The Teal Dress

My Grandmother had many talents – sewing was one of them. In the mid 1950’s my grandmother made my mother a teal, velvet dress. The dress had a scalloped neckline, cap sleeves, a narrow 50’s waist and a full skirt. I remember seeing photos of my Mom wearing the dress and I always loved it.

In keeping with my desire to paint portraits of “favorite things,” I decided to paint the teal dress. My Grandma died last year and never saw the painting, but she will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you Nana, for all the wonderful memories!

The teal dress led to a ...

The dresses are available individually as fine art prints and cards. Contact me for more information.

Why a Chicken?

Are you wondering why I have a chicken portrait on my blog header? Well, when my husband and I moved into our home 18 years ago, our neighbors gave us two baby chicks as a housewarming gift. Growing up in the city, I had no idea that chickens were for anything other than eating, but these chickens became pets and we loved them dearly.

The first two chickens were named Margaret and Alberta, after my husband’s two spinster aunts. They were wonderful, but eventually chicken heaven called Margaret and we were left with Alberta. We couldn’t have just one chicken, so we got another baby chick and named her Hope. When it was evident that Alberta wasn’t long for this world we got a baby chick and named her Faith. So, there we were with Faith, Hope and Alberta. It turned out that Faith was a sitter and would sit for days on end on her eggs in her nest. Problem was we didn’t have a rooster, so she sat in vain. We decided to “help” the situation out a bit and replace two of her eggs with fertilized eggs. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any so we did the next best thing. We purchased two baby bard rock chicks. That’s when the fun began…

That night, my husband and I went out to the chicken house, removed a couple of Faith’s eggs and replaced them with the baby chicks. Faith slept through the whole thing. The next morning I ran out to the chicken house and waited for Faith to realize that she had two babies. Before long, she felt movement and as only a chicken can do, bawked a welcome to her new babies.

Faith was a great Mom and she and her chicks hold a special place in our hearts.

…and that is the story of the chicken portrait.

Pet Portraits

Since we are talking pet portraits, I thought I would share a recent commission...

Bob totally surprised his wife by commissioning a memorial portriat of their beloved Shammy. Bob was so excited about giving this gift to his wife, and I was thrilled to be involved in this special project. Bob had the protrait framed and presented the gift to his wife for Christmas. She contacted me after Christmas and her comments follow:

Dear Deborah I just wanted to tell you how much I loved the beautiful painting you painted of my Shammy. You captured his essence, and I feel closer to him each time I look at it. Thank you for all the hard work you put into the painting - I absolutely love it, and it means the world to me! When I received
it from Bob, there were many, many tears, but they were good tears. Thanks again, Margaret

It doesn't get much better than that! I just love painting portraits!

Let's start at the very beginning...

Since this is my first post, I thought I'd give you a little background. I went through my childhood and early adult years thinking I was artistically challenged. I worked in a job where I had to give presentations, and when it came time to “illustrate” my point, people would always laugh at my attempts to draw on the board. Thankfully I learned about a class called “Drawing for the No Talent Artist” that was being offered at the local Adult School. I signed up for the class and learned to see as an artist. The instructor was wonderful and everyone in the class did really well. That class opened up a door and I have been learning ever since!

I enjoy painting portraits of people, pets, places and favorite things, and have done a number of commissions. Unfortunately, as I began painting commissions, I didn’t realize the importance of keeping photos, so many of my early works exist only in the form of the finished painting.

In 2007 I decided it was time to get serious about my art and I set the goal of getting into a gallery before I turned 50. Well, I met my goal and actually was accepted into two galleries and participated in an art show before that blessed event! In 2008 I participated in “Art in the Park” and “Open Studio” art shows, and learned just how much time and dedication it takes to put your self out there.

My goal in 2009 is to focus once again on portraits. They are what I truly love and I welcome the opportunity to touch people’s hearts and lives with a portrait.

My art blog will be dedicated to my journey as an artist. I will include portraits and paintings…process and thoughts.
I hope you will join me in this journey and check back often!