Paintings With Soul

FROM LEFT:  "Bored I (Pounce)," and "Bored II (Pounce)," each painting 6" x 8", depicting a calico in acrylic on canvasboard, $324 each. Inquiries may come to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . BOTH SOLD.   This is what Pounce thought of having her portrait painted. Not terribly exciting. At least not to her. But I enjoyed myself. Thoroughly.   Wouldn't these two be great framed identically and hinged together? (they will be! hooray!)   Buy one get the other 10% off. If you are a returning client, you get 10% off both (or any other painting you choose to add to your collection, for that matter) - that's my Dog-a-Day Collector's Discount, and it's always honored.   Thanks as always for sharing my paintings with your friends and family. Enjoy your weekend, and I'll be back on Monday, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com

FROM TOP:   FROM LEFT:  "Gallop I (Gray)" and "Gallop II (Dark Bay)," from the 2009 Belmont pARTy, both 6" x 12", equine paintings in acrylic on canvasboard. Inquiries may come  to me . Today's pARTy reference photo was provided by equine photographer  Juliet Harrison . I'd like to thank Juliet for sharing her imagery with us on our first open invitation pARTy. The reference photo (which you can see  here ), from Saratoga, depicts two Thoroughbreds in full gallop, complete with jockeys and the track scene as a backdrop. Initially I planned on painting each horse on his own panel, with the gray one pulling away and the dark horse digging in. Somewhere along the line, however, I began liking the idea of them running free, and never added the jockeys, rail, or background sheds. I'm debating still whether I should leave the dirt/track surface in the foreground or carry the grass to the lower edge of the canvas. The idea of diptych's has alwa...

FROM TOP/LEFT: "Fierce Hunter," 4" x 8", $249, SOLD ; "Cleo," 4" x 5", $184, SOLD . Both paintings in acrylic on canvasboard. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . I've been in a Shih-tzu groove lately - once I realized that, I had to mix it up with an old standby - the black cat. I rustled through old photos of Miah, and came up with one where she was hunting Turtle's tail. You know the game - Cat A is quietly lying there, minding her own business, totally oblivious to Cat B, who is stalking and waiting for the right moment to pounce. That was my two. Hard to believe it'll be a year Saturday since Turtle died, and 6 months gone by since Miah. Sigh. Thanks, as always, for your time in looking at and sharing these paintings with your friends and family. See you tomorrow, Kim

"Gina II," 6" square, Golden Open acrylics on Ampersand Gessobord commissioned pet portrait of a mixed breed dog, private collection (THANK YOU!). Yesterday you got to peek at an in process portrait of Gina, a profile view - I finished that piece up today, and added a jpg of the final painting to the blog here . Check it out and let me know what you think. Gina was a rescue chosen specifically because she got along well with children. She got along so well with kids that she was known to pounce and knock them to the ground in her eagerness to share some love - which, as my client pointed out, with tile floors could be a near death experience. She didn't use doors - it was quicker just to jump through screens (her family is now enjoying a screened in porch, an amenity they simply couldn't consider prior). And she made a regular habit of leaping the 6' back fence to visit with all the neighbors up and down the street (they brought Gina home when they tired ...