on my desk...

Life has been SO crazy since the new year began that I have not been able to post about the WONDERFUL gift that my sweet hubby gave me for Christmas 2009! I have coveted my brother-in-law's antique desk for many years and searched high and low to try and find one like it to no avail...until...I saw this desk that is very similar at Hann Manufacturing. It is actually a drafting teacher's desk but it works perfectly for my traditional watercolor painting. It even has a door on the side to store drawing boards! How cool is that?!!

I have the sweetest and most supportive husband in the world! Thank you Brad!!! I love you!!!

We ordered it unfinished so we can stain it the color we choose...that is when I can finally find time to do it!

Froggin'

Since I am swamped with work(YAY! It's picking up!) that I can't show until it's published, I thought I'd share a new rubber stamp design with you all. Ribbet!

Been gone too long

So sorry about the delay in blog posts but life has been kind of tough lately. We have had some serious illness in our family(prayers for my sweet mother-in-law) on top of having this very sweet but very emotionally damaged golden girl, Annie, to try and rehabilitate. Here's a recent picture of Annie. We are getting some amazing help from our golden rescue expert and oh my, has she been a God-send! More details on the Annie saga later.

Also, a few days ago we had some unexpected studio visitors. Here's something you don't see every day...Canadian geese on a rooftop? My guess is they were flying too low and made a emergency landing. I thought they may have been injured but thankfully they only stayed about 15 minutes, then regrouped and flew off into the big blue yonder.

On the illustration front--I'm getting ready to start the final paintings for a book due out this fall. Here's a little hint. ;o)

Highlight's Magazine illustration

I was honored to be able to illustrate a story in the April edition of Highlight's Magazine for Children. My art was even featured on the cover. Fun, fun!

Poor Annie

Well, it was a tough weekend. Poor Annie got sick late Friday night and we were up most of the night so I took her to my vet early Saturday morning. He had some new information for us. Instead of Annie being a 1 year old pup, he is thinking she is between 3-5 years old and leaning more towards the later side. With the way she is acting and by the looks of her tummy, we are thinking it is very likely that this poor girl was used at a puppy mill for breeding. Who knows how many litters she had before either being thrown away or getting loose. The vet also thought she had most likely never seen the light of day by the way she acts outside.

I have called in a pro who is coming on Saturday to help. She has worked with many puppy mill dogs and 99 percent of them have had happy endings with tails wagging and wonderful outcomes. As I already knew, it is just going to take LOTS of time and patience. Annie has never been able to just be a dog. It's time to rewrite her story.

After some medication and special food Annie is doing well. The blood work came back all good too so at least we know she is healthy physically. Now, we just need to work on the mental health.

To leave this note with a positive...since we got our fence installed, Annie has been able to go out without the leash and is learning to deal with outside. She still won't go out without being led by her collar with much resistance but she is getting a little better each day.

At least we can say she is no longer known as little orphan Annie!

"Rescue" IF - Illustration Friday

The lonely elephant was rescued by mouse.

Annie Update

It will be two weeks on Thursday since we adopted Annie and although we have seen some progress, I also realize this is going to take a long while. Poor Annie who has no self esteem or confidence is very very slowly starting to trust us.

Here is a photo of one of her major breakthroughs on this past sleepy Sunday morning. My daughter in the furry socks and p.j.s was taking the photo and Brad is the lucky one who got to coax her to come and eat from his hands.

One more MAJOR breakthrough yesterday....she licked me!!!! She likes me!!! She likes me!!! (remember the line from the Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer clay-mation movie?)

Annie is teaching me all about the word, patience.

Happy first day of Spring?

The calendar says today is the first day of Spring but it has been snowing since last night and they are calling for up to 8 inches of snow!

How am I supposed to potty train a dog in 8 inches of snow?! Yikes!! Heaven help me!!! At least there is hope. It is supposed to be back to 40's and sunny on Monday and back to 60's by next weekend.

Here's a little sketch just to commemorate the first day of Spring, the way it's supposed to be. These images are also a part of Spring mailer that just got sent out two days ago.

One day at a time

We brought Annie home 7 days ago and although she is still a very shy, timid girl she is taking baby steps. As of yesterday for the first time she was finally able to be coaxed to come to us with the help of treats. She doesn't linger at all to be pet, it's more like eat and dash but it's still a huge step. Brad and I are thrilled!

Since this blog is supposed to be illustration related I will post a piece I did a couple years ago. I also auctioned off an original of this for the Kansas City Humane Society's Art Unleashed last year. It's called "Best Friends".

Oh Annie!

Another Annie update...sorry for all the gushing but oh my goodness, this dog has stolen my heart! Now, I'm not saying this has not been a stressful and challenging 4 days thus far but every baby step she takes is like gold! The first photo is of her relaxing by the front door...one of her favorite safe spots. She wasn't this relaxed until today. She is still VERY timid and the leash training is going extremely slow but we are gonna get here...eventually. The second photo is another safe spot, her crate where she went after the teapot began to whistle and scared her away from the front door. Crate training is going well! We need to give her a bath again after the past 4 days of rain...but that will have to wait until she is a little more settled so in the meantime my house smells like a stinky wet dog. Oh, how I've missed that smell.  :o)

NOTE: I just noticed after posting this that I've been actually drawing Annie for the past year and a half, ever since I lost my precious Brandy in Oct. of 2008. Just look at the slide show to the right of this post to see what I'm talking about.

Update on Annie.

It's only been a little over 18 hours so I know things will get better eventually. As of now she is at least eating and drinking but she is the most timid dog I have ever seen. Not one sound has come from her. Not a whine or a bark. I know I'll just have to build the trust between us and give her time and love.

Thanks all for the sweet words of encouragement!

Ok, back to babysitiing...

Adopting Annie

We are finally doing it!! We found our new family member at the local animal shelter and this is the picture that made me realize I had to bring her home. Hopefully the next pictures you see will be a much more happy and content dog. I realize this will not be an easy task but I am up for the challenge! I know she will be worth it!

Sketching

It's almost time the frogs to begin singing in the pond next door. I love that sound in the Spring! It used to put me to sleep as a child and still does.

I sketched this as I was reminiscing about how our daughter used to love to catch frogs when she was little.

Welcome March!

It's still cold here in Missouri but I am still thrilled to welcome the month of March! We are just that much closer to Spring! Woohoo! I'm ready!!!!!!

I'm back!

 

I'm back after a much needed time of renewal and rest after a very tough year. What better place to go than Hawaii?! To be specific, Princeville, Kauai! My husband's and my very favorite place on earth. This is the view we had from our Lanai. Pure heaven...

This particular photo is a bit blurry but you get the idea. I'll share more later after the jet lag wears off. :o)

and then a few hours later...

Wow! It's really coming down here! My daughter called it "chunky' snow! :o)

What I woke up to...

Snow again...

We got more snow last week so I thought I'd go ahead and post one last winter scene...
This was an experiment with anthropomorphic characters.

one-eyed kitty

The reason for so many kitty illos lately? I had a sweet kitty who showed up on my doorstep about a week ago. Since my hubby is allergic, I couldn't keep the sweet one-eyed kitty. (See picture below.) But by posting photos and sending emails there is a happy ending to this story! We have a wonderful neighborhood watch email list and when I was about to give up hope, I had not one but two offers to take the kitty in! Yay! Just another big reason to get a rescue animal for a pet! They all need homes so badly!

Looking forward to Spring when we can rescue a dog! :o) Check back then to see who will join our family!

another kitty