Love

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and angels gave the sign.

~Christina Rossetti

good day for soup

Only the pure in heart can make a good soup. Ludwig van Beethoven

small but mighty

 This is Jack, a mighty fellow in a small package. He is a rescue dog so of unknown breed. However I happen to know that he rules his household with a benevolent power.

best dog ever

I have been painting dogs belonging to all my friends and family, I am making all these dog paintings as my new oil painting project but haven't painted my own dog. 
My own best dog died 3 years ago now, he was an Australian shepherd and over his lifetime I did sketch him and paint a few watercolors. I blogged here about his passing. He is greatly missed but at this time we sadly have no plan to replace him in this household. 

So I am surrounding myself with a shelf of oil paintings of other dogs.

a brave little spirit

 New day new doggie. Let me introduce you to Trinka, special companion for my dear sister. Trinka has so many charms and talents. I can’t list them all but if you need a comforting furry pet she will cuddle up! 

Trinka is a breed called Cavachon. Half Bichon, half Cavalier.

I say brave little spirit because Trinka has twice survived attacks by much larger dogs. The last one was by a pit bull with a careless owner, her injuries were life-threatening and my sister had to punch the pit bull in the face to get Trinka free. Brave little dog that she is, she recovered cheerfully. 

Old dog new dog

Can an old dog learn new tricks? Yes yes, she can. I have been studying as much as I can about oil painting and learning new techniques. This was my homework assignment for a zoom class I’ve been in. My instructor is Jennifer Gennari and this is through a program called Drawing America, atelier style live classes online. I have about seven more dog paintings in the works right now. It's been great studying up close Jennifer's oil painting technique and I have figured out a few more tricks to apply to my other work. 

grandmothers

 "This is a place where grandmothers hold babies on their laps under the stars and whisper in their ears that the lights in the sky are holes in the floor of heaven. "    
Rick Bragg

I am now a grandmother to ten (yes 10) little new people. It is my pride and joy and I want to keep sketching quickly in my notebook, drawing, or painting them for as long as I live. What a gift they are to me. 

little baby

 

“If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.”

― Vincent Van Gogh