WELCOME! A friend of mine convinced me to start a blog for my art. After much cyber arm-twisting, here it is! I guess I'll start off with a story about being a pet portrait artist.
My degree is in commercial art (specifically, Fashion Illustration, which is pretty much defunct now), and it often felt as if I had to work harder in college in an atmosphere that seemed less friendly to commercial artists.
I worked in various areas of the commercial arts, graphic design, and printing industry for many years before I wearied of the production atmosphere, felt as if my soul was being sucked out of me, and so I decided to try something else.
I took up painting in I believe about 2004; taking a class at a local art store that told me what supplies etc to buy. I didn't care about being taught how to actually paint, I wanted to learn that myself. I just wanted to know what materials I needed, and a few tips. After I took the class, I dabbled a bit, and couldn't decide what I wanted to paint.
A friend of mine who has Greyhounds asked me "Can you paint dogs?" and I said "I don't know, I can try!" and that became what inspired me, and gave me, and still gives me, actual joy in creating art.
Pet portraits feed my soul, and I'm proud to join the ranks of artists throughout time who have celebrated animals in their art. There are always going to be people who look down upon my art because it's *gasp* pet portraits (!) and therefore "not serious". To them my stock response is usually "You got something against dogs?" (or cats, or ferrets, or parrots, etc).
With this blog I will post thoughts on being primarily a pet portrait artist (I also enjoy painting seascapes, as I love the ocean and it feels like a living thing, to me), some paintings in progress, and random reminiscing.
If anyone has any ideas I am all for it!
