Pet Portraits

Here are my most recent pet portraits. I was commissioned by my friend Cathy DuPuis via facebook (I love my facebook) to paint her whole pet family. This was my first time painting cats, I thought it'd be super easy as cats are more angular but it was harder than I thought. My favorite one is the cocker spaniel painting. I like how it's loose and reminiscent of a paint by numbers. The pet portraits have been a great experience. What started out as a whim has really blossomed into a viable market. People love their pets and they are a part of our families so why not have a painting of them? I have yet to tackle people portraits. All in good time, for now I'll enjoy doing animals, they don't talk back, they are always happy and they have fun fur. Humans can't touch that.

Tuesday with Kae, Abby and Olivia

Today was a birthday play date for Kae and I and we happily included Abby and her friend Olivia to join the festivities. We went to Piedmont to explore and shop, two things we do very well, and I had never been to Piedmont so I was intrigued to explore this new town. Piedmont is near Berkeley, Rockridge and Oakland. It's an upscale town with a rich history and the downtown had plenty of cute shops. We started at a retro looking shop where I got the most sparkly, drop dead, gorgeous earrings that you've ever seen. Next, we went to our most favorite place, the thrift shop, this one is a "Discovery" thrift, proceeds helping the American Cancer Society. They had amazing merchandise and a fabulous white hat that tempted me, but it's price was too steep ($45). After the thrift we went to an antique shop that was PACKED with stuff everywhere, it was kind of creepy to be honest and we kept going up more and more flights of stairs to more and more piles of stuff. I marveled at how they sell anything, it was so dark, creepy and sad. Of course this made it an adventure and we love the unexpected like creepy antique shops... But happily we left to the beautiful flower shop and another blingy jewelry store with fun hats. I loved the blue one with flowers but again too pricey for me (this one was $105.00!) We left Piedmont and decided to travel to Rockridge, all of 5 miles or so and had lunch at Pasta Pomodoro. Kae had all the party supplies, a party "Queen" crown, party horns, sparklers and even a cupcake in her bag of tricks!! She's like the ultimate bag lady, you never know what she's packin'! Our waiter "DJ" was a hoot, he joined our frivilous mood and showered us with great service. After all this we shopped some more, after all there were a few more thrift shops and we had another hour before we had to head back. Armed with packages we came home and unloaded our treasures. Another over the top birthday celebration for the hip chick. It just amazes me how much goodness is around....

Abby's birthday, fun customers and random pics

Last week was a big week in our household, we have our anniversary, my birthday and Abby's birthday all within days of each other. I showed all the gluttony of my birthday and our anniversary so now it's time to show some of Abby's celebration. My sweet daughter Abby turned 14 on April 2nd and she got 'kidnapped' by her friends at 7am and taken to breakfast. (This is a new 'norm' for teens) Then she went to school and came home with many cakes from all her friends, she went to see the new Miley Cyrus movie "The Last Song" and then Ben and I took her out to her favorite Thai restaurant for dinner. She opened pressies and got plenty of goodies. The next day was her birthday party, she wanted to go to Great America and she invited 3 friends and they rode on rides all day. Not my idea of fun but they all had a blast, Kendyl, Marina and Ashly all came over after and had cake and ice cream, they went to the hot tub (a birthday tradition) and had a sleepover. So Abby had quite a celebration herself!

Saturday at the store was quiet til about 3:00 and then Megan Freedman walks in with her bright clothes and smile and lit up the place. I grabbed my camera of course and took some pics, she matched the store so well and she purchased a wall sconce that fit perfectly with her dark corner. Yipee! Just before closing, in walked a fun family who was attending a nearby wedding and Lucy found some bling to compliment her outfit. Lucy, Patrick and Marty hammed it up for the camera before heading back to enjoy their festivities.

Easter was a wash of a day as it was raining all day, and Ben had to go on a trip. Abby and I just hung out and I finished two more pet portraits for Cathy DuPuis. I have done 5 in all as she has commissioned me to do her whole pet family. I am pleased to be able to paint her 'children' for her, I love painting people's animals as they are so much a part of our families. Now I am going to build a series for open studios, I might do some more trucks, or countryside paintings, along with some giant flowers. I know one thing, I will be busy creating as that is what this hip chick likes best!