Memorial Portraits

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.

International Artist Day

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!

Happy #Internationalartistday 🎉

Paisley Art Institute 131st Open Art Exhibition – 2019

Following on from my delight at having a painting selected for last year’s Paisley Art Institute’s annual exhibition which consequently sold, I am absolutely chuffed to bits to let you know that I have been selected for this year’s PAI exhibition too.

‘Pug Dug’, acrylic on canvas panel, will be taking part and I couldn’t be prouder!

Exhibition runs from 7 September – 20 October 2019 at the Piazza, Central Way, Paisley, PA1 1EL, Scotland.

sBV9p8LuRa2DiiW4p8xdBQ

‘Pug Dug’

 

 

National Pet Day

I think we all need a bit of cheering up now and again in this mad, mixed up world of ours and how better to thank our four (and two) legged friends who always bring a smile and provide unconditional love, than with a day to celebrate them.

Happy National Pet Day!

fullsizeoutput_a0f

Oz Dogs

These two beauts, Kiku and Kura, are owned by friends who live in Australia.  They both have faces full of character and expression and I couldn’t resist trying to capture them.  They are done with soft pastels (Unison) on Pastelmat paper which has a good ‘tooth’ for holding pastel.  Fortunately, the drawings/paintings survived their global journey from the UK to the other side of the planet and arrived unscathed within a fortnight.  Amazing!  Well done postal service.

fullsizeoutput_52ffullsizeoutput_530

Dylan

This is Dylan, a commission recently completed for a friend’s birthday of her beloved Springer Spaniel.  He was great fun to do as he has an amazing rock star hairdo!

Oil on canvas to give a soft, hazy effect.

IMG_1695

 

 

Those Eyes….

I love painting animal portraits especially when the models have gorgeous eyes, Toby was no exception – beautiful peepers! 🐶❤️

New Year, Fresh Start

Happy New Year!  The start of the year means looking ahead with hope, anticipation and enthusiasm.  2016 was a bit of a tough one for me, so it’s time to move forward and hope 2017 will be better.  I’m sure I’m not the only person feeling this way.

With that in mind, I plan to be more productive with my artwork and also try to get it “out there” in the big wide world. 

As Jim Royle once said in Caroline Aherne’s brilliant TV comedy series ‘The Royle Family’, “Those dishes won’t do themselves, Barb” – of course, this will leave you puzzled if you are reading this outside the UK!!  It just means, if you want to get a job done, get on with it.

So without further ado, here are a couple of progress stage & completed paintings I can now reveal, that were commissioned for Christmas gifts, as I sign off for the time being and get cracking on some new work.

👋🏻🤓🎨