Holiday Gift Portraits

Whew! Christmas is almost here! Please check with me to see if I can paint a custom portrait for you in time for the holidays. If not, may I suggest a gift certificate? Either one would result in a gift that would be treasured for life!

You may contact me at jan @ petstoposies . com (remove spaces) to commission a portrait or to order a gift certificate.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!

Painter's Funk

I hate to admit it, but I've been in kind of a painter's funk lately. I guess that's similar to writer's block but, whatever it is, it's not fun!

Actually, I think it may be due to the fact that I feel a little overwhelmed these days. So much going on and so little time it seems. I actually have a stack of photo references that I really want to paint but I look at them and then put them away again. I can't even decide what medium I want to use for them!

I'm working on the cutest commission too and even though the dog inspires me and I really want to paint it, I start then end up wiping off what I've done. I've gotten a ways into it in both watercolor and pastel then seem to hit a brick wall and end up just throwing down the brush/pastel in frustration! This is my last commission before Christmas too and I really need to get it done and in the mail before the holiday rush.

So, how do we get past this? I know that I would just let it naturally run its course at any other time but this commission has to be done soon and I need to snap out of it like today! However, it seems that if I try to force it, I just mess up and end up spending more time and effort on any painting I'm not in the mood to do.

On the other hand, if I feel that I still have time, I'll put it off until I absolutely have to do it and I may still not be in the mood. Grrrrr!

So,if you have them, how do you handle these times of artistic funk?

Dough Art - The Rejects!

Well, it was my first try in probably 30 some years! Don't laugh too hard.

I made Mary's (DoughDitties) dough art recipe and it made a luscious, smooth dough that was easy to work with. I want to state that my failure was certainly not her fault!

The two ornaments I've posted were just sloppy work on my part. In case you can't tell, one is a bell and the other is a candle! (They're wrapped in plastic wrap to keep the grease off my scanner so forgive the shine.)

I did make two other ornaments that I'm very pleased with though but I can't really post them yet. One is for an ornament exchange at a forum I belong to and some of the members follow my blog. Since I don't know who I will be sending the ornament to, I don't want to give away any secrets here!

And besides, the ornaments that did turn out still have to be painted - I just hope that goes well! Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Oh, Mary! Does the dough keep well? I've wrapped it in plastic wrap then put it into a plastic bag with the air squeezed out. Then I put it into the fridge - will it keep for a while just in case I mess up the painting part and have to re-do the ornaments?

The Great Pecan Debate Rages On

This is a freehand digital painting - no photo, no filters or anything but a stylus, digital tablet and a home-grown pecan for a model. I posted it because I wanted to brush up on my Painter (software) skills and I had a pocketful of pecans yesterday when I came in to rest a bit after picking up pecans all morning.

Ok, it's a pecan - what's there to debate about a pecan?

Let me give you a little background and I'll bet a light begins to glimmer! My darling other half is from down-home Georgia stock even though he was pretty much raised in Florida and has lived here in North Carolina most of his adult life.

I was raised in Kansas on a farm even though I spent several years in Mississippi and most of my adult life here in North Carolina.

Needless to say, there's a rather large cultural difference and sometimes, an even larger difference in speech. Sort of, you say potAto, I say potAHto. So the great pecan debate rages on here especially during every pecan harvest.

I was raised to call these luscious nuts peCAHNs, my husband was raised to call them pEEcans. He's pretty stubborn and insists he's pronouncing the name correctly even though I've told him time and time again that a pee can is something you put under the bed in case you have to get up during the night!

What do you say?

New Follower

You all know that I'm interested in just about any art form and I recently found a blog that specializes in dough art. I used to play around with dough art back when my daughter was little but haven't really thought of it since (and my daughter is in her 40s!). But I recently signed up to make an ornament for a Christmas exchange and I thought of the dough art immediately because of the fun I'd had with my daughter those many years ago.

I was searching for a recipe for the dough when I stumbled upon the Dough Ditties blog. Mary, the blog owner, had published her recipe in her blog but instead of just taking the recipe and leaving, I was so intrigued that I had to read many of her blog posts.

Now, I haven't had any real contact with Mary, but I feel as if she's a kindred spirit and her dough art creations are both unusual and very well done. I was really drawn to her blog because of her willingness to share. She not only shares her recipe for the art dough , but she also shares her techniques on her blog. And even more, she's posted some wonderful sounding recipes for real, edible bread which is another passion of mine! I've found that artists as a whole are really giving people and Mary fits right in that group with her generous spirit!

Thank you, Mary! Now wish me luck in making that ornament for the ornament exchange!

Another Cute Photo

I know it seems as if I'm taking more photos than doing any art these days but I am painting - I'm just not painting anything I can show right now.

But, back to the photo. That's a cute little frog stuck to our glass kitchen storm door in case you can't tell. He was there when I came back from the barn after tending to Bonnie. It was still fairly dark out and I had a hard time getting a good photo. I tried to take a picture from inside but the kind of glass we have in the door evidently isn't good for shooting photos through as all I got was a yellowish blob!

I don't know what it is with the wildlife lately, but our porch has been attractive to it. Yesterday morning as I was going out to the barn to feed Bonnie, there was a little rabbit not far from the kitchen door! Again, it was still pretty dark outside and I didn't see it until I was right up on it! It startled me good, let me tell you! Of course, I'm sure it was startled more than I was! Since I'd come from around the corner (we have a wrap-around porch and I'd gone out another door) I guess it didn't hear or see me coming.

He hopped down the steps ahead of me and couldn't get away fast enough! The little frog didn't hang around very long either. I'd planned to try for more pictures after the sun came up but he was gone by the time that happened.

Oh, well, at least I got this one! I don't know what to expect for tomorrow morning but I'll look carefully before going out - there's been a whiff of skunk in the air the past couple of mornings!

Another "Two-fer"

This doe was out front this morning right along the edge of our pecan grove. She stood still while I got several photos of her and, while this isn't the best shot of her, I was surprised to find a bonus in it when I downloaded it from my camera!

If you'll look at the bottom right of the photo (click to enlarge), you'll see one of the pesky bandits we have to combat in our quest to harvest ripe pecans! You might say that we could surely spare a few for the squirrels but they come in hordes from the woods surrounding us and can literally strip the trees of nuts in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Plus, they aren't the only thieves we have among us! The crows are very clever and will drop the pecans into the driveway in hopes that we'll run over them with the cars! That way they can just dig in and feast on the already cracked pecans!

Then there are the raccoons and possums and even our neighbor down the road has confessed to picking up a pocketfull from near the road while he was supposed to be picking up trash along the shoulders of the road!

So, maybe the pecans that the squirrels get don't sound like a big deal but I'm thinking that we'd better blast some rock music (or maybe a 410) or there won't be any nuts for us to collect! After all, we're the ones who planted the trees, watered and fertilized them and who have waited patiently for over 20 years for the trees to bear a nice crop - I'd sure like to be the one to reap the harvest!