Wednesday's Ornament - Sheltie

This watercolor is called "Squirrel Patrol". I actually found a photo of a squirrel raiding a bird feeder and wanted to paint that. But I incorporated the dog to make it into a little story that most dog owners can recognize. It's also one of my best selling Christmas cards.

I don't currently own a Sheltie -- I had one years ago when I lived in Alaska. I really enjoy painting them though and seem to be accumulating a collection of Sheltie Art. Maybe there will be another calendar in the works at some point.

Today's Ornament - Alaskan Malamute

As the countdown to Christmas commences, I've decided to share some of my favorites of my ornament designs. I have over 175 designs now; most of which are dog breeds. If you click on the ornament it should take you to the WonderMutt store where they are available.

Today's ornament is a team of Alaskan Malamutes. The two lead dogs actually belong to my insurance agent. He mushes here in Michigan as a hobby. His girlfriend had given me some photos of them lying around the house, but wanted a dynamic painting to hang over his mantle.

I looked around online and found some images of dogs mushing. I used the images as a guide, but made the two lead dogs his dogs. Bob is actually in the picture too! But I cut him out for the ornament. If you look on the right you can see a little of his blue jacket.

This painting is one of my favorites because of the action. I think one can see the pulling effort as the dogs throw themselves into their work. Dog sled races are a lot of fun. When I lived in Alaska I was lucky enough to experience the North American Sled Dog races in Fairbanks. What a great time that was!

Showing these ornaments off is going to be a fun project for me. The only problem is that there are so many to choose from.