• my art is going to the dogs,  Shop Talk

    Visiting the Dog Digs

    Surfer Dogs park here

    I visited the Surf Dog Market for the first time the other day. It’s pretty cool. I really like the “Doggy Zen Garden” in the back and that is part of where the event will take place. I’m excited about the “indoor-outdoor” space. I might have to build a special light feature into one of my paintings just to take advantage of the warm summer night experience. How cool would that be?

    The shop itself is a little more dog lover’s paradise and a little less “art gallery” than I expected but I can roll with it. I shouldn’t expect to make my grand painterly debut on the art scene with the muckety mucks. I have a long way to go.

    This is just a start and it’s a good start. I don’t think I could handle the criticism of real art critics. I’d probably put down my brush forever which would be really sad because I love painting. I really do. Maybe it’s best to start with people who really love dogs and will probably really love paintings with dogs in them.

    the merchandise

    The event coordinator for this show is the sweetest girl on the planet. She has to be. She takes in homeless dogs on a regular basis and finds loving families for them. I’ve always loved animals but I find it easier to look away sometimes because sad dog eyes are the saddest eyes of all. They just clamp onto your heart and suck you dry. The next thing you know you are letting them in your house and there is dog hair everywhere and you’re buying those great big bags of dog food that you have to ask for help to get up on the checkout counter. I just can’t do that.

    Surf Dog Market

    But I can paint. I might not be that good at it yet but I’m just starting out. It really is really cool that I can do something that I really love and they can do something that they really love and we can all walk away feeling like we accomplished something together. It’ll be fun too.

    B-Bug wearing my orange tank top adds nice contrast

  • Beach Bits,  Bug,  Family Matters,  my art is going to the dogs

    Sand Bugs for B-Bug

    B-Bug with Sand Bug!

    We visited Toby’s brother in Newport yesterday and naturally, since he’s related to Toby, he took some awesome shots of Bug and I at the beach. Baby Bug’s Uncle George is a lot of fun. He caught some sand crabs for Baby Bug and she thought they were great. What’s not to love? They are BUGS! And they have wiggly little legs and they live at the beach….I think she would have popped one in her mouth if I hadn’t freaked out and nearly lost my breakfast.

    I hate sand crabs (and all exoskeletal creatures for that matter). They are neat little creatures and I appreciate the wonder of their under-the-sand life with their little feelers eating plankton and such.. But REALLY, to me, they are just beach cockroaches. Ick! Baby Bug wanted me to hold her’s really bad. She kept following me, holding out this wiggly little bug and I had to run away screaming. Silly Bug.

    In other news, I painted another painting:

    frisky

    It’s coming along. I’m running out of places to keep them all!

    I'm running out of places to put them