A lovely part of my work as an animal portrait painter is when a client gets in touch regarding a memorial portrait. It’s such an honour to be asked to produce an artwork of an owner’s much missed pet and this latest portrait is of a beautiful Border Collie called Jack, whose eyes just melted my heart.
I’m pleased to say that Jack’s owner and family were very happy with his portrait and hopefully it will bring a bit of comfort to them.
I like the idea of this event.. a chance to say Hi, show a few samples of what you do and thank your supporters… so interesting to look at what other creatives are producing too!
Well it’s turning into a fairly busy year, exhibition-wise. There are a lot of available art exhibitions to submit work to, very tempting, but I’m trying to build my stocks up in between commissions, so I’ve limited myself to the following events…so far.
The Ludlow Art Society and Association of Animal Artists exhibitions are on at the moment, Ludlow actually closes today and I’m delighted to write that ‘Barb’ sold at that one, yay! The Rose Paterson gallery at Weston Park near Shifnal, UK is the setting for the AAA exhibition and it makes for a grand day out, as the grounds are gorgeous, the work on show is amazing and the café does a great flat white!
In a month or so, my donated 5” x 7” ‘postcard’ will be displayed in Vancouver, alongside many others, in the annual Twitter Art Exhibition – monies raised will benefit the Urban Native Youth Association – so if you’re in that Canadian neighbourhood, don’t miss it.
Then later in the year, I’ll be taking part in H-Arts which is the Herefordshire arts festival here in the UK and I’ll be exhibiting alongside a collective of local artists in our village church… very exciting!
Here are some of my submissions to the various exhibitions.
Exhibitionitis – is that a thing, is there a cure?!
I’ve been doing a few paintings on small 5” x 7” canvasses recently and enjoying scaling down – the longest side is about the length of a standard pencil. A good excuse to dust off my tiny ‘000’ brushes. The new smaller sizes mean I can offer a lower price for commissions and sales, yay! That is, as long as the subject will fit on a postcard size format! Here’s a couple of recent examples…
This was a recent commission for a client in Germany who contacted me via a friend. They had recently had to say goodbye to their beautiful golden retriever and I was honoured to be asked to create a portrait of her with one of her favourite toys. Hopefully the painting will give a little comfort to the family at a very sad time. RIP Tessa.
We visited the Paisley Art Institute Annual Exhibition last week and wow what a fantastic selection of artwork there is. It was very well attended at the preview and there was a great buzz at the venue. The ex-supermarket location was spacious and well lit with plenty of room to manoeuvre around the viewers.
I was delighted to spot my little pug, sharing wall space with other small paintings by artists I greatly admire. I hope he enjoys his time at this exhibition and maybe, just maybe, he might be lucky enough to find a new home.
I’ve been having a sort out in the studio. This is always dangerous to my bank account, as I clear out brushes that need replacing, dried up tubes of paint that need replacing and creased paper or damaged canvases…that need replacing!
It didn’t stop there, I started looking at paintings that I haven’t got round to framing and decided that one or two, or three would look more presentable if they were. This is always a tricky decision for artists. Should you leave them frameless so that the buyer can choose a suitable frame according to their tastes or interiors. Or do you bite the bullet and invest in a frame to give the artwork a finished feel and ‘ready to hang’ option?
Well, after biting the bullet, here are some before and afters to let you see the difference.
The saddest time of owning a pet is when the inevitable happens and we have to say goodbye. This latest commission is of a beautiful black Labrador who sadly passed away just days before his portrait was completed. Hopefully, the painting will provide a bit of comfort to the owner. R.I.P. Toby ❤️
This year’s Twitter Art Exhibition in aid of Pegasus Riding For The Disabled is taking place in Canberra, Australia from 7-29 April 2018 (extra details can be found on the TAE18 website).
So with that thought in mind, I set out to paint a little French Bulldog on a postcard size piece of mountboard. He’s called ‘Ozzie’ and he’ll be up for sale along with several hundred other postcards that artists around the globe are donating
Hope he sells and helps raise funds for this great cause.
Here’s a photo of a recent commission of Dolly, a young golden cocker spaniel who was a delight to paint.
Her owner sent me really good crisp photos to work from, always a bonus!
The best part was getting to meet the model when the client arrived to collect the painting. She’s such a cutie 🐶💕
Rosie Mark Artwork 