Pawsitive Art

The new ones..

2009-12-07T08:31:00.002-05:00

The crazy abstract is 16x20 inches and the dane one is 10x30 inches

Time is flying by..

2009-11-30T09:26:00.002-05:00

Seems like I just made that Halloween post and now Thanksgiving is already over.. I have Lexi here with me now.. yay! :D Working on a 1 ft x 3 ft painting and hope to have it on eBay by Friday night. I'll post a picture here when its finished. It has four danes on it.. a mantle, harlequin, black and a merle. All colors that can come from the mantle x harlequin lines. :)
I have a few Christmas paintings floating around in my head that I want to get done within the next two weeks. Well.. not so much Christmas, but just wintery scenes.

Taking a break..

2009-10-30T14:13:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted in a while and I haven't been able to paint much at all. :( Theres a lot going on right now.. getting the kids adjusted to a new school and moving among other things so painting has been put on temporary hold for now. I have been trying to slip in some paint time here and there so maybe I'll have something new on eBay within the next few weeks. And of course if I do I will post about it here. My dane Lexi is at a friends house until I get settled somewhere more permanent. Ludo was taken over by my pseudo mother and lives with his brother Blue now so he's happy. =D HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Hope all the links work!

2009-08-05T23:44:00.001-04:00

Hearts for Anna

To all of my fellow artists please considering making a Heart for Anna, everyone else please consider buying one! I have known Anna for several years, we met through the art fair circuit. She is a such a gem of a person and wonderful artist, please read on and help if you can. (And I'm sorry for the short notice...I just found about this wonderful fundraiser today).

Anna Millea, a longtime Guild and Artful Home artist, is fighting breast cancer - again. The disease has returned aggressively and is now in her bones, requiring an extreme sixteen rounds of chemotherapy. She has no insurance, having been deemed uninsurable due to her "pre-existing condition."

When we at Artful Home learned of this we knew we needed to do something to try to help her through this situation. What we have come up with is an event we are calling "Hearts for Anna", to which we hope you will contribute and donate a little bit of your time and talent.

Artful Home will hold a 5-day online event, "Hearts for Anna", August 12-16, 2009 in which miniature artworks, no larger than 5" x 7", will be sold. The items will be sold first-come, first serve, with all items selling for $100 on Day 1, $75 on Days 2 - 4, and $50 on Day 5. All money will go to a fund that goes directly to Anna Millea to help pay for her medical bills.

Follow this link to participate!

(insert title here)

2009-06-15T10:00:00.002-04:00

Its been since May 18th since I last blogged? Wow.. Where does the time go. :P
The 20x20 I posted below sold pretty quick and the other 20x20 with the bright orange background just sold. I FINALLY finished one of the commission paintings and I'm almost finished with the 10x30. My stained glass weimer painting sold this weekend and I'm thinking about doing more of those in different breeds.
I'm having a hard time finding a good place to paint around here. The upstairs bathroom is huge and has been where I've done most of it so far, but its roasting up there! I need to invest in another fan. I was going to include some pictures, but they're on a different computer. Hafta do that later..

Painting again!

2009-05-18T10:52:00.003-04:00

I'm able to paint again! Yay! Here and there I've managed to find time and I'm moving things around trying to make space so I can paint more often. Its hard to keep the little peoples tiny fingers off my paint and brushes right now too. I did a couple 20x20's and now I'm working on a 10x30 and a 10x10 commission. I had one of my loyal customers ask if I could reproduce paintings they had donated for dane rescue so I'm finally able to work on that. Hopefully it won't take me long to get those done.
I'm going to whip up some paintings of different breeds and get back with the art gallery in toccoa. I think that would be a fun road trip and theres a cave up there! Toccoa Falls...that'd be fun. :)
Here's pics of the new 20x20's and they're both on eBay right now.

Update..

2009-04-29T07:54:00.003-04:00

I am really not in the mood for blogging, but wanted to update whats going on. I doubt I'll be running any new paintings for a short while. I lost Sampson (my blue harl dane) Monday morning to bloat, I got thrown out of my home Sunday and half of my paintings were destroyed in the process. So if anyone wants to send any positive energy my way I can sure use it!!
I do have something positive to share.. Hannah got adopted about 2 weeks ago and I held my breath until I heard from her adopter a couple days ago. Shes doing great, has been spayed and updated on her vax and shes being spoiled and loved.
That makes it all worth while! All the nights of leash walking her in the rain and freezing cold because I didn't have a fence.. but I knew she didn't deserve the pound and there was a great home out there for her somewhere.
Yay!!!
Geez.. can ya tell that was half hearted? I can't even fake joy over the internet. lol
Ok.. so.. I have plenty of things to do to keep my mind off the negative.. its just a matter of getting out of my pity party and doing them.

Can't Sleep..again..

2009-04-07T00:53:00.004-04:00

I've been having trouble sleeping here lately. Not good considering I need to be up to take my oldest son to the doctor tomorrow. I've learned one thing though.. Don't try to stay up all night thinking thats better than getting one or two hours of sleep. I did that before Jr's surgery Monday night and boy did I regret that! I think I got a total of 4 or 5 hours sleep while at the hospital with him. You'd think I'd come home and sleep like the dead, but now I'm having trouble going to sleep at night.
I never did hear back from the lady who had the wreck so I ran her painting on eBay. Can't wait forever! :/ If she happens to contact me in the future I'll whip up another one for her.
During my insomnia last night I painted a cute 8x10 of a merle great dane and tonight I did a cobalt blue lab/dane lookin dog. Its also an 8x10.. I think its the last of that size that I had here. Doesn't seem to be a very popular size anyways. Here lately everyone wants these ginormous 20x20's and what not.
I worked on the 20x20 inch commission for about 10 minutes tonight. I gotta get motivated to do more on that thing. I have a decent amount of time to finish it in, but I don't want to keep throwing it aside while I do other things.
I need to get some smaller canvas..some 9x12's and 11x14's.. I'm out of those.
I wouldn't mind having more 4x4 inches too. Those sell pretty good.
Maybe I can swing by blick next weekend..I'd like to take Jeannie there for her bday anyways.

Friday!

2009-03-26T23:41:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow is Jr's pre op appointment. They called today and ask if we could be there an hour earlier than scheduled and then his surgery is Tuesday. I thought it was odd that the pre op was so far from the surgery, but oh well.
I tried a new paint technique yesterday and wasn't real happy with the results.. I liked the first layer, but as I added on I found certain things I didn't like about it. It was an experiment so I'm going to keep messing around with it. I'll attach a picture of it. I guess it falls into the abstract category, which is one that I'm not really comfortable with. I love attempting abstracts, but I'm never happy with how they turn out. I have some ideas I want to try with this technique so we'll see how it goes..

Its Sunday..

2009-03-22T11:40:00.004-04:00

I haven't blogged in a few days.. I think the Winter/Spring transition is bumming me out. I love to watch everything bloom in the spring and I LOVE the smell of freshly cut grass, but fall and winter are my favorite seasons. So I'm thinking maybe thats what has me so down lately. We drove up to Dacula yesterday to see Spencers family and his mom made me this beautiful fleece poncho thats reversible. Its sooooo warm. She made one for Jr too :)
We ended up having to leave there early because Spencer realized he had forgotten his wallet at home and I would have to be the one to drive back. I didn't get enough sleep for that and barely made it home. I was literally holding my eyes open with my fingers. lol I FINALLY did the background for the 20x20 I'm doing. I dunno if its what the lady had in mind or not. I'm tempted to show it to her and see what she thinks just in case, but some people have no imagination and they see a blank canvas with just the background colors and can't imagine the rest of the picture there. So maybe I'll just hold off and if she doesn't like the finished product I'll just paint another one. :)

Ok..so I just attached the background pic and its going to have her three sons and their two lab mixes on there. Not sure what else I'm going to throw in just yet. I was sketching and nothing came to mind yet. So we'll see..

Its raining..

2009-03-16T15:46:00.002-04:00

I use to love the rain. When I didn't have children to worry about keeping dry or getting sick. When I was a teenager and it was still fun to walk in it. I didn't freak out about my hair getting wet or my clothes getting soaked. At what point does all that change?
I remember when I was my daughters age or maybe a few years older.. I would run through the woods with my dogs all day and never worry about stepping on a snake or getting ticks on me. Now thats the first thing I think of...ticks.. lol
I just don't recall a changing point... I don't remember a light bulb going off and everything just changing. It snuck up on me! Just like these dark bags under my eyes. Goobers..
I was driving home today from picking the kids up from school and listening to my relaxing celtic music. This one particular song was about a young girl who offers for a stranger to stay in their home and she cares for him and then he ask her to marry him and she declines because she has a man over seas that she has promised to wait for.
Boy have times changed... lol People use to choose their mates by their ability to provide for a family, make a home, be a good mother/father. There was no long ass engagement! There was no $10,000 wedding with fancy ass cake, flowers and expensive dresses and suits. Geez.. I wish it was like that now. There's just too much "junk" involved now. Trust was never an issue back then and its the main concern now... Now the top priority for people..well.. I won't say everyone, but the majority of people put looks at the top of their list when selecting a mate. I agree that looks matter to a certain extent. I mean you don't want to be stuck with someone that makes you cringe when you look at them. lol Its just weird to think back to how people lived then and how we live now and how we're constantly changing.
I'm going to blame all these weird thoughts and ranting on the rain. That and the celtic music. I've gotta go help the kids with their home work, get them fed and head out to karate class. Wheres my cape? lol

Blah Blah..

2009-03-12T16:37:00.003-04:00

I still haven't heard from the lady who ordered the 16x20 commission. Her sister emailed to let me know she had a wreck, but no word yet. I hope shes ok.. I was going to email to check on her, but I don't want to pester her or make her feel rushed about the commission.
This new 20x20 commission is going SO slow. I'm having a hard time finding time to paint. I use to paint while Jr was sleeping, but now he naps when we are driving to pick my older two up from school and he likes to stay up super late. I could go into the details of why he isn't on a sleeping schedule, but its ugly and just doesn't belong here. :)
I don't remember if I posted about the big easel/table thing I had ordered in Feb. or not. I was SO excited about getting it. I ordered it on the 15th and it was scheduled to leave the warehouse on the 22nd and it didn't...then they told me it would be the next Monday.. and it wasn't.. lol This is a good example of how just about everything goes for me. When I REALLY want something, even if I do have the money..its just not going to happen. arg..
So I told the lady if it wasn't shipped by that Thursday I wanted the order canceled. I call them Thursday because the money hasn't been deducted from the bank yet and guess what... IT HASN'T SHIPPED YET! Goobers... They were lying to me just so I wouldn't cancel the order. So when I told her to go ahead and cancel the order she said .."we can't do that ma'am..we already have the PO # on it." Uhhhh ok.. so I hung up..calmed down a bit and called back and surprisingly enough she didn't answer, but her voice mail came on and I said.. "IF that money is pulled from the bank account I will do a charge back." 2 hours later I get a call from a different dick blick gal.. We're sorry about the inconvience and your order has been canceled.
I wasn't going to wait around for 3+ weeks waiting on the money to magically disappear from the bank account so I would know when they shipped the easel. I guess next time I have $250 to spare I'll just drive up and get it from the store.
I did a painting of a girl with two danes..its 8x8 inches. I got in a hurry and wanted to finish it because I had other paintings going so I didn't do anything in the background.
I'm working on a pit mix painting right now along with the commission. The pit one is an 8x10.
I haven't touched my sewing machine in 2 weeks. I dunno what kind of funk I'm in, but I need to get the hell out of it!

I posted a pic of the 8x8, but not gonna post the pit because it isn't finished and I told SOMEONE that they would be the first to see it when its done. :D

One more day..

2009-03-05T11:15:00.004-05:00

One more day until Friday! Yippy! The weather is warming up finally and the flowers are starting to peek out and my plum tree is starting to bloom. I still have lots of slippery ice on my front porch from the snow last weekend because the sun doesn't touch the front of the house.
Kaitlyn had her 2nd karate class last night and she loved it. There was a couple of times that I thought she may get upset and lose it, but she didn't and she looks SO cute in her uniform!! I'll have to take a picture of her Monday before class.
One of my buyers had ask me to do a commission of her danes and I did a 16x20 of her merle pup and harlequin boy. She was going on a little trip and was suppose to contact me back that weekend and I never heard from her. I got concerned because she was quite pleased with the painting and then just disappeared. So I emailed her a couple of times and her sister emailed me back to let me know she had been in a wreck. :(
So everyone please keep Mrs. Kim in your thoughts as well as her 2 dane babies and her new mastiff girl and I hope she has a full quick recovery and is home with her babies soon.
I'm trying to motivate myself to work on my new commission more. Its a 20x20 inch so its not too much bigger than the 16x20 I just finished, but it has more going on. 3 boys and their 2 lab mixes. I don't get request with people wanting me to paint people all that often and when I do I make 100% sure that they understand my style of art. I'd hate for someone to be disappointed because they had something more realistic in mind.
I made an appointment for my babies to go to the vet monday for their rabies vaccines and this time we're getting the 3 yr one. Sampsons getting his anal glands expressed as well so it'll be an extra special visit for him. hehehe
I was just getting ready to attach a picture of a little beaded man that I made when I ran across a picture I had forgotten about. I got a Petsmart ad via email the other day and one thing REALLY stuck out to me about the ad. I was wondering if its just me or if it sticks out to everyone. I'll attach it..
Ok so it doesn't stick out THAT bad, but geez... this is a fairly small dog..why is her butthole that flipping big???
So anyway..back to the beaded man.. lol I uploaded the pic and it was SO blurry so I thought maybe if I put it in the paint program and drew black around him the beads would stand out more, but that doesn't take away from the blurry. I can't wait to get a new camera..I miss my canon! :( It had zoom and this kodak doesn't and I can't get sound with my video's...arg...

Its Monday..again..

2009-03-02T23:03:00.003-05:00

Tonight I took my daughter to her first Karate class and she was so excited. I was a bit nervous because she didn't like soccer at all and we went through a whole season of hell with that. She would cry on the field because she couldn't get to the ball and then she'd just sit down and refuse to play. I'd get so pissed. lol Now shes interested in karate and I was afraid the same thing was going to happen, but she really seem to enjoy it. So we're in it for at least 2 months now...we'll see how it goes.
Afterwards I was going to get my septum pierced and it was already late so I just decided to wait another week. I decided friday that I wanted to get that done rather than my eyebrow again. The septum piercing is much easier to hide (flips right up inside your nose) and I just remember the toddlers at the daycare center where I worked head butting me before and my eyebrow would bleed. Now I have a 2 year old so I suspect that would happen fairly often. He's almost broken my nose headbutting me!
I had my tongue and eyebrow pierced 5 or 6 years ago and I hated the tongue one, but the eyebrow was nice. I like the way it looks. I think facial piercings should be kept simple for a clean and nicer look, but I see a lot of people getting their eyebrows pierced multiple times and it takes away from the beauty of it for me. I know its a personal opinion though.. I think the snake bites are pretty as well, but I'd never get my lip pierced because of what it does to your gums and teeth.
So maybe that will be some form of therapy for me..having a facial piercing thats going to draw more attention to my face.. my social anxiety prevents me from going a lot of places and doing a lot of things, but maybe this can be an experiment to see if I can handle the stares.
I have a 20x20 commission I need to be working on, but I think I've caught a bug and I'm not feeling too well.. So I'm nursing myself with icehouse and internet surfing..
I need to ask if I can take photographs in the karate class.. I could post pictures of her in her cute little uniform! I was a little embarassed about taking her because I'm not fit, but another chunky momma walked in right after we did. LOL!
Oh.. we got snow this past weekend and the kids got to stay out of school today. Although the snow had already melted and frozen into slippery ice so they didn't get to play in it today. This was my little guys first time ever seeing snow and he woke up and walked over to the window and looked out as if he was looking at an alien out there.
My daughter couldn't wait to get in it, but it was still coming down pretty heavy so I let her run out on the porch a few times to get it out of her system. hehe

Ghost Hunters tonight!

2009-02-25T13:14:00.003-05:00

I love wednesdays because ghost hunters comes on! lol How sad is that? I base my mood for that day on a television show. I can't wait till the new season starts. :D
When I write here on my blog I always open two windows so I can listen to the music here while I'm typing. I love that first song by counting crows. I'll post the lyrics for your reading enjoyment..its a great song all the way around..
Mr.Jones lyrics I was down at the New Amsterdam staring at this yellow-haired girl Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this black- haired flamenco dancer She dances while his father plays guitar She's suddenly beautiful We all want something beautiful I wish I was beautiful So come dance this silence down through the morning Cut up, Maria! Show me some of them Spanish dances Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones Believe in me Help me believe in anything I want to be someone who believes Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales Stare at the beautiful women "She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me." Smiling in the bright lights Coming through in stereo When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely I will paint my picture Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful Gray is my favorite color I felt so symbolic yesterday If I knew Picasso I would buy myself a gray guitar and play Mr. Jones and me look into the future Stare at the beautiful women "She's looking at you. I don't think so. She's looking at me." Standing in the spotlight I bought myself a gray guitar When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely I want to be a lion Everybody wants to pass as cats We all want to be big big stars, but we got different reasons for that Believe in me because I don't believe in anything and I want to be someone to believe Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio Yeah we stare at the beautiful women "She's perfect for you, Man, there's got to be somebody for me." I want to be Bob Dylan Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky When everybody loves you, son, that's just about as funky as you can be Mr. Jones and me staring at the video when I look at the television, I want to see me staring right back at me We all want to be big stars, but we don't know why and we don't know how But when everybody loves me, I'm going to be just about as happy as I can be Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars...
The singer is a cutie pie too! I don't think this is one of those bands that lets their fame get to their heads.. he seems very down to earth and real.
I was reading the "dog art today" blog and cried my eyes out. She had posted a tribute to this guys dog. She had just died of cancer and there was a video with photos of her and of course the saddest song. I didn't even make it past 2 pictures before I was covered in tears.
I've always read that death was suppose to be celebrated rather than mourned, but geez... how hard is that? I mean I understand the point behind it, but still. I didn't exactly celebrate when I lost my grandparents, but I was ready for them to go because of the pain they were in and the grandparents I knew were no longer in there. Their minds had gone and they were in pain just holding on for their family.
I loved my grandmother more than ANYONE on earth and I think about her all the time. If not for her I wouldn't be painting my silly whimsical art. She introduced me to a world of animals on a little tiny farm in the sticks that I will never forget and I'll always miss. I can close my eyes and remember walking in her front door and smelling fresh biscuits and sausage..hearing the news on the television and hearing the little heaters humming that were in the corners of the rooms in the winter.
Her house looked creepy when you pulled in the driveway. It was a big 2 story that was sitting down in a little valley and behind it was a lake with a creepy little boat house attached. I remember the comments the kids on the bus would make when I was getting off at her house and I thought it was so funny that they saw this scary creepy place, but I knew it was the best place in the world. My grandmother had a big garden off to the side with flowers planted in the front rows..very simple flowers..nothing special. Just old maids, but she always planted them there in the front every year and then the cucumbers, eggplants, beans, pea's, corn, tomatoes and squash would follow. I only remember one year of her planting corn..maybe it didn't do so well, but the one thing that REALLY sticks out in my mind and probably because I have a photo of her with them, is her sunflowers. She had the biggest most beautiful sunflowers I had ever seen. My grandmother was a short gal..maybe 2 inches over 5 feet if that, which is how tall I am as well, but she would pose with her sunflowers and they would tower over her. If I can find the photo I took of that picture (because I had no scanner) I'll post it here.
I just realized some of my songs on my playlist aren't working. I'll have to fix that when I get a chance, but now I'm off to pick the kids up from school!

I miss Lily :(

2009-02-23T15:41:00.006-05:00

I know she was a pain to housebreak and I couldn't leave her in a room alone or put her in a crate because she would start screaming, but I still miss her so much.
I finally decided to put those two bags on etsy that I made. I kept debating on just keeping them and making more, but thats silly. I can't keep everything I make! So I listed them and made a cat bag last night. Its black with a white outline of cats all over and I lined it with a white print that says Meow all over. I designed it to have a pull string closure, but the frilly yarn I tried to use just wasn't strong enough. I need some satin cording. The pull strings are also going to be the straps.
When I was going out to the car to pick the kids up today I noticed a yellow jacket buzzing around on the ground. It was 42 degrees outside and it was in the high 20's last night so maybe he's lost? lol
I took some really cute pictures of my little guy yesterday and I don't think I've ever posted pictures of my children here before so I guess I can share one or two pics. I'm always paranoid about putting pictures of my children on the internet. I know... I'm weird..
So maybe in the picture of him alone you can see his cyst..its right under his chin. I'll post a picture of all three of my babies as well. I think this is a good one..it shows their personalities pretty good. My oldest son is the sweet quiet one ...for the most part, my little guy is grumpy and Kaitlyn always has her mouth open. She always has LOTS to say. hehe
Oh...we have a bunny in our bathroom! We suspect she is pregnant and so I made her a cardboard box and put a litter box in there..although I didn't expect her to use it. I noticed she was going potty right beside our toilet so I cleaned all that up and moved the litter box there and shes using it!!

finished my commission

2009-02-19T20:38:00.006-05:00

I finished my 16x20 commission and also finished a 10x30 I had started a few days back. I'll attach pics of those here. I'm going to put the 10x30 on etsy instead of eBay first. I had another artist recommend that since people who shop on etsy understand that they are buying an original handmade item and people on eBay seem to be looking for a deal. Although.. I have seen a lot of artist on etsy selling prints of their art. That confused me because I was under the impression that you couldn't sell a print there, but maybe since its a print of an original item you yourself made its different.. I dunno..
I still don't offer prints so I'm not worried about it. lol
When I find an artist that I like I always want an original piece of art from them..not a print and the thought of offering prints of my work bothers me. It just takes away from the special I guess. I know that the hundreds of paintings that are floating around the world right now with my signature on them are originals. The painting with the marble splashed background is very similar to one I did a few weeks ago that I am running on eBay. The only difference is this one has a merle and the other one had a mantle. I had a lady request her danes with that background so this is Major and his sister Gracie.
I really like the 10x30 inch and if it doesn't sell I have no problem at all with keeping it myself. As a matter of fact ..its hanging in my bedroom right now. hehe

Lily has left us

2009-02-17T19:52:00.016-05:00

Lily got worse as the afternoon went by and then around 7:30 tonight she left us. I'm going to post some photos that I took of her when she first arrived and while she was with us. She was my first pit bull experience and made it the most wonderful one I could have had..

Lily has taken a turn for the worst..

2009-02-17T11:54:00.002-05:00

Lily isn't doing very well right now. :( When she came to us she was very fat and healthy 'looking'. I thought it was odd that she was so fat because she really wasn't eating much and I noticed her gums were very pale and didn't have much color so I wormed her. This was about 3 days ago.
That night after worming her she passed the biggest round and tape worms I have ever seen.
I've taken in a lot of rescues that were full of worms, but never anything like this. I really don't understand how she is still alive. So shes getting iron drops and she isn't eating at all, but shes drinking a lot, which is good. She's able to hold her liquids down for maybe 4 or 5 minutes before it all comes back up. Shes very very weak and when she goes potty its all liquid and worms. Of course shes passing blood as well and I can't even begin to imagine the internal damage those worms have done. I gave her some meds that are for ulcers to try to help with the lining of her stomach and intestines. I'm watching her right now through the window as I'm typing and I'll have to go get her in a few minutes. She has climbed into my water fountain/ now dog watering container and is trying to sit in it. Its full of water. She started off by hanging over the edge and drinking, then she wiggled her front half into it and then perched her rear on the edge and went all the way in and sat down.
Its cold outside and I just went out and got her and brought her back into the laundry room.
The only response I get now when I call her is she'll look over at me, but shes to weak to walk over. She did wag her tail for me when I went out to pick her up. If she can get to the point where she can keep her liquids down I think she'll have a chance of pulling through this, but right now it isn't looking good.

Valentines Day sucks

2009-02-14T01:01:00.006-05:00

I think Valentines Day is one of the worst holidays for me. I can remember maybe one or two decent Vdays that I've had and thats it. I know its going to suck this year, but at least the kids brought home lots of chocolate from school. :)
I whipped out a 16x20 real quick and I mean real quick..just so I would have something to put on eBay. I hate them.. lol Just had to add that in there. I use it to drag in more business, but I hate them..I truly do.. :)
So I'll attach a photo of that.. I'm almost done with my 16x20 commission! yay! Maybe I'll be able to post a pic of it within the next couple of days. Tomorrow (..well..today because its 1am) we're taking Spencers mom fabric shopping. Since I've recently started sewing I'm a bit excited about going. Although shes told me their prices are horrible :( they do have a much better selection than what I'm use to.
If I find anything exciting enough to share I will do so!
Lily (the pit girl) is learning to use her indoor voice. I've used my voice from hell enough for her to see how things work I think. I don't like a lot of barking and crazy dog wrestling going on in my living room and shes picked up on that pretty quickly. I'll have to crate her for the first time when we go tomorow and we'll be gone alllllll day and into the night so I know shes going to go insane. I'm trying to decide who to crate her with...I don't have a crate for her alone and shes proven that she can climb over the gates in the kitchen like they aren't even there.. Another option that I just thought of is the bathroom.. I wonder how badly she would destroy the cabinet, door or trim? Hrmmmm....

Monday...ick..

2009-02-09T12:56:00.006-05:00

I think Mondays are the least favorite for me and I'm sure there are thousands of others who feel the same way. I don't leave the house and work a 9-5 so I don't know why Mondays have that affect on me.
I've shared random foster dogs here and cats that I've had and their progress, adoption, whatever. Now I am questioning my latest arrival. A tiny little pit girl. Shes a beautiful brindle color and she has the most humble eyes, but I'm freaked out now because of all the articles I've read. I watch Ceasar Millan and he gives me that hope that any dog can be rehabilitated and can function in any type of home with any type of family and with several other dogs in their pack.
I of course have my 4 great danes and my treeing walker coonhound mix foster girl so I'm a bit nervous. I can already tell that Lily (brindle..tiger stripes..flower..tiger LILY) is a little more aggressive than the average bear. She likes to dish it out, but when its her turn to get trampled she gets offended rather quickly. Its strange to see this behavior in such a tiny little body. You look into her eyes and they are so innocent and humble and then you see my dane pup swipe her across the head and IT - IS - ON!
I've never had a fear of a dog that I've owned or fostered. Well..there was one dane that I couldn't touch because he would rip my arm off and it took several weeks to work him through that, but other than him! lol I have never feared my dogs. I am already thinking ahead and going into a panic over Lily. What if I can't place her into a proper home and shes permanent? What if I don't train her properly? I have 3 fairly young children and my silly danes. I have always gotten mad when people put the evil, vicious and horrible labels on pits, but the stories and articles have flooded my brain and now I find myself judging her.
Shes only 14 or 15 weeks old max.. I'm just afraid of making the wrong move. Everything I do to train my danes seems totally opposite and wrong for this breed. I have physically popped my danes on their rumps, I have used spray bottles to quiet them down at night in their crates or the fly swatter..that works pretty well too. As long as those things don't cause timidness or noticeable fear I've used them. Everything I'm reading on the pits says these things can cause more aggression in them so now I am a nervous wreck. When I need to correct her I find myself just staring at her and wondering what to do. I have this horrible feeling that anything I do..one false move and I've taught her something incorrect.
So I went to a pit rescue site here in GA and was reading the articles they had posted about "Is a Pit right for you" and they claim pits can never be taken to dog parks, they can never be let off leash in public, they should never be kept in a multiple dog household, they should not be kept with dogs of the same sex...I mean the list is just unbelieavable!! Seems very overboard to me..as if they're just trying to cover their asses in case someone does adopt a pit from them and the worst case senario happens. That should be taken care of in their contract though...hrmmm...anyway!
In one sense I'm glad that I took her because I know what research I am doing..frantic paranoid research to ensure that I don't F*** her up. :( The family handing her off was not screening homes and thought they were doing what was in her best interest by giving her away because their lab had attacked her several times. She has scars and fresh wounds from this.
I was shocked to watch her walk around the house with her head held high and not showing any fear whatsoever of my great danes. She walks right up to them and paws their muzzles to entice some play and then when my dane pup responds she flips out and bites him. It seems pretty vicious to me, but I'm wondering if shes a little scared and trying to protect herself or set him straight. Maybe she wants to be higher in the pack than him? I dunno.. I really don't care at this point which one of them gets ahead of the other. I just want to make sure she knows all the humans are ahead of her.
I started hand feeding her some table foods that I knew she would go nuts over. I purposely put my fingers in danger...yeah... I wanted to see how she takes food and if she would calm down and be more gentle with me correcting her verbally. She did calm down quite a bit, but she did sink a tooth in my finger at first. I expected that.. I'm going to continue to do this until she totally understands that she needs to keep her teeth out of it. I want to socialize the hell out of her as well. So ANY chance I get to take her out in public..even if its just to pick the kids up from school..I'm going to take her. Of course I have to wait until shes done with her pup vaccines before going out to more public places. I doubt shes had any vetting at all and our county animal shelter has shut down twice this month because of parvo. :(
The rescues spay/neuter thingy is this month..the 25th if I remember correctly so hopefully I can get her spayed then. I'm having a hard time with house training her. I was going to start her in a crate..like I do with the danes, but she makes this HORRIBLE noise/sound that sounds like a high pitch screaming and at some points it sounds like shes talking. Like shes saying MaMa or something. It will drive you INSANE! So I have not crated her unless we are leaving and can't take her along with us. I'll attach a couple pictures of Lily. I wish I knew something about her background, but the family claims she was dumped off on their dirt road.

Quick Update

2009-02-07T23:46:00.009-05:00

We met the new ENT doctor for my toddler and he is much better! Straight to the point and now we have an appointment scheduled for March 31st for his surgery to remove his cyst. So this is what I've been up to lately...sewing purses... I'll attach some pics of a couple I did recently. One was 5x5 inch squares I put together of random fabric and the other is a cute pink skull print I found at walmart.
No..thats not a fly swatter in the picture with the pink purse. Its a bee swatter. I didn't even know they made those until this past summer! hehe

eBay!!

2009-01-31T00:38:00.005-05:00

eBay is PISSING ME OFF! They started out with gradually raising and raising their listing fee's and final value fee's. That really hit us artist hard. We boycotted eBay and didn't run any listings for a week. Of course that didn't affect them as strongly as we would have liked for it to.
So A LOT of artist, including myself, closed our ebay stores and went to etsy.com.
I'm still happy about that decision and wish more ebay sellers would do the same. So now eBay is forcing us to make more changes..as if their HUGE listing fee's and final value fees weren't hitting us hard enough..now they refuse to let us accept checks or money orders as a method of payment!!
I think those MF'ers have forgotten that we're in the United States here!!
So.. according to their policies that I've read..
You have to say paypal is preferred and suggest it to your buyers, BUT if your buyers insist on paying via money order or check you can accept it at that point. So.. If you ebay often and prefer to pay with a check or money order go right ahead!!!
eBay is claiming that the reasoning behind this bullshit is to ensure a safe trackable payment with faster shipping..not the case!!
eBay and PayPal were started by the same morons and they are connected. So eBay hits you with a high listing fee, then takes a cut of your final sale and THEN takes another cut of the money when it goes into your paypal account. This is why they're forcing us to use PayPal.
I can't stand to have someone force me to do something that I'm against and you can bet I'm going to find loopholes and go against the grain on this BS!!!
Heres their BS policies..

Faster, more secure checkout experience

Checks and money orders no longer allowed
Originally posted August 20, 2008. Updated January 8, 2009

As of October, 2008, all items listed on eBay.com must be paid for using one of the following approved payment options:

Direct credit or debit card payment via a merchant credit card account
PayPal
ProPay
Moneybookers (starting early February 2009)
Paymate (starting early February 2009)
Payment on pick-up

Paper payment methods such as checks and money orders will no longer be accepted on eBay.com.

By early 2009, all approved electronic payment methods will be integrated into eBay checkout. For example, buyers will be able to enter their credit card number directly into eBay checkout, and the payment will be routed to the seller's Internet merchant account or to their PayPal account.

Please note that the new payments policy does not apply to the vehicles categories in Motors, capital equipment categories in Business & Industrial, Adults Only, or Real Estate.

Meeting expectations for online payments

Buyers expect online checkout and payment to be safe, reliable and fast. That's what our largest competitors offer. We need to provide the same or better experience to attract and retain buyers and generate increased sales for our sellers. Electronic payment methods integrated into eBay checkout are necessary to deliver this experience. The vast majority of ecommerce shoppers, including eBay buyers, now use online payment methods. On eBay.com over 90% of transactions are paid with online payment methods and the use of offline paper methods has declined by 40% over the last 3 years.

Better for buyers

Better for sellers

More Consistent:
For approximately 1 out of 5 transactions on eBay today, you are required to leave the site to pay for an item. Integrating approved payment methods into eBay checkout provides a consistent and trusted experience.

Safer:
Individuals who pay with a check or money order on eBay.com, are 80% more likely to file an "item not received" dispute, and 50% more likely to leave a negative feedback than buyers who pay with PayPal or a credit card. Prohibiting paper payments greatly reduces your exposure to fraudulent activity.

If something does go wrong, you likely have more recourse with electronic payment methods. As of October 22, 2008, eligible items paid with PayPal on eBay.com are now covered by PayPal Buyer Protection for the full purchase price and original shipping costs and at no additional cost. There is no longer a coverage limit. See eligibility.

Faster:
Your sellers will be paid faster with electronic payment methods, so they can ship items to you quickly.

Faster and More Efficient:
Electronic payment methods give you faster access to funds, which means earlier shipments and an increase in buyer satisfaction.

More Reliable:
You will no longer be susceptible to fraudulent money orders which many sellers tell us is a significant risk. Plus, listings on eBay.com that don't accept PayPal or credit cards are more than twice as likely to experience an unpaid item than listings that only accept PayPal and/or credit card.

As of October 22, 2008, PayPal Seller Protection now covers US sellers with no annual limit for eBay items shipped to over 190 countries—even if the address is unconfirmed—at no additional cost. See eligibility

More Sales
These payment changes should also increase buyer confidence in shopping on eBay, which should result in increased sales for you and other sellers.

All that BS to shut people up and try to convince them that they give a damn...its ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! God I hate eBay...

Possible adopter for Hannah..

2009-01-28T23:44:00.004-05:00

I keep getting my hopes up when people contact me about Hannah. Shes recently been added to a hound database so more people will see her. I've had 2 people contact me that changed their mind when they found out she was a mixed breed. Then yesterday got a lady who sounded pretty good. Shes not from Georgia though..shes from Virginia and if it doesn't work out guess who has to drive all the way up there to fetch her back. :/ Uuuuuggghhhh... I don't want her to miss out on a great home..this could be the one! At the same time I don't want to make that drive. I'll just have to follow my gut and see how it goes..
I have another commission that I'm waiting to start on. I have to wait for the canvas to arrive, but I'm very excited about getting started on it. Its a 20x20 and includes 3 young brothers and their 2 lab mix babies. I don't paint a lot of people, but she said she liked my style so I can't wait to see how it turns out. I don't paint people much, but I really do enjoy it! I just realized that I posted that jester dane picture twice. hehe My memory really is THAT bad. We watched that step brothers movie last night and I laughed so hard I was coughing and had tears in my eyes. Definitely not one to watch while the kids are awake. LOTS of cursing in there.. I took some pictures of Jade (the new kitty) last night..I'll attach one or two of those. I love the last one..she was stretching..not screaming! hehe

The cats were rescued! Yay!!

2009-01-26T18:40:00.005-05:00

So I contacted the rescue after the strange cat lady experience and Linda took the kittens! I dropped some boxes off on my way to get the kids from school and then picked the kittens up that same night and took them to Linda's house. She said they're already doing so much better and allowing her to touch them. They should be getting spayed/neutered Feb. 25th and at that time be ready for adoption! :D
The room we carried the boxes of kittens into looked like a kitty daycare center. There were toys, a huge litter box for multiple kitties and tons of play things. Tunnels, shelves and cat climbing goodies. Took me a moment to take it all in. lol The kittens seem to make themselves comfortable right away! She had a mesh net tunnel thing with shelves and they went inside and started relaxing. I don't think they knew we could see them, but I was so happy to know they wouldn't be sleeping in a plastic bin!
Linda sent me some pictures of them a few hours after I dropped them off, but I haven't saved them to my computer so I can't attach any, but I will!
Spencers mom spent the weekend with us and I finally broke out my dusty (but new) sewing machine. Broke it in just a little and now I have my mind set on some cat toy projects. Maybe do some quick and simple little things to help raise money for the spay of this new gal we have here.
I have paintings I should be working on instead of blogging, but wanted to give an update on the kittens! Here is a 6x6 inch jester dane painting I did last week..or maybe it was week before last. I can't remember! I may have already posted a picture of it too...can't remember that either. Just part of getting older..hehe

29 degrees and dropping

2009-01-21T21:59:00.005-05:00

I'm not use to this weather at all! Our winters here in my part of Georgia are usually mid to high 30's and we haven't seen a really good cold winter or snow since 95 or 96 that I can recall. We had snow last year, but nothing to write home about. Very light snow that lasted a couple days.
I had a strange experience today..
I went to meet a low income lady that lived in these teeny tiny apartments and she needed help rehoming some kittens and a momma cat. At first it was just free kittens, but then when I mentioned the fact that she really needed to get the momma spayed she decided she wanted to just give her away too.
When I walked in the kittens went crazy and started hiding. She snagged one and handed him to me. He immediately looked me in the eye, freaked out and started hissing and scratching me.
I held on and cradled him..tryed to make him feel secure and started petting and massaging him.
He calmed down and actually purred a bit, but then for some unknown reason freaked out again and bolted out of my arms.
He was the most social of all the babies. There was no way I was going to get a chance to touch the others.
The lady pointed to a box in her bedroom when they were all hiding and she told me that she kept them all locked in that box all day and only let them out for a couple hours in the morning and a few in the afternoon. She said it was about time for them to go back into their box so that was making them hide more than usual.
I just stood there with my mouth wide open..no litter box, no food and no water for all these cats crammed into this tiny plastic bin. :(
The lady saw nothing wrong with this at all..so I begin to wonder if maybe she had some mental issues going on herself..
Such a sad situation.. So I contacted the rescue I fostered for previously to see if they could give me some advice. I figured they would be jam packed right now because owner turn ins have risen rapidly with the economy going south. She did say that she was going to forward my email to their cat lady so maybe we can all work together and get something done about this.
I had thought about calling animal control, but I don't want her in trouble and I don't want the cats to be instantly euthanized. I believe they can be worked through this..they're only 14 wks old!
They were the most beautiful kittens I have seen in quite some time..tuxedo's, whites with tiny black spots all over, white long hair with gray spots..just beautiful!
I hope to be able to report later on that something good came up for them..
I started on a 12 x 36 inch painting a few nights ago and I LOVE how its turning out. I did a fade down from bright red to cobalt blue to a lime green and then an antique gold and it looks beautiful. Then I did a black and white checkered border and I'm in the middle of painting an abstractish primitive type of tall purple dog with a bird on his head.
Can't wait to see how it turns out when I'm finished!
I got a commission from running the new 16x20 on eBay so I've gotten a slow start on that.
Painting a ladies gorgeous cropped harl baby boy and her cute cute lightly marked merle girl.
I did some backgrounds on random sizes of canvas the other night and then sketched out a few dogs. After painting a black outline of a jester dane I decided I wasn't going to fill it in at all. I loved it how it was. Thats unusual for me..
Then I had done a pit looking dog on another one, but I'm thinking that I'll more than likely fill it in as just black and white since the backgrouns is so colorful.
I had 2 people contact me about adopting Hannah today, but once they realized that she was a mix they were no longer interested. Poor Hannah.. skipped over because her momma wasn't picky. I dunno what all shes really mixed with, but just from looking at her you can definitely tell shes a high mix of treeing walker coonhound. She's so smart and affectionate. I went and changed her ad so people would know up front that she is a mix. No need to get her hopes up and waste my time with people looking for fancy purebred papered hounds.. :)
I'll attach some recent pics I took of her and put them in random spots on this post. When I started this post it was 29 degrees...now its 27! Brrrrrr!!!

Finally got a dang appointment!

2009-01-16T13:23:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to get my son an appointment with an ENT doctor in Atlanta since last Thursday and his pediatrician had faxed over 4-5 referrals, but apparently all of the assistants are too dang lazy to walk their butts over to the machine to look for recent faxes.
I think my blood pressure went up a tad bit over that one..
So here in Georgia we are having unbelievably cold weather! With the wind factored in we were suppose to have right around 5-10 degrees last night! I hope no ones doggies or kitties were left outside! :(
I made a video of Hannah, my foster tree walker mix this morning. I was trying to get her to sit for treats, but she spent the majority of the time barking at me. I haven't figured out how to work this new camera and the sound is non existent at this point. Something to work on! Now lets see if I can successfully post the video.
Ok! Got the video on there with no problem. Now I need to go finish checking my emails and start working on my new commissions. :D

Its Sunday!

2009-01-11T19:20:00.004-05:00

Its already Sunday! Where did the weekend go?? My cousin drove up from Florida friday night to spend the weekend with us. I haven't been able to see her much or talk to her hardly at all since shes been living there so it was nice to spend time with her and her daughter Honey. The kids LOVED having Honey here. You would think I wouldn't paint at all while having company over..especially someone who is spending the night and here for a visit, but I had this urge to just paint and paint. Every chance I got I was painting.. she had left to go visit other relatives and I painted the entire time and then when she got back we started to watch a movie and I moved all of my paints into the living room and sat in my recliner to paint there. lol I always complain when people do that around me. If you're going to watch the movie dang it...just stop everything else and watch the movie.
My daughter was really excited about them coming up and she wanted to stay up late and see them when they arrived, but she passed out on the couch and didn't get to see them until morning. I've told her a thousand times!! "Don't wake people up unless its an emergency!" She likes to wake me up at the crack of dawn after I've only had a couple hours of sleep. Anyway..
I made my oldest son sleep in my daughters room so my guest could have some privacy. My oldest son has autism and he doesn't talk much, but when he's upset....boy everybody knows it!
My daughter gets up and goes in my oldest sons bedroom. She see's my cousin asleep and goes and wakes her up!! lol
Then my cousin tells her to go back out so she doesn't wake up her daughter..
So then my son goes in the room, see's strangers in his room and starts SCREAMING. lol
So of course I'm up at this point and apologizing. hehe
This morning rather than screaming..he opens the door and says "Hey Baby" to her daughter and goes to his computer. Honey loved the danes. They have a pit mix thats a big girl, but I don't think shes ever seen dane size dogs. She wasn't scared of them at all and tried to offer them everything in the house to eat.
Cheetos, plastic toys, sippy cups..etc..
Lexi accepted the cheetos, but after tasting one she spit out the rest.
So I was in the mood to paint and I finished a merle with a pretty abstractish background. Its a 10x10 inch and I did the background over a month ago.
Then I had another 10x10 inch with a funky background and I couldn't think of
what to paint on it so I finally did a silhouette of a dane with a gritty texture..
Then I finished up the 16x20 I was talking about previously. It was quick to finish. Those bigger ones usually sit around for awhile, but I loved the background and couldn't stop working on it. I have a 30x40 that I need to finish. Its a personal painting..well..it started out as a personal painting that I had planned to keep.
Its of Lexi, a tuxeo cat and a red bird. The more I look at it the more I think I'm ready to just finish it up and sell it. I had an eBay artist that I like paint Lexi for me so I dunno.. I'll have to see what I think when its finished.

Drawing a blank

2009-01-06T20:39:00.001-05:00

I can never think of a title name! Anyway.. Finished a 10x10 Inch harlequin Dane farm painting and listed it on eBay a few days ago. I think it has 3 days left. I'll attach a pic of it. I started on a 16x20 that I'm really liking a lot. Did a splashy abstract background with red, blue and green and then put a wavy black border around it. Now I'm working on the Danes in it. They have really big heads so they look extra goofy. :D
Hopefully I can get it finished within the next couple days and get it up on Ebay. I keep saying I want to get away from Ebay because of their increasing fee's pissing me off and I closed my store because of that, but its so damn addictive! its like gambling.. Auctions are fun! I use to go to the local auction when I was my daughters age and I remember all the excitement and screaming and watching the price fly up.
So its like that for me except there is no smoking and I'm relaxed in my PJ's behind a computer. :)
I rescheduled my sons next doctors appointment for the cyst because I think now we're having some tonsil issues. He's having coughing fits after running and playing with his brother and sister and gagging on just about anything he eats with texture. I don't think its the cyst causing this because I know his dads family has a long history of huge tonsils and all of his siblings had theirs removed before they were 4 years old.
When your child's play is limited by it and he's down to only eating smooth foods and drinking bottles its time to do something.. Not sure if the doctor is going to want to take his tonsils out at 20 months of age, but somethings gotta give.
As any mother knows..if you try to restrain your toddler from playing they go into a fit so its almost impossible at this point to keep him calm and avoid the gagging and sometimes vomiting. Hopefully he's not too young and something can be done about this to give him some relieve and help him to eat again.

Now time for New years..

2008-12-26T22:46:00.000-05:00

We made it through Christmas and now New Years is coming up. Last year I watched the event on tv in my bed alone.. well.. my daughter came running in at the last minute to watch it, but then passed out.
Not very exciting, but oh well..
I'm not expecting anything big for New Years this year either. Just get to hear all the silly new years resolutions that people make and then watch as they break them one by one. #1 resolution I hear in my family is...going to stop smoking.
They try several times through out the year, but for some reason they think its going to magically happen on January 1st? #2 is...going to stop drinking.. that runs heavy in my family as a disease so good luck with that! I've only seen a hand full of people in my family successfully stop smoking and 1 stop drinking. Those are tough ones..
My New Years resolution a few years back was to never make another stupid New Years resolution and I've not broken it yet. :D
I got a couple Christmas cards today..a day or so late I know, but it makes me feel better because I know some of mine didn't make it to their destinations in time either.
Don't ask me why other peoples failures make me feel better...they just do.
Maybe it takes the pressure off me. Its like kids in school getting their name on the board..you instantly feel better when another kid gets in trouble and you aren't the only one with your name on the board.
I changed my music bear again..the one over there ---> on the right column playing music and boppin his head. Crash Test Dummies, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Cars and some other stuff.. I tried not to put anything too crazy. I am very open in the music department and I like a lot of offensive music. Lots of rap and punk music with not so nice lyrics.. I'm sure this new list will only last a week or two at the most before I change it again. I forgot to put tom petty back on there..oops.
So Todd sent me pictures of their dane..chest deep in snow and I'm so jealous!
I have NEVER seen snow like that. The best I've seen was maybe 6 or 7 inches in 95 or 96. They are in Washington and were snowed in for a couple days. He said it was the worst snow storm since 1940.. that damn global warming.. hehehe
I started another painting a week or so ago and haven't really done much at all to it. Its a 10x10 inch harlequin dane farm scene with the crazy cows. Those seem to be fairly popular, but who knows when I'll get around to finishing that.
I did the outline for another painting in my stained glass series. Its a boston terrier. I think its 6x6 inches. I just haven't been in the painting mood lately.
I think its the energy in this house..its HORRIBLE.
No matter what I do to clean it out it just keeps coming back. :( Maybe I should stick some sage up...never mind.. I'll be nice. :D
The black dane in the picture here ------> is of Draco. He was put to sleep a couple weeks ago because he bloated. I still haven't accepted that yet. It hasn't hit me. He was one of those dogs that you never expected to go. He was just too human like. He belong to my best friend Jeannie...the lady I share the website with.
It had been a couple years since I had gotten to see him and now I'm not going to get the chance again. Thats just hard to swallow..

Almost Christmas!

2008-12-21T19:49:00.000-05:00

Its almost Christmas and I'm almost finished with my shopping. Still have one or two things that I still need to get, but for the most part I'm finished.
I did a lot of my shopping online this year to avoid the crowds, but did venture out to toys r us and a few other places. I got myself something this year too..
I've learned from the past couple Christmas's that if I don't go ahead and get myself something its just not gonna happen. So.. the gift that keeps on giving..
A fence! I'm paranoid about neighbors dogs, strays and other animals coming on the property when my danes and my children are out playing so we're fencing in a small area in the front and the back for them. Later I'm going to fence in the rest in small sections for the chickens and goats we plan to get. I grew up on a small farm and miss those animals a lot!
I got my Christmas cards mailed out yesterday. Late as usual, but hopefully they'll get where they're going before the 25th. I sent out more cards this year than ever.. You'd think to family, but no.. I didn't send any to family. I figure I'll see them at the parties anyway. I sent the majority of them out to my great dane friends on various forums and lists that I belong to, a few to my regular customers and some random people that came to mind.
I hated the way they turned out though. I used a different company this time..trying to be a tight wad again.
FYI.. 123print makes crappy quality cards! The pictures looked very gritty.

We took the baby ( I guess he's really a toddler now) to his ENT appointment and the doctor said the lump has grown and he wants to do another round of antibiotics and then if it doesn't go down he wants to go ahead and set up a date and time for a surgery to remove it.
Originally he wanted to wait as long as possible because its less risky as he ages, but with it growing every time he gets a cold its going to be much sooner.
Our next appointment is in the middle of January.
I haven't painted in a couple of weeks. I finished one of my smaller commissions and have been focusing on my new pup and the kids more than anything.
After the holidays I'll pick back up with it..
We have 2 Christmas parties to go to this year. One on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day. I prefer to stay at home in my PJ's on Christmas, but I know the kids will have more fun going to visit their cousins and decorating cookies..
Hell..maybe I can still stay in my pj's..hehe

update on everything

2008-12-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

I STILL have this damn cold/flu crap! I got the flu the week before Thanksgiving and finally felt better by the time the big day rolled around.. then I guess I got another variety of the flu at the family gathering and the next day around noon I started feeling nauseous and had to have family come over and help with the kids because I couldn't stand up! So the second go round has been much rougher on me. I still have a bad cough and congestion. My youngest son got it as well and he's still coughing with his as well as his little nose running like a faucet. Hopefully we'll shake it soon.
He has his next ENT appointment on the 16th of this month if I remember correctly. His appointment that I mentioned in my last blog post was when we got the diagnosis of the lump, which was a thyroglossal duct cyst. The doctor said he will have to have surgery to remove it, but he wants to wait as long as possible before doing it. So we have to go in for monthly check ups to see how quickly its growing, if at all. And if it seems to be causing any breathing or swallowing issues it may have to come out sooner.
He decided the night before Thanksgiving to dive off of the couch and there was a wooden based toy sitting on its side in the floor. His head caught the corner of the toy right above his eye and it was pretty nasty. So we rushed to the ER with that.
Thankfully we were only there for 4 hours. Not a lot of kids jumping off of couches at that time of night I guess.
He got ANOTHER cat scan for that and THANK GOD for insurance because we got the statement on that a couple days ago and that little visit ran a little over $2k.
I think he's going through the terrible 2's a little early and I hope that means he'll finish a little sooner. lol
He gets into EVERYTHING imaginable! I've gone through the house trying to baby proof anything he could possibly get into, break, hurt himself with or eat and its never enough. Soon as I let my guard down and trust that everything is safe he proves me wrong. I need wire cages to enclose the television, dvd player and Christmas tree now. He is fascinated with the buttons, balls and lights.
Every time I turn my back I see him running across the living room with a ball ornament that he's taken the hanger out of. So you see lots of hooks and hangers on the tree, but no decorations.
I expected to go through this with the pup, but not with the baby. My older two children did not get into things like he does. Then again I lived in a home that was easier to child proof back then.
So needless to say I haven't had much time at all to paint. I've had to turn down a couple commissions because I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish them and ship them by Christmas.
Thats hard for me to do.. turn down a commission?!? Thats unheard of for me.
I love painting! I've had to start staying up later..1..2..3am just to get my "me" time in. Its the only way. If I had the money to hire a nanny I dang sure would.
I see these hollywood moms strutting around having child after child and adopting 10 or 15 from other countries. lol
They keep getting a pat on the back and Oh what a wonderful mother she is..blah blah blah.. Then you see 2 or 3 nanny's carrying the children around the mansion. lol Yeeeaahh...
If they lived in the real world they'd only have 3 kids max and they'd be so gray you wouldn't even recognize them. I'm only 28 and I've tried to stop counting the gray hairs arriving. I've been told pulling them out is the worst thing you can possibly do, but I can't help it!!!!
Its like leaving a boogie hanging from your nose or something. You just can't stop yourself. ugh...
On that note I think I'm going to bed early. If you can call midnight early. The little one decided he was going to get up at 3:30am and then 5am and request that I rock him back to sleep so I'm a lil bit tired already.
I'm attaching a picture of my squishy little love muffin, Ludo.

Why have a title?

2008-11-14T12:07:00.001-05:00

I never stick to the title of my blog entry's so why even have one? I spend more time trying to think of a stinkin title than I do writing the blog! So.. I got the CD from the radiologist yesterday and called this morning and made his next appointment. So next Wednesday we will have a diagnosis and we'll know how and when his lump will be taken care of.
I listed Hannah on a local rescues petfinder site in hopes of spreading the word about her a little quicker. She's already 7 months old and unfortunately older dogs don't have as good of a chance of being adopted as the young cute squishy puppies.
I dont know a lot about hounds, but from all the ones I've seen she is the most beautiful. She is a mix, but her markings are absolutely beautiful.
I keep forgetting to email the lady about her commission I'm working on. After complaining about other artist not staying on their toes with their customers here I go slipping. LOL
Spencers mom is suppose to be coming down this weekend and spending all of next week with us. She said she wanted to teach me how to sew, but with a 17 month old running around I don't think I'm going to be able to learn much. :/
He keeps me on my toes. Once he learned how to climb over and go under the child pen thing all hell broke lose. lol
So now my day is filled with chasing him around the house and trying to child proof anything dangerous he comes across or anything I value that I don't want something smeared on or broken. I don't remember my first two children exploring so much at this age.
So if I want to get any painting done here lately I have to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning while everyone is asleep. Then the baby has me up bright and early with no sleep..this is where my coffee comes in and lots of it!
His nap falls right around the time that I leave to pick my older two up from school so I don't get any free time at the house while he naps. Thankfully he follows my older two around like a puppy and they help watch him while I do things I couldn't otherwise do without help.
I originally wanted 5 children, but umm..now I think I'm done. I think 3 is a good number for me. lol
I dont know how the heck my grandmother handled 5!
So last night he took a very late nap..fell asleep around 8pm and didn't wake up until 10 or so and I was able to work on something I had in my head all day.
I collected some fall leafs and sealed them up so they wouldn't turn brown and dry up and then painted a tree base that looks like a person on a 16x20 and attached the leafs to that. It turned out completely different than what I had in my head. I was a bit disappointed, but Spencer said it looked great and a Pagan would buy it. LOL
I don't care who buys it..the point was that what I had in my mind didn't come out quite right. In my head it was a big circle of leafs all layered on top of each other, but after coming across a thickness issue with the layering I realized it wasn't going to happen and I would have to lay them out individually. I wanted a fuller look, but when painting the tree I ended up making two arm looking branches and a head in the center. So Spencer said it looks like a tree goddess.
Because of my camera dying on me I have to use his Kodak and upload the pictures on his computer because the memory card doesn't fit in my reader..
So thats a pain in the butt. Because I want all of my photos in my albums on MY computer. So whenever I get a chance to upload those I'll post what that looks like. :)

Blah Blah Blah

2008-11-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

Well the Pumpkin thing didn't work out.. shes most likely going to be with us forever. I haven't had any time at all to work on my commissions, but we finally got in touch with radiology and my sons films are on their way here so we can finally find out what this lump is and what we're going to do about it. I've been trying not to think about it, but its hard when it sticks out like a sore thumb and I'm with him all day long. :(
I ordered some diatomaceous earth and it arrived today. I took a tablespoon and put it in my coke. Bad idea!! Tomorrow it will be mixed in with chocolate milk in hopes of hiding that awful dirt taste and texture. Hopefully the danes won't notice it like I did when I mix it in their food! I gave 5 pounds of it to my parents for their chickens. If you aren't familiar with it heres a link..
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html
Oh and heres a pic of my new addition Ludo!

He's 4 weeks old and a little over 10 pounds now.

Bob Ross

2008-11-08T21:50:00.000-05:00

I was looking for a friends youtube video and saw a Bob Ross video pop up on the side. Then I noticed all these video's of people pretending to be Bob Ross. There was one that stuck out for me.. the only clean one (language wise) actually. hehe
Good stuff..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOpF_ZGD4Ps&feature=related
I've been busy trying to finish Christmas commissions and dealing with doctors. I haven't posted much about my children here, but my youngest son (17 months old) has a lump under his chin so I haven't been in a chipper enough mood to come blog lately.
This Bob Ross video made me smile though.. :D

Excited!!!!

2008-10-18T19:48:00.000-04:00

I just got off the phone with the most wonderful dane owner in the world. I've been trying to adopt out Pumpkin since she was 10 weeks old and I have FINALLY found a family/home that is absolutely perfect for her! So.. lets hope they decide they want to give this a shot. This lady contacted me via email after seeing Pumpkins profile online a few times. She said they had ran across her several times and always thought about her, but never contacted me. They lost their dane 5-6 months ago to wobblers and you could tell she absolutely adored her dane. She broke into tears on the phone and I cried with her. :(
The thing that I find so wonderful about this family.. they first had problems with their danes digestion issues and visited a couple different vets to work on those problems. Switched to a super expensive food and then finally tried making their own homemade holistic food for her. Then skin problems occured and again they got several different opinions from different vets and tried different things to cure the problem. Months later shes falling into things and the vet kept reassuring them it was fine and the dane was just clumsy. So she got a second opinion and xrays to find out it was wobblers.
Once they got this diagnosis they started trying different things..a chinese form of treatment that I have forgotten.. acupuncture and then finally drove her to a doctor in Ohio (we're in GA) for a surgery that I've only heard of and now I've forgotten the name of it as well, but it involves inserting gold bb type things in their legs. I had read that this surgery had great results.
So..after all this and the surgery not working as they had hoped they finally let her be at peace and let her go, but I have to say.. I've never seen an owner try SO many things to keep their dane happy and healthy and alive..
To hear the compassion in her voice and to hear her interacting with her schnauzers on the phone was wonderful..
So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope they want to meet Pumpkin next weekend! She said she isn't concerned about Pumpkins blindness and deafness and that she was confident that they could help her adapt to their home. Her main concern was making sure she didn't stretch herself to thin and neglect her other babies. :) So heres a picture of Pumpkin that I took in the spring when she was sniffing around the flower beds. Shes much bigger now, height wise.
I hope this works out for her because she deserves a home where she can be worshiped and spoiled.
So now I need to go work on those Christmas commissions!

Puppies..

2008-10-18T13:16:00.001-04:00

Turn off the music player so you can hear the puppy grunts before you click play! The pause button is on the gray teddy bear in the right column. :D
Ok..heres the puppy video. The quality is crappy I know, but its better than a photo.. I love those puppy grunts!

McCain!

2008-10-18T13:05:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted for a while now, but I've been super busy with danes, foster dogs and even some puppies! I've been trying to get a head start on my Christmas commissions..yep..already getting requests for those!
I wanted to post something on my favorite presidential candidate (McCain) while I'm at it and I'll dig around in a few minutes and find a video of the pups to share..

I won a book!

2008-09-28T16:35:00.000-04:00

I won a book, I won a book, I won a book hey hey hey hey! LOL I got that from the Little Rascals movie..except it was pickle instead of book. Theres a blog I read fairly often called "Dog Art Today" and there was a contest to win a book, Chicken Soup For The Soul: Loving Our Dogs and I won a copy!
Not only that, but Moira McLaughlin (dog art today blog owner) included one of my paintings on her blog today with a link to my website. I did the snoopy dance. :D
So I FINALLY finished the big commission I was working on! I was so happy.. I never expected it to take me so long! I know my time is spread thin, but geez.. You realize just how thin when you've got something big to work on. I'm so glad I didn't have a time limit on that one..
I didn't take on any other commissions while I was working on that one, but I did paint a little here and there to prevent me from getting burnt out on the big one.
Heres another funky one I did in that experimental style..
I like how it turned out, but I'm not real crazy about the colors I used. Have to experiment though or I'll always wonder how it would have looked. I'm assuming its a pit puppy. I did a general dog search when looking for a dog to paint so I'm not 100% sure what breed this fella is.
I added some metallic gold swirls and outline to a mantle portrait I had done earlier this month in hopes of spicing it up. It looked unfinished and I think the gold finished it off.

The 8x10 blue cat painting I did sold last night. I can't remember if I put a picture of that one here or not. I'm pretty sure I didn't so I'll upload that one too. I really liked how the blue looked with the lime green eyes and had others make the same comment so I'll be using those together again in the future. This mantle has dark purple eyes, but its hard to see in this photo.

New Painting..

2008-09-22T00:49:00.000-04:00

So I liked how the experimental style turned out and I did a rat terrier.. I'll attach it in a minute. Hannah..I THOUGHT was doing great with the crate training and I suddenly notice the living room smelled of piss! lol So I go to throw her blankets in the washing machine and they are soaked! Little goober goes out to pee just fine and poops outside and then I guess she gets bored in the crate and chews on her bone a while and then takes a nice piss. :/
Shes still really young though so I dont fully expect her to hold it all night or quite have the hang of it yet. At least she holds her #2!
I worked on the big commission for a while today and its alllllmost done! Its taken me forever it seems like. I just dont have the time to devote to a huge painting like I use to. We watched a movie while eating dinner tonight.. I DO NOT recommend "The Entrance".. it was horrible! I hate it when movies end and leave you hanging..not like sequel hanging..hanging like it just shuts off in the middle of the movie. Ok! I'm taking the dogs out to potty one last time and then going to bed!

Update..

2008-09-18T20:53:00.001-04:00

Hannah is doing GREAT with her crate training and house breaking! Although her hound behavior is driving me up the wall. I take her out on a leash and shes all over like rover trying to find something to bark at or sniff and then when we get back in the house she remembers that we originally went out to potty. Oh yeah...so back out we go! I worked on something other than my commission today to prevent myself from getting burnt out.. here she blows...
Its not my usual style at all, but its gotten a lot of positive feedback so I will offer this style as a commission if people want this look. :)
Back to the big ole commission! Its almost done!

Bummer..

2008-09-09T13:10:00.000-04:00

Well.. I wasn't able to get Sampson's painting. Other things financially took priority over that and since I haven't been able to paint lately I didn't have my usual art fund stash. Oh well..
At least I got my Lexi!
We got a new rescue girl last night. Her name was Georgia, but I've changed it to Hannah because of the tropical storm. She seems to have been starved for at least a few days and she was SO thirsty. I've never seen a dog try to eat water. :(
The photos I originally got of her looked beautiful..she was fat and healthy. She came here last night with hips and ribs showing and ringworm on her ankles, hip and tail. I immediately changed her name, which is something I dont normally do.
Sampson kept his name.. but I felt that she had been neglected and I wanted to give her a new fresh start with a new name and Hannah is very fitting for her.
She has a very sweet temperament and a goofy loving personality. She is a bit of a jumper though..something I'm definitely not use to. With me being 5'2 my danes have always just leaned up to give me kisses, but Hannah is a tiny gal compared to them. Shes JUST tall enough to reach the tops of the counters though..go figure!
She had an accident in the kitchen last night (pee) and that was my fault. She was letting me know she had to go out and I was doing something else and didn't drop it to take her out. So I didn't even scold her at all for it.
After that I took her out randomly every hour or two and she went #1 and #2 consistently like a good girl!
I crated her way before bed to get her use to it and she slept all night with no whining whatsoever! Shes like a little dream dog.. perfect little angel.
So I wake up at 6:30 this morning with this awful smell assaulting my nose. The funny thing... I was half asleep and exhausted from staying up too late and at first I thought it was Spencers breath! LMFAO!
Once I woke up and came to my senses I realized it was puppy poop!
It was so strong it even woke up the baby.. didn't wake Spencer though..
So I hang my head..walk in the living room..fully expecting poop to be splatter painted all over the walls around the crate and for Hannah to be covered from head to toe. Not the case...
She pooped a nice little pile in the center of her blanket and didn't step in it or lay in it. What a good girl!! Very easy for me to clean up!
No more accidents since then and I believe that one could have been prevented if I was the type of person who got up at a decent hour. lol
So.. I have no idea how old she is yet and I can't fully expect her to hold her duty all night. Especially since her tummy is upset and she has been neglected. I'm not going to expect any miracles until her stomach is settled, I get an age on her and she has a chance to get into a routine.
She is super intelligent though. One of those gals that tilts her head sideways when you speak to her. I'll attach the before and after photos that I have.
The before photos are from the previous owner and I'm assuming these photos are from when they got her because she looks very healthy and clean.
Then the after photos are of her standing in my kitchen after 2 cups of food and 2 bowls of water. It fattened her up quick, but still ribs and hip bones..
You can also see the dark spots on her tail where the hair is missing and the tiny spot of ringworm on her hind leg. If you look closely you can see her extra toes on her back feet too. I've never seen that on a dog..only on cats. It doesn't seem to be causing her any discomfort or problems though so I guess its fine.
She has 5 toes and then her dew claw. Looks interesting..

Wow..

2008-09-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

Monday was calmer than expected. We didn't leave the house and had some family over for a nice calm grill out. I'm such a weirdo.. I hate going out and I usually hate having company. Just find me a nice cool cave and I'm happy.
My wow title is in reference to the artist I spoke of in my previous post. Not only did she paint a fabulous piece of Sampson..she emailed me to let me know and mentioned the fact that she didn't know my blog comments were going in her spam folder. How she knew I complained about that (TODD!!) I'll never know..
Anyways.. she notified me pretty darn quick that she had listed his painting and was very nice! She totally captured his eyes! As she did with Lexi's!
She does awesome work! :)
Hopefully she'll remember to notify customers before the auctions are over so she'll get more bids and sales.. Word spreads fast and unfortunately negative spreads quicker and her work is awesome.. I'd hate for people to avoid purchasing from her for some silly reason.
Hopefully I'll win Sampsons painting so I can show it off here! Money is tight right now so I'll keep my fingers crossed! :/

Another Quicky..

2008-08-28T12:35:00.000-04:00

I dont usually post twice in one day, but OMG.. I have to post this!!
I guess my friends recommended the artist I was talking about in my previous post
to one of their friends because they wanted their dog commissioned.
So my friend puts the artists email address in the send box so he doesn't forget it,
types the email to his friend, which goes on about how the artist never responds to
emails and never notifies you that your painting is on Ebay and then accidentally
sends it to the artists!!!!!!!!!!!
LMFAO!!! I know he feels bad..and the artist quickly responded back..imagine that..
I told him..dont feel bad... thats just Karma...
She needs to know how her clients feel about this! Its very important.. she needs to
step up her game a bit.. hehehehe
That was my good laugh for the day...

Quicky...

2008-08-28T11:33:00.001-04:00

Wanted to do a quick update..
The kittens were adopted by a farm who needed some mousers so they have a feral colony and safe place to live now. The mama kitty is still waiting for a home and we're suppose to take her to adoption day Saturday. She had lots of people interested last time so maybe she'll get lucky.
There were other rescues there last time and this weekend is a holiday weekend and a few of the rescues who are normally there at the same time have other plans so maybe that'll help her to be noticed more.
I'd like to take a moment to say something to the fellow artist out there..
If you have a client who is contacting you about commissions, praising your art/work and purchasing from you...dont ignore them!!
I'm not going to do any finger pointing directly , but there was an artist that I liked very much and I sent her photos of my danes to be painted. I was told I would be notified when my painting was done and then I see it running on Ebay and never received an email from the artist. Ok...
So I purchase my painting..send her a couple different emails going on about how wonderful it is and never got a response. Those emails contained questions for future commissions I wanted...no responses..
So then I recommend her to a couple friends and they send in their danes photos to be painted. Again..no notification and their danes paintings are running on Ebay. They ended up not even purchasing their danes portraits because of her lack of communication, the rushed look the painting had and the fact that they were concerned that she was running up her own auctions. Thats a whole different story for a much later time..and beside the point..
The point is.. if you are an artist and you want to make a living selling your paintings.. you have to converse with your clients and be some what friendly and respond to their freakin emails!
She lost 2 customers because of this and who knows how many other people have fallen off because she seems so cold and withdrawn.
She blogs..hell I think she blogs here on blogger.com and I've even tried communicating with her on her blog and she seems very closed off.
Maybe shes snobby and has her select little group of friends..who knows!
I'm just saying...bad business!
So anyway..
Theres a festival that we have here in coweta county GA every year called the Powers Crossroads Festival and its fairly large..can't remember how many years its been going on, but enough to draw a decent crowd from the surrounding counties and states. I hope to find more time to paint over the next year and get a booth there next labor day. I think that would be a lot of fun. I've never sold my art face to face..only online because of my people issues.
But I think I could handle a booth out there for a weekend..maybe take my easel out there to keep me busy and take my mind off the crowd.

Paintings going sllllloooooow!

2008-08-15T12:37:00.000-04:00

I haven't been in the mood to paint in a couple weeks. I have to force myself to work on the big commission I'm doing. I'm blaming the heat and summer. I'm more of a fall/winter kinda person. Its easy for me to get warmer, but not as easy to cool off. Everybody say a prayer for Todd today.. he has a softball game and he's going to eat sushi for lunch! lol
Wait..forgot the best part. Its going to be 105 degrees in Washington. Poor Todd..
and poor Jess if she has to ride in the car with him. :D
I haven't written in awhile and I dont remember the last thing(s) I wrote about.
Update...
The foster kittens are driving me nuts. I'm allergic to cats and it seems to be getting worse rather than better. I hinted around that someone else could foster, but of course theres never enough room. Cole bit me the other night right after scratching the crap out of Kaitlyn. I know its going to be damn near impossible to place the 2 young boys because of how wild they are so I dont know whats going to come of this. I can't keep them in my sons bedroom forever. He's constantly coughing and having issues with them being in his room. It wouldn't surprise me if he was allergic too. I dont think its safe to just turn them loose outside and I know I'd never catch the kittens again if I did. Considering now I have to chase them down and pin them and get bitten. ugh..
The basset guy is doing great and has a lab mix brother. The black injured dane pup is going to a friends house to await his surgery.
Boy did I learn a crappy lesson on that one. You REALLY have to be careful how you advertise and who you ask for help when you have an injured animal. There are so many rescue people out there who dont care what your intentions were, but they are determined to just take you down. lol
They are on their high horse, better than everyone else and you better just get out of their way. I'm done with that BS. I'm not a big enough bitch to keep up with the women I've met involved in rescue. You would assume rescues are filled with loving compassionate women who are understanding and patient. Oh hell no.. Its the total opposite! They are bitter, angry, vicious women who hate HATE people and half of them have convinced themselves that its better for animals to just die rather than having to bother with finding them an appropriate home or trust an adopter. Women like that need to go take a f'n pill and go on vacation. I think the main problem is that these women devote so much time and money into saving animals and then they turn around and watch someone kill, starve, breed, whatever and it just infuriates them. I think after awhile they start to realize that no matter how hard they work its never going to completely stop and its impossible to save them all so they develop this anger and hate. I've come across a few that I think got to that point and then cracked. These guys are ok to be around. lol
These are the ones who will tell you upfront that they are f'n nuts and they know it. After they go insane and crack like this they are no longer stressful to be around, but quite pleasant. hehe
I've come across one in particular though that rubbed me the wrong way. After talking with her you'd think she was the grand high master of the georgia rescues.
I was concerned with getting the injured black dane pups leg taken care of and all she cared about was neutering him.
After trying twice to explain to her that it would be better to wait and have both surgeries done at the same time I gave up. She was just f'n bonkers..
This one hasn't cracked yet and she needs a big ass neon warning sign on her forehead.
And then theres the breeders I've met..
They aren't stressed out and angry at the world..just a few choice people. :) And if you straddle the fence and have friends on both sides you have to watch your back. The breeders dont mind if you do rescue and are friends with them, but you let a hard core rescuer know you have a friend that breeds and its war. You ALMOST forget that you're living in the United States at some point.. You feel like you've lost your freedom and you're about to be thrown into some type of rehab camp. So now when I see rescuers and breeders working together or even as friends I'm a bit shocked. Its almost like raw meat in a lions den and you just wanna hide behind a bush and wait to see whats going to happen. lol
I read something a breeder posted on one of my groups and I liked it. If I can find it I'll post it here. I liked how they stood up for what they were doing and not making up excuses to pacify the other side..
Ok.. I found it..
Its a long read though.. here goes..
In Defense of Dog Breeders

How Animal Rights Has Twisted Our Language

by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.american sportingdogallia nce.org

"You're a dog breeder!!!!! !!!!!!!"

In today's world, that is a very loaded statement. It's more like an
accusation.

"I told the television news reporter that I breed dogs," a friend
from Dallas told me recently. "He looked at me like he thought I was
a harlot."

Dog owners have allowed the animal rights movement to redefine our
language in order to paint everything we do in the worst possible
light. If we say that we breed dogs, the looks we get ask us if we
own a "puppy mill" or if we are a "backyard breeder."

If we reply that we are a "hobby breeder," someone immediately asks
how we can consider living creatures a hobby. Some of us try the
word "fancier." We fool no one.

The most pathetic response to the question is when we call
ourselves "responsible breeders." Responsible to whom? Who
defines "responsible" and "irresponsible? " Some bureaucrat? A
politician? Animal rights cretins who say there is no such thing as a
responsible breeder? Animal rights fanatics would rather kill all
animals than see someone love them. In fact, that's their plan.

If we say we are not breeders, it makes us "pet hoarders." We are
tarred as mentally ill people in need of psychotherapy.

The entire language about dog ownership has been hijacked by the
rhetoric of the animal rights movement.

The worst part is that we have allowed it to happen. We are too
fearful and wimpy to stand up for ourselves. We keep searching for
inoffensive euphemisms to describe what we do, so that we don't open
ourselves up to attack.

By doing that, however, we have engineered our own demise.

The animal rights movement will not go away. Its agenda is to destroy
our right to own or raise animals. Animal rights groups have declared
war on all animal ownership, and they won't stop until they either
win or we finally have the courage to stand up and defeat them.

They have not taken that kind of power over us. We have given it
away. We have surrendered our beliefs to the enemy.

We apologize for what we do. We make weak excuses for things like
animal shelter euthanasia, accidental matings, dog fighting and
dangerous dogs. We take at least part of the responsibility for these
problems onto our own shoulders, when in truth we have no
responsibility at all for creating them.

None whatsoever!

I am sick and tired of watching dog owners constantly apologize and
grovel, and allowing themselves to be put on the defensive.

Enough! It's time to stop sniveling about who we are and what we do.

Let me state clearly and for the record: I am a dog breeder. I breed
dogs. I raise puppies. I like it. I'm very proud of it.

If you don't like it, you are free to take a flying leap. I don't
care what you think of me or what I do.

I raise two or three litters of English setter puppies a year. I wish
I could raise more puppies, but can't figure out how to do it without
driving myself into bankruptcy.

My dogs work for a living, just like I do. They have to be good at
their jobs, just like I do. If they aren't good at their jobs, I
don't keep them and I certainly don't breed them.

They are hunting dogs, and they have to be able to perform to a very
demanding standard of excellence to be worthy of breeding. They have
to meet the exacting standard of championship- quality performance in
the toughest competition.

They are professional athletes.

Most of them don't make the cut. Those dogs make wonderful hunting
companions or family members.

I have never had a dog spayed or neutered, except for medical
reasons, and I don't intend to start now. If a dog is good enough for
me to keep, it is good enough to breed.

Nor have I ever sold a puppy on a spay/neuter contract. With
performance dogs, it takes two or three years to know what you have.
There is no way that anyone can know the full potential or worthiness
of a young puppy. I hope every puppy that I sell will become a great
one that is worthy of being bred.

I do not feel bad (and certainly do not feel guilty) if someone
decides to breed a dog from my kennel that I did not choose to keep
for myself when it was a puppy. It still will be a very nice dog, and
I have worked very hard on my breeding program for 35 years to assure
that very high quality genetics will be passed along and concentrated
in any dog that I sell.

On occasion, I have a puppy that has a serious flaw. I don't sell
those puppies, even though they would make many people very happy. I
give them away free to good homes, and the definition of a good home
is mine because it's my puppy. I own it. You don't.

My responsibility is to the puppy. It is not to you, and it's not to
some gelatinous glob called "society." I consider myself to be
personally responsible for every puppy I raise, from birth until the
day it dies. It always has a home in my kennel, if its new owner
can't keep it or no longer wants it.

That's a contract written in blood between the puppy and me. It's a
contract written with a handshake with the puppy's new owner.

I laugh cynically when someone from the Humane Society of the United
States or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ask if I am a
responsible breeder. HSUS and PETA are two of the most vicious,
bloodthirsty and dishonest snake pits on Earth. Their moral
credibility is a negative number. PETA butchers more than 90-percent
of the animals it "rescues" every year, and HSUS supports programs
and policies that result in the needless deaths of hundreds of
thousands of animals every year.

By now, I assume that I have pushed all of the buttons of the animal
rights crazies. I can hear them snort and see their pincurls flapping
in indignation. It makes my day.

Can't you hear them, too? They are calling me an exploiter of
animals. They are saying that I ruthlessly cull and manipulate the
genetics of my dogs. They saying that I make the exploited poor
beasts work for a living and live up to impossible standards. They
will say that I do this to feed and gratify my own fat ego. They will
say that I sell them for money and exploit them for personal gain.
Then, of course, they will say that I use them to viciously hunt
innocent wild animals.

Terrible, terrible me! My mother should have a son like this! She was
such a nice woman.

Well, I plead guilty to all of the charges. Know what else? I don't
feel guilty, not even a little bit. I do it. I like it. I feel good
about it.

Now I will speak in my own defense – as a dog breeder.

I happen to love dogs. I love being around them. I love working with
them. I love watching a puppy grow up and discover its potential. I
love having the privilege of experiencing a truly great dog in its
prime. I love sharing supper with my dogs, wrestling with puppies,
and sacking out with them on the couch. I lose sleep when they get
sick, and work myself unmercifully to care for them. I spend almost
all of the money I have on them, and some money that I don't have. My
heart breaks when they grow old and die. I have a dozen lifetimes
worth of beautiful memories.

What do the animal rights freaks have? They have their ideology. They
look in the mirror and feel smug and self-righteous, as if God has
personally anointed them to protect animals from the likes of me.

What they have is nothing at all. Utter sterility. A world devoid of
life and love.

They can keep it.

My life is filled with love and joy and beauty, and I owe most of it
to my dogs. They have helped to keep me sane when sanity was not a
given. They have given me courage on the days when all I wanted to do
was lie down and quit. They have given me strength to endure on the
days when all I wanted to do is run away and hide.

I owe them my life.

The animal rights folks are right. I ruthlessly cull and manipulate
genetics. To make the cut, my breeding dogs have had to live up to
the most exacting possible standards and pass the most strenuous
tests.

I am very proud of doing that.

The result is that the vast majority of people who buy a puppy from
me love it. When I sell a puppy, chances are that it has found a home
for the rest of its life. The puppy will have a great chance of
leading a wonderful life. I produce puppies that make people happy to
own them and want to keep them. That's my job as a breeder.

I have done this through rigorous selection. My puppies today are the
result of 35 years of my stubborn insistence about never breeding a
dog that does not have a wonderful disposition, perfect conformation,
great intelligence, exceptional natural ability, breathtaking style
and that mysterious ingredient called genius.

Every puppy born in my kennel has six or eight or 10 generations of
my own dogs in its pedigree. All of those ancestors possess a high
level of each of those desirable traits. I have raised, trained and
grown old with every dog listed in several generations of each
puppy's pedigree.

Simply put, my puppies today are a lot nicer than my puppies of 35
years ago. Today, there is a much higher percentage of good ones, a
much lower percentage of deficient ones, a much higher average of
good qualities, and a much higher percentage of true greatness
emerging from my kennel today.

That's what it means to be a breeder.

Does that feed my ego? Yep. I like having my ego stroked. Don't you?
If you don't, you are in very deep trouble as a human being.

But I'll tell you what else it does. It makes for happier dogs. It
makes for dogs that lead better lives, find permanent families and
homes, and get to experience love in many forms.

It also makes for healthier dogs. Generation after generation of
perfect functional conformation means that the dogs are less likely
to get injured, wear out or develop arthritis. Many generations of
selection for vigor, toughness and good health means that they are
able to laugh at the extremes of climate, weather and terrain.

I also have virtually eliminated genetic health problems from my
strain of dogs. For example, hip dysplasia is the most common genetic
problem in English setters, afflicting a reported four-percent of the
breed. In the past 20 years, I have had only two questionable hip x-
rays, which both would be rated "fair" by the Orthopedic Foundation
of America (OFA). The last one was 10 years ago.

Yes, I am very proud of being a breeder. I did that.
I am proud, too, that I am producing dogs that are so intelligent
that it's scary, so loyal that they can be your complete partner in
the field while also possessing the extreme independence needed to do
their job well, so loving that you want them with you every second of
the day, so bold and brazen that nothing bothers them, and just plain
drop-dead gorgeous to boot.

They make me smile a lot. I think I make them smile, too.
But, the animal rights whackos say I am doing it for the money. They
accuse me of exploiting animals for profit.

Yep. Every chance I get. I am very happy when I am able to sell a
puppy for cold, hard cash. It makes me feel good.

It makes me feel good because it shows me that someone appreciates
the work I am doing. It makes me feel good because I have earned it,
and earned it honestly.

My only regret is that I have not made more money as a breeder. With
all of the sacrifices I have made and the hard work I have done, I
should be rolling in money.

Alas, I am not.
It has been years since I actually have made money on a litter of
puppies. Usually, I lose my shirt.

For every puppy I sell, there is another one that I keep to evaluate,
and a couple of other ones that I am keeping for two or three years
to evaluate for their worthiness to breed. Then there are dogs that
are in competition, and that costs bushels of money, not to mention
old dogs that are retired and have a home here until they die of old
age. Almost a third of the dogs in my kennel are elderly and retired,
and it takes a lot of money to care for them.

It takes money for dog food, supplies, veterinary bills, kennel
licenses, repairs, vehicle use for training and field trials,
advertising, internet, phone bills, and four pairs of good boots a
year. It takes money. Lots of money. Bundles of money.

Oh, Lord, please help me to sell some more puppies!

Besides, what's wrong with making money? It is a rather fundamental
American value. Making money is something to be proud of, as long as
it's done honestly.

Even animal rights bozos have to eat. Someone has to make money to
stuff veggies down their gullets, and organic veggies are rather
pricey. Most working folks can't afford them.

I also can't help but notice that most animal rights activists over
the age of 30 drive pretty fancy cars (we are talking about the
Beamer set, folks), live in rather fancy houses and dress very well
indeed. I can't help but notice that many of the leaders of animal
rights groups have pretty cushy gigs, with high-end six-digit
salaries, fancy offices, and all the perks.

I guess they are saying that it's ok for them to make money by the
truckload, even if making money turns dog breeders into immoral greed
bags. There is no one in America who exploits dogs for as much money
as the paid leaders of animal rights groups. Their fat salaries
depend on having animal issues to exploit. If there were no animals
for them to exploit, they would have to get a real job.

It's a rather perplexing dual standard, don't you think?

Well, maybe it's not perplexing after all. The only thing perplexing
about hypocrisy is that so many people can't see through it.

My next sin is making my dogs work for a living. The animal rights
people try to paint a picture of whipping dogs beyond endurance,
exploiting them, creating misery and causing unhappiness. The poor,
downtrodden, huddled masses. You know the tune.

Only problem is, my dogs don't agree. They love to work. They love
their jobs. The only time they are sad is when it is not their turn
to work. For my dogs, working is sheer joy and passion! They love
every second of it.

What animal rights groups live for is creating imaginary victims.
Helping victims makes some people feel better about themselves and,
of course, it helps them to part with their money so that animal
rights leaders can live high on the hog. Oops. I mean high on the
carrot. How callous of me. I guess I'm just not a sensitive kind of
guy.

Back to the exploited masses of bird dogs. Try an experiment
sometime. Read an animal rights essay, and substitute the
word "proletariat" for the word "animal." You will find that animal
rights philosophy actually is pure and straightforward Marxian
doctrine.

I guess my dogs are not natural Marxists. They love their jobs. They
are excited about their jobs. Their jobs make them very happy.

Animal rights people can't seem to grasp that people can feel that
way about their work, too. It's how I feel about the very hard work
of being a dog breeder. It makes me happy.

Another way of putting it is that both my dogs and my own example
provide proof that life is not pointless drudgery and exploitation.
We provide living proof that joy, beauty and personal fulfillment are
possible in life.

I just don't think of those qualities when I think of the animal
rights fanatics I have known. They seem a rather sad and sorry lot to
me. I'll take my dogs' company any day.

Oh, but the icing on the cake is that I use these poor exploited
creatures to hunt innocent birds. How terrible!

Hunting, of course, is a subject of its own, and I won't attempt to
cover it here.

Suffice it to say that opposition to hunting flies in the face of a
few million years of human evolution, the entire balance of nature
everywhere on Earth, and common sense.

I know one thing for certain. The fact that we have healthy
populations of most species of wild birds and animals today is only
because hunters have cared enough to support strong conservation
measures. We have preserved millions of acres of habitat that is
vital to the survival of many species, saved more millions of acres
of wilderness from development, supported the protection of
endangered species everywhere, and put our money where are mouths are.

Animal rights groupies do nothing but blow hot air, when they aren't
too busy destroying the land and the animals that live on it to
create vast wastelands of industrialized monoculture.

I am proud to be a hunter, too.

It's time for every dog owner and breeder to stand up proudly and be
counted.

Each one of you has done far more to enhance the quality of life of
both people and dogs than all of the animal rights activists put
together.

So stand up and shout it to the rooftops!

Stop crawling around on your bellies and apologizing. Your dogs
deserve better from you. You will just have to get a little tougher
if you want to live up to your dogs.

What you are doing is right.
It's just that simple.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting.
We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog
owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs
and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we
can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your
membership, participation and support are truly essential to the
success of our mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our
members, and maintain strict independence.

Please visit us on the web at
http://www.american sportingdogallia nce.org. Our email is
ASDA@csonline. net. Complete directions to join by mail or online are
found at the bottom left of each page.

PLEASE CROSS-POST AND FORWARD THIS REPORT TO YOUR FRIENDS

Have You Joined Yet?
The American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.american sportingdogallia nce.org

And thats what he thinks about that...

I did a painting of a sunset with some whale tails and started on 3 smaller danes, but I'm trying to focus on the big commission so not moving very quickly on those.

My Goodies!

2008-07-22T20:42:00.001-04:00

My Goodies came today! *squeals* I order body lotions, body sprays, candles, cooking herbs and soaps from this lady in Michigan..and my stuff came today! When you open the mailbox the smell comes creeping out and up your nose. Thats nothing! When you open the box its even better. I think I huffed the inside of the box for ten minutes before I even checked out my goodies. LOL
These items are natural and handmade by Deb. If you're interested..
her link is..
http://www.handmadenaturals.com/index.html
She also has an Ebay store, which is where I originally found her.
Ok! So I'm done plugging Deb.. hehe
I've started a new commission..its 26x 30 or maybe its 28x30..I've forgotten. lol
Anyway..its big and I've got the background done.
Had another request for 2 8x10 size commissions so I need to get my butt in gear. I've been dragging behind the past week and half..not really motivated to paint. Not sure if its the weather or what. I'm not real productive in the summer..the heat slows me down. I'm a fall/winter kinda gal. :) That is..until winter comes and then I'm raising hell about the cold and wanting summer back. hehehe
Grass is always greener right?
Maybe I'll have some interesting photos to post soon..

Its been over a week...

2008-07-18T01:48:00.000-04:00

Its been a few days since I've posted. I've been painting, but haven't been in the mood to post. We lost Karisma, the black kitten. I really dont want to go into details or explain. Just want to say she's gone and I miss her. :(
I did a 12 x 36 inch and a 12x12 and listed them on Ebay.. I'll see if I have those photos on this computer.. Heres the new 12 x 12 I did.. Was trying to do an abstract antique lookin background. I gave the mantle purple eyes. Something I've never done, but wanted to.. so ...there she blows. We took the kids to the pine mountain animal safari drive thru park for their birthdays this weekend. I have those pics on this computer so I can share those. :) This was a friendly Buffalo mom who was nursing her kid as she stuck her head in the van to beg for food. Spencer was driving or we would have ended up in the lake. hehe
Of all the animals there I was smitten over a big fat goat with ultra long horns and I dont even think I got a picture of him! I'll have to check. Ok.. no pictures of the wonderful goat!
Oh well.. found one of a zebra though..

Late nights..

2008-07-07T00:15:00.001-04:00

I remember staying up till 2 or 3 am and then getting up for work at 7am. No problems..just jump out of bed and take off. No dark circles under my eyes..no bags..no headaches.. wtf happened?? lol I'm like a kid sticking my finger in a power outlet repeatedly..poke..ouch..poke..ouch.. I stay up till 4 am and wake up around 8 or 9 in the morning with a killer headache that last half the day. Circles so dark that I look like a football player and bags I could carry groceries in! Then I do it again the next day..I guess I was thinking it would be different. It wasn't..it was worse and I was cranky and had a hard time holding my eyes open all day, BUT.. I got my freakin commission finished! whoo hoo! And now I have to start on my next one..just waiting on the canvas to arrive.
So I get a small break while I'm waiting..
I'll attach a picture of the one I just did.
I'm having one of those moments where I haven't had enough sleep and can't hold my eyes open. Maybe I'll have something interest that I've started to post tomorrow.

I am so tired!

2008-06-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Was suppose to go pick up the basset boy today, but they emailed and said they were going to six flags so they wanted to wait until tomorrow. I didn't get to take the kittens to petsmart to show them because they said we were short on volunteers because of the chain off. And didn't get any takers on Albus! I did get one vet clinic in the Acworth area that said they were going to post him on their boards though.. Then I ran across this awesome lady who helps raise money for needy animals. So I'm going to see if the vet will accept donations/payments over the phone and she said once I find a vet to do that she can spread the word about his knee. She helped raise $3000 for the last dog she helped out..Albus only needs around $600 so maybe we can achieve that amount fairly quick!
I finished a 16x20 today.. I'll attach a pic of it.. Just listed it in Ebay. I did one like this a while back except it had 2 harls and a mantle. I'm hoping this one is as popular as the other one was.
I'm gonna cut my ramblings short.. baby is hungry..yeah..at midnight thirty.

If a had a million dollars...

2008-06-24T23:02:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't have it for long.. lol Thats one thing I'm sure of. I'd have a giant dane farm with huge koi ponds for them to chase fish. :D
So.. I haven't been able to show the kittens..so no change at all..still have 3 kittens and their mom here. I have plans to call vets tomorrow and try to find a vet tech or vet who may be interested in Albus. I've come to the conclusion that no one wants a dane who requires surgery, BUT if that surgery was free of half price they may be accept. So tomorrow thats the plan. Wish me luck!
So... got an email today about a basset hound male. I'll attach a picture of his cuteness now so I dont forget. This guy is another reason why I'm trying to hurry and place Albus. Spencer is going to go nucking futs when he sees this guy at home along with Albus still here and 4 cats. He can't stand the cats so they're adding a lot of frustration around here. Especially when he's gaming online and Karisma crawls up his bare leg like a rock climber. :(
Started working on another 6x12 inch painting yesterday/today. Not sure if its going to the Rocky Mountain Rescue or not. I wanted to send them three different sizes..the other being an 8x10, but I haven't brought myself to paint one of those yet. I do have one with a black background. May do an abstract pastel dane on it for the stranger folks. hehe Theres all kinds of us dane lovers ya know.
I haven't met a normal one yet... Not sure if I would recognize a normal person anyways. I just added another basset picture. Just to tease. hehehe
Oh! I added music.. the teddy bear at the top right..you can switch the songs. I have a wide variety of music I listen to so theres some punk, funk, rap, etc..
I took some pictures of some paintings I was working on..I suppose I could attach those.. They are crooked though..wasn't expecting to post them, but I like to show what I'm up to... Not sure if you can tell from the photo or not, but the sheep on the left has no eyes yet. hehe I ALMOST put a bow tie on the police dane to make him a stripper, but I decided he could be a legit police dane. So the miranda rights are posted behind him.
The only change I made was the part that states "Anything you say will be held against you in a court of law". Mine version says "anything you bark can be held against you in a court of dogs." :D Gotta add my lil touch ya know. The third one isn't finished enough to show just yet..too many pencil lines still on the canvas. I've got a 6x6 sketched out for a dane chick in a bikini at the beach.. and a really cute 6x12 of a cow with a dane peeking into the view. I think its gonna turn out really cute. I like how the commission turned out too..dont think I have any photos of that on this computer. Lemmie check.. Nope.. no commission photos, BUT.. I did find this picture of my parents chickens. They have these tiny chickens called silver duckwings. The rooster doesn't even get up to 2 pounds. These guys in the photo are full grown and you can see the hen he's with is bigger than he is.. shes a cross breed. They have a lot of babies right now and they're about the size of a golf ball with legs. :D You wanna kiss'm! Next time I go over I'll get some photos of the tiny guys.

Pooh..

2008-06-21T00:03:00.000-04:00

I've wanted to write here the past few days, but I've been in a bad mood every night. So I decided if I wait until I'm in a good mood I'll never write again. I'm at the bottom of the roller coaster and need something to push me back up to the top.
I've been enjoying working on my commission and almost finished it this afternoon.
I've finished one 6x6 inch for the Rocky Mountain Rescue and I've almost finished the 6x12. The smaller one is of a blue police dane holding handcuffs and the miranda rights are written in the background.
The 6x12 is of a black dane sitting on a cloud. He's counting sheep and holding a cup of tea. I hope to get at least one 8x10 finished to go along with those.
The kittens are doing great! All 3 of them have been coming out into the living room and exploring. Their fear of the danes isn't as bad now and Karisma hasn't been hissing at Lexi anymore. Hopefully I can get them to Petsmart soon so they can be viewed and have a chance to get adopted.
I'm debating on dropping the website. I hardly have time to update it and I hate the way it looks now. Not to mention it doesn't seem to be worth the money.
I have until the first of July to decide..
I have art4critters helping to get my stuff out there. I use ebsq art as a portfolio and I have myspace as well so the website just seems pointless now.
We'll see...
I'm going to post a photo of a commission I did a few months ago... it reminds me of my Chloe that past away july 10th of 06...

The cats came back..

2008-06-16T18:32:00.000-04:00

So I dropped the brats off Tuesday to be spayed and neutered and they came back Wednesday morning all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Cole was semi bushy because his hair isn't quite as long as the others.
I made a video of Karisma playing in front of the monitor. For some reason she decided to venture into the living room and follow me around today. I thought that was kind of odd since the cats have taken over Williams room and will NOT come out because of the danes.
I guess she just decided she was tired of waiting for something to happen. That or the ass whipping her mom gave the danes last night taught her that they are scared of cats. Who knows..
So heres that..

I also took them to get their vaccines and to be wormed today. They really enjoyed that. :/ I'm wearing half the wormer. hehe So they're ready to go..if you want to adopt a kitten or a mama cat thats vaxed up, spayed/neutered and ready to go visit GHHS at the link to the right.. --->
We drove Tabitha up north Saturday in the rain. It was nice and sunny here at home, but half way up we hit a down pour. Everything went great and I'm waiting now to get word back on how shes settling in. Hopefully I'll get some photos with her and her new sister Grace.
I ordered more canvas, which is suppose to arrive tomorrow, but fedex has been known to let me down before so I wont hold my breath. I found my 16x20's on sale at Michaels craft store, but I ordered more 8x10's 6x6's and 6x12's, which is what I intend to paint the silent auction paintings on. The Rocky Mountain Dane Rescue silent auction is July 19th so I gotta hurry when the canvas gets here and start those.
I work better under pressure. I always thought that was BS, but apparently I do, because I always wait until the last minute to get shit done and I'm always happier with the results that way.
I'm working on a commission right now. A farmer dane one with the gritty texture and I can't wait to see how it turns out! I love the gritty stuff..gives it an aged look.
Oh! I found my coffee on Ebay. My hazelnut cream Millstone coffee!!
Its something like $8 for a 12 ounce bag at *mart (I'm not endorsing those f'ers) and I had found it at BJ's for $14 for 40 ounces, but when I went back they weren't selling my blend anymore. :(
So I looked on Ebay and found 24 ounces for $7! Yay!
I'm so cheap... I think I'd complain about the price of things no matter how much money I had and I'd still shop at vintage stores and thrift stores.
While we were out we bought Lexi a new bed. She LOVES it! It came with a squeeky bone toy that matches. I'll have to attach pics of that. She doesn't usually play with toys, but she loves this one. I just tried several times to upload the pics, but it aint happenin.. I'll have to attach them later. I also have a cute pic of Karisma chasing me around the house. She was sitting on top of the recliner about to pounce me.

My Kittens!

2008-06-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

So I dropped the kittens off to be spayed/neutered this morning at 7am. I know the clinic does dozens and dozens if not hundreds of spays and neuters a week, but I'm still worried about the babies. I'm not suppose to get attached. :( I keep trying to tell myself I'm not a cat person and that helps until they come running to me. The fact that the trim on my sons closet door is shredded doesn't matter, my shower curtain doesn't matter, my daughters princess tent that they destroyed doesn't matter. I'm wondering at this point if I would care if they burnt down the house.
I'm turning into one of those people that let their kids get away with murder and never correct them..except its with kittens. :D
At the drop off place there were several other animals there to get spayed and neutered. One was a GORGEOUS pup named Scarlett. OMG.. her eyes were to die for.. You could tell she had a lot she wanted to say. I wanted to open that crate and squeeze her to pieces! I noticed a tiny little brindle puppy in one of the crates too, but I dare not even approach that one. Brindles are like chocolate so I had to keep my distance.. hehe
Tabitha is suppose to go to her new home this Saturday. I just hope she behaves herself and doesn't try to boss around her new big sister.
Tabitha has been known to be a wee bit bossy in the past, but not to the point that it really created a problem. She has the most beautiful sky blue eyes... And a dirty nose in this picture. Its hard to keep a white dog clean in the country. hehe
So I was browsing through Craigs List and found a puppy that looked a lot like my Pokey. :( I always have to make sure it isn't him..you never know. Its so damn hard to decide if you're attached to an animal to the point that you should keep them. I get attached to EVERY animal I foster and take in. Pokey was a pit mix fella (so she said) that I saw
in a crate (along with 20 other puppies) in
the back of a ladies truck while I was going down the road. My nosy ass just had to turn around and see why she was sitting in that parking lot with those puppies. She told me all of the puppies were $20 each and when I inquired about the snoopy looking one in the back she said "oh that ones free". ??? Why??? Because he's a pit mix and she leans over to whisper about it as if she doesn't want anyone to hear... You know how people feel about pits and you can just have him. Uhhh... ok.
So poor Pokey was scared and cowering in the back of the crate with another pup.
Tiny little fella.. looked just like a jack russell to me.
He had black circles around his eyes, a spot on his ear and a big spot on his butt.
That was it, but as he got older he had ticking that developed and his pink belly soon became covered in black ticking. I assumed after watching him grow a bit that he was a beagle/jack russell mix. The lady had said pit/bulldog mix, but I just didn't see that anywhere in him. He was built like a beagle, barked like a beagle and had a jack russell head, but THANK GOD he didn't jump like a Jack Russell! I miss him like crazy.. he was a squishy precious little guy and he was soooo intelligent. If I ever find another Pokey I wont make the mistake of rehoming him again. :(
Enough mushy dog and cat talk. I need to be painting. I want to send as many paintings as possible to the Rocky Mountain Dane Rescue silent auction and that is sneaking up quickly. I finished a 24x20 inch painting yesterday of an angel and I am not happy with it at all. I coated it with bees wax for added texture and an aged look and I'm not happy about that either. I'm gonna stick to painting my critters. :) I can put wings on them! I did a 16x20 sunset scene with a silhouette of 2 danes leaning their heads together (thanks for the idea Todd!) and it turned out ok I guess. I want to mess around with it on the paint program and see how a palm tree would look added in. It still has that unfinished look to it.
I was just going through my emails trying to find a photo of that painting to post, but I'll wait and do it later. While browsing the subject lines I could have swore I read one that said "Protect your fleas and ticks." I knew I got up way too early!!

The CUTE kittens!

2008-06-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ok..so it took me a little longer than I thought it would to get over on the other computer to attach the kitten pictures, but they are soooooooooooooo cute! That black gal up top singing is Karisma. She has COMPLETELY got me wrapped around her little paw.
She comes running to greet me whenever I walk in the room and shes the only kitten brave enough to venture into the living room where the danes are! They all respect each others space now that Claudia (mama cat) has attacked my dane Lexi. lol
Totally unprovoked..she just saw Lexi strolling in and ran towards her hissing and punching. So now Lexi doesn't go near that side of the house. The precious little white guy with blue spots is named Cole. He originally had charcoal colored spots , but they've lightened up as he's gotten older. So his name was coal/Cole. Its just kinda stuck with him and he seems to understand that its his name. The gorgeous tabby is named Lambert, because he is scared of EVERYTHING. He's shy, he scares VERY easily and it has taken him almost 3 weeks to stop hissing when I try to pick him up. He has never bitten me, but the fear is there. He is the most beautiful tabby I've ever seen. Now maybe I'm showing a little bit of favoritism because I'm attached to these guys, but he has beautiful markings and a sweet little personality. At night they sleep in the guest bathroom to make sure they stay safe and out of trouble. So its lights out until morning. Of course that doesn't keep them calm or quiet. You'd think someone was breaking in at 2 in the morning, but when you open the door theres 3 innocent faces looking up at you. See that awesome frog shower curtain behind me...yeah..its ripped to shreds at the bottom.
My ignorance has made it pretty clear that I haven't had a cat in my house in quite some time. I just assumed because I closed the CLEAR shower curtain that the cute innocent little kittens wouldn't get into the tub or into trouble. Uh huh...
So.. I didn't get mad about it. They are so cute..if you do get mad about something..one look and its over. :) So I got this great idea of introducing the bunny rabbit to the kittens. They were all equally freaked out. Of course courageous Karisma was the first one to jump out and smack Holly (bunny) in the nose. Just for no reason. Hey..you..wabbit...SMACK!
Holly doesn't mind them now, but he (yes..my daughter named my male bunny Holly) does like to make a mess with the kitty litter so he doesn't play with them in the bathroom anymore. After a long day of shower curtain shredding and bunny ass kicking what do my little fur balls do?

Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue

2008-06-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

Burtons mom Joy contacted me today because the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue is having a fund raiser. Its their 8th annual picnic and silent auction. It'll be held in Littleton, CO on July 19th. For more information visit the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue website at http://www.rmgreatdane.org/ and click on events.
Its been awhile since I've donated a painting as a fund raiser. I've donated money from paintings recently because I'm a member of Art For Critters and thats the lazy way to go about it. A few clicks of the mouse and you're done. hehe
So I'm going to whip out a few paintings for them and Joy said she could send me some photos of the event to post. I will NEVER get bored/tired with seeing my art in different states, hanging in different businesses or on peoples walls. Its an instant shock for me. Wait a minute... Hey! I PAINTED THAT! So..if you live in the CO area you should definitely saddle up your dane and head over to that event! And if you want to see Burtons gorgeous merle face I've posted his blog link over there.. -->
So in other rescue news..
Tabitha is getting spayed June 11th to get ready for her new home. Shes going to live with a family in north Georgia shortly afterwards.
She'll have an older sister name Gracie to help her adjust and hopefully everything will go smoothly. My foster kittens will also be getting spayed/neutered on the 11th and I'm on the other computer again so I can't post the photos. arg! After their all fixed up they'll be available for adoption on the Georgia Heartland Humane Society Website!
Their mom is up for adoption there now..her name is Claudia.
So I ran across one 6x6 inch canvas and one 4x4 inch that weren't painted yet. I took care of that yesterday so now I'm totally out of canvas.
This is always when I REALLY want to paint. If I'm out of canvas OR if I'm working on a commission I ALWAYS come up with great ideas that I want to paint asap.
Never fails..
I'm going to cut this short and go jump on the other computer so I can post pictures of the kittens! Heres an older photo of the mama cat (Claudia) before she had the litter and before I could get my hands on her. She was quite the runner. hehe

Dirt Dont Hurt..

2008-06-03T15:04:00.000-04:00

I've always been told growing up that "dirt dont hurt". Brush it off and eat it usually followed that phrase. Maybe I ate too much dirt as a child..could be whats wrong with me. hehe
So I saw some paintings on Ebay that I liked recently. They were labeled as gritty and had an awesome texture.
I wasn't 100% sure how they came up with that gritty texture, but I was ready to experiment and find out. First shot was a success.. so I'm constantly going out in the yard and collecting dirt and sand, then sifting through to keep the smaller grains. It does take a toll on a brush, but its a sacrifice my brush is willing to make. :)
This texture has become addictive and I haven't painted anything but this since I started doing it. I'll attach a few photos of the ones that have sold or are currently for sell. I suppose I'm not the only one who digs the texture. The blue dane is on a 16x20 canvas and it is sold. The red bird is on a 6x6 inch canvas and is sold as well. The yellow bird is a 6x6 and is still available. So I went on this crazy painting spree with my new gritty texture and now I'm out of large canvas. The smaller sizes are fun too, but I'm not as happy with those for some reason. I REALLY like the cropped mantle one with the light blue border. Enough on the gritty texture..
I have a really cute picture of my foster kittens, but its on my other computer so it'll have to wait. I can post pictures of my crew though.. Lexi..my harlequin female..shes in charge of shipping and receiving. Just look at that look on her face..its just screaming "Hey! You gotta package for me or what?"
Then theres Sampson, our blue harlequin. He's fairly new here and is a retired breeder. He needed to find a slower pace job so we hired him on as our customer service representative. He might look a bit grumpy, but his people skills are awesome. He has a birthday coming up on June 19th and he'll be 4 years old, but he hasn't been with us long enough for any vacation time so he's just S.O.L. We have a wonderful little lady who answers our phones, but the only problem is that shes deaf and usually doesn't get much accomplished. Shes also blind so finding the phones is a bit of a problem, but she is a hard worker so we keep her around. Her name is Pumpkin and she will be 1 year old the first week of July. So thats our staff for now.. if we expand we may need to hire on more.. :)
I just ran out of coffee.. so that means this blog is finished for the day!
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