Oil painting of Drew

I've been having a lot of fun playing with my oil paints. Between paintings I decided to take a break and do something outside of my regular activities.

It was Drew's birthday so I decided to do an oil painting of him. I have not painted a dog in oil since 1992 - 18 years - so it was kinda fun and kinda scary to see what would happen.

Here are the results. Painting in pastel has really allowed me to develop some skills that flowed over to my oil painting. It was interesting to see how many things were "changeable" with a wet medium. With pastel - there are only so many changes that can be made so it is important that each stroke be accurate. I absolutely love painting with a palette knife so all the reeds are done with the knife and not a brush.

Hope you like the painting - and Happy Birthday Drew!!

J Paul Getty Villa - Malibu, California

One of my friends, Kriste, and I went to the J Paul Getty Villa in Malibu today. What an incredible art museum it is. It is built in a canyon right off Pacific Coast Highway and literally at the Beach.

Mr. Getty had the villa modeled after the Roman villa, Villa dei Parili. The villa was originally built in 1974 to house his European antiquities. The villa was closed in 1996 to be later opened in 2006 after 250 million dollars in renovations.

The art was amazing. The architecture was amazing. We had to have reservations in advance to visit the museum. If you are in Southern California - or plan to visit here, you must consider visiting the Villa!!

Gallery SoHo Exhibit

The opening exhibit for the Gallery SoHo was on Saturday night. It was a fun event. My husband and I took my parents to the opening as a treat and then afterwards we all went out to dinner and celebrated Valentine's Day early.

In this exhibit I entered mostly still life pieces. The paintings are all done in pastel on various surfaces. On of the pieces, "Influences of Fuchsia", was done on pastel paper with a base color of each subjects complimentary color. If you look closely you can see the complimentary colors peeking out. A piece, one of my favorites, "One Hot Pepper", is done on lightly sanded La Carte paper.

There are a few puppy paintings in the mix, "I See You", (Boxer pup) which is included in a recently published book of pastel artists "Best Of America Pastel Volume II" and "Give me a Hug" featuring a Basset Hound puppy.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Animals in Art Exhibition

I just received notification that one of my paintings was accepted into the 23rd International Exhibition on Animals in Art - Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine Library. The piece accepted is "Golden Dreams".

There were 204 artists from three Countries who submitted 477 entries. Of those, juror and judge Katherine Rutledge selected 75 pieces for the exhibition. Thank you Ms. Rutledge!

Photographing dogs at Dog Beach

I am working on four commissions and went to dog beach yesterday to take photos of two of the dogs.

It was a lot of fun and a perfect morning for photos - no marine layer!! Yeah!

While I was taking photos dogs kept coming up to me and sniffing my camera, standing on my legs or trying to crawl in my lap. It was fun and the photo session was over far too soon!

The First Art Show

My husband was helping me clean a closet this weekend. Buried deep in the closest was an old photo album that I had assembled in high school.

We were looking at the photos and laughing. There was an old newspaper clipping about my first art show in the pages that had been long forgotten. It is hard to believe the photo was taken 30 years ago. How does time fly by so quickly?

So, here is a peek into the past!

Plein Air Oil Painting - Laguna Beach, California

Here is one of the plein air paintings I did in Laguna. It was so much fun working in oil. I love doing landscapes in oil. Being outside at the beach was awesome. The weather was great, sun was out, and it was a perfect day to be painting.

The painting is not yet finished - hence still being attached to my Julian easel. There are a few tiny touches that I want to make that didn't get done while out on location. Check back in a few weeks for the finished piece!

Irish Setter Art

I'm working on an Irish Setter commission and this dog has the most beautiful eyes. I had so much fun painting them. Here is a peak!

Irish Setter Puppy: Nike

This is Nike and she is an Irish Setter puppy. I met her on the East Coast and she had recently been flown in from Australia.

The amazing thing about Nike was how calm and relaxed she was. She was in a new Country, with a new family, and at a dog show with an incredible amount of activity going on around her. She just sat there willing to pose and was an angel.

I hope I get to see Nike again as an adult to see how she has matured. She will most certainly grow into quite a beauty!

If you are interested in commissioning a portrait of your pet please contact me. There is more information on my web site at http://www.dawnsecord.com/!

Thank you for taking a peek at my work.

Art Show At The Dog Show!

The "Art Show at the Dog Show" http://www.artshowatthedogshow.com/ has the accepted artwork up on their site now. Almost 600 pieces were entered by approximately 200 artists.

The piece I entered "The Look of Love" (which features a German Shepherd puppy). It was wonderful to be excepted into the show. There is some beautiful work up on the site - I would encourage all who are interested to take a minute to view the artwork.To see my painting - please go to my web site http://www.dawnsecord.com/ and click on the German Shepherd Gallery or click on this link.

If you are interested in commissioning a portrait of your dog information is listed on my website.

Laguna Beach - Plein Air Oil Painting

I spent the last three days plein air painting with a group of fabulous artists. The workshop was hosted by Greg LaRock. Not only is Greg an incredible painter but he is an incredible instructor - a winning combination.

On the third day my husband, Rich, brought Jewel (our veteran Irish Setter) down and joined me for the day.

My body is telling me I spent a ton of hours in the same position and since it is early in the morning it is best to take a couple aspirin over a glass of wine.

Hope you enjoy the photos. The painting in pictured here is not finished but will be in the next week or so. Please check back on my web site at http://www.dawnsecord.com/

Have a great day!