Finally doing some more Paintings! Jersey Cow

Here she is!  She was standing in a field near Corvallis, OR, along with many other cows, all Jersey milk cows, at a small organic farm.  Like all the other cows I saw that day, she was a sweetheart, very curious about what I was doing out in the field with them.  Both the original and prints are available.  The original is an oil painting on an 11x14x3/4" canvas.

It's good to be back painting again.  I missed it.  And I'm working pretty much only in oils now!  It's been a very slow learning curve, and I have a lot to learn yet, but I'm moving along on it now.

Another of my Seven Cow Paintings

This is another of the cow paintings that kept me busy all through the month of April.  There are five more I'll be showing.  This is a Jersey cow.  The original was 30x40 inches and has been sold.

Following this past month's marathon, I figured this is a good time to take a new direction in my artwork.  So in addition to still doing custom animal paintings, and the occasional animal painting from my own photographs, I am making two very (for me) big changes in my artwork:  I am going to be painting primarily landscapes from now on (suggestions welcome!), and I'm switching from acrylics to oils as my medium.

I've been practicing both the new medium and the new subject matter, and there's going to have to be a pretty sharp learning curve for me.  It's a whole new field (no pun intended!), and I'm really excited about it.  Please, if you've followed me mostly because I have painted animals for years, stay with me and see how my new work is going.  Wish me luck on this new chapter in my painting career.

One more thing:  For those of you who know of my past ceramic artwork, I am once again making some ceramic animal masks and will be listing them on Etsy within the following few months.  There will only be a few each month, approximately 10 per month, because I don't want to make them full-time anymore.  But I must admit that I am enjoying the several hours a week I've been spending in my clay studio; it's a welcome break from "my day job."  If you have mask requests, let me know and I'll do my best to create something like what you want.  I am going to be doing a few different types of animals this time:  In addition to the usual dogs and cats (and possibly a few fish), I'm going to be making some cow and rooster masks.  Should be interesting.

My Jersey cow Painting as a Tattoo!!

This is one of the craziest ways I've ever seen anyone "pirate" my artwork (and in this case, I didn't even mind being pirated!).  I was at Portland Saturday market late this past summer (yes, summer is officially over around here) when this young couple came into my booth and were looking at some of my artwork.  Suddenly, the girl screeched with delight and pulled out the print of one of my favorite paintings, my "Sweet Jersey Cow."  She then showed me her leg (photos above).

She said she found my painting through Google images and fell so in love with it that she had it (plus a made-up body) tattooed onto her leg.  It was a pretty amazing day, to be sure, and a lot of fun, too.  Of course, I had to give her a free print after she went to all that trouble with one of my painting images.

Sorry, I didn't get your names, young couple.  And, also, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to finally get this fun experience posted.  Just too busy, I'm afraid.  But anyway, it was great to meet you both.

a Jersey Cow - Holy Cow! Where am I going with this??? Having fun, tho'

Wow, I needed this!!  It is soooooo refreshing to be able to paint something besides my beloved dogs.  Please don't get me wrong:  I still love painting dogs, and I love dogs.  I just was in desperate need of a break! 

It also shows me how very hard dogs are to paint -- in my humble opinion, that is.  They have awfully complicated faces, with very distinct bone structures, which in addition to hair color, length, degree of straightness, etc., vary  from dog breed to dog breed.  But, hey, they're beautiful beings, whom I love dearly. 

I don't know yet what I'll be painting tomorrow, whether it'll be a dog or yet another farm animal.  But, again, I promise I'll be getting back to dogs soon.