New Artwork!

Hello all!  I've been busy continuing to work on my Christmas gifts, and I've also finally completed a pet portrait that a friend asked me to do.  I thought I'd share it with you guys today. 

I felt so honored when I was asked to do this.  This special dog recently lost her battle with cancer, and my friend wanted to give her owners a portrait as a gift.  As soon as I received the photo to work from, I knew that Roxie had been a special dog.  Her eyes seemed to smile, and she looked so happy to have been splashing in the water at the beach.  

I hope her owners like it and will always be reminded of her sweet spirit.

What do you guys think?

Back in Full Force

Hello! And Happy Wednesday!

I know I was a lazy bum last week. Literally, the only things I did were work out, lay out, and read.  

Motivation for creative projects had temporarily left me. 

But....

It's baaaaaack! (At least for the time being.)

I've been quite the busy bee since this week began.  Between running errands and hitting the gym hard (since I'd been my version of a slacker... skipping a day or two and only working out 4 days a week), I've still found the motivation to get cracking on the projects I meant to start last week.  

So far, I've cranked out quite a few paintings.  Some were custom orders of designs I've already done, but some are new in my shop, and I'd like to show you...

Here's one of a desert sunset.

Last week, two of the books I read were set in the South West.  I was inspired 

by the idea of sunset in the desert, so here ya go. :)

I also got around to a couple more in the "Puppy Love" series.

I did another cute little Bulldog in red and black for any "dawg fans," and a regal Great Dane in hunter green.  I had planned on doing a few more because I'd just gotten a shipment of canvases... but when I opened the box, the canvases were the wrong size.  Bummer... :-/  Oh well, hopefully I'll get the new ones in soon.  Until then, you guys can tell me what you'd like to see next.

In addition to these things, I did a little more on that coffee table I picked up what feels like ages ago.  I am probably three-quarters finished with it (and have been for about 2 1/2 weeks), but I just got tired of looking at it and left it for a while.  Yesterday, though, I decided to get back to work on it so I'll have it finished soon. :)  

And finally, I picked up a few things for another baby quilt that a friend asked me to make, plus some things for a 4th of July Wreath Tutorial that I'll be doing on a friend's blog soon.... Whew!  Like I said, motivation is back, and it came back full force!  Hopefully, I'll have lots to show you in the coming days.  For now, Happy Hump Day!

Oh, and right now there's not any fierce competition in the giveaway.  If you haven't entered yet, hop on over and do it!  Right now you have a good chance of winning!

New Artwork!

I have a few new pieces to share with you today.  :)

The first is a portrait that I was asked to do as a Father's Day gift.  This lucky dad's daughter contacted me to see if I could do a portrait of her dad's 15 year old English Springer Spaniel.  Of course, I said I'd love to!

Here's the result...

I sure hope they like it!

Since I've had a few people as me about my methods with soft pastels, I thought I'd share "The Evolution of a Portrait."  I work by a somewhat unconventional method.  Since I'm left-handed, I sketch the basic design, and then I start in the upper right corner and work my way down and across towards the bottom left corner.  This helps me not to smudge the work that I've already done.  

(Forgive the photos... They are iPhone photos.)

I've read of some other people working with pastels like this, but most teachers I've had encouraged me to work in all-over layers.  (In other words, lay out all the dark areas and work from dark to light.)  I say whatever floats your boat... :)

In other news, I also a couple acrylic paintings that are new in my shop.  They have only been there about a week, and they would be perfect for the horse lover in your life!  For now, they're just hanging out waiting on a new home.  Check them out.

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!

New Puppy Love Paintings!

I was a busy bee last week working on some new paintings for the "Puppy Love" series. 

Each one of these little paintings celebrates a different breed with a colorful background and a white silhouette.  At 5x5 and 1 1/2" deep, they are a great size for a little something extra on a gallery wall, a bookshelf, or a desk.  They are also easy to ship and affordable enough to be a sweet one-of-a-kind gift for someone who's crazy about their pooch.  If you see one you love, head on over to my shop and adopt one today.  No long walks or potty training necessary.  :)

Also, I'd love to do a special one just for you.  Want one to sit on your bookshelf but need it to match your living room?  Just send me a message with the colors you want and the breed, and I'll get right on it.    I'm always open to suggestions, so just let me know what you want!

Hope everyone's Monday is off to a magnificent start!

New Painting!

I decided to do a little experiment... Something that I have never been fond of doing.  

What is that, you ask?

 It's doing artwork that includes homo sapiens... a.k.a.  people.

I've always shied away from doing any kind of artwork or portraits that include people because I never feel that my work is good enough.  People always seem way too complex and complicated, and as I've told you before, I hate failure. 

The other day, though, I decided it was time to man, er, woman up and begin conquering that fear. 

I decided on using a picture made by one of my friends here in Hawaii.  It was a photo of her two precious little girls on the beach, and I didn't think she would mind letting me use it since I was intending on giving it to her as a gift IF it turned out okay. 

Surprisingly, it didn't take me a super long time to do this piece.  It only took two days.  World record speed for Lindsay here...

Anyway, I know you're wanting to see it by now, so here it is.

Okay, so I still played it super safe by not showing faces (plus, the beauty of 

soft pastels is the "painterly" look with few details), but at least it's people!

 It may sound silly, but it has taken me quite a bit of courage to share this piece.  I constantly worry that "real" artists are going to think my work totally stinks, so it's hard to share it sometimes.  It's getting a little easier though.  

What do you guys think?

I'm looking into getting prints made of certain pieces for my shop.  Be on the lookout, and I'll let you know if it all works out.  :)

Puppy Lovin' Paintings

I have a few new paintings to show you today! 

I've been working on these for the past few days, and I think I really like them.  They are painted on tiny and adorable 5"x5" canvases, and each one is designed to celebrate a specific breed of my favorite four-legged pals.  :)

I'm calling this the Puppy Love series, and I hope to have more breeds in the works soon.  I just randomly picked three to get started.  Since these little canvases are so small, and because they are wide enough to stand up on their own, I think they would be perfect to sit on a bookshelf or a desk at work to celebrate our wonderful, furry family members.  Let me know what you think!

The first one is a little Westie on a pink background.

 (I must say, I was inspired to do a Westie because of my new sweet friend Ann-Margaret and her sweet little guy named Tucker.)

Then, there's the little Chihuahua on a cheery green background.

And finally, there's the regal German Shepherd in yellow on a deep navy background.

I hope you guys like them!  I am taking suggestions for the next breeds/color combos, so if you have something you'd like to see, speak up!  :)  (Oh, and I would NEVER want to leave out our marvelous mixed breeds, so if you think you might want one of your sweet mix, take a photo of them so I can get their silhouette, and send it to me at tailstotell [at] live [dot] com.)

Hope everyone's having a magnificent Monday!

Don't forget that today is the last day to sign up for the contest to win a FREE soft pastel pet portrait.  It's super easy.  Click here to see the directions on how to enter.  Don't miss out!

Beach Scene Complete

Today I finished the beach scene I told you about the other day. It's in my Etsy Shop now, so hop on over and check it out!

I had so much fun painting this one.  Although I love Love LOVE doing my pet portraits, dogs never seem to be born in vibrant colors, so my color palate is usually lots of brown, white, and black.  This one let me use bright beautiful blues and greens.  It kept me as inspired as I was at the beginning of the week.  I'll be working on more Hawaii scenery very soon!

While I'm on the subject of beaches, I thought I'd share my new favorite beach-related find with you.  I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to use it.

It's a beach bag.

I know, I know... what's exciting about a beach bag?

Well, I'll tell you.  When I go to the beach here (since I'm not on vacation and don't live in a resort right on the beach), I have to pack up a lot of things to take if I want to stay out all day-- towels, sunscreen, my phone, snacks, lots of water since I'm a well-hydrated girl, a book or magazine, a cover-up, my camera, etc.  Most beach bags just don't cut it.  They are usually just too small.  Plus, I wanted one that zipped up on the top so everything wouldn't fall out while I'm riding to the beach in "the cruiser" with Kent.  (It's not the smoothest ride.)

I searched high and low for the perfect bag with this combination of "musts," but it was to no avail.  When I would find one that zipped, it was too small.  When I found a big one it just had one little magnet to keep it closed... just not practical for me.  I even searched online and found one I thought would work, but it was $90!  I will never pay $90 for a beach bag.

Just when I had given up hope, I went in the Ross store down the road from me.  (Yes, this was while I was nabbing my mirror and little vase yesterday.)  There it was.  My perfect beach bag!

It's huge.... and has a zipper.... and isn't ugly with skulls and crossbones on it (I saw one of those once too).  To make things even better, it was $7!!!! Yes, I said $7!  I thought it would be cheaply made for $7, but it's not.  It's sturdy canvas with a sturdy zipper and strong handles.    In other words, it's awesome.

 (I made "the boys" model so you could get an idea of the size.  Neither was too thrilled about it because I woke them up from their naps to sit there for me.)

I tried to look online to find a company website to share, but I couldn't.  They don't have one.  You may have to just get lucky in Ross or on eBay.  It's made by a company called Rugged Equipment out of New York.  Anyhoo... just thought I would share this new knowledge in case anyone else wants a super awesome, huge, zip top, reasonably priced beach bag.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Nelly the Beagle... Finished!

Yesterday afternoon while it was gloomy out, I felt super duper inspired and finished Nelly's portrait.  Working on her portrait was a lot of fun.  I especially loved working on her light colored eyes.  Most of the time I only get to do dark brown, so it was nice to work on the amber/gold color of hers.  Without further ado, here she is...

Hope you like her!

On another note, I'm crossing my fingers that it will stop raining later.  My little cousin-in-law (if that's a real term) sent me a cute little letter to help her for part of a school project.  You may have heard of Flat Stanley.  He is an adorable cut-out of a little man that she colored.  I'm supposed to take him to a specific landmark and take his picture so they can learn how to locate it on a map.... so cute!  The teacher in me wants to go all out for this, so if the weather will start cooperating, I'm going to take him to several landmarks, take several pictures, and send him back with a box of little leis for classroom.  I think they would enjoy that.  I'll share pictures later.

Oh, and just for the sake of cuteness, here's a picture of Murphy's newest endeavor.  He's attempting to take on Duke's GIGANTIC rawhide bone since Duke is showing no interest in it.  I think it weighs more than Murphy.