Blue Portrait Finished - Thursday, April 24, 2008

Blue 14"x11"

It's been a busy week... I have been painting shutters for the outside of the house and new boards for our park bench. This morning, however, "Blue" called to me and said she had been patient enough and it was time for me to finish her portrait! So I got up at 6am and here it is finished!     Comments

Blue Portrait Demo - Thursday, April 17, 2008

Blue photograph	Blue - in progress 14"x11"

Today I did a demo of our new dog Blue for my Pastel Painters of Maine art group at the River Tree Center for the Arts.     Comments

Highland Trio - Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Highland Trio 12"x12"

I didn't get to work in the studio today but tonight before bed I went into the studio to get my things ready for tomorrow's demo and changed the backgound a bit on the Highland Trio and sketched out a new wolf painting.     Comments

New Paintings! - Monday, April 14, 2008

Highland Trio 6"x10"	Moose Family - in progress 12"x12"

This morning I decided to finish a threesome of Scottish Highlanders I began in February. I started putting some color on the moose painting I drew the other day, too. At first it was just the 2 adults and I was going to call it 'The Secret,' but then I thought the empty center space may be a compositional problem, which is also why I often stay away from only 2 animals in a composition. So it's not a 'secret' anymore! I don't really know where I'm going with it right now. I don't even know if I'll keep those colors as they are. I may paint out the baby moose after all, too. I did use Createx Pure Pigment to tint the Wallis museum grade sanded pastel paper orange and it's a good surface to work on. I traditionally use FW acrylic ink. My only complaint with the Createx pigment is that the drawing lines don't erase very well. It all gets covered by pastel in the end so it isn't a huge problem.

I also took several photos of my dogs out on the porch this afternoon. The light was good and I wanted to get some photos of the three of them together! I also need a few photos of Blue for a portrait demo that I am doing this Thursday for the Pastel Painters of Maine (art group) at the River Tree Center for the Arts.
Here are a couple of photos of the three of them below. I will post the photo of Blue on Thursday after I do the demo...

Blue, Hobo & Gretchie Photo	Blue, Gretchie & Hobo Photo

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Blue Update - Sunday, April 13, 2008

Blue on the front Porch photo

I haven't written for a few days. Blue is doing very well. Today I took out half of her stitches. Tomorrow I will remove the rest. We did find out on Tuesday that the tumors they removed were malignant. She has "infiltrative adenocarcinoma," a very aggressive form of cancer, but the margins around the removed tumors were clean. The vet said she has a good chance, we just have to watch her suture line as in the future that's where new tumors would develop.
Here is a photo of her today on our front steps! She looks great! You can also see Gretchen watching through the glass door behind her waiting for her turn to come outside!     Comments

Beach Visit - Thursday, April 10, 2008 I skipped out today for a short time to take some photographs of seagulls at Mother's and Middle Beaches for future paintings. I dropped the film off at the one-hour which is out of order so I had to send them away. They should be back sometime next week. I'll post a couple of photos if they come out good!     Comments

Grooming Day... Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Hobo & Gretchen Riding in the HHR photo

Today, Hobo and Gretchen have grooming appointments. Blue had her bath the Friday before her surgery, thanks to Natalia at Suntar's Kennels for squeezing her in. I brought some drawing materials downstairs last week so I could do some sketching, and although I haven't been able to yet, I hope to today. It is really quiet around here without them! It's just my Blue Belle and me. Definitely had to cancel my meetings today... She's never been left in the house alone at all! One more week and she should be really healed. Her stitches come out over the weekend.     Comments

The Stitch Ripper - Monday, April 7, 2008

It's Monday and the weekend was uneventful - no stitch-ripping episodes. So today I decided I'd like to go back to sleeping in my bed. Wrong! Blue must have sensed it because when I came downstairs from taking a shower early this evening she had removed one stitch and was on to a second. More butterfly bandages and I'm relegated to the couch! I was hoping to get to the studio to paint for a couple of hours but I dare not leave my little 'stitch ripper' unattended! I get so absorbed in painting that everything else is blocked out. That's just not a good thing right now. I have been doing a bit of framing, however.     Comments

Blue Belle - Friday, April 4, 2008

Today we had to run errands and grocery shop, and our little Blue Belle, as I like to call her, got at her stitches. She's been wearing a T-shirt but she got to them anyway. Thank goodness for steri-strips! She didn't manage to tear out any but it is evident that she can't be left alone. The Elizabethan collar agitates her so that's not an option.     Comments

Blue Update - Thursday, April 3, 2008

Blue had the drain removed this afternoon. She's been so good. I have cancelled most of my obligations for the next week or so and I have been sleeping on our new couch so I can be close to her at night. We haven't had a couch for many years and we recently decided to buy one. Good thing!     Comments

Our Blue - Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Blue Lying Down photo

Blue is doing pretty good today. She has to go for a dressing change this afternoon as she has a drain in her chest. The results from the biopsy won't be back for a week to 10 days. I made a ramp for her to one of our side door entrances (with the least number of stairs) with boards and stapled old rugs to it so she won't slip. I also made another so she could get into and out of my Jimmy.     Comments

Our New Dog & Gretchen - Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Blue in the Kitchen photo	Gretchen at the Dog Park photo

We were dog-sitting for our neighbor's dog, Blue, on February 22 & 23 while he sold his house and moved, and had one of his dialysis treatments the following day. All of the stress and preparations, in addition to his dialysis, proved to be too much and George had to be rushed to the hospital. After a few days in the hosital and a few more in rehab, he was finally able to move into his new place. It was very difficult, and a much longer story, but he came to realize he wasn't able to care for his dog anymore. Blue and our dog, Hobo, have been friends since the day we moved next door to George, and we liked her too, often telling George we'd have a place for her if he ever couldn't care for her.

A year ago in March we rescued our Gretchen from the West Kennebunk AWS to be a companion for Hobo. And a few weeks ago, we took over the care of Blue. Yes, we now have three dogs! Good thing I'm an animal lover! The three of them had their annual check-ups and our vet found a breast tumor in Blue that needed immediate attention and if she was treated very soon, had a very good prognosis. So today, our darling Blue had a mastectomy. Needless to say, I think I will be spending much of my time caring for her as my studio is upstairs and I don't think she should be left unattended. I have posted a picture of Blue, before surgery, in the kitchen and one of our Gretchen at the Kennebunk Dog Park last fall!     Comments