Teddy

Meet Teddy.

He's Dexter's brother. He looks like a serious little old man. 

Cutie!

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Mozart the Chihuahua

Meet Mozart. How cute is this little guy!

He belongs to my intern... my intern whom I love and who is going to be a fabulous teacher next year. :)

I asked her if there was anything she wanted to tell me about Mozart.

Mozart was a rescue. He was initially owned by an old woman who passed away, and her husband was going to put him down. Hearing this story, a coworker offered him to me; I got him on New Year's Day six years ago. 😊

He isn't a typical Chihuahua. He's very loving to all people, doesn't yip or bite anyone or anything. He's patient, loves playing hide and seek, and loves to lie in warm towels.
He's my very affectionate fur-baby. 😊

Original Oil Painting - 12" x 12"

[SOLD]

Chewy

"Mom, I have an idea. Will you paint something? 
I want you to paint Whitney's dog as a Christmas present for her."


***


"Oh, it's perfect... she's going to love it... We don't have to wait.  I can get her something else for Christmas...  Let's give it to her now."










Ha ha ha

It is hard to wait when you have something that will make someone special happy.

Tinker Belle

What is REAL?

                 "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side 

          near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room.  "Does it mean having 

          things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

               "Read isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse.  "It's a thing that happens 

          to you.  When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with , but 

          REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

     Do you recognize this conversation?  If you haven't read The Velveteen Rabbit in a while, find a copy and read it.

     Before I begin painting, I ask a couple of important questions.   

     1.) What size and shape of canvas would be best? 

     2.) What's important for me to know about the subject?

After we settled on the size and shape of the canvas, this is what I got back in answer to my second question:

               "A very important feature of Tinker that I want to make sure that you 

          keep is the detail on is on her right shoulder.  You will see a definite white-ish 

          line mark.  This is where she had a mass taken out when she was a puppy.  

          We never got it biopsied because we didn't care to know... She was ours.   

          With that, her seizure episode, and a knee replacement during her first 6 

           months of puppyhood, she became our "million dollar dog."

That was it.  I fell in love with this little yella' dog and couldn't wait to start.

      During the time I was working on this project, I kept thinking how scars and flaws and raggedy edges don't keep us from REAL love.  It reminded me of The Velveteen Rabbit.  And it reminded me of the gray lump of ratty stuffed cloth that my sweet little great niece carries everywhere and calls "Sheep."  I'm pretty sure that somewhere back there it was a pretty little stuffed lamb... now... mmm... not so much... But, Sheep is loved.  The Velveteen Rabbit was loved.  And Tinker Belle is loved.

Me and my Olivia (as a baby).

Tinker Belle (as a baby) and her mama.

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Coconut Retriever

What's a coconut retriever?

Well, a dog that brings back the coconuts that you send her after, of course!

I've been blessed with some amazing professional opportunities during this 30 year teaching career of mine.  One of them is that I get to represent elementary literacy for Arkansas on a committee. I absolutely love the work... but enough of that... 
I have made some life-long friends that I get to spend a few days with every few months. When we met in Chicago last month, my friend from New Mexico said, "I brought a picture I want you to paint!  Do you ever paint dogs?" I paint images that tell stories, and when I heard the story behind this dog, I couldn't wait to put her on the canvas!  

I asked my friend to write the story.  Thanks, Sheryl!

She’s a girl’s best friend.  
This precious “coconut retriever” was born at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on the island of St. Kitts, where she was adopted by a student who named her Smarty Jones. Why? Well, because she can run like the wind!  
Since becoming part of the girl's family, Smarty Jone has traveled the country far and wide as a loyal companion, living from Oregon to Canada to Minnesota to Florida.  
Smarty Jones is quite an amazing dog. She can “talk,” and she endures serving as a “couch” for her two wiener dog sisters with nary a complaint. She's such a well-mannered girl who loves her “cookies.” However, she does have a history of sneaking bread and even fresh tomatoes off the kitchen counter. 
  Her bark may be big, but her bite is small, Using that big bark, she saved the girl from an intruder one night. For that, the girl's family will be forever grateful.

Smarty Jones will forever be loved.

So fitting is this poem….the girl’s love of Smarty Jones.

My sunshine doesn't come from the skies,

It comes from the love in my dog's eyes.

Author Unknown

The girl is my friend's daughter.  And that girl will be receiving this painting for her birthday.  I hope she is surprised and pleased!