Mutley & Joxer finished

SOLD

Here is the portrait finished and ready to fly to Mutley and Joxer's owner in England.

Mutley & Joxer Work in Progress 2

Need to add more detail and make a few adjustments. One more session to completion I think.

Mutley & Joxer Work in Progress 1

Here are two images showing the very early stages of a portrait commission. Two sweet Border Terriers, who have very individual characters and appearance.

I started by loosely laying down a thin wash of colour just to fix what was going where and have now begun building up the layers of stronger colour. A very long way to go yet.

Studio BoBo

The weather here in Cyprus has cooled a bit over the last week. Bobo has decided winter has arrived and seems set on taking over the studio. He's found a cosy spot in one of the storage drawers.

We found Bobo (Beau is his posh name) along with his sister Bella in a plastic supermarket bag by the roadside 3 years ago. They were tiny scraps and both fitted on the palm of my hand at the time. Severely mal-nourished and with eye infections, we fed them with hyperdermic syringes and the vet did his best to help us save their eyes. Sadly Bobo lost the sight in his left eye but is otherwise just fine now. Don't feel too sorry for him .... he can spot and pounce on a lizard quicker than any cat I've ever seen.

ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL

ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL

2 1/2ins x 3 1/2ins

Art card original painting.

SOLD

CHOCOLATE LABRADOR PUPPY original painting

Chocolate Labrador Puppy

SOLD

I especially loved painting this little sweetheart. She reminds me of Sophie when she was a puppy.

Lhasa Apso

LHASA APSO

original dog portrait

2 1/2ins x 3 1/2ins

Watercolour and acrylic painting on 140lb acid free paper.

The blog has been a bit short on personal stuff recently. Don't believe in spreading misery if I can help it. But this week I'm feeling more positive, my back pain is easier to cope with. Last Friday I drove my car... first time in ages. I really was becoming stir crazy. To celebrate I'm off to town on Thursday to meet Carole for an art mooch and lunch. YAY!

JACK RUSSELL original painting

JACK RUSSELL

ACEO size 2 1/2ins x 3 1/2 ins

Acrylic painting on heavy acid free watercolour paper.

SOLD

DAISY MOU

Here's my Daisy on canvas.

Not for sale.

SANCTUARY

The girls and I went for lunch in a mountain village last Thursday, and called at the Donkey Sanctuary at Vouni on the way back. They still have their wooly thick winter coats and look especially cute. Couldn't resist painting this happy chappy.


This is for you Lesly! Winnie is the eldest resident at the Sanctuary and such a poppet. She likes to follow the other donkeys around when they go out for exercise. She doesn't have reins, and certainly doesn't need to be guided .... but I insisted ;-) Winnie is the one with big ears.

DAY 30 Project 365

I normally time haircuts for the girls when the weather is reasonably warm. Some how this time the schedule got a bit bent out of shape, and even though it's the coldest time of year, something had to be done. So today I got out the clippers.

Sally, first for the chop, was a brave little soldier, though she did shiver a little. I wish I knew how to spin ... just look at all that fibre!

Here she is in her new handknitted cardigan. To preserve her 'street cred' ... it's strictly for after-dark chilly evening wear, until she gets some regrowth . When I took this pic, I swear the other girls stood behind me sniggering! Little do they know, but my knitting needles will be clicking again tonight, with Teddy and Chou next in line. Daisy is sauntering around with a smug look on her shorthaired face.... no haircut, no silly sweater ... Phew!

If you really want to inflict this garment on your pooch, you can find the pattern here ;-)

DAY 14 Project 365

Last October, Andros (he who must be obeyed at the village garden centre) gave me instructions to leave the banana fruit on the tree for a couple of months. Then take them off and keep in the dark to ripen. Two and a bit months on, I suppose these are now ready for the chop. Just to hedge my bets, and just in case they can be persuaded to grow a little bigger, I'll just remove one hand for ripening and leave the rest for a few days.

This is Sophie's rose, which was buried with our darling Chocolate Labrador. Faithfull like her, it blooms all year round.

DAY 7 Project 365

Daisy sunbathing.

Today for some strange reason, it's warmer outside than in. I had to switch on the heating in the studio... my fingers were too chilly to function.

MOGGS' PORTRAIT

After I finished this painting of Moggs today, I left it propped against a wall downstairs. Daisy was the first of the furry girls to spot it, and began growling softly and when it didn't jump on her eventually plucked up courage to take a close look. Chou Chou saw it next and became mesmerised; she paced around it, wagged tail, stared ... hid behind a sofa and stared some more ... finally went for a sniff and then plonked herself down infront of it and grumbled at it. Sally, bless her, took absolutely no notice at all, but then those of you who know her won't be a bit surprised to hear that ... and Teddy ran across the room at it and started 'talking' and introducing herself to it. The 'original' Moggs, meanwhile, stalked off in high dudgeon boycotting all contact with the imposter.

PET PORTRAITS

Baby Basset miniature portrait.
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SAFE HAVEN FOR DONKEYS

Yesterday I took Julie, Abby and Corinne up to the donkey sanctuary at Vouni. There are way over 100 animals that have been rescued or left as unwanted. A team of dedicated volunteers care for them magnificently ... heroically actually in the heat of Cyprus summer. The girls adopted Melios and Gringo, and hope to visit them again when they return next year

We had lunch at Omodhos village. Thank goodness I remembered my camera. Lots of inspiration for future doodles!

EYES 4

Another Eye ACEO.

Julie and the girls spent a very pleasant day with us yesterday. Abby and Corinne bathed the dogs, swam in the pool and, as is usual with recent young visitors, found their way to the studio. A teabag folded project took their eye, so I showed them how to make a rosette, and they made some cheerful greeting cards.

It's Abby's birthday on Friday, so this morning I got to thinking something crafty would be an appropriate as a gift for her. Found just the thing in Kate's shop.

MY 'GIRLS'

OK Jan you were right.....I couldn't keep my beloved furry girls unblogged for long. Here is Daisy, then from left to right, Sally, Chou Chou and Teddie. Chou Chou is the boss and has a silly name because she looks a mite like Chewbacca from the Star Wars movies, and has definite stunt-double potential. This painting of my girls is by K, and I like it very much.

Each has been found by us in various states of abandonment. Teddy and Chou were tiny puppies found on separate occasions wandering along main roads.

Sally was knocked down by a 4WD vehicle on the highway and declared 'dead' by a vet. After I insisted that dead dogs don't flutter their eyelids, he got out his stethoscope, confirmed she had a tiny heartbeat and finally got to work. In the end he did a great job, and now apart from a little short term memory loss, she is absolutely fine and very happy.

Daisy was abandoned in the hills, we estimate when she was around 6 months old. Unfortunately for her, she was wearing a metal choke chain collar at the time, and after somehow surviving for approximately another 5/6 months, she of course grew larger. When we first saw her, she was starving and half strangled as her flesh had grown through the chain links. The photos from that time are horrific and I won't be showing them here. We will always be grateful to Dr Dimi, who turned his operating room into an engineerng workshop. He hired special metal cutting equipment to get the chain off her, before he could begin dealing with her condition.