Painting of Bebe

This is Bebe.  She is an English Setter.   I've always loved English Setters.  As a young girl, I just thought the setters were like Siamese cats and came in different colors.  At that time, I wanted a setter in every color.   It is fun to look back at how we viewed life as children.   Embarrassingly I must admit, I also thought a Flat Coated Retriever was a black Irish setter.  

When Bebe's owner contacted me to paint Bebe I was thrilled.  The painting was to be a gift for her husband.   So....we could have no Internet contact, no Facebook contact - we were in a stealth mode because Jennifer's husband could figure just about everything out.   She paid me with cashier's checks.....all stealth.   It is interesting how she handled my waiting list time frame.  Jennifer told her husband that the gift was on back order - ingenious!  Seems like nowadays, everything is on back order.Now, one has to ask, who is the more clever of the two??  This was the first time Jennifer was able to fully surprise Norman!! A win win for both of them.

To my delight, Jennifer's husband, Norman, called me in person to talk about his gift once it was received.   What a great guy.   He talked about how special dogs were to his family and how the painting brought forth some tears.   Seems like the true gift recipient in this painting was me.   I never expected to meet all the fine people I have through my paintings.

I'd asked Jennifer and Norman to share a little bit about Bebe and this is what they told me:

Bebe is a wonderful 8 year old English Setter.  After a lifetime of dog ownership, she has become my husband's all time favorite. We got Bebe when she was a year old from a breeder. She was shy and immediately took to my husband as her protector. A few weeks after asking Dawn if I could get on her waiting list to do a portrait, within 48 hours, Bebe became totally blind due to SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome). It has been a difficult adjustment, but Bebe is doing very well. She is totally spoiled and has trained my husband to make her toast for breakfast every morning! Dawn has truly captured her essence and beauty.

Thank you Jennifer (and Norman) for the honor of painting your special girl!

Chelsea - an English Setter

This is Chelsea - a beautiful English Setter.   My journey with her owners began with a painting of her house mate, Tate.   I was commissioned to paint him a while back.   His owners were so happy with his painting they decided they wanted a matching painting of Chelsea.

Since we do not live in the same area, they provided me with a photograph of Chelsea.   I'd been fortunate to meet Tate and personally photograph him for his painting (always love when that happens!) 

http://www.dawnsecord.com

Portrait of Chelsea

Here is Chelsea's painting, her photograph and the painting of Tate so you can see the pair of paintings.  They are mini paintings.   I just love the mini paintings.  The minis are just a perfect size to put anywhere in your home or display on a table top easel.   I have a mini painting of my girl, Monet, in my studio on an antique dresser that houses art supplies.

Hope you enjoy the paintings - I sure enjoyed painting them!!

Art Show At The Dog Show

The "Art Show at the Dog Show" www.artshowatthedogshow.com has the award winning artwork up on their site now. Almost 600 pieces were entered by 200 artists. The piece I entered "Waiting in the Wing" (which features two English Setter puppies) won a placement in the pastel category and has sold. It was humbling to be excepted into the show, wonderful to receive an award and the icing on the cake to have my work sold.

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 www.dawnsecord.com and click on the English Setter Gallery or click on this link.

Art Show at the Dog Show - Annual Art Exhibit

On this past Monday, 2/2/09, I received my acceptance letter from the Art Show at the Dog Show.

This is a prestigious exhibit of canine works to be displayed March thru April in Kansas City, Kansas. For more information please go directly to their website at http://www.artshowatthedogshow.com/.

This juried show is the 23rd annual exhibit. It is always wonderful to view the works submitted and various winners. The collection of work is from many wonderful canine artists and to be included is an honor in and of itself.

Painting is my passion - as is showing my dogs. I can never tire of the exhilaration of watching a painting come to life - and I can not imagine tiring of gaiting around the rings with my dogs. The joy is in the act - whether painting or showing. Anything above or beyond that is icing on the cake. The joy is in simply being there.

Thank you to the judges who juried my work into the show. The piece I entered is of two English Setter puppies gazing outside their window into a forested area with a meadow beyond. The original of this painting will be in the exhibit, however, limited edition prints are for sale on my website. You are also welcome to call my studio toll free to purchase 866-393-7111.

To see more of my work please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/

English Setter and Irish Setter Portrait

This pastel painting is of two lovely girls, Devon, an English Setter and Amber, an Irish Setter.

Their parents had commissioned me to paint the girls some time ago. We kept trying to get together to take photos and it is amazing how difficult such a small task can become!

We decided to get together at our local club's doggie fun day. The girls were photographed separately in several different locations in the park. We all had so much fun. Devon was a little princess and each photograph was a pose in and of it's self. Amber, on the other hand, was the queen and much to busy to be photographed. At discrete moments she would honor us with a gaze and if I was quick enough I could take the shot. Thank goodness for digital cameras on a speed setting!

There were several great photos of each dog that would work for the painting and the final choice of reference poses and the background of the painting was left to my artistic creativity. I picked poses that were complimentary to each dog and then complimentary collectively. One photo of the girls standing together gave me the reference point on how tall to make each dog when placing the dogs in the painting.

Thank you Devon and Amber for being so cooperative and thank you to Cathy and Dave for asking me to paint your girls!

To see more of my work please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/. Have a great day! Dawn Secord, Artist.

English Setter "Waiting In The Wing"

This pastel painting of English Setter puppies and is titled "Waiting In The Wing". The painting was created specifically for the English Setter Club of America National specialty.

A lot of research went into the painting and I thank all those for their assistance. The reference photos were old and the puppies were gazing downward. The puppies were in different photos looking different directions. I opened up the eyes and had the puppies gazing forward.

At first I thought of putting some object in the painting to give the viewer an idea of what the puppies were looking at. Then, on second thought, it seemed more fun to leave the audience guessing at what was the center of the pups' interest.

The original of this painting is available as well as limited edition prints. To purchase the original or the prints please go to my website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/.

Thank you for taking a peek at my work and I wish you a great day!

Dawn Secord

website: http://www.dawnsecord.com/