Lion lyin'

It was time to replace my lion pattern since that was one of my older ones. I found a picture I had taken at the zoo a while back of the male lion lying regally on his rock and gazing out at the world, and I was inspired to give it another go. Very happy with how he turned out...

Bulldog pattern

You can tell I am off work this week- I am getting so much art-work done! :)

The model for this pattern came from the Crown Classic dog show again- I was wandering up and down outside the Bulldog ring and taking pictures here and there, then I saw this pup. The pose was so perfectly definitive of a bulldog (not to mention SOOO darn cute!) that I had to stop and snap a bunch of pictures..

Irish Wolfhound and Schipperke patterns

The Schipperke I used for my model here was from the Crown Classic dog show a couple weeks ago. It is hard to get well-defined pics of Schipperkes since they are solid black- they tend to look two-dimensional in pictures. But I got some pictures of this one that turned out well enough to work with. His handler recognized me from the (many) other times I have haunted this show with my camera, and we chatted a bit about the breed. I recognized her too- she usually has Anatolian shepherds up in the 'Meet the Breeds' ring, so this was a little bit of a change.. :)

The Irish Wolfhound pictures I actually took several years ago at a humane society fundraiser. It was called Woofstock- I don't remember which city, just that it was a good long ways east of me..

Havanese pattern

This little Havanese was up on the grooming table when I spotted him/her. The handler posed him for me and I got some really cute pictures! I have been looking for Havanese models for a while, so I was really excited to find this one..

Christmas presents

Well, the gifts have been given, so I can post pictures of the finished pieces that were Christmas gifts! :)

Lily (Catahoula/hound mix):











Daphne (sable rough collie):











Chief (Catahoula mix):

New pattern- English Cocker Spaniel

This was modelled on a photo I just took at the Crown Classic dog show a couple weeks ago. This beautiful little golden-colored English Cocker was just sitting on his/her grooming table by the aisle watching me and posing.. :)

Alaskan Malamute- first cutting

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon pictures

Only one Wirehaired Pointing Griffon by their ring- at least that I saw. This was exciting too, since I don't think I had ever seen one of them before..

Glen of Imaal Terrier pictures

I went over to the ring where the Glen of Imaal terriers were supposed to be showing, and there were only three of them there. One of the handlers saw me taking some people (including me) taking pictures and had one of his pups 'sit up' for the camera. Actually sit up like a person with his hind legs all the way under him. It was the cutest thing! :)

Cesky Terrier pictures

One of the new breeds I met at the show last weekend was a Cesky terrier. I was standing by the Bernese ring watching Kodo's breeder show her girl, and as I was looking around in the area outside the ring I saw a terrier with his person watching the Bouvier ring next to us. I though it was a Sealyham, which I didn't have any pictures or cut patterns of, so I walked over to them to see if I could get pictures of him. I asked his person, and it turned out he was actually a Cesky terrier instead, which I had (barely) heard of, but had never seen. Turns out the Cesky is a cross between the Sealyham and the Scottish Terrier, so at least I wasn't TOO far off!

The gentleman with the dog seemed excited that somebody was interested in his breed, and gave me a lot of information and posed the dog for me over and over. I of course was THRILLED to see a completely new breed to me and went nuts with my camera and asking questions. Hopefully I didn't make too much of a nuisance of myself.. :)

Löwchen pictures

As I was walking into the show on Sunday, I saw two Löwchen dogs with their people in one of the vendor booths. I ran up to them really quickly and asked if it was ok to take their pups' pictures. I verified that I had gotten the breed right, and I had (the haircut tends to be a dead giveaway with these guys :D ). The owners were very welcoming and posed their pups for me. Here are a couple shots- one that shows the full body with the 'lion cut', and the other that shows the cute furry little face..

Dog show take 2

Got up to the big dog show again today. My pup's breeder was supposed to be there with one of her dogs, so I actually planned out a schedule so I could watch her show, then get around to some of the breeds I wanted to see. Because of this, I got pictures of a bunch of more uncommon breeds, and I am very excited about that!

I think over the next week or two I will do blog posts with some of the pictures and stories of the different breeds I met- stay tuned!

Last cutting on Jack Russell pattern

I got my last cutting (3/3) done on one of my Jack Russell terrier patterns- I sold the 2/3 piece at my last art show of the year. So once this one sells, the pattern will be discontinued, and I need to design a new Jack Russell pattern!

Dog show

It is that time of year again- the big Crown Classic dog show in Cleveland. I spent about 4 hours today wandering around the show and taking pictures. I got lucky enough to get some good pictures of a cute little Havanese up on her grooming table- her owner was nice enough to pose the puppy for me even though I was trying to stay in the background.. :) and there was a cute Tibetan Terrier by the next ring over whose people posed him over and over for me as well. Both of these breeds were ones people have asked me about, but I have had trouble finding dogs to pose for me..

I also got some good pictures of a smiling happy American Staffordshire Terrier. I love getting pictures like that to model for cuttings, since I think the bully breeds get such a bad reputation that I really want to show them in a good light- especially how wonderful they can be with people when they are treated right. This girl in particular could not get enough attention. I sat down on the floor by her and she washed my face and plopped herself in my lap for scratches, smiling the whole time! :)

Hopefully I will have a group of new puppy patterns coming up in the next couple months from this trip- and again I have to thank all the wonderful owners and handlers who bent over backwards to pose their dogs for me and answer all my questions!!

Lorikeet pattern

Our zoo has a lorikeet (small parrots) aviary as part of its Australian Adventure exhibit. You can walk into this screened building and the lorikeets are flying all around you. You can buy nectar to feed them with too- some of them are brave enough to land on your hand to drink. There are some beautiful color markings on these birds.. I spent a while in the aviary taking pictures last time I was there.

First cuts- Leonberger, Flamingo, Rhinoceros

Just managed to get these three cut and matted before last weekend's show..

New pattern- Leonberger

I sold the last Leonberger piece I had in stock, so time for a new pattern! Considering how uncommon the breed is in the States, I have gotten a lot of requests for them. I think we have a couple breeders in the Cleveland area- maybe that is why..

New patterns: Chuckwalla lizard and Rhinoceros

New patterns: Flamingo and Alaskan Malamute

Newf, Australian cattle dog, Cat, and Wolf first cuttings finished

Sunday show this weekend

This is my second-last show of the year. It is a one-day only event, located at Executive Caterers Landerhaven in Mayfield Heights, and it runs from 10 am to 5 pm. I have done this show for the last 3 or 4 years... It is well-organized and laid-out, the ballroom/dining room area of the party center is beautiful, and part of the admission proceeds benefit the 'Drew's Beads' program for the Children's Hospital Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic.
So stop on by if you are in the area! :)

www.giftsfromtheheartboutique.com

Newer carved ornaments

I have been concentrating more on pictures of my papercuttings on this blog, but since I got some good pictures of a couple of my latest hand-carved ornaments, I figured it was time to change that...

Pharaoh hound, Shiba Inu, and Dachshund cuttings finished!

Tent decisions

At the end of my last outdoor art show of the year, ANOTHER of my tent cross-braces snapped as I was folding the tent up to pack it away. So I figured I would just have to replace it with a 'real' artist tent for next year's outdoor season. Unfortunately, my financial situation changed enough so that spending $1000 on a Lightdome tent just isn't going to be possible in that time frame unless I find it used and much cheaper. And Lightdome has a sale going on now too that would have been perfect- it is just killing me! :)

I started trying to think of alternatives, then on EZup's website I found you can buy replacement parts for your tent. So I went to the page for the Embassy II and sure enough, those cross-braces were available. For a reasonable price too! So I picked two up and will be trying my hand at tent repair once I get them. Just to tide me over for a little until I can afford a good tent..

A funny side-note- the EZup page for the Embassy's spare parts had a blurb saying that due to high demand many of these parts are back-ordered so it may take a while. Gee, I wonder why? I had TWO cross-beams snap on me in first year of owning the thing- I am amazed ANYBODY buys them anymore!! Another case of you get what you pay for I guess.. but even so, for a couple hundred dollars I would expect to be able to get more than 2 uses out of it before it starts breaking.. Ah well, I will know better than to buy from them next time.

New cat and dachshund patterns

I am on my last cutting from my short-haired Dachshund pattern, so it was time to draw up a new one..













I think this is a good example of how my style and techniques have changed and improved- my last Kimi-modelled cutting was done as one of the first patterns that I designed from my photos several years ago. You can see the difference!!

Busy couple days- Newfoundland, Australian Cattle Dog, and Wolf patterns

I have been working on replacing some of my couple-year old dog-breed patterns since my current work is a LOT more complex and a lot better (at least I think so! :D )

Replacement Newfie pattern. I saw this guy? girl? at the Medina dog show. Beautiful chocolate brown.. S/he was lying there with a drool towel draped around his/her neck while his people watched the Working group compete. I didn't put the drool towel in the cutting though.. :)











Also a replacement Australian cattle dog. I have had this photo for a while, I think I took it at the 2007 Chagrin Polo Field show, but I am not positive?











And got a pattern done for the beautiful red wolf that I saw on the trip to the Columbus zoo:

Cuttings finished- Lab and Bichon

Greyhound- first cut finished and matted

Bichon Frise, Labrador Retriever, and Shiba Inu

Time to replace some of my older patterns for the Shiba and the Lab. And I finally managed to get a Bichon drawn up that looked like a normal pet-type coat instead of the shapeless loads of fluff that you usually see on a show dog.. :) I have gotten a lot of requests for Bichons, so this will fill that gap.

Greyhound pattern

My sleeping greyhound cutting is on its last edition, so time to draw up a new greyhound piece! The short-haired dogs are always the tricky ones..