Cats & Dogs in Art, and the Purrfect Bonus

Paintings on slate take on a life of their own, partly due to the chinks and cracks and chips in the stone itself.  It lends itself to all kinds of creative idiosyncrasies in each piece.  Here are some cat paintings I did recently. With the tabby cat you can't probably tell from the pic, but the foot projecting forward is utilizing a corner chip for a 3-D effect.  The slates are so nice to handle.  These ones are "wearable art," being just about three inches high.

 

The black and white kitty in the portrait is my own kitteh, Chuck, captured in his typical upside-down pose.

 

 

 

 

These mini pieces are getting popular.  Below is a commissioned portrait of, "Prada," a corgi who lives in Colorado.  The ink pen is included for size reference.  1.5x3" is a pretty darn small surface to work on!  But they make beautiful pendants. 



 

 

    When I ship these commissions, I often try to include a little free gift, especially for my repeat customers.  Enter Wysong Pet Food, a Michigan-based company with all-natural products.  They sent me some samples to include with my commissions; small packs of biscuits for dogs like Prada, and even better, some "Dream Treats" for cats.  Each treat is a medallion of compressed chicken.  I tried one out on Chuck, and he went crazy for it!  I was able to break it up and get a few tricks out of him.

 

 

 

     Thanks Wysong for your sponsorship -- here's to natural pet foods for a long and healthy life for Pup and Kitteh.

Breakfast Plates, and Slates

My boyfriend made me this special pancake this morning. He claims it just appeared.
"It's a sign!" I screeched, running for the phone.
"Hurry up!" he yelled. "It's gonna burn!"
Native Americans believed that eating the heart of something would transmit its spirit to you.
I didn't know what it meant to have a Pancake Spirit....
So I ate it surreptitiously.

 

 

He not only provided breakfast, but then went out and cut all these slates for me, and drilled the holes for them to hang from.  This is a little bit lighter colored than our last batch. The photo was taken right after I had scrubbed them, and they were still pretty wet.  To me, they are delicious to look at -- the grain, the chipped edges, each one like an empty canvas with its own quirks.

 



 

Any day that you feel loved, is a good day.

Horse and Sleight

I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of more slates!  Just last year I started doing more slate paintings and am going full throttle now.  One of the challenges lies in the inherent grain of the slate. This has been especially interesting when painting on the smaller pieces. I have enjoyed solving each one as it comes. Especially apparent in this group is the elephant, where you will see the chips along the edges, which worked nicely into the top of his head, and in his ear on the left side, and the tusk on the left, which has turned out to be a broken tusk.  Each piece of slate has its own personality, and sometimes I set one aside until inspiration strikes.  Right now, I am slate-less.  Ready for more.

 

Elephant, 6x8"

Bluebird Bath, about 4x4"

Sleigh Slate, about 6x16"

Horses in Snow, about 8x10"

Bunny and Trillium, 6x8"

Border Collie on Slate

My friend Barb's border collie is featured in today's slate painting. This beautiful dog has appeared on billboards promoting pet expos all over the country from Michigan to New York. She is easily one of the fastest dogs I have ever seen. I was happy to be able to paint her and I incorporated the image of the sun in honor of her name: Bryte!  About 6x8"

Paintings on Slate

For my gallery show, I ordered a few slabs of slate from SlateLady.com . It was my first time ordering from them. I was happy with the product, except that one of the holes wasn't drilled all the way through. But that's easy enough to fix.  They come with holes so they can be hung with something like rawhide or baling twine.

I had painted on slate before, but it's been years.  My first attempt this time was this chickadee with winter berries, on a small piece, about 3x5"  The teeny, tiny detail makes for an interesting challenge on the textured surface of the slate.

Next was another small one, this lady cardinal on a wrought iron gate. 

Once I got the slates, I couldn't seem to stop painting on them.  I am learning that slate has a rough side and a smooth side, and for some reason I keep opting to paint on the rough side! Duh. Also, it sucks paint like a sponge. It likes a lot of layers. Sometimes you think you are done but then your paint disappears!

 Today's project is a group of horses running in snow.  This piece is 6x9"  A coat of glaze made a big difference in all of these paintings.  It darkens the slate and adds a nice sheen, for a good finishing touch. 

Here's another pic of the running horses, after glaze was applied.  The glare in this photo shows the bumps and ridges on the slate which makes it a challenge to paint on.  However, it was fun and a nice diversion for me -- so I will probably order more.