The Master of My House...a Black Cat

And the master's name is....Pistol. :) He certainly is one, too. He hates closed doors. Pistol feels he should have access to *everything*. I just caught him pushing open a closed bedroom door. I can't tell you how many times I've come out of the bathroom to find him sitting there, staring at me. He also doesn't like the lower kitchen cabinet doors to be closed...he has certain ones he can pull open with a paw, and we'll come home sometimes to 4 or 5 open doors.

It's very hard to get good photos of him. Our house is relatively dark in most areas, and unless I catch him sitting in front of a window, or I use the flash on the camera (which I HATE), I simply cannot accurately portray this cat. So I decided to bypass the camera and do a painting of him.

Pistol is a short-haired domestic, all black, master...ooops...I mean CAT. :) When I first saw him at the humane society, he was 12 weeks old. The time I spent trying to interact with him, he spent running up to the bigger cats, batting them on the head, and then taking off running. I had a feeling this cat could handle living with a dog just fine.

He quickly took control of the house. When I got my German Shepherd, Max, just over 3 years ago, it threw Pistol for a loop for a little while. He quickly came up with a game to play with the puppy. It's called I Run, You Chase. They still play it. Max anxiously awaits for Pistol to appear in the long hallway to the bedrooms, and once he appears, the chase is on. Pistol's favorite thing to do is run into "Max's bedroom" (i.e. the place which is supposed to be MY room), and sit on the bed, staring at him. Max can't stand it! But he won't do anything to get the cat off the bed. Because, secretly, Max is scared of Pistol.

It still amazes me a little 10 pound cat can take over the house like he has. I'm sure "cat people" know exactly what I'm talking about!

I hope you enjoy Pistol's painting. It's available as prints, cards, and on gifts in the cat section on my website.

P.S. I have my Custom Pet Portraits page ready for viewing on the website. I've created price options from small to large to fit all budgets.

Guarding the Ball, Golden Retriever puppy

This is Gilbert, another one of Companion Pet Rescue's delightful puppies. Gilbert is a Golden Retriever mix puppy, male, and was found abandoned near Hardeman County TN. He is up for adoption through the rescue website.

I painted Gilbert with a stuffed toy football, so he can be included in my "Dogs With Balls" series of paintings I'll be working on throughout the month of March. If you'd like your dog to be considered for inclusion in the series, read my news page at JaiArt.Com to find out what to do.

Gilbert's painting is available as fine art prints, and on a variety of cards, mugs, and other cool gifts. View the options in my dog gallery on my website.

Puppy With Red Ball Painting

The day started out with me thinking I'd be painting another Pug from our dog show photo inventory. However, this little fella (who has since been named "Buster"), caught my attention on Companion Pet Rescue's Facebook page.

Who could resist that face?! Not me! He said "paint me! paint me!". Only problem was he looked a little lonely...so I gave him a red tug ball to play with. But he still looks kind of sad...I think he wants a HUMAN to play with. Perhaps you might be able to provide Buster (a male, Bernese Mountain Dog/Shepherd Mix) with his forever home? Read more about him here.

After finishing Buster's painting, I was thinking of possibly doing a theme of paintings for the next month. Even though we aren't into March yet, we're close enough, and I think Buster's painting will be the first one in this little series.

I'm calling the series "Dogs With Balls". Each dog will be portrayed with a ball in his/her painting. This should be quite fun, and I hope you'll subscribe to my blog in order to stay updated and see the new paintings as soon as they come out. They'll also appear on the front page of JaiArt.Com so you'll be able to view the entire gallery.

Want your pup to be included in the series? Email me a good, clear photo of your dog with his/her favorite ball. Give me your dog's name and location (city,state/country) as well. I'll let you know if I choose your dog for a painting. Let the fun begin!

It's been a Llama day...

Yes, it's been a Llama day. A lonnnnngggg Llama day. For some reason, this painting took longer than expected. Too much on my mind...thoughts blocking my creative process, I guess.

But...I finally finished this beauty! And he is a beauty, with big, gorgeous eyes. This fella approached our car as we drove through the local safari park. He actually wanted a treat, and that's how I was able to get such good close up photos of him.

I knew he'd make a great painting. I wish I knew his name. (I asked him, but he didn't tell me what it was. :))

Prints, cards, and other gifts are available via JaiArt.Com.

Peacock Painting

I love peacocks! They can brighten up the darkest of days, uplifting the mood. I finished this painting yesterday of one of the peacocks I photographed on our trip to the safari park last year. Prints, cards, shirts and other fun gifts with this original painting are available on my website.

Bunny Rabbits, Flowers & Artistic Cat Paintings

I was thinking about Easter this week, and it dawned on me, I've NEVER painted a bunny rabbit! So I painted two this week.

The first bunny wears a sweet, colorful Easter bow tie. Appropriately titled "Easter Bunny". :)

The second rabbit is a wild rabbit, on his way into the forest, looking back to make sure no one is following him. This painting is titled "Over My Shoulder".

The third painting is a lovely pink daisy. Yes, I'm feeling "spring-y". :)

And the fourth painting...our ever popular cat Nikko poses as an artist with a beret and her jar of paint brushes.

Why don't you stop by the newly designed JaiArt.Com and browse my entire gallery? I offer fine art prints, cards and gifts, as well as coasters, cutting boards and more!

Be sure to stop in at GalleryJai.Com and check out my new paintings on apparel, from my Art Wear collection. I finally came up with a unique way to show off the art on shirts and such. I've created curled edges and a thumbtack... so each painting looks as if it's thumb tacked to the front of the shirts (and tote bags too!). I offer shirts for both people and your pets in the Art Wear collection.

Inquisitive Papillon

This little girl at the dog show had NO INTEREST in us. While I was trying to photo her, she kept looking away at all the other activity going on with the other dogs. Her owner was holding her, and it was difficult to get a good shot. I finally did, as she looked over his shoulder at the Pomeranians one aisle over. Her inquisitive look made her an excellent subject for this painting.

Resting, a Great Dane painting

Bingo. With this painting, I finally got things figured out. I've been playing with many different techniques over the past several weeks, and while I do love all of the paintings I've completed, this one has the "look" I'm after. More free-flowing...more expressive.

This is another one of our dog show models. Just like the other paintings, the original photograph stunk. Okay, it wasn't soooooo bad. But still, not anything I'd publish. The dog, however, was very handsome, and I loved his pose. So he became my next painting, titled "Resting", as that's what he's doing after a long day in the show rings.

Prints can be purchased through JaiAllyson.Com and other gifts and cards through GalleryJai.Com.

White Poodle Portrait

This is a painting of a standard white Poodle...another one of the gorgeous show dogs who was here last year. Most dog show photos I took turned out like crap, by the way. That's why you won't see them on JaiAllyson.Com. There is NEVER a wasted photo though...the photo might stink, but being an artist, I can paint it any way I want! For this painting, I got rid of the horrid background featuring a handler's chunky legs and too-tight, too-short skirt. By painting the dog with a plain background, it helps the true essence of the animal shine!

Armed with a new camera and new lens, maybe next year my photos will be better. In the meantime, I'll keep doing paintings of the dogs from last year. :)

Prints of this painting are available through JaiAllyson.Com and gifts are available at GalleryJai.Com.

Orange Medley Tufted Titmouse painting

Wild bird lovers will adore this image of the Tufted Titmouse sitting beside an orange daisy. The color of the daisy and the color of the bird's feathers under his wing blend together, creating the perfect "Orange Medley". :) Prints are available through my website...just click the link under the painting image to purchase prints, matted prints, framed prints, or gallery-wrapped canvas prints.

June's Pink Rose painting

This is a painting of one of my neighbor's beautiful roses. June has the most striking flowers in her garden every year. This single pink rose was exceptionally stunning this past year! Purchase a print and enjoy this rose year round in your home or office!

Big Eyes Dog Painting

"Ooooohhhh what BIG EYES you have!" A little Chihuahua inspects the eyes of a young Great Dane in this painting.

I captured a photo of these two at our local dog show. There was lots of background "stuff" and a leash on the little dog, and it just didn't work well as a publishable photograph for our website. All this time I've saved it and been thinking and thinking...this scene is just too cute to go to waste. So I created a painting instead. :)

This art is available on prints, cards, and other cool gifts at GalleryJai.Com.

New paintings

I've been working on some new paintings of my favorite subjects...my cats. :)

This first painting features Nikko, doing her morning grooming. All cat owners have seen this pose many, many times. It's amazing to me how agile these creatures are. And Nikko...well she's a bit on the chunky side...but she still manages to reach all the places she needs to. :)


In the second painting, my dear little Oreo is featured. I miss her so much. I thought this makes the perfect painting to release on Valentine's day. In the original photo, she had another toy clasped between her toes...I decided to give her a heart, because she will always have my heart. It is fitting that I gave the painting the name "Always Have My Heart", because it is so true.

I'm putting these paintings up on our photography website. Prints and gifts can be ordered through the links on the website.