Dogtopia

All you dog-lovers out there will appreciate several of my posts over the next few days. ;) One of Indie's biological sister's is visiting us for a while. Her family is on vacation and we are pet-sitting Miss Bailey. Indie and Kasey are definitely enjoying the extra play time; there have been nonstop wrestling and barking matches all day long. Bailey is a huge instigator, barking and whining at Kasey until she gets up and runs after Bailey.

Here's one of the many videos and photos to come. Enjoy! ;)

Indie Is Four Months Old!

Indie, our beagle mix rescue puppy is four months old today. He is still quite the handful. When we got him he was six weeks old and 3 1/2 pounds.


Now he's four months old and over thirteen pounds!



We're still playing the guessing game when it comes to figuring out what his other half is. Right now we are thinking he has some Jack Russell in him. Others have suggested that he could be part Rat Terrier or a Spaniel of sorts. What do you think?

For more Indie pictures and videos, visit my Flickr site.

Puppy Video!

Indie, our Beagle mix puppy, is almost 4 months now. He's a twelve pound ball of teeth, kisses, and boundless energy. This weekend my husband and I took him and his sister Kasey to the dog park, and it was Indie's first time there. At first he was a little hesitant, but then he believed himself to be just as big as his 100 pound sister.

Last Day To Enter The Giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter the May giveaway! You can win a hand-painted wearable art pendant necklace; see this post to find out how you can enter: -----> HERE!


I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Here are some Indie and Kasey pics to make you smile. :)

Puppy Overload!

Is there a better way to start your day than watching several videos of playing dogs? :)

Giveaway Winner And A Doggie Video!

A winner has been chosen for the giveaway featuring Jenn of j. brown Art, a brand new Etsy shop! In her shop you can find prints of her original artwork. Right now she only has 4x6" prints listed but will be adding more sizes as well as original artwork soon. She just opened this shop, but has another shop on Etsy http://www.newfangled.etsy.com that she opened in November of 2008.

The giveaway ran from Thursday, April 23rd to Thursday, April 30th. A winner has been chosen using www.random.org, and CONGRATULATIONS Kathleen W., you are the winner of your choice of any 4x6 fine art print with free shipping from j. brown Art! I have given Jenn your email address and she will be contacting you shortly so that you can collect your winnings. :) Congrats!!

On another note, here's a funny video to brighten your day. I apologize for how dark it is, the sun wasn't quite up. This is how my husband Matt gets woken up in the morning after I get up and feed and empty Kasey and Indie. (Indie is 3 months old today!) If you have sound turn it on to hear Indie; it's not as funny without the sound. Matt says he sounds like a parakeet. ;)

Indie Pics!

10-Week Old Indie

For those who are new to my blog, WELCOME! Indie is the 10-week old rescue Beagle mix we adopted when he was six weeks old. He's been quite the handful, and always quite comical, happy to pose for pictures.

Here's what usually ends up happening at the end of the day after working in the studio and running around keeping an eye on Indie and his big sister Kasey:

Morning Sun

It's time for more Indie pics! Every morning after Kasey and Indie eat, they run around playing. When they are done playing, they like to rest in the sun.






Are they not looking at each other with love in that last photo? ;)

Indie Sunday!

Indie Picks (Handmade Goodness)

Hand Hook by TheMaineWoodshop - $9

Steampunk Ring by CatherinetteRings - $45


Rainbow Brite Ruffle (Kumquat) by SunBasilGarden - $5.50


Indie Pics (Puppy Mischief)

Indie with his handmade collar from GoneDoggie

Naptime in the sun



105 pounds versus 4.8 pounds

Indie!

We adopted a new puppy. :) In this post I showed the four puppies we would have to pick from and we ended up with "Rebel" who we have renamed Indie.


Gah! He's so cute! He is a six week old Beagle mix and weighs 3 pounds. The size difference between him and our 3-year old German Shepherd is quite comical. Kasey, our first pooch, weighs 105 pounds. Here you can really see the size difference.

They get along really well and enjoy playing chase and giving each other kisses. Kasey is still learning how to share attention and her toys. When Kasey isn't looking Indie likes to abuse Kasey's stuffed fish.
While I was out running with Kasey the other morning, my husband took a video of Indie playing with the fish.





Needless to say he can be a handful. At night he is quite the cryer. My husband describes his crying as "a pack of orangutans attacking and killing a water buffalo and then fighting over it." Last night was his second night with us and thankfully it was already better than the first. I am sure I will have many more interesting stories and adorable photos to share with you in the near future.

Puppies! :)

Hooray! We are picking out a puppy today!

You may know that we already have a pooch in the family, Miss Kasey Jones. I actually did an "interview" with her a while back. She is one of my great inspirations.

We have been talking about adding another dog to the family for several months and then saw these adorable puppies on PetFinder. Today we are going to see the whole litter and hopefully make a connection with one of them. If so, we will be bringing one home and fostering to adopt since he won't officially be ours until after he's been sterilized in June. We also have to make sure that Kasey approves of and gets along with her new brother.

Since Kasey is a girl we will be looking at the male puppies, and these are the ones we get to choose from. Prepare for the cuteness:

Banjo

Dixon

Mason

Rebel

GAH! So cute! How will we be able to choose?? I'm sure several paintings will result from this addition to the family. ;) Have a great day!

My Shopping Connection Feature

A few weeks ago I created a custom pop art pet portrait pendant of two ADORABLE Dachshunds. That's the pendant there to the left. You can see the original blog post about the pendant here. The pendant is 1.5 inches in diameter, and features a miniature original acrylic painting on a wooden tile. The tile is then sealed to make it water-resistant. Then I add a shiny resin finish which is scratch-resistant and gives the impression that it is a heavy glass pendant when it is actually very lightweight.

The person who commissioned the pendant was Erika of My Shopping Connection and Indie Spotting. She has been so kind as to blog about her purchase on the My Shopping Connection website. You can read about the pendant in the site's Shopping By Mail feature, which showcases great gifts and products that you can buy online. It makes me incredibly happy that Erika is pleased with her pendant. Whenever any customer tells me that his or her purchase from me is perfect and exactly what he or she wanted, it brings me great joy.

If you're interested in having your own custom pet portrait pendant feel free to purchase one of my custom listings, convo me, or email me. Have a wonderful day!

Hmm, I Guess I'm a Bargain

So I thought this was too funny not to share. A friend of mine, Emily Turner from Creature-Care, gave me a piece of mail that she had received from the American Kennel Club. Apparently the AKC is now offering pet portraits. What they do is take your photo and print it on canvas, and then "enhance" the canvas photo with paint. Basically, it's a glorified paint-by-numbers. Anyway, that's not what I think is funny. What I think is funny is this obviously pain-stakingly researched statement included in the pamphlet. And I quote:

"While a typical commissioned work could cost you from $5,000 to $30,000 or more..."

Really?!?! A TYPICAL commissioned portrait would cost from $5,000 to $30,000?? Typical?? Well, I guess I've been offering my services at a severely discounted rate. I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that I am raising my prices...

Admittedly, that would be great to charge $5,000 for a portrait, but I don't think that would fly this early in my career. I just can't get over their use of the word "typical." That is NOT typical pricing; that's misinformation. Here's what I charge for original oil paint pet portraits on gallery-wrapped canvas. This is pricing for a one-subject portrait with a non-detailed background:

• 8x10 - $100
• 11x14 - $200
• 16x20 - $400
• 18x24 - $500

Those are the most popular sizes, however, I can do pretty much any size you want.


Anyway, I will be raising my prices after the new year rolls around, but it won't be $5,000. How's $4,999? Have a wonderful day! :)

Introducing Kasey Jones!

I thought I should take a moment and make a very much overdue introduction of one of my greatest inspirations, Kasey Jones. Kasey is the third member of the Jones family, and also the hairiest, though not by much. ;) She has provided me with a lot of inspiration, and I'm thrilled that she was able to take a break from destroying her newest toy to do this interview.

Kasey, who are you?

Well, I was born in Pittsboro, NC and my mom was a German Shepherd; I'm not sure who my dad was. I had lots of brothers and sisters. Then my new daddy came and rescued me and now I live in Holly Springs! Mommy and daddy have lots of nicknames for me like Kasalina, Little One, Gray Beard, Bat Ears, and Weirdo. I used to be really little, but now I'm 97 pounds and very strong! I am almost 3 years old, so I'm a grown-up now and should be able to do whatever I want, but mommy and daddy don't let me. They don't know what it's like to be my age.

What's your favorite food?

BANANAS! BANANAS! BANANAS! I can be upstairs far away from the kitchen and I can still hear mommy or daddy peel a banana. As soon as I hear that 'crack' I run as fast as I can to get to the banana. Usually I leave a trail of drool behind me because just thinking about bananas makes my mouth water uncontrollably. Then I sit down and try to look cute so that mommy or daddy will share, but usually they get grossed out by the waterfall of drool I produce and throw me a piece so I stop making a mess. Also, when daddy comes inside from working out and he's really sweaty I like to lick him a lot. He tastes salty. I also really like rabbit and deer poo, but I get in trouble when I eat that.

Do you like to chase things? What's your favorite thing to chase?

I can't choose just one! I love to chase flies when I let them in the house; I usually catch them and then I get treats! Outside I like to chase squirrels and rabbits. One time I chased a squirrel up a tree and then it fell out of the tree and almost hit me in the head! It scared me and I didn't know what to do! I can't believe the squirrel taunted me like that. One day, I will catch one and show it who's boss. Oh! When there is a doggie or a kitty cat on the TV-thing I run at the TV-thing and bark! How do those animals get in my house without me knowing?!

Where is your favorite place to go?

Well anytime I can get in the car I'm happy. I don't like to be home alone, but my favorite place to go is the lake in Vermont! I love the water! I would play in the water all day and all night if mommy and daddy would let me. I like it so much that when mommy and daddy paddle away in the kayaks I try to follow them. They think I'll get tired so people have to keep me inside, even though I know I'm strong. There are lots of new animals for me to chase at the lake. The chipmunks make weird high-pitched chirps and whenever I hear it I go crazy and run all over the place looking for them! I almost caught one once, but it went under the house.

What's your favorite toy?

That's easy! My frisbee! I love for mommy and daddy to throw it for me. I almost always catch it in my mouth.
Sometimes mommy and daddy think that I could put on a great show, but I would get distracted too easily by other people and doggies. My favorite toy is also anything that another dog wants. When I go to the dog park I like to take a toy from another dog and play keep away. If nobody wants it then I go take another toy from another dog. I don't like to share my toys with other doggies, but I don't mind sharing with people. Mommy and daddy have to search for indestructible toys for me because I like to destroy the ones that are soft. I like to pretend that they are the rabbits and squirrels that run in the backyard and floss with them.

Finally, what's your favorite painting of mommy's?

Mommy has done a lot of paintings of me so it's hard to choose. She even did a painting of me to give to daddy when he married mommy! He liked it a lot and it is hanging in our living room. If I had to choose one, the painting of me almost asleep (there on the left) is my favorite. It looks exactly like me! Lots of people have told mommy that her paintings look like photographs, and that when they go to her Etsy shop they think she does photography at first. I wish I could meet all the doggies that she paints. They look like a lot of fun. I would also like to meet the kitties, because they look so tasty, but I don't think mommy and daddy will let me do that.

And now you know a little bit more about Kasey Jones! If you'd like to meet her she can be found on occasion at the Carolina Pines Dog Park, or walking around Lake Pine in Apex. She will be at Pullen Park on October 12th to be around children and to help teach mommy and daddy how to act with her around kids. She will not be giving out autographs, but there will be a photo op.

The K9 Circle

Since I specialize in oil paint pet portraits, I've been fortunate enough to be involved with a fantastic group of people who own dog-oriented businesses around the Triangle. The group is called the K9 Circle. As many of you know, Matt and I have a dog, Kasey, and we turn to this group of people for all our dog needs. If you have a dog and need anything from a pet-sitter to natural dog food, check out the K9 Circle website first. I promise you won't be disappointed.