New home. New pad.

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Put up a gallery wall of my completed pieces today in hopes that it motivates me to get moving on my painting projects! I still have a big mess to sort through before I can get started but sometimes you just have to get going. And just do it for crying out loud. Dougie is super settled in and loves the backyard! The new smells are driving him crazy and I love that! Mental stimulation is gooood! I’m almost settled in my new pad and I truly love it!

 

Your mindset during a move.

     

  
   Protecting plants and fragile item takes time and CARE! Don’t ever skimp!  

Kraft paper and lots of lil boxes is a must have for the plants!

Wrap it all just to be safe. Seriously. You will not regret. 

Saran Shrink Wrap from ALDI is a must have for the breakables!

My ultimate plan was to buy a house when my lease on my apartment was up April 1 2021. It was serious and then prices skyrocketed. I said-no thanks I’m not over paying 30k for a house. So in January this year I knew I needed to find a new home. Purged 3 carloads in January-one was full of clothes that was donated to the open door mission. The second and third load went to hand me ups charity. I went apartment touring to 4 different locations and finally settled on the fourth one. I’ve lived in a 3000sf house 3 bathroom, this 1100sf apartment -2 bathroom and soon in 3 days I’m completely downsized to 700sf with only one bathroom to clean. Yes please.

 I’m moving from a super icky brown town (carpet and walls ugh) for 3.5 years- to a brand new super gray and black and white (walls and wood floor yay) smaller, cheaper that has a spectacular (wooded area) view. My home will be my art studio.

For 3 months my mind has been in move mode. Purging, donating, simplifying, deep cleaning and collecting bubble and boxes. Nothing creative-which irritates me more than anything. But I just take a deep breath. Think of the future. And then move on. My motivation and creative energy will reappear once I’m all settled. The studio will happen this weekend. I cannot wait. 

Fur-bruary 28: Moxi the Shorkie

 So I've finally reached the end of the month of Fur-bruary! The ultimate goal was to  be consistent in daily posts that included my work as a photographer and painter. To view the progress of my art and to commit to every day social media! It’s hard to motivate myself but not impossible. (Wine and coffee helps) What was more of a challenge for me personally was the Doggust (August) month last year where I actually illustrated/painted a different dog everyday. This final image is of a sweet and dear mutt named Moxi who belonged to my sister lucy. She was obsessed with her mama and was always by her side. I dog sat her a few times and her description of fun with me was collecting landscape rocks as a game. That and modeling for pet portraits. I miss her. Final pet portrait painted in oils/gouache and dry ink in procreate on my iPad pro. 

Fur-bruary 27: Doug the Bowie Eyed Borsky

 This is not a typical pro photograph of a pet. It is rather a good example of a typical pet photo “happy snap” taken by your humble dog “photog” for a future pet painting. Things to consider in the photo reference when a potential client would like to commission you to paint their pet such as natural light, sharpness, angle of the picture and background. Backgrounds “should” be clear of any distractions. The angle should be taken from a low at the pets level-preferably. Should never be blurry. And the use of a flash is definitely forbidden. If these rules are mostly followed then a fun and fantastic portrait will be created!

Doug the Bowie eyed Borsky painted with oils in procreate. Handsome dude I must say. 

Fur-bruary 26: Blue Pug

 Blue pug was one of my favorite oil paintings of the dog series of last year. I felt the blue and green tones for a black dog brought some fun and whimsy to his darling personality. The google eyes are irresistible and I’m super happy with the results!

Fur-bruary 25: Ming Toy The Fluffy Pekingese

                                      

When I choose to set up a photo shoot I prefer to book as many clients as possible during the August- November months of the year. This is ideal to produce the absolute best photographs. This lil fluffy pal posed so nicely outside in the wooded landscape while a light breeze was flowing though his feathery Farrah faucet fur. Ming Toy turned out pretty good as a painted portrait using oils in procreate. 

Fur-bruary 24: Rolf The Friendly Kitty Cat

 Rolf belonged to the neighborhood. On the local streets of the quiet town of Høybråten Rolf knew every secret hideout and the locals loved a friendly visit from Rolf the cool kitty cat. Rolf appears a bit angry in his photo but he’s only a gentle soul who is curious about new things. That’s all. Painted with oil paints in procreate. In the second photo I had just installed the paperlike smooth and luscious screen protector for my iPad Pro! It’s a truly lovely piece of textured like paper to paint and draw on. In love still. 

Fur-bruary 23: Jessica The Brown Staffy

 This beautiful portrait is a favorite of mine and I just knew I wanted to paint her in an abstract and whimsical style using gouache and inks for a fresh and fun look!

Fur-bruary 22: Elaine The Miniature Aussie

 This cute as a button min Aussie posed beautifully at the pet event. Her blue eyes are so unique. Painted her with oil paints in procreate.