For the first time I am painting using some other peoples reference, aside from commission work which usually is from other peoples's photos.  I have asked for permission to use them, and have graciously been told yes!  These are mainly of the Scottish Highland cows which the only ones I photographed and painted, I had to go all the way to Santa Ynez Valley area to take pictures of them.  They are just so difficult to find in the San Diego County area.  I can find Black Angus, Hereford, Holstein's all day, but not Scottish Highland.

This is a recent photo that I painted, thanks to Ratia Ranch in Finland.  With their permission I have used a few of their images as reference, including this one.

16 x 16 available

I really love these cows, with all of their 'hair', but especially the mother and calf images, so much tenderness can be seen in them.  I love

the fact that they are combed and cared for almost as pets.  

What a beautiful moment in time this is, yes Scottish Highlands do make great subjects for paintings, although all cows do in my opinion.  I love the meme I shared on facebook, 

Either you love cows or you're wrong lol.  If you would share this too, you must be a fan of my work!

Recently my son and his wife had to put down their cat, Mew.  He was not old, he was sick.  The kind of cancer that emaciates-it was not easy to let go, but it was time.  I have so much empathy for them, it doesn't really matter how we lose a beloved pet,  or how long they live.  We never want to do it, they can't be replaced, and we are never really ready for it when it comes, but it does come.

I have talked to people in the past, seen many who have left good-by posts on Facebook as their beloved pets cross that rainbow bridge into animal heaven.  I always wonder, do they already have a portrait to remember them by?

When I was talking to my son about it, he made a comment that I found interesting.  It had to do with this painting I did of Mew back in 2017, when he was in his prime.

16 x 20  "Mew"

Mew liked to hang out in the garden on the swing, it was one of 'his' places.  So, I took a picture of his Majesty one time when he was on it, (sort of falling through the back lol ) and did this painting for the kids for Christmas.  They of course loved it, and were surprised.  

They have enjoyed this painting for the past 5 years, and now when they look at it they are reminded of him as he was at that time of his life.

He said he was glad I did the painting back then, and that they already had it.  The best reason to have a pet portrait done, which will remain a family heirloom for a long long time.

While I am also commissioned to do custom pet portraits once they are gone, remember, you will only have the photos that you took when they were here.  A painting is always better than just a photo, and I can't think of a family pet that does not deserve a custom pet portrait.

Below is Figaro, beloved cat of one of my client's friends.  The gift that she gave her friend on her birthday this year was the painting I did of Figaro, from the only photo that she had:

8 x 10 "Figaro"

I think any time is appropriate to memorialize a beloved pet with a custom pet portrait.  The best time is now while you are thinking about it, get those photos!  You can use them now or later, but at least you will have one when you want it.

I never  grow tired of seeing my work hang in a place of honor in someone's home.  This is not something I take for granted, and generally once someone acquires a painting they are happy to send me photos of it hanging, thank goodness for cell phones! I like to show some of them from time to time to give other's ideas, and so they can see cows in context.  (These should all be linked under the blog topic of cows in context.)

This painting titled "Milk Calves Holstein and Mixed" was purchased unframed in 2013.  (I have been painting cows as my theme since 2004)  I shipped it out as I often do, and the buyer found a great frame.  These are the pictures of it framed and hanging.

The one on the right for sure is Holstein, I'm not too sure about the one on the left, I would love thoughts on that! Either way

the frame is fantastic and the Milk Calves are happy!

And here you can see the Milk Calves hang above a fireplace, with lights on either side, making a statement with cows in the middle.

I have seen a few over fireplaces, but this one has those recessed areas where the painting and the lighting fit perfectly.

You can hang paintings as the focal point for the room, giving it a ton of personality.

I like this one a lot! Thank you for the pictures of the Milk Calves Alan M.,  they look fantastic hanging here!

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These calves lived at our local dairy, where I frequently can be found taking photos.  I love those big eyes that calves have, their expressions and lashes make this piece!!

So I've been watching a lot of youtube videos lately that revolve around charcoal. One that interested me used charcoal powder, and I happen to have a bottle of this that I had bought a while back, but never quite knew what I would do with it.   This led to my giving a mixture of charcoal powder and acetone a try, really loosened up the look of my work just with that.

My first experiment I won't be showing you, it is the one I worked out everything on, so I didn't care a lot what 

it ended up looking like, as long as the process worked.  What I ended with was the sworls, drips and so forth were

done first with the charcoal/acetone combination, after that dried I used bone black and titanium white acrylic, allowing some of

the inder coat to show through, and put a more realistic painting on top, one that does more exemplify my work.  The result I find interesting, because of that mix of styles.  When asked why he sometimes paints tightly and other times does loose studies a well known

artist replied "Art is a visual language and some artists are multilingual. Sometimes we speak with emotions and sometimes with logic. Sometimes both. These more “impressionistic” paintings fall somewhere within that spectrum."  I so enjoyed what he had to say about that, and in my case these paintings are for me, a mix of both.  Where will it take me?  That remains to be seen, I hope you will stay tuned and find out.