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!

Our Cry Wolf Painting

I finally finished my wolf montage painting. I titled it "Our Cry", after reading a poem about wolves, and how their howl is their cry for their family members which were killed by man. It's quite sad, that the lives of this beautiful creature would be so senselessly taken as they have been. I hope I've done the wolf justice with my painting.

This wolf painting is available on prints, cards, shirts, mugs and many other gift items here.

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!

Eye of the Wolf

I've been feeling challenged this week to work on a montage painting. I've chosen the wolf to feature, because as a teen I had a fabulous t-shirt I loved, with a wolf montage design. Remembering that, and how much I loved the art on that shirt, encouraged me to attempt one of my own.

It's slow going so far. I've spent the last hour working one wolf's eye. Using my palette knife tool, I'm laying in the paint colors and playing with a little blending. I'm not sure I'm satisfied yet, but I'm closer than I was an hour ago!

I'd love to have this painting finished by the end of the weekend, but I have a feeling it might take longer than expected.


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!

Trip to the Safari Park 2009

I hope you enjoy this photo journal of our trip to the safari park in Alamo, TN! We had a great time! Click on the photos to see them larger.

We were greeted by this fella. He's quite handsome, don't you think?

Aw...sweet...Momma and baby Zebra.
Uh oh, Momma Zebra wants treats...

Maybe I'll try the guy in the front seat...

Got food?

No treats? Phooey on you!

I was glad these Kangaroos were fenced...they probably would have been jumping all over the car!

Hello!

Taking a Sunday afternoon nap

Hey Dude, if I give you my Elvis look, will ya gimme a treat?

Yeah, I'm pretty and I know it!

Dude! I'm over here!

We thought this was a bale of hay...when we got closer, we saw it was a buffalo!

I'm backkkkkkkk!

You stay there, we'll stay here, and no none will get hurt.

Just got my hair done...whaddya think?

Hey Ethel...you see all these crazy people taking our photos?

I'm starting to think we shoulda gone to Hollywood!

Lucy, you really think we could be famous? Wow!

Can I have a little privacy puh-le-eze?

How many ya think I got in here? C'mon...go ahead and guess!

I am not responsible for her condition...I swear!

Admit it...you wish you had nails like mine!

I see some peacock feather earrings coming out of this deal. :)

If you won't open this lock, I'll just chew it up!

Hello, my name is Jerry. Got any carrots?

The highlight of the day...a one day old Caspian Mule. CUTE CUTE CUTE!

Hello. Goodbye. I can say more, but that's all you're gettin' today.

And you thought the three little pigs was just a fairytale.

A sheep sharing words of wisdom with a pig, who appears to be sleeping through it all.

They call me Santa Claus.

This spider monkey was quite friendly. He wanted to shake everyone's hand. A moment later, that little boy in the photo decided to lean over the rail and hang his head down. Oops...monkey apparently also liked to grab hair. Screaming ensued. Guess that's why they have that warning sign up there. Hmmmm.

All in all, it was a fabulous day! Hope you enjoyed the photos. :)

A Trip to the Safari Park in Alamo, TN

For years on our trips from Jackson over to Dyersburg, TN, I would gaze longingly at the buffalo grazing in the fields of the Conley farm as we passed by. Often in the midst of what seemed to be nowhere, you'd see spectators pull off of the side of the road and get out of their cars to look at these massive creatures. Occasionally, you'd also get a glimpse of zebras, peacocks, llamas, and other wildlife. I remember saying to my husband "Someone who lives there is raising wildlife! I wish we could go there!"

It was just last week when I heard a commercial on the radio - the Conley farm in Alamo, TN is open to the public. So of course, we had to head out there this weekend so I could take a gazillion photographs. And I got some beauties!

You can drive through the park in your own vehicle - it's about two miles along a gravel road, circling through fields where buffalo, various types of deer, llamas, ostriches, and peacocks run wild. In the distance, you can see camels grazing. Occasionally you'll spot an ostrich egg lying around.

You end up at a gift shop and petting area, with people to talk with you about the animals, their traits, how they are raised, where they came from, etc. It's southern hospitality at it's best on a wonderful farm smack in the middle of West TN. If you haven't visited the Safari Park in Alamo, you need to. Get the details on their website here.














Here's some candid shots of Allyson with a couple of different Cockatoos. These birds are quite a bit heavier than our cockatiel and parakeet! Check out Allyson feeding Jerry the giraffe too...I think that's the closest I'd ever been to a giraffe. I'm a short person, so I've always felt small, but I felt invisible next to Jerry! And check out the cute pup - a pomeranian/chihuahua mix, this little fellow herds the goats if they escape their fenced area - which is frequently. :)

At the bottom of this post you'll find a link to a calendar and a poster, which feature a variety of some of my photos from the trip. All net proceeds from the sales of these two items will be forwarded to the Conley farm to feed and care for the wildlife. You can see close ups of the various pictures on the calendar by clicking on the image to go to the page in my shop.

InJoy,
Jai

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Tennessee Safari Park Wall Calendar

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Tennessee Safari Park Large Poster

#8 Squirrel Breakfast - set of 3

This morning I caught this little fella having breakfast on his corn cob. First he ran from me, so I had to squat down on the ground and pretend to be invisible. It took a minute, but he came back out and I got these three shots of him. Click on the photos to see the larger version.

InJoy,
Jai

P.S. Cards and prints with image #3 are here and you can pick up the set of royalty-free photos with unlimited use here.