Happy Valentine's Project 2014

Valentine's A Day of Love for All

This project started out as a fix to an error in judgement. My way of saying I'm sorry to a friend. And what better way to ask forgiveness than a painting of her beloved chickens. Somehow it evolved into a Valentine. From there I started painting Valentines with cheesy sayings that I thought my friends might like.

I looked up vintage Corgi Valentines cards and borrowed this saying for my friend who would enjoy the pun. 

And this for my friend who travels a lot and has to put is cat in "jail" his words not mine. The Cat has his own facebook page and makes funny comments from jail. How purrrrfect. (see, I can't stop with the dry/bad humor)

This valentine is for my sister. She rescued a dog this summer. Elsie had been left in an outdoor kennel in Minnesota for over 7 years, she was scared of grass (which she had never walked on) had difficulty even walking. Someone else actually found her on their doorstep, she couldn't lift her head, blood was coming out of her eyes, she was emaciated and covered in grossness, yet she wagged her tail. They nursed her back to a fair condition, but couldn't keep her, that's where my sister entered the picture. Elsie, then moved to Iowa. My sister would take her on walks everyday and the dog struggled and limped along. She got her on arthritis meds and Elsie is now running. This painting is from a picture taken in October. If you don't believe dogs have feelings, all you have to do is look at the biggest smile on Elsie's face, she looks like she is actually laughing. The rest of her days, thanks to the rescuers and my sister will be spent happy.

A Westie puppy

Pumpkin the little Shih tzu from Florida

Katie the puppy from Colorado. This was taken from a picture where the little pup had just come back from the dog park with a big cut across her sweet little nose. The expression was so cute I just had to try painting her, sans mark.

For all my Swedish friends, and especially the one that lives in Bloomington, Jenny Lind. We joke back and forth, me being of Norwegian back round, but I love the Swedes all the same.

George Maximus, who can't seem to get his weight up to 2lbs. He a world traveler, a purse dog, friend and companion to my cousin.

For all the yoga junkies out there and especially from my friend who loves lemons. It's a goofy little painting but why not? I wanted to draw a lemon in clothes, for my California friend, Kelli. This is what happen.

For years, on facebook, I see pictures on Thursday nights of my friends who have date night. I started noticing and commenting on the fact that the husband always wears a tie. I love that! A tie! He could go home and put on jeans and a t-shirt, but he meets his wife all dressed up and they always go somewhere interesting and fun. 

Way to be a great example of love thru out the years.

In the Westie Parade they always have a king and queen, usually the oldest Westies and they get to ride in the back of the convertible. They wear a cape and a crown. The rest of the 98 Westies walk down main street in full costume. This is for all my Westie pals.

Frankie as a baby pug rolled off the bed and got stuck between the bed and the wall. He cried out and was rescued, but not before the keepsake photo was taken. I just added a little outfit and the saying.

Fashioned after a vintage valentine only with a Westie. Very plain and simple.

 My youngest sister and her husband have a Great Blue Dane, Maxime. I had to paint her in bright colors and happy back round. The breed is bred to be guard dogs. My sister has no need to ever be scared with Maxime by her side. We went camping with her this summer and she patrolled our site borders. 

Another happy Golden. This dog happened to break his toe and had just come back from the hospital. He was high on drugs and the owner snapped a photo of him with the biggest smile on his face. I tried to capture it, but did not do him justice. He is a surfing dog and wears a life jacket and surfs off the San Diego coast, I however put in in a light blue ribbon, very uncharacteristic for him.

Lulu the Bull Terrier. The owner place an order for a felted ornament after Christmas and I had gotten rid of all my supplies for the season, while I was waiting for more to arrive I did a little practice painting of her pup. 

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine's. There is love all around us everywhere we look. 

Dogs

Frankie

"He speaketh not a word, and yet there lies a conversation in his eyes."

Katie

Cat and Dogs

Cat and Dogs

I have been borrowing images of my friends pets all week. I'm working on drawing different kinds of dogs and using lots of color, 

the results have been happy.

Meet Harleigh the Yellow Lab

Morpheus the Tiger Kitty

Maxime the Blue Great Dane

Pumpkin the cute little Shih Poo

And the smallest of them all George Maximus the Yorkie

I post daily work on my Facebook page Camp Studios. 

"Like me" and you'll get your daily dose of cute.

December 2014 Calendar Stories

Happy Winter!

December is Christmas for me, but not for everybody. When I created the artwork for Rivertown Trading Company, they asked me not to do any religious holidays including Christmas. I have pretty much adhered to that advice. December is always winter and festive but I have never painted a decorated tree or Santa Claus. I keep it bright and happy and outdoorsy. Winter celebration. 

The story behind this little painting is not very deep or meaningful. I was working in a quilt shop, helping fill in some hours temporarily, and while I was putting away fabric, I totally fell in love with this red, pink and green print. There is inspiration everywhere you look, nature, fabric, architecture, city streets, shadows on the pavement, the design of the landing strip, its all around us all the time. I tried to remember how it went and I ended up using something like it as the border for the painting. Then all I needed to do was come up with a main scene. I don't remember how I thought of polar bears, maybe it was the trip to the zoo, or the constant reminding that the polar ice caps are melting and ruining the bears hunting season. I just did it. 

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Blessed New Year!

November 2014 Calendar Stories

Peru

 A couple of years ago my dear friend, Sharon sent me a package with an envelope that she had taped on the outside of the box with my address written on it. I thought the envelope felt a little thick so I took a knife and pried it off the box and opened the envelope. To my surprise inside was a letter and photos written to me from my friend but dated about 15 years earlier. She must have found my address and taped it on the box without looking inside the envelope. My friend had been on a mission trip in South America and the photos were of her and a little Peruvian girl in full costume and there were photos of llamas all decked out and in full and glorious color. The way only the handiwork of Peru can look. It was wonderful. November is the month of family, because of Thanksgiving. This year I just have one little child and her friends, because friends can be just like family and sometimes better.

October 2014 Calendar Stories

Owls

To be totally honest, this doesn't really have a story. It's just owls. But when I look at this painting I think it had to come from somewhere. And yes it did, and it wasn't originally from me. My little girl drew a picture of an owl and I tried to recreate it. She had put this funny back round on the painting and it seemed to me I could do the same with the stencil I had order from Royal Stencil to paint the insides of my cupboards. I tested it out and loved the look, and there you go.....not much of a story, but I'm sticking to it.

September 2014 Calendar Stories

I Love You to the Moon and Back

September is always back to school month. So I focus on creating a scene little children would be drawn to. A scene teachers would like to explain. I once saw a  framed black and white painting which looked like it had been quickly done on butcher paper. It was a horse flying thru the sky carrying something like a dozen naked children. It was so intriguing, I studied it every time I saw it. I have since tried to do my own version of the painting with color, with my own little children, nieces and nephews. This year's version is a pink unicorn with a fairy and lots of little creatures to look at and make up imaginary stories of your own.

August 2014 Calendar Stories

Sanibel Calling

August. My birthday month. I let myself do paint whatever I want in the month of August. I have often painted my beloved dog Belle. Several times I have painted lions, the Leo symbol for the month. This year I painted one of my favorite places, Sanibel Island in Florida. Every year, for the last 30 years I have gone to Florida in the winter. I usually work on the calendar during that time. I always go to the beach. This was a step out of my normal painting style for me. It is layers and layers of acrylic paint to create the soft back round, and just a simple seabird in the foreground. It's not cutesy or necessarily happy, but I do find it peaceful and restful. Stop struggling and breathe the fresh sea air. Rest. Be peaceful. Keep it simple. Relax. Enjoy. Be still. 

June 2014 Calendar Stories

Windsong Orchards

In the mid 70's my dad left his teaching job in Minnesota and bought orchards in Wenatchee, Washington. Up till then I don't think he had ever seen a cherry tree. That started my career as a cherry picker. I was ten years old and required to pick a lug a day. A lug is about 35 pounds of cherries. It would take me what seemed like all day. My sister and I couldn't quit till the our work was done. A lug paid $2.35. My first year I made $40 (I am sure my dad padded my check a little) I had to save some of it, the rest I spent on a beautifully made, stuffed, Beatrix Potter Benjamin Bunny with a green beret.

Every year I picked faster and more. I loved it. I could work for 2 weeks and make a couple thousand dollars. Work in the orchard taught me so many things. It was how I patterned my own business. The more and harder you work the more you get paid, piece work. Always calculating, always trying to figure out how to do the job faster and better. The job also taught me to get up early and get the job done. 

Our orchards were named Windsong Orchards, a lot of orchards are just the last name of the owner, but my mom wanted a pretty name and thus Windsong came into being. She would have liked to have flowers planted around the base of each tree and the grass completely manicured. With thousands and thousands of trees, and hundreds of migrant pickers tramping thru the rows of trees, that dream never happened. The donkey with the baskets on his back, and a flower garland around his head, that really didn't happen either, I don't understand why. My dad chose to use big wooden bins that would hold 800 pounds of cherries, loaded onto a trailer pulled by a green John Deere or red Masey Ferguson tractor. The red tractor was always my favorite just because it was so colorful against the green trees. 

This particular piece of art was inspired by a wedding invitation I did this year. The bride's favorite color was red and her wedding was in July. She had seen some art I had done with a cute apple border and suggested I do something like that for her invitations. Since her dad owns cherry orchards and since cherries are picked in June and July, I suggested going that route. The invitations turned out adorable. I was able to attend the wedding, which was beautiful, and at the reception there were beautiful arrangements with 9 row cherries (the size of a quarter or larger, basically the biggest cherries on the chart). The border from the month of June was the border used on her invitations. I just had to incorporate it's cuteness into my 2014 calendar.

May 2014 Calendar Stories

Bluebettes and Happiness

This is what I would call my classic style artwork. Happy little creatures with rosy cheeks wearing outfits, in this case bikini's, doing a human activity. I usually sit and start sketching, this piece started with a bluebird sitting on a branch. Then I sketched her again and added a hat and a purse. I thought the branch was to prosaic so tried again on the edge of a birdbath, and Boom! A whole new scene popped into my head, instead of a purse a beach bag and a bikini and her little swimming bluebettes (hey, I just made that word up and I LOVE it, I am going to keep bluebettes in my repertoire and change the title of this piece). This is always my process and it is hard to start facing the blank page (usually without a thought other than one word or a season--in this case the word was "Spring") and then it evolves into a great little fantasy for me and hopefully you. 

March 2014 Calendar Stories

Like Peas in a Pod

March. Spring. Babies. 

I found this series of pencil drawings in an old notebook (which now I am thinking would make a great series of paintings for a nursery) which tells the story behind the story of where babies come from. It starts out with seed packets, harvesting the crop, packaging, getting ready for shipment, first by boat then by truck and final delivery. It's all done by dogs, cats, beetles and of course a stork. This painting is obviously the "going down the river" scene. The babies will then be placed on delivery trucks and taken to the appropriate cities where they will then be delivered by your classic stork. Just to be clear, no babies, animals, bugs or birds were harmed during this process. 

February 2014 Calendar Stories

Love

 February 2014 is recycled from the calendar painting of February 2001. The 2001 February calendar was one of my favorite calendar paintings ever. I altered the contents of the heart but painted everything else the same. 

I was going to stop at that last sentence. It makes it seem so easy, but truth be told, I struggled on this painting. The heart is so thick with paint from painting over it and over it again and again. And in the end it is a simple two color design, well almost one color, the back round color just being a lighter shade than the words.

Bottom line, Love is complicated.

January 2014 Calendar Stories

The Peacock 

January can be the most difficult month to decide on because is it the opening picture. It is the first art you see when you purchase the calendar. It is the doorway thru which you step into a brand new year. 

I usually do a winter scene for the month of January in blues and chilly colors. This year I wanted to do something different. Something the said welcome to the new year, may it be full of beauty, grace and hope. Artwork that makes you feel warm and happy and that anything is possible.