

Just have to grab those brushes! Right? 

Acrylic on canvas. 20" X 30".
Sold.

"Cowperate Ladder"

Some good folks wanted a painting based on the photo shown. 

They said they went out to check on the herd one day and this is what they found. 

Pretty funny to think the cow was wandering around with a ladder stuck on it's head. 

Acrylic on canvas, 20 X 30.

"Miss Natalie's Mis-Adventures II"

My little wife wasn't excited about the mini skirt i had her in 

in the first sketch so i revised it to better reflect her normal 

dog walking attire. :) 

Then i had her packing up for a road trip to get away from the

skunk smell. Our poor puppies were not to happy about 

the whole ordeal. Skunk is very difficult to get rid of. 

Not nice. 

She did laugh at the cartoons which helped ease the burden some. 

Watercolour and ink on sketch paper. 

"Miss Natalie's Mis-Adventure"

My poor wife and our two dogs ran into a threesome of skunks 

on the way to the dog park behind our house. 

The dogs wanted to play with them, very roughly of course. 

The wee skunks had no interest in any of that and told them so. 

But alas the pups enthusiasm combined with the skunks impatience 

resulted in the inevitable. The three of them got it good. 

Boy does that smell! 

Worst of all the, cat saw the whole thing enjoying it immensely. 

Watercolor in a sketchbook. With ink i might add! :)

"Lou"

This is Lou! He is the quieter little brother of Kona whom i last posted. 

Unlike his rambunctious brother, Lou might be found laying poolside 

or lounging under a shade tree with Mom and Dad while Kona chases shadows. 

His Mom, wanted to surprise her husband with these paintings for 

their anniversary. I was most pleased to be included in their plans. 

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 16" X 20" 

"Kona"

A commission for a lady who i know in the dog park nearby. 

This handsome fellow is often seen tearing around 

and just having the time of his life. Always! 

I hoped to capture his youthful attitude and fun nature. 

I did two for her and will post the other one shortly. 

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 16 X 20. 

"Queen Street"

A wee watercolour based on a drawing i had in my sketchbook of Victoria Street 

in Nelson B.C. 

I've used this scene several times but like to re-visit a painting from time to time 

and improve upon it or add things i thought should have been there 

the first time. 

Each time i do one new ideas come to mind 

and i make a note of them and to do another new painting down the road. 

While doing this one i thought a gas station would be fun to do

with rocking chairs out front and a dog or two. 

In a lake side community and of course there would be ice to skate on 

or a summer scene with diving platform and swimmers. 

Such fun, this art business. 

Watercolour on Arches 300 lb. CP paper. 15" X 19".

"Delores"

More Cows! There can't be enough cows. 

I'be been having such fun with the backgrounds i am thinking the cows 

might be getting in the way! Perhaps put them further back 

into the fields. My whimsical watercolour villages are starting 

to show up in these acrylics. I look forward to seeing where it is all going. 

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 24" X 36". 

"Luke"

This is the second of the commissions i had donated to 

"Rescue A Boxer" from Vancouver as a fundraiser item. The family who won the bid 

wanted a portrait of their Luke. 

I've done a lot of Boxers and have gotten to know the breed quite well. 

With this one, i painted his eyes first so he could watch me work 

and keep me company. 

We became good companions as i felt his warm, gentle spirit. 

Watercolour, 12 X 16 on Arches 300 lb. CP paper. 

"Julia's Mom"

This was a tough one.

I had donated two 1/4 sheet watercolour commissions to a dog rescue 

group for their annual fundraiser. 

One of the winning bidders wanted a portrait of her mom 

and not a Boxer! Yikes! 

The challenge lay before me. It took a long time for me to get to it 

because i kept putting it off. But once i got started i had a lot of fun 

and think it would be good to not limit myself to just doing cows. 

There are many options before us. 

Watercolour on Arches 300 lb. C/P paper. 12" X 16".

"Delilah"

This is a favorite model. She belongs to a lady in the Netherlands. 

I've painted her in watercolour and had it published in "Splash 14"
but thought an acrylic 

would be appropriate and much larger too! 

She is on display at the "Ruberto Ostberg Gallery" in Calgary. 

Delilah is on canvas, 20" X 24" Acrylic.

"Elvis's Pup"

A young lady i know commissioned me to do this for her boyfriend. 

His name is Elvis. 

So it is not really the Elvis you might have thought it was, 

but a different Elvis. 

I loved doing this one. The photo was not very good.

You could just make out a pair of boots in the snow, 

so i thought i would put in a pair of boots so the dog 

has something he is looking up at. 

These are actually the hiking boots i long for. 

Had a pair when i was much younger and they were the best. 

Acrylic, on gallery wrapped canvas. 18" X 24" 

"Blu Street"

This is a commission piece for a young lady who wanted one similar

a while back. Sadly, her husband would not let her have it.
 A short while later she got rid of the husband

and now has a painting! :)
Husband was gone probably not because of the painting
but it's fun for me to think so.
It has been a long while
since i painted watercolours and a village.
I was very happy to do this. They are such fun.  

Watercolour on Arches 300 lb. cold pressed paper. 16" X 22" 

"Calypso"

This little girl is on her way to an art gallery in Fort MacMurray called 

"Points North". 

She is acrylic 18 X 24 on gallery wrapped canvas. 

"Deirdre'"

A new girl in town. She is headed off to the Rouge Restaurant to be on display 

in their couples dining room. This room entertains couples only on special 

occasions. Deirdre' is replacing "Dreamer" who was purchased by a couple 

celebrating their 16th Wedding anniversary. 

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 24 X 24 

"Who You Calling Chicken?" aka Guard Cow

Can't stop painting these bovines! 

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 24" X 24" 

"Sunny Brooke Farm"

I'm enjoying incorporating whimsical backgrounds in these recent cow paintings, 

I've been borrowing from my watercolour landscapes. 

Can't wait to see where it goes. 

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 

24"  36".

"Ajax"

 

This little
guy had just 3 legs.
I believe he was born that way. His life was not easy
and he lost his battle not too long ago. The owner was very sad to of course seeing wee Ajax struggle and suffer so, but missed him terribly when he was gone. A friend commissioned me to paint her a portrait of Ajax. I couldn't decide which photo to work from so  i did both. His sweet sole was so evident in the photos they provided. These are both watercolour. 12" X 17".

"Ivy"

I've painted this same sweet girl several times and love her as a model. 

My favourite thus far though i have many. 

 I've several angles of her and intend on doing them all. 

This is a commission for a lady who saw one of my other ones. 

She wanted a specific size to go on the wall with a painting of a wolf she owns. 

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas and the biggest one i've done so far. 

I really enjoy painting the larger canvases. 

30" X 36" 

"Gerta"

Gerta here is the newest member of our family. 

I've been having fun playing around with the backgrounds, 

incorporating some whimsical scenes. 

I see the background as a playground in need of exploration. 

Gerta is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 

24" X 24". 

"Cairo and Sophie"

Two new pup portraits for a family who lost them both within a month of one another. 

The first little guy is Cairo and the second one is Sophie. 

I had fun with the backgrounds once i figured out what it was i wanted there. 

Both are acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 

24" X 30".  

"Big Sister" and Happy New Year!

Thought it best to start the New Year with a "Cow" painting. 

This is a new version of "Little Sister". This cow is a favourite model as i 

have several angles of her. She is quite the beauty and i love her expression. 

I'm also hoping to post more, paint more, blog more, explore more 

and promote more in 2015. Perhaps a painting a day would be good. 

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 12"X12". 

She is in her forever home as well! 

Happy New Year everyone.