Grizzly - and Please Spread the Word

Grizzly Bear

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Available at Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center, CT

When I set out to be a painter, one of the things I didn't consider was that I might be asked to paint things I'd never thought of painting. 

Like a parrot - or... a grizzly bear. 

Audrey from Art Gallery H called and told me she had a client who wanted a portrait of a grizzly bear. 

So, OK, I said, wondering - can I really paint a bear? 

But I figured that if I can do a cat, a dog, a turtle  and a frog, I ought to be able to paint a bear. And so I did. I have to say, I love it! 

One of the truly amazing things about this life I'm living is how wonderful and how rewarding it is to just go ahead. If someone else believes I can do it, well, why wouldn't I believe I can do it? 

Bit by bit, my self-doubt is eroding - and I am thrilled. 

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IF YOU LIKE this blog - and I sure hope you do... actually, I believe that you do! I know that you do! (see above) - please tell your friends. Email them, forward this post to them, let them know, one way or another. 

If each of you got one person to sign up to have the blog emailed to them, it would be just great. It would double my readership - and lead to more sales, and help me keep this little boat afloat. 

So... would you help, please? Pretty please? 

Thank you! 

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THIS YEAR'S PAWS FOR CHARITY book is out, and it is just beautiful! 

This is a project I've had the honor of participating in for a few years now. Sara Harley chooses photographs and paintings from artists who apply. She puts together a beautiful book, and donates the proceeds to a shelter in Nova Scotia, where she lives. This year's recipient is SHAID, Shelter for Animals In Distress. 

You can see a preview of the book by clicking here. 

And if you want to buy a book or two, here's a discount! Put in this code - P4C2014 - when you are checking out, and you'll get 25 percent off. The discount is not good forever, so you should order now! 

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Dog of the Day

THIS IS CHARLIE, who was smuggled into the First Tennessee Pavilion last weekend during the 4 Bridges Art Festival. He was a great dog, happy and funny, and perfectly fine with being inside his little bag.

Just a couple nights ago, Peter and I watched "Men in Black" for about the zillionth time. I DVR'd it, partly because I like the whole movie, but mostly because I love the part with the pug. So, Charlie, WHERE IS THE GALAXY????

Pug No. 3

Pug No. 3

Oil on canvas, 12x12, commission

I must say, I love this painting. The pug had such a top-dog attitude in the photos I had, and yet, he seemed worried and about to run - all at the same time. I had fun with his expression. I bet he's a corker of a pup.

Snowing again this morning, a beautiful, straight-falling snow that began as the sun came up. Puffy, our mean and always-dirty cat, is sitting at the back door, watching little birds peck seeds on the back deck. For her, it must be like watching TV - food TV, probably.

Puffy, watching.

The studio is almost finished! The electricians are coming back today, a door and a banister are going in, and that's it. I will post photos when it's all done.

Before the work could be done, we had to move nearly everything out of the studio. I had not realized how much junk I'd already brought in there until the place was empty - and it was then that I realized how much I like it - and need it - nearly empty. So the challenge now will be to take the right stuff back up there, and find a place for everything else.

Pug No. 2

Pug No. 2

Oil on canvas, 12x12, commission

Thanks, everyone, for your good wishes. The sun is shining, the day is a temperate 36 degrees, I left Chez Jacobson for the first time in a week, and I am feeling better.

Sherry Svec, a friend from New York, read my posting about the crows and shared a story of her own with me. It was so vivid and lovely, I asked if I could post it here on the blog, and she agreed.

Here's her story:

"I don't know whether you remember the hordes of crows that settle in on mIddletown somewhere around October and stay through the winter. They create a noise like rustling silk in the cold as they roost in the trees behind our house. They're like a sudden re-clothing of the maple trees, but in black rather than spring green or fall golden-red. 

"They are very smart, eerily so. They watch me as I walk with Rose through Hillside Cemetery, and I wonder what they are thinking. Mimi (a mutual friend) loves them, I remember her saying they were her favorite birds because they were so clever. 

"My best memory of them was when I was leaving my house to go see the New Year's Eve fireworks at midnight downtown. ... They used to set off the first volley as the clock struck midnight.  (They discontinued this practice after setting fire to the roof of City Hall one year).

 

"I was, as usual, slightly late, and when the first rocket went off I thought I missed it, but I was actually in the perfect position to find myself in the midst of hundreds of startled crows, they had been totally taken by surprise and were flowing around me like a black river.  It was amazing."

 

Thanks, Sherry! And thank you all for reading. 

Pug No. 1

Pug No. 1

Oil on canvas, 12x12, commission

I've been absolutely flattened by some virus now for what feels like an eternity, and I've come to a few realizations.

The first is that I almost never get any small illnesses. Little things - sore throats, upset stomachs, headaches - these just don't happen to me. When I do get sick, it's sleep-the-clock-around, sure-I'm-never-getting-better kind of sick.

The second is that, if I ever get some sort of terminal illness, it would be in Peter's best interest to just leave me. Clearly, I will be unable to keep myself from whining and complaining. If I am this abysmal with the flu, I will be unbearable with a fatal illness.

I'd be best off just walking into the desert, or finding an ice floe and setting myself adrift.

Honestly, if I could leave my own self, I would.