Tribute to Tempest

 When our kids were small we decided to get them a dog that would romp and play with them. At the time we had a ten year old Shih Tzu who loved the kids but didn't have the energy to keep up with them. We finally decided on a Collie and after several months of searching we found a beautiful Tri-color collie puppy. Collies are wonderful companions for small children because they are loyal and gentle. When Tempest grew up, in addition to being a playmate he assumed the role of  guardian for the kids. I couldn't have asked for a better babysitter. He would bark if the kids attempted to open the gate and leave the back yard. I was confident that I could leave Tempest in charge while I left the room long enough to cook dinner or do a load of laundry because he would "rat them out" if they got into mischief.

Although Tempest is no longer with us, it's Brittany that misses him the most. She has often expressed interest in having one of the photos of him enlarged so that she could frame it and hang it on her wall. This year for her birthday I decided to paint a portrait of Tempest and have it custom framed.

Annie Portrait

I recently visited New York to do some sight seeing and of course shopping. Michelle, Brandon and I took a walking tour of Central Park. I was mesmerized by it's beauty and it's calm demeanor in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. I took several photographs of the park and the lake. I hope to turn one of them into a painting.

This was my favorite spot in Central Park.

I never know what to give my friend Cindy for Christmas. She has everything and really doesn't want or need anything. Cindy owns a beautiful Golden Retriever, Annie, that just turned 8 years old so I thought a portrait might be a nice gift. I wanted the gift to be a surprise so I called her husband Randy to enlist his help. Randy sent me some pictures of Annie so I could make a sketch. I asked my husband to be a combination of technical adviser and art critic. I asked for an honest, don't spare my feelings critique of the initial sketch and the painting itself. Sometimes it's hard to see things that need to be changed when working closely on a painting for a long period of time and I feel a second set of eyes is helpful.


Annie is so sweet and I wanted to convey her personality in the portrait. I had worked on the painting for several days but it wasn't until I did the shading on her face that I was able to finally put down my brush and say yes this is Annie!