Paintings With Soul

THIS was crazy fun - settle in, here, because THIS is a good story. In the early part of 2007, the American Kennel Club invited artists to submit artwork for consideration as imagery for the 2007 Dog Show Championships. I couldn't decide on which Dog a Day piece to enter, so I decided to do a compilation. Actually, I did two of them, because I simply couldn't narrow things down. Using my scant photoshop skills (I am SO bad at Photoshop, still!) and scanned images of my paintings, I built composite designs which a local printer inked onto canvas for me. I stretched the canvases (as I recall they were about 18" x 24", not terribly large), and then went back into them with teeny tiny brushes, repainting the whole surface.** It wasn't a standard paint-by-numbers sort of pass - as I reworked things, I changed out the background on some of the paintings, modified dogs to better match breed standards, added different accents of color, changed the v...

I cannot begin to tell you what a fantastic weekend it was. I left early Friday morning and boarded a plane to California for the AKC Eukanaba National Championships Dog Show, returning lat last night. The entire weekend was phenomenal. The dogs were stellar, all primped and primed for their moment, and the AKC staff went out of their way to make me comfortable (thank you!). The show participants generously allowed me to take as many photos as I liked (well over 500!), and the public who stopped by for their own signed copy of the commemmorative poster were eager to share their own stories. I even met several dog-a-day readers, which was a wonderful treat! And, for those of you who have been patiently waiting, signed posters are available for purchase online, through the American Kennel Club website. Posters are $25 (which includes shipping), and those funds go directly to Take the Lead, a non-profit benefitting those 2-legged folk at the other end of the leash. I am especially ...