Tri Setter Specialties in Dixon, California

We had a great time with the dogs in Dixon this past weekend. Drew went Winners Dog for a 4 point major under respected breeder judge, Dr. John Savory.

Faith went Best Puppy under Dr. John Savory and the following day in sweepstakes went Best of Opposite Sex.

The art sales were good and we had fun seeing friends we hadn't seen in a while as well as meeting new people.

Thank you so much to the clubs for putting on these shows (Irish Setter Club of Central California, Irish Setter Club of the Pacific and Irish Setter Club of Sacramento).

To see more pictures of our dogs at this show or pedigree information please go to our website at http://www.dawnsecord.com/renditionirishsetters.html

Oil painting of a cat in process

BISS CH Farpoint Effervescent Gem, CD (Irish Setter)

Ruby is a remarkable girl. I met her an ISCA National Specialty. Ruby's owner approached me to commission a painting of this beautiful dog as a surprise gift for her parents.

There were a few changes that were needed to be made to the photos that were taken of Ruby. The wind was blowing her hair which I chose to lay down softly. The sun had been in her eyes and she was squinting in the photos. It was necessary to open up her eyes a bit. I had taken some photos in the shade and had reference material of her eyes not squinting. We can never have too many photos. It is amazing how one photo that seemingly is unimportant ultimately provides me with needed reference material! Lastly, in the photos, Ruby was ten years old and due to being spayed her coat had lightened. In the painting, her coat was darkened to a richer mahogany.

Ruby's owners were very pleased with the final painting. When the gift was presented, the recipients called me right away to thank me for the painting. It was a wonderful call and so enjoyable to hear fun stories about Ruby. She is truly a special dog.

Faith's first show picture

Faith is six months old in this photo - almost 7 months. It was her second day out as a show pup. She went WB, BOW and Best of Breed. She is quite a handful at times and I was very proud of her for keeping "four on the floor"!

Drew helps with the painting

I am doing this cat painting a little bit differently than usual. It is a pretty dark cat and there will be several layers of under painting.

The first layer is identifying the original sketch of the cat. This is an outline painting in black with some dark greys in the bigger mass areas. Then, I'll do an under painting of translucent brown over the entire surface of the canvas.

Drew was a big help holding brushes for me. What would I do without him??

While the under paintings dry I'll get back to my pastel painting.

Drew and Monet help in the studio

I'm just starting the sketch on a 3' x 3' close up of a tabby cat in oil. Our dogs are always in the studio with me and I have a big brush that I use to dust the eraser off the canvas with.

I put the brush in Drew's mouth and posed him next to the canvas. He spit the brush out a few times and then figured it was kinda fun to hold the brush. He decided the brush was his new toy and "I" couldn't have it. Monet had to see what all the fun was about and decided to get off the sofa and peek around the canvas.

Better get back to work and stop playing with the dogs!

Baby Faith goes Best in Breed

Yesterday, Saturday 3/12/11, was Faith's second show and her first outside show. I totally expected her to be wild and playful since she is only 6 months old. To her, outside means playtime.

She was the only puppy at the show for the Irish Setter breed. There were three adult dogs and two adult females in addition to the Champion dog and Faith at the Irish Setter ring.

Faith was such a good girl. She stacked for the judge, didn't move a paw and resisted any temptation of running in the ring. She won her first point (our youngest dog to get a point to date!) and then went on to win over all the boys going Best of Winners and then to our surprise, Best of Breed. She is the youngest dog we've ever had to win Best of Breed, with competition, at such a young age.

We did take her in the group ring for two reasons. One, we felt it was respectful to the judge who gave her the win, and secondly, it was a great opportunity to practice in the ring for the pup. As a six month old pup we truly didn't expect her to win anything. She was as a real trooper in the group ring and didn't put one paw out of place (other than jumping on the other handlers if they only gave their dogs a treat! But she's six months old - what else could we expect with food involved!!)

Landscape Show opens tonight!

Three of my paintings are included in the landscape show at Pinnell Gallery. Rich and I took Faith with us to the gallery. She enjoyed meeting the gallery owner, Jennifer.

The show runs through April 2nd.

Irish Painting is a surprise

Just finished this painting. It is a gift and a surprise so I can't show the entire dog until the gift has been given.

Can't wait to hear what the recipients of the gift think of their present!

Drew in the Field

Rich wants to put a junior hunting title on Drew. Several weeks ago Rich took Drew to join some friends who were hunting locally. Everyone said Drew was a natural and had a blast.

Jumping three weeks later, everyone wanted to take Drew out again and let him actually find a bird. Of course, this was a great photo opportunity for me to take some additional reference material for future paintings.

We met up with our friends at 7 AM and it was the most beautiful day. The hunting fields are about ten minutes from our house. We've had a great deal of rain lately here in Southern California so the grass is very green. The skies were clear and gave us a beautiful view of some of the mountains.

Drew did find his bird. It was amazing to see how he found it and pointed it. This was my first time in the field and seeing a dog work naturally. Thank you to Dave and Cathy for taking us along and working with Drew!

Trooper - English Setter

Trooper is an English Setter - specifically a Llewellin which is used for hunting. He is eight years old and in absolutely magnificent condition for a dog of his age.

The photos used for this painting had been taken in the field when Trooper was actually working. For additional reference material, Trooper was brought to my studio so I could meet him and take more photos.

He was a joy and full of personality. It was fun to see him working back and forth in our front yard looking for birds. We live very close to a training facility and I think he recognized the scent in the air and thought our yard another field to work (not that our front yard is that big but it wraps around a corner with a lot of hedges).

The photos I took helped me to see his markings. His hunting collars somewhat blocked my view of the markings at the top of his neck. The background was adjusted a bit to strengthen the composition. The actual photo didn't have any height variation in the foliage and we wanted some more pizazz to the background. Hope you enjoy viewing the painting as much as I did painting it!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW BOY!!

How do these years fly by!!

Drew is three years old today!

Happy Birthday our little man! All 80 pounds of him!

Wille the Orange Tabby Cat

This is Wille. He has a heart warming story.

His human parents live in Southern California. While volunteering at a local shelter, they met Wille. Wille had been released by his former family. It seemed that he had a very sensitive stomach and was prone to urinary tract issues that could be life threatening.

Treating Wille's medical issues proved too much for his former family so this eight year old cat was given up. There is no explanation for the loss of his eye. Wille was at the shelter, an older cat, with medical issues and one eye. Definitely not an easy adoption candidate.

Well, Wille's new family fell in love with his personality and had to adopt him. Volunteering at the shelter gave them an opportunity to get to know Wille and they just couldn't stand him not having a family. He has the most adorable personality. It has taken some time to find the right food to balance his urinary tract issues, but this has been accomplished and Wille is flourishing. It was a pleasure to paint Wille's portrait and his human family are the most wonderful people. A story of true unconditional love.

St. Bernard Puppy - Remington

This is baby Remington. He was about 12 weeks old in this portrait.

There is a fun story on how I met Remy's human parents. Back in 2003 I was in a "Dog Reality Show" called "Top Dog" with my dog Jewel. The show air in February 2004 and was a FOX TV production. One of the other dogs on the show was a St. Bernard named Winston. His human parents were incredible people and we became friends during the course of taping the show. Once the show was completed, and they found out about my art, they commissioned me to paint Winston.

Sadly, Winston passed as age would dictate and it took the owners a while to be ready for a new pup. When the time was right, they brought a new pup into their home. This pup is Remington.

Remington is a big pup as any St. Bernard pup would be. He is beautiful and has a gentle quiet temperament just as Winston had. Knowing Remington would only be "small" for a tiny window of time they had me come down and take photos of him at that age. During the photo session they decided to put Remy in a basket on one of their bicycles. This was a fun idea - how long would a St. Bernard fit in a bicycle basket!!! Ultimately, that was the photo that would be used for his puppy painting.

It will be fun to watch Remington grow and I look forward to painting him as a Big Dog!!

Grooming and Playtime

I was grooming our dogs this past Friday. It was a beautiful day. If you groom your own dogs at home you know how they can get frisky.

Monet was on the grooming table and my camera was near by. Up on the deck Drew had been laying in the sun. Then, the little pest, Faith, came by to inter up his sunning.

Glad I had the camera to capture their playtime. They are so cute together.