Roy the Second, a New Book, and an Update

Roy

Oil on canvas, 18x18

not for sale

Around Christmas, my friend Ronet Noe, who is a fabulous painter and a delightful person, gave me a painting that I gave to our daughter as a Christmas present. Erika, said daughter, had fallen in love with the painting at the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival. Ronet wanted a portrait of her dog, Roy. So we traded, one for one.

Roy was one of the paintings I was determined to finish before leaving on my painting trip to Tubac - and so here he is! I really love this painting, and as so often happens to me while I am painting a dog, I lost my heart a little bit to Roy.

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SPEAKING OF DOGS, I was accepted again this year into Paws for Charity, the fabulous pet-art-book project by Sara Harley. Sara says that there are 90 participants this year! You can check the project out at PawsforCharity.blogspot.com, and also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PawsforCharity.

The books are not out yet, but I encourage you to buy one when they do come out. They're not cheap, but they are beautiful, and all the money raised goes to help a shelter in Canada. The artists get no money, Sara gets no money - but the animals do, and that's why I do it. (Also, it's great to see my paintings in a book!)

Here's a copy of my page:

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THE PROMISED UPDATE! 

I am well on my way to being prepared to leave on Saturday on my painting trip to Tubac, AZ. I am thrilled and thankful to have 20 sponsors - and quite the painting challenge! 

I'll be driving out along the coasts of North and South Carolina, across Florida and Alabama, then into Louisiana, going through Houma and New Iberia. If any of you are familiar with the books of James Lee Burke, you'll know that his great character Dave Robicheaux lives in New Iberia, so I am particularly thrilled to be headed there! 

Here's a photo of the van, with the beginning of shelving and internal structures for storing stuff and hanging wet paintings: 

and here's a photo of my happy helper: 

A New Idea

Storm in the Black Dirt

Oil on canvas, 16x20

sold

My second tour of Florida was as bad as my first. The 27th annual Boca Raton Museum of Fine Art was a bust for me. It was a lovely show to be in, with exciting and strong work - but no sales for me, and apparently low or no sales for many others.

Exasperated, disappointed, unhappy, I was packing up when I was struck by an idea that I'd thought of in passing but never pursued: Try a dog show!

So this weekend, I will travel to Hartford, CT, to sell dog portraits at the Governor's Foot Guard Dog Show at the XL Center.

I'll bring an indoor set-up, all my dog portraits, get some more postcards made up and see what happens!

The show is Saturday and Sunday at the X-L Center. The doors open at 8 a.m., and the show starts at 9 a.m. Tickets are $10 each; I don't know about kid prices.

Nearly 800 dogs are entered; it's one of the bigger shows in the area, and a good one! Click here to find out about the Governor's Foot Guard... Click here for the XL Center's info! 

I'll paint while the show is on - so that should be fun for people to watch. And who knows? It's surely worth a try.

I did get out of Florida without being skunked. I stopped to visit a friend, and she bought the painting at the top of this blog entry. It's a painting I made a while ago, and it has long been one of my very favorites. I'm glad it went to a person for whom it has meaning!

So, not for the first time, I say: thank heavens for friends and family!