New Kitten Painting ~ New Color Splash Photos

I know I haven't posted much lately...Last week was horrible. My father went in for a "repair" surgery and suffered a massive heart attack. He actually died twice, but they were able to revive him. There appears to be no brain damage, which is wonderful, and he has been coming around very well. He's still in ICU, however, and the nurse today told me he had kind of a rough day. And today is his birthday. He is 70. She said they were going to have a party for him. I sure wish I could be there...he's in Colorado Springs and I'm stuck here in the 100+ degree TN heat with no way to be able to go. :( So I've been rather upset.

Like always, however, I try to take my mind of things I can't control by delving into my creative works. I have completed a couple of new photos in my Color Splash series, both shown here.

"The Monarch" (butterfly), and "On a Wire", which features a bluebird.

I've also managed to complete a new digital oil painting of Molly, one of our kittens. I paired her with the same butterfly in the first photo and titled it "Me and My Monarch".

The kittens and their mom are being spayed/neutered on July 5, and will also have their shots. After that, they will all be ready to go to new homes. You can see their photos in this facebook album. Please email me if one of them captures your heart - I'd be happy to reserve him/her for you and your family!

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
Shop for prints, cards, and gifts with your favorite paintings. Be sure to read the news page for upcoming series, events, contests, and more exciting things!

Labrador Retriever Portrait

Sam is such a handsome black Lab. Very well trained too. His owner told him to stay and look at me from the back of his truck and he did it! Below is the original photo of Sam in the truck, and this is his painted portrait.

You can purchase this handsome black Labrador on fine art prints on paper and canvas and on neat gifts, business cards, greeting cards, stationary and more here.

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!

Maine Coon Cat | A Return to Realism

For months now, I've tried to loosen up in my art, trying a variety of different brushes and styles and color palettes...but deep down, my anal, realistic side keeps fighting to get out. So this week, I allowed it to emerge as I painted this portrait of Sassy, a Maine Coon Cat we had stay with us for a short time. If you love Maine Coon cats, you can purchase fine art prints here and gift items with his handsome self here.

As for whether I'll stick with the realism...I'm going to do another painting in this manner and see how I feel. :)

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!

In the Garden | Pug Painting

Here's another painting in my "At The Dog Show" series. This little Pug was having some fun exploring the gardens outside at our local dog show. I captured several photos of him, and just completed his painting.

His owner told me he is still very young, and he would begin participating in dog shows later this summer.

Pug Fine Art Prints • Pug Gifts

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!

The Observer | Long Haired Dachshund Painting

Here's another new painting from my "At The Dog Show" series. This painting is titled The Observer, and features a long-haired Dachshund observing all of the excitement going on around him at our local dog show here in Jackson, TN.

Dachshund Art Prints • Dachshund Art Gifts

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!

New Paintings!

It has been a c-r-a-z-y week but I have managed to get some new paintings done and put online!

New in my At The Dog Show series: "Arms of Comfort", featuring a Cocker Spaniel in the arms of his owner. Click here to view my At The Dog show series webpage and see more detail of this painting.


Next up, I was in a bit of a fruity mood....so I completed a couple of still life paintings of juicy oranges. Click here to see them in more detail on my website.


And finally, the last painting was a quick floral study I did of a Daffodil. I was still experimenting with different brushes in all of these paintings, and I finally nailed the look I was after with the Daffodil. See this lovely flower in more detail on my website.


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!

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!

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!

Magnificent Arabian | Horse Painting

I thought I'd finish out the month of April with a colorful and expressive horse painting. In keeping with the brighter color palette I used with the tulip from yesterday, I painted this Arabian stallion, and titled it Magnificent Arabian.

Arabians have always been a favorite horse for me. When I was younger, I dreamed of having my own black Arabian stallion. Hmmmm....maybe I will paint him next...:)

This Arabian horse painting is available as fine art prints (canvas and paper!) and on a variety of fun artsy gifts and cards.

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!

Purple Tulip Flower Painting

Recently I captured this really neat photo of a neighbor's purple tulip. I love the way the colors came out in the photo, but I could still imagine it somewhat brighter. So I decided to do a painting of the tulip with brighter colors.

Below is how I began the painting. I used an oil brush this time, instead of the usual palette knife. I love the short choppy strokes from the palette knife, but I felt like experimenting with something different on this one. After painting for a little while, I decided to go for even brighter colors. The end result of my tulip painting is below. I thought you'd enjoy seeing the finished painting compared to the original photo. :)

























Fun gifts and cards featuring today's painting are available in my gift shop. Fine art prints on canvas and/or paper (with matting and framing options too!) are available at this gallery.

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!

Iced Tea and Teddy Bears

How about a cool, refreshing glass of tea? Or a couple of sweet, cuddly teddy bears?

These two pieces of art are designs created specifically for my new greeting card line titled "Sentiments". That's right - after 20 years, I've returned to writing verse for cards again.

I still have my first notebook here, which I started writing poems and verse in at age 13. I actually wrote in this same notebook all through college as well.

Now I have a new notebook and a lot of new experiences under my belt which come into play with the sentiments I'm writing.

The iced tea painting is on a friendship card.

The teddy bear painting is on a new baby congratulations card.

The iced tea painting and the teddy bear painting are both also available on a wide variety of other gift items, including fine art prints for those who like to decorate their space with simple designs like these.

Sunday afternoon, I spent some time outside with the birds, enjoying nature, while I wrote. I wrote four verses in a short amount of time.

When I was growing up, I used to ride my bike down to the back of our neighborhood - notebook and pen in hand - and I'd spend hours sitting at this quiet clearing in the woods beside a lake. Sometimes I'd write - sometimes I'd just enjoy the peace and quiet. It was a secret safe-haven I'd found to disappear to and spend time alone. Many years later, after I'd moved away, they built up the area with apartments. So my secret spot is gone, however, I bet one of those apartment/condos at the back, along the lake's edge, would be quite serene, especially if it has a balcony on which to sit and watch the lake.

I hope you enjoy watching this new greeting card line come to life - maybe you'll even find the perfect card to send to someone you care about!

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!

Kitten Portrait | Head Study Painting

I didn't have much time to paint yesterday as I had to work and then we had tornadoes coming through the area all afternoon! By the time the sirens and storms were done, I had a massive migraine headache. :(

Anyway, I did paint this quick head study of our kitten Oreo yesterday. I hope you like it! The painting is available on a wide variety of gifts and cards.

Want to have your pet's portrait painted? Visit my custom pet portraits page for information and pricing.
http://www.jaiart.com/custom-pet-portraits.html

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow pet 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!

Hamsters & Mice | New paintings

I took a break from my Dogs With Toys series this week to work with some of my other favorite critters - mice and hamsters.

This first painting is titled "Exhaust Pipe" and was inspired by a photo my daughter took of the exhaust pipe on my car. I actually made two separate images from this one painting...the one with the two mice and the exhaust pipe and then a separate piece of art featuring only the mouse on the ground.

Exhaust Pipe is available on fun cards, gifts, and prints here. Version two, titled "Me & My Shadow", is available here.

The third painting featured here today is of a sweet little hamster eating a rose. Titled "Snack From the Garden", it's a painting which will appeal to all the hamster owners out there, and it's available on cards and gifts here.

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow pet 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!

Driver's Seat | Rat Terrier Painting

This is Rufus the Rat Terrier, and this is another painting in my Dogs With Toys series. Yes, believe it or not, this doggie's favorite toy is the family vehicle. If it's moving, he wants to be in it. Not just in it, but in the driver's seat! Someone commented to me he looked like he was really in charge - well he is. All 10 pounds or so of him. :)

This painting was awarded a Today's Best Award from Zazzle.Com this week. Thanks Zazzle - as always, I am honored!

So what kind of toys does your dog like? Share your dog's photo playing with balls, stuffed toys, squeaky toys, plus toys which aren't considered a traditional dog toy, and your dog could be chosen to be in the "Dogs With Toys" series of artwork! Visit this page to see how.

Want to have your pet's portrait painted? Visit my custom pet portraits page for information and pricing.
http://www.jaiart.com/custom-pet-portraits.html

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow pet 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!

P.S. I just have to share some of my daughter's work...Allyson, age 16, is already an AWESOME photographer and has recently got into photographing various food items. This is her latest card and I thought the image is just fantastic of this deliciously-sweet cupcake:

Cupcake Happy Birthday Card by AllyJCat

Dachshund Love | Puppy Painting

I knew the minute I saw this sweet little face, I had to paint him. And after doing so, I'm tempted to do another series of just puppies. Cuteness factor times ten. :)

This little fella is available on fine art prints, cards, and other fun gifts for Dachshund lovers.

Want to have your pet's portrait painted? Visit my custom pet portraits page for information and pricing.
http://www.jaiart.com/custom-pet-portraits.html

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow pet 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!

Dachshund Love Tote Bag by jaisjewels

Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is approaching quickly, and I've made a couple of beautiful, floral designs from my paintings available on unique gifts for your mom this year.

Mother Pink Daisy Art Coffee Mug by jaisjewels

Mother First Light Pink Magnolia Tote Bag by jaisjewels

Mother Pink Daisy T Shirt by jaisjewels

Mother First Light Magnolia Mousepad by jaisjewels

Mother First Light Magnolia Card by jaisjewels

Mother Pink Daisy Card by jaisjewels

See all of the Mother's Day gifts with these paintings here.

And here's another something special your Mom would love...a custom painting of her furry or feathered friend. I have 2 openings left for custom pet portraits before Mother's Day. Visit my custom pet portraits page for information and pricing.
http://www.jaiart.com/custom-pet-portraits.html

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!

Let's Play | Black Labrador Retriever Painting

Yes, I'm behind on paintings this month and blog posts. I'm so happy, though, that my newest painting in the Dogs With Toys series titled "Let's Play" has won a Today's Best Award from Zazzle!

"Let's Play" features a black Labrador Retriever named Sam who is TIRELESS when it comes to fetching his red, white and blue ball. As long as you are willing to throw or kick this ball for him, he will go get it and bring it right back. He doesn't stop until you stop.

Prints & lots of cool gift items for Labrador lovers are available with Sam's painting.

So what kind of toys does your dog like? Share your dog's photo playing with balls, stuffed toys, squeaky toys, plus toys which aren't considered a traditional dog toy, and your dog could be chosen to be in the "Dogs With Toys" series of artwork! Visit this page to see how.

Want to have your pet's portrait painted? Visit my custom pet portraits page for information and pricing.
http://www.jaiart.com/custom-pet-portraits.html

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow pet 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!

Black Swan Painting

I finally completed the black swan portrait I started last week. At first I was going to paint a white swan...but then I decided to paint a black one. There's something so elegant about black swans. Of course, I'll probably paint a white one sometime soon, too. :)

I'm running behind on my daily paintings at http://www.JaiArt.Com. With the addition of a 3rd job last week and a migraine that got me down for a few days, it was really hard to focus on my main job -- which is my art. I normally worked around 80 hours a week on my paintings and growing my art business. Now it's been cut back to 60 or so hours, plus I'm feeling the stress of it all.

I hope things will balance out soon, but I'm anticipating there will be less paintings completed in April as I get used to my new schedules for everything. And commission works always come first. Speaking of custom pet portraits, remember to get yours scheduled before the 12th, which is when my price increase takes effect!

Thanks so much for stopping in to view my work and for sharing my website with fellow animal 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!