Longing | French Bulldog Painting

Here's the 2nd painting in my new series "At The Dog Show". This painting is titled "Longing" and features a French Bulldog being posed in the show ring. Is that just the cutest little face?

Longing is available on canvas and paper (with matting and framing options) and is also available on cards, mugs, mousepads and other fun gifts. Perfect for the French Bulldog lover in your life!

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Attentive | German Shepherd Painting

Time for another series. I've been thoroughly enjoying my "Dogs With Toys" series, however, submissions of photos have been so slow...and I want to paint a VARIETY of dogs...so I just have to be patient and wait for people to send me their best photos of their dogs in order to do more paintings for that series. I *did* get two dogs at the local dog show playing with toys, so those will be painted for the series.

In the meantime, I decided I'd take a portion of the coolest of the 3,000+ photos I made at the dog show and do paintings based on them. :) Hence the new series..."At the Dog Show".


This is the first painting from the series, titled "Attentive", featuring Ria, the blue ribbon winning German Shepherd I met on day one. I've included a close up of the brush work using an impasto style technique which I am super-thrilled about! The original photo is shown here too.

This painting is available on canvas and paper (with matting and framing options) and also on cards and other cool gifts in my GalleryJai gift shop.

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Chow Dog Portrait

More for the Chow Chow dog lovers out there! Painted from a photo I snapped of a Chow at the local dog show.

Fine art prints are available here and cards, mugs and other fun gifts with this Chow painting are available here.

This morning I experimented with some more of my dog show photos are created two other paintings using a different brush I haven't tried before. I really like the way they came out and I'll post them soon.

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Wood Chow Dog Earrings

The plan yesterday was to work on a wood burning of a tiger, which I've been trying to get moving on for over a week. Life incidents managed to fill my days, however, and when I got down to the studio yesterday afternoon, I was a bit hesitant about starting it. Usually when I feel this way, I'll work on something smaller-quicker-simpler to get the "feel" for the larger piece.

I decided to create a pair of earrings as a warm up for the larger work. Using one of the photos I shot this weekend of a Chow at the dog show, I created these earrings. I think they turned out really well. I like the fact they're large enough to see the art well, yet still very lightweight and easy to wear.

I burned the design of the Chow and also burned the edges of the teardrop shapes in order to give them more interest. I sealed them for protection and then added silver hardware. I've added these to the Pyrography section of my website. Visit there to see more photos of the earrings.

I'm also really excited because I found some ACEO size wood this weekend. The plan is to make some wood art cards using pyrography with them.

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Jackson and Clarksville TN Dog Show

I've had a BALL the last 4 days! My daughter and I spent hours down at the dog show here in Jackson, TN, which consisted of both the Clarksville and Jackson shows.

Between us, we took around 3,000 photos. Of course, since I don't like to use a flash, most are only suitable for reference photos for my paintings and pyrography work.

Allyson will be putting up the best dog photos on cards and gifts in her shop.

Keep an eye on my website for new paintings. :)
My favorite photo I captured is of this little girl showing her bulldog. Even though the pair didn't win in this class I was photographing, they did amazing in my eyes. I loved watching them!

Then there was Ria the German Shepherd. She won a blue ribbon in this class I was photographing. What a gorgeous dog!

Another favorite dog I spent some time photographing was Karma the Great Dane. She's just a puppy! She was a little nervous and shy, but I can see her becoming an expert at this in her future.

All in all, we had a great time, and we'll be able to bring you many fabulous gifts with beautiful dogs as a result.

Jai

Grandma's Pearls | Pyrography

After delving back into pyrography to create a suitable grave marker for Rowdy, I realized how much I missed it. I've always loved the smell of fire and burning wood. When I was a child, I used to sit for hours in front of a fireplace and watch the flames. As I grew older, I enjoyed sitting in front of an outdoor bonfire on a cold winter night. Creating pyrographic art takes me back to those times.

I decided to take on the challenge of another wood burning this week. I had my daughter photograph a partial strand of knotted pearls which belonged to my grandmother. Working from that photograph, I stippled the pearls onto a 4"x4" piece of wood. This art is appropriately titled "Grandma's Pearls" and is for sale from a new page I've added to my website.

I've already been working on another design - a tiger. It will be very tedious, but I plan to use the stippling technique with his artwork as well. There's something about the effect I really love, and it never ceases to amaze me that an artistic image can arise from the combination of thousands of tiny dots. :)


Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Pomeranian Painting

I couldn't resist doing another painting of this sweet little Pomeranian. I know she looks bigger than life here, but she's only about 9 pounds. She's just a tiny fluffball! Her cream colored fur is simply gorgeous, and I love her perky little ears.

This painting is available on paper, canvas, and a range of artsy gifts for the Pomeranian lover.

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Yellow Ducky | Chihuahua Painting

How about some good news for a change? It's been a pretty crappy month for me so far, but despite it all, I plugged along on Shadow the Chihuahua's painting.

I painted Shadow with a yellow ducky toy which he really wasn't at all interested in, but the pose made a cute one for my Dogs With Toys series of art. :)

Little Shadow is sure adorable. He's just a tad overweight...too many snacks from the table, I'm sure! He's only about 12" tall. I do believe he's the smallest dog in our neighborhood!

I think Chihuahua lovers will enjoy his cuteness on these great gift items.

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow art lovers! Comments are always welcome.

InJoy,
♥ Jai
http://www.jaiart.com
Enjoy my mini art gallery on the front page, and shop for limited edition prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

RIP Rowdy

This week, I had to say goodbye to a dear friend. Rowdy is the second cat we lost from the original group of the three wild kittens we raised. Oreo was the first.

Last Sunday, Rowdy became very ill. I knew he was sick from the way he was acting, and he also felt warm. I got him out of the bushes where he was hiding and brought him up to the carport. He slept in the same place on the love seat all evening.

The next morning, he was still in the same spot. He hadn't moved all night. A few hours later, he got up and he could hardly walk. His left front foot seemed injured, and he seemed dizzy. I immediately gathered him up and took him to the vet.

I left him at the vet while I went to work and waited for a phone call. Honestly, I thought he had contracted a cold or something, the vet would give him an antibiotic and he'd been fine.

A girl from the vet's office called - they wanted to draw blood. I said okay. She called back and said his white blood count was too low...which is indicative of feline leukemia. They wanted to test for it. I said ok.

The next call I got was from the vet himself...when I heard his voice, I knew this wasn't good. Rowdy tested positive for feline leukemia. His fever was 106. He was very, very sick. His white blood count should have been around 5000 - it was 1000. The vet told me, he most likely would be picking up everything that came along as his body didn't have the defenses to fight off anything anymore. He also told us this was very contagious, and could easily be given to the other cats, if it hadn't been already.

It was time to make a tough decision. I went to talk to Bill, who is a "co-owner" of these cats and who loves them all dearly. We decided it was best not to put Rowdy through continual sickness and pain, and it was best for the other cats, as we had no way to separate him.

So we went to the vet's office to say goodbye to our dear friend. Rowdy was with us two years. He touched our hearts in more ways than you can ever imagine. He was unique and special...and we will miss him forever.

I made him his own personal grave marker. It's pyrography on wood with color pencil, and sealed to protect it from the weather. Linda is going to plant some pretty flowers on his grave, too.

RIP my dear Rowdy...we loved you the best we could, and we are so sorry we had to say goodbye too soon.

*The other two cats we have left tested negative for this horrible disease and have also been vaccinated for it. The vaccine is only about 70-80% effective, and there is no cure.

Artist's Studio Destroyed by Jackson TN Flood

(Pictures are WAY out of order...Blogger won't put them where they are supposed to go!)

May 2010 began with a bang here in Jackson, TN. Or rather with sirens. At 3:30am Saturday morning, we were awakened by tornado sirens. Off to the basement - a.k.a. my jewelry & art studio - we went.

Soon heavy rains began to come down. And more rain. And more. By daylight, this was the sight we saw at our home in south Jackson, TN.

We were soon run out of the basement, by flood waters which ravaged the low spot in our neighborhood.


All of that water was poured into my studio. :(


When I finally decided to brave the basement level to see how bad it was, I was shocked. I felt like I was in a fish tank as I saw the water against one of the two glass patio doors. It was pouring into the room under and around the edges of the doors.


200+ gallons of shop vac'd water later, this is the mess that is left. Two large room rugs were destroyed. They were old anyway, so I'm not really upset about their loss. But I did like having them down there.

The canvases you see on the right up against the sink area are okay - they were covered in plastic.

This is the main studio area, where all the furnishings have been moved away from where the water concentrated itself the most.

The baseboards are ruined. Mud has come from under the house and under the baseboards into the room.

My previous sealants I'd used to keep water from coming into that area of the room exploded out from beneath the baseboards.

Jewelry making tables are out of commission for the time being. Two power strips which housed the plugs for the multiple lights ended up being underwater and are ruined.

I can't even get to my area for the time being. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't working on a project when this happened, or this would really frustrate me!

My best friend is shown in this photo...my shop vac. That vac helped me suck out over 200 gallons of water on the first day and another 20+ gallons from this room directly the second day.

I forgot about the closet. I remembered it yesterday. Opened it up and everything on the ground level was ruined and trashed. This is all that is left inside. The styrofoam sheets I use to pack and ship my large paintings were safe though - luckily, they were propped up on something else - off of ground level.

Insurance will cover nothing. Go figure.

--Jai