Depths of Blue

Depths of Blue, 16X20, Oil

Inspiration for Depths of Blue

Depths of Blue is another in my series from the 2008 Dallas Arboretum paintout. When I was painting depths of blue, I could hear my former art teacher Vicki McMurry in the back of my head directing me. She was saying things like, "It worries me that you are making that flower so bright near the edge of the canvas..." She really is a great teacher. I worry about me, too, having all these voices in my head when I am painting. Must have something to do with the aging process.... Vicki has one of the best books on painting I ever read. She is a master of beautifully rendered color and she has the added distinction of being a Texas gal.

Three More Weeks!

Java, Howie and Winnie Wiggles, Fredericksburg 2007

Angel Wiggles enroute to Fredericksburg 2007

In three weeks, we'll be off on our trip to Fredericksburg with the puggies. We've got three seatbelts, the extra fancy back seat cover, and two little windowscreens to block out those annoying cars whizzing by and making Howie crazy. That and an ice chest full of goodies. Puggies are always in need of goodies, doncha know.

Blue Hydrangeas

Blue Hydrangeas, 8X10, Oil

Hydrangea blooms make their debut.

My gardening assistant this morning, Annabelle.

Every year I buy a little hydrangea plant from the grocery store and stick it in the ground and think positive thoughts about it. After 3 years, one of these thirsty little shrubs has finally produced flowers! They're tiny, but the blossoms are just starting to open.

Meditation and Pug Napping

Meditation, 11X14, Oil

Inspiration for Meditation

The plants on the deck and in our garden are in full bloom now, even though the temperatures are up in the high 90s. Meditation is fashioned from one of my favorite flowers, geraniums. The decorative screen behind this pot of geraniums looks like aged stone, and I wanted to see if I could capture its delicacy without letting it dominate the painting.

Angel Wiggles, Howie and Java in the sun.

Puggy Footnote: Spied out the window yesterday afternoon - Howie went out the doggy door to nap on the deck. A few minutes after he laid down, Annie came out and plopped down next to him and settled her head on his rear. Then Java came out and lay down and put his head on Howie's belly. Howie can now add "professional pillow" to his puggy resume.

Annie's Story

Annabelle is not JUST the little sister of Howard Pee Pugpants. This little lady is officially the half-sister of Winnifred Wigglepants. Our Winnie Wiggles went to the Bridge after losing her battle with encephalitis (GME) in January. Winnie's breeder, Louise Tran, brought Annie over to visit with us a few days after Winnie died. Louise wanted to give us a gift for all we had done for Winnie. At first I was not sure I was ready to have another little chunky girl in my life, to fill the big shoes my jiggley wiggley had left behind.

But Annie quickly found a tiny chinkhole in my heart's defenses. I think it was her little crooked tooth in her underbite that really got me. She loves to play and has a puppy's energy, unlike her big sister Winnie, but she looks exactly like Winnie when she is focused on some toy that needs chasing and chewing.

Even though it was sadness that brought Annie to us, it's love that will keep her here.

Dallas Arboretum Paintout

Arboretum Afternoon, 11X14, Oil on Linen

The Inspiration for Arboretum Afternoon

In May painters from around the region set up their easels at the Dallas Arboretum for the first annual Paintout there. I'll have a series of paintings from the Arboretum on my web site soon, and I'll have works at the Dallas Arboretum Artscape in September.

Early May is the perfect time to visit the Arboretum, while the blooms are in high season and the sun hasn't remembered it should be baking us to a crisp yet. I met some fellow artists at the Arboretum and really enjoyed painting outdoors for the first time in that setting. No pugs assisting on this one, just the squirrels and an occasional butterfly.

Window to My World

Window to My World, 16X20, Oil

Window to My World is on exhibit at Sandella's Cafe at Southlake Town Center in Southlake, Texas. My artist friend Judy Mackey and I have a number of works at the Cafe, which has some absolutely yummy flatbread pizza and wifi, too. What's not to like about pizza, wifi and art all in one place? Now if they only allowed pugs....

Horseshoe Crabs

A poem about Horseshoe Crabs:

Have continued to survive in the Kasoka waters

Spring and Autumn a friend

A learned person gently comes, steps carefully.

Translation by Cecil H. Uychara

My friend Sharon took me on a tour of the Great Bay Discovery

Center. She said she had some friends she wanted to introduce me to. Can you imagine living close to something this beautiful?

What a unique place! The boardwalk is elevated so

people won't trounce on the grasses and wild critters that live there.

Can you find the frog in this picture?

Sharon introduced me to her buddy, Mrs. Horseshoe Crab - a very busy Horseshoe Crab, since it's mating season in the bay! These critters are one of the most highly studied arthropods
by scientists and they've discovered something in them that helps human blood coagulate. Their chitin (outer shells) have properties that have been used to help human burn victims and studies of their eyes have benefited the field of human ophthalmology. I was very pleased to make the acquaintance of this ancient little lady, whose ancestors lived here before the dinosaurs. You can read more about Horseshoe Crabs at http://www.horseshoecrab.org/index.html

Sunflower Fusion

Sunflower Fusion, Watercolor, 21X15

Sunflower Fusion was painted on a summer evening in Santa Barbara, working from a tabletop piled with sunflowers. My friends and I would visit the Farmer's Market downtown every Saturday morning. We'd wait until 10 minutes before close to get buckets of fresh flowers for pennies. I never managed to leave without a giant bag of hot kettle corn, too. No art studio should ever be without popcorn. My four-footed studio assistants insist on it.

Adventures of a PuggyTag

Once upon a time there was a little PuggyTag who wanted

to travel and see the world and meet new friends...

He went to the airport and waited patiently,

oh so patiently, for a plane to Boston. After all,

they have Boston creme pie there...

When he got to Boston, PuggyTag was

very thirsty, so he drank one of these...

Afterward, his tummy was very, very full.

They had to re-name the restaurant after PuggyTag left...

At last PuggyTag found what he was looking for...

a little puggy friend named Winston,

who looked very, very familiar.

Congratulations Sharon!

Sharon and her Container Garden

Container Garden - Fini, 38X46, Oil

This is my friend Sharon, the owner of this Container Garden and a bran new real estate agent in the Flower Mound, Texas. Congratulations Sharon! We are so proud of you. If you need a great real estate agent, I'll be happy to put you in touch with her. Pretty soon she'll be tooling around town in gold shoes and a red convertible....

Under Construction

Container Garden, in progress - 38X46, Oil

Here is a peek at a typical day at Flower Mound Studio. I just finished up the Frito portrait I showed you a bit earlier and have a painting of Rocky and Ruby, two little dachshunds, almost complete. And I've always got a few florals in progress. This is one of my large container gardens. I use the pots of flowers from my deck as my models for my garden series. Where are my assistants? They're all underfoot and lying about on various pillows, waiting for the scrambley egg making ceremonies to commence.

Thistles

Thistles, 11X14, Oil

The USDA calls the Texas Thistle a "noxious weed." It's thorny and invasive and hard to control and one of my absolute favorite plants - these bristley things pop up all along the highways and in pastures in the hot months. I gaze at them with longing when I drive home from work, trying to figure out some safe spot where I can pull over and get a photo without getting flattened by an 18-wheeler.

Right now they are just about everywhere, so I'm convinced that someone in the LadyBird Johnson Beautify the Highways camp has decided they are a worthy native Texas resident exempt from the summertime mowers. This painting found a home with a lovely little lady who has traveled the world collecting thistle art. She comes to my shows every now and then, and I always have a new thistle gift I've made especially for her when she arrives. She is a kindred thistle-loving soul.

Killer Goes to the Pool Pawty

Are you sure this is safe ma??

Why must there always be hecklers?

This pool pawty better have snacks, is all I gots to say...

Ah, sweet relief. One paw closer to the buffet table...

I'm just workin on my tan...

Good looks, charm, occasional flatulence...what more could you want in a handsome puggy boy like me?

Summer Breezes

Summer Breezes, 16X20, Oil

Summer Breezes is a painting of a subject I love best, sunflowers. My three sisters and I grew up on an organic farm in East Texas and mom and dad planted rows of giant sunflowers to help attract the insects off the other crops. Dad never let us girls drive the John Deere tractor or operate any of the farm machinery. After he passed away in 1992, I had to teach myself how to drive the tractor and hook up the bushhog to mow the grass in the pastures.

I'll never forget the day I was mowing around one of the giant oak trees. My hat got snatched off by one of the branches and when I looked up to grab it, one of the tractor wheels caught the base of the tree and the tractor started climbing up the tree. I yanked (that's a Texas term - yanked) on the steering wheel and turned it to the right as hard as I could. For a few minutes, it was a tug of war between that big ole (another Texas term) tractor wheel and me. Fortunately, the wheel let go and the tractor did not flip over on top of me. I think Dad was keeping an eye on me that day, and I could just hear him say, "Nanny, now THAT'S why I didn't want you girls driving the tractor!"

The Transformation of Frito

Frito's first picture when she arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth

Pug Rescue's Houston branch. Frito has

type 2 cancer and other health issues.

The transformation of Frito under the loving care

of Mary Fran Burke, Houston pug rescue coordinator.

Frito Portrait - Step 1


Frito Portrait - Step 2


Frito Portrait - Fini

You may be wondering how a puggy gal with such class and distinction ever ended up out on the streets. Frito battled more than neglect when she was brought into Houston pug rescue by Mary Fran Burke -- her health issues were substantial. She had surgery this week to have two small cancers removed, and is doing well for a senior puggy gal. She insisted on greeting everyone in the waiting room when she returned to the vet for her re-check yesterday. Frito's before and after photographs were featured in Dallas-Fort Worth Pug Rescue's anniversary video celebrating 10 years and 3200 pugs rescued.

Mary Fran has taken Frito under her wing, as she has so many other pugs in the Houston area where she heads up pug rescue efforts. This portrait of Frito was completed last night in my studio, thanks to the tireless assistance of my own three wrinklesnorts, Howie, Java and Annie, who have never missed a meal in their entire lives.

Mary Fran is hoping Frito will be ready for the summer social season soon, so Frito can wear her new Hawaiian ensemble - a pug-sized grass skirt and a tiny coconut bra. Mary Fran you are an angel on earth. We can hardly wait to see pictures of Frito in her grass skirt.

In Memory of Spencer

Spencer

Spencer went to the Bridge May 9 after battling health issues for many years. He was a little soul who changed all the lives he touched. He was a master singer of the woo roo roo song, a pug who loved people without reservation, and a little guy who kept his dad's pillow warm and occupied every night. We send our love and support to his family, Lara, Rick and Nutmeg, who are missing him terribly now.

Winnie Wiggles Portrait

Winnifred Wigglepants

Portrait by Judy Mackey

Winnie Wiggles was my constant companion in the studio, and my friend Judy painted this picture from a photo of Winnie that was taken just a few weeks before Winnie went to the Bridge. In this photo, Winnie was sitting by my chair in front of the easel, gazing up at me. You might think that was love and adoration in her eyes and maybe you are right, but there was also just a little bit of the message: "Mommy, can we have second breakfast now?" in her appealing gaze. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to receive this portrait from Judy as a gift.

Otis

Otis Enjoys a Nap on a Soft Pillow

Today Mister Otis is going in for a dental cleaning. It's risky anytime one of our beloved woofs undergoes anesthesia, but it it especially an issue for Otis, because he has Granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME). His mom Dori has tried to wait as long as possible to put Otis through this ordeal, but it cannot wait any longer. Please keep Otis in your thoughts today that everything will come out just fine and he'll be home very soon.

My heart goes out to Dori and all the parents of dogs with GME, which is what took my own Winnifred Wigglepants in January. Dori and I became friends through a wonderful support group on Yahoo groups for parents of pups with GME. Let me know if you'd like more information about them. I'm happy to share.

UPDATE ON OTIS

Dori just reported that Otis did VERY WELL today in his surgery - his vet used valium instead of standard anesthesia since the procedure was just a short one. They only removed one tooth, the tooth that was hurting him so much. The little weenie guy is feeling much better now. Thank goodness for moms who watch over their little ones like Dori does.

Living With a Celebrity

Howard Pee Pugpants Says:

"Do I LOOK like a happy little cowpug, ma?"

One can achieve all goals with the

proper amount of focus and determination.

I am often stopped on the streets and in shopping malls and asked, "Are you the lady who is owned by the famous Howard Pee Pugpants?" Poor Anniebelly and Java Cheesy have learned over time to simply roll their googley eyes and try to change the subject. Living with Howie is an honor and a privilege, except for the times when he is barking at the TV, running out into the yard with his dad's freshly laundered socks, unmaking the bed, or peeing on the new Pottery Barn blanket. Howard has made it a life goal to perfect the art of puggy badness, as you can see on his own dogster blog. If you too are blessed with such a celebrity bad boy (or bad girl!), please share. Enquiring puggy moms want to know...

Whispers

Whispers, 8X10, Oil on Linen

Whispers is one of my endless exercises in what I love to paint best, geraniums. Our back yard retreat and container garden is in full bloom now that the temps in Texas are up in the mid-90s. I thought it would be fun to paint this pot of colorful blossoms from a birds-eye-view, looking straight down, instead of the traditional format.