English Springer Spaniel doing Agility Test

Okay, here's my painting for today - and I think I've loosened up a lot in my painting.  I really love the motion, the "painterliness" of this one.  I didn't draw in every single hair and be slavishly driven by the photo of the dog.  I used the images of this dog to create what I feel is an exciting, colorful, filled-with-personality painting.  I hope (fingers crossed!!!) I can continue in this direction!!!

This painting is for sale, by the way.  It's an 8x10" on wood panel, unframed.  It sells for $125, and I'll frame it for you for an extra $15.  Of course, as usual, prints, pendants, and clocks are available on my website, http://www.wildwildthings.com/.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Black and Tan Puppy

This is a painting of our latest family addition, a little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (black and tan) puppy, named Sammy.  He's a little terror at the moment, driving all the other dogs mad with his constant flurry of activity, but he's a sweetheart, too. 

The original is not available, but prints and pendants are available at my website, http://www.wildwildthings.com/.

I'm on a bit of a painting run these days and don't even have time to list everything I've been painting on my blog -- but they all can be seen at my website, on the home page.  So if you want to see them all right away, be sure to stop by and check them out.  I'll eventually try to get everything on my blog, too, just not right now because I'm awfully busy!!!

Speaking of being busy, and on a non-art note to be sure, I am a Grandmother now!!!!!  My daughter and her husband on December 14, 2009, had their first child and my first granddaughter, a precious little baby girl named Elena Noel Aguilera Mogensen.  Mom, my daughter Lara, and baby Elena and Mark, the very proud dad are all doing very well -- well, Mom and Dad are exhausted, but little Elena is quite happy and well-rested, too.  Mark's parents are here as well, visiting us all the way from Odense, Denmark, Mark's home town.  Elena is going to be raised knowing both languages and grandparents and other relatives on both sides of the Atlantic (and I'm even sneaking in a bit of French as much as I'm allowed, too, so she'll possibly be a tri-lingual, not just bi-lingual, little girl!)

Britttany Spaniel Dog Painting

Okay! I'm on a roll now. I've been managing to do a painting a day for the past few days, and I can already see an improvement in my work. It's much looser, more "painterly," and just a lot more fun. It's still scary as ever, but I'm just forcing myself to paint, no matter what. I just have to do it -- and hope that it's something I can let the world see -- well, anyway, anyone who might see my works in the few venues that I show it, anyway.
This little dog is just beautiful to me. She didn't happen as easily as the previous painting did, but she finally came together. Took me most of the day, though.

I often wonder if other, more experienced, more schooled painters have to spend all day doing just a simple portrait like this. Maybe I'll learn some "tricks" if I keep up my daily paintings again this time. I think in a few days I'm going to try something besides a dog. I've got quite a few people waiting to get their dogs painted, but sometimes I just need to take a break and try something entirely new. I think it will help keep me fresh. I took some photographs a few days ago of some magnificent trees down in Corvallis, OR, that I really want to try my hand at. Yes, that's what I'll do, paint some trees. But not tomorrow or the next day because I really do have some people waiting for paintings of their dogs, and I want to get those out of the way first. I know how hard it is to try to wait for something you're really, really excited about seeing. And one of the paintings is for someone who's recently lost his precious dog. I did one of her already, but I want to do another one, too, before he sees either of them. I'm stalling on the second one. Maybe I'll finish it tomorrow.

Okay, that's enough.