San Diego Bound!

Well, LOOK who I found in the bean bag chair today! Miss Maisie seems to have a preference for cushy mushy comfort. I think red might be her color.

I'm a little freaked out as James and I have to go to San Diego for two days and I miss Maisie already. We are heading to the Del Coronado Hotel to celebrate his parent's 60th wedding anniversary. They met there 61 years ago at a USO dance and have been together ever since. Fortunately though...we have a dog sitter extraordinaire (Mary) who will be staying here with Maisie. She was Abby's dog sitter and we just love her. That eases my mind a bit...but I'll still miss my little squirt.

Sorry I've been so lax about commenting on your blogs lately. With Maisie, my brother visiting and now the San Diego trip...my head is spinning. I should be able to land my feet again this weekend and get back to a more normal routine. I've missed you all!

Have a good rest of the week. Maisie sends kissies.

First Snow!

Finally had our first real snow the other day! And look who was lovin' it...Maisie couldn't wait to get out and run around the yard like a little pony. I wish I could have really let her run run RUN...but she's not supposed to yet with the kennel cough. She's getting better but we need to baby her for about another week. We are having a ball with her...she is just the sweetest girl.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! Maisie and I are heading to the airport soon to pick up my brother who will stay with us through the weekend. We're actually having our Thanksgiving dinner tonight with him.

Sorry for the lack of posting lately...and the lack of art! This little girl dog is keeping me very busy...and I'm concentrating mostly on dog portraits now until Christmas. I hope to have one to show you next week though. If I can get Maisie to come down the long flight of stairs to my studio in the basement that will help. For now...she's afraid of them, poor baby.

Have a great weekend everyone. xoxo

Two Sick Doggies!

First of all...I want to thank all of you lovely friends out there for your wonderful and kind comments about Maisie. You had us in tears!...but very happy tears! She is such a joy!

Unfortunately...our first weekend together was a little rough. Maisie and James were both sick. Little Maisie developed kennel cough and James got the flu. I don't know which one was more difficult to handle! hee hee. Anyway...Maisie is taking some doggie "Robitussin" and I am giving her some vitamin C and a homeopathic remedy to boost her immune system. She should be much better in a few days. Poor baby has to limit her activity and can't be around other dogs for about 10 days though...and she's not liking that one bit!

The photo below shows you her cute little tiger stripes...and her spankin' new collar. My Aunt Zieta from California says that Maisie looks like a supermodel! I thought that was so cute.

NOT getting much artwork done right now...but things will settle down in a few days and then the holiday painting frenzy will begin full tilt. Hopefully this little girl won't mind that her new mama needs to pay attention to some other dogs in the 2D form!

Big News!

"Maisie Rose"

Well guess what...all my lovely blogger friends?! Yep...as of last night, James and I are the proud parents of a new one year old baby girl! We named her Maisie Rose O'Neill. She is a German Shepherd/Whippet mix (Hi Patience!).

We have missed our Abby Louise so very much...so a few weeks ago...decided we needed and wanted to open our hearts and our home again to another dog. We looked at several shelters around the Boulder/Denver area but hadn't found the right dog until this past Wednesday. To try and make a long story short...I saw a very sweet little dog named Jezebel on the Denver Dumb Friends League website. We went right down to meet with her. While we were standing in front of the kennel seeing Jezebel for the first time and having some concerns about her disposition...we looked behind us...and there was Maisie. We both had an immediate connection with her and when we finally met her...she stole our hearts. She's a lot like Abby in many ways but different in her own right. We really believe Abby brought Maisie to us because we have had a very strong sense of her surrounding us this week...especially when we were at the shelter.

We named our new little girl Maisie because it means "precious" and she is! She will need some patience and lots of love because she's a little timid and is afraid of loud noises. She doesn't like doorways either. She's already made a lot of progress in one day though. She's got a great spirit and is so very loving. We don't know her history other than she was a transport from a shelter in Taos, New Mexico.

The picture below is of our first walk up to the lake today. I think Abby was watching over us, smiling and feeling so happy that our hearts feel a little better today.

Welcome Miss Maisie Rose!

Pugs and Things

Melissa, Me, Emmitt

Saturday, I had the great pleasure of attending my friend, Melissa Langer's book signing in Boulder. That's her Pug, Emmitt in the photo (you've seen his face grace my blog before!). Emmitt was there meeting and greeting and generally supervising the event. I think he even signed some books himself! Here's more about the event on Melissa's blog.

The book I'm talking about is called "Emmitt & Olive"...a very inspiring and sweet story of the friendship of two Pugs. It is written by Melissa and features 25 of her beautiful Pug drawings and paintings. Now I'm not just saying this because I like Melissa and Emmitt so much...but people...this book would be a GREAT gift for anyone this holiday season. Kids go crazy over them. Melissa has several other books available on her website as well so check them out. I am personally buying several for my niece and nephew AND myself!

And by the way...have you seen this video? Tyson, the Bulldog was on Oprah last week and I think he was probably the best guest Oprah has ever had!

Hey and thanks for all your great trip suggestions!

A little bit 'a butter

"Butter"
6" x 7" acrylic on canvas
available here at my Etsy Shop

Ahhh, my love for butter is never ending. Add a little bread...and what more could you ask for. One of the best food combinations ever invented!

So I have a question for you. If you had only four days to fly somewhere for a little r&r...where would it be? James and I want to head out for a little getaway before the end of the year...but it can only be a short trip this time. We don't want to spend much time in route...just want to get somewhere quickly where we can rest and rejuvenate and eat lots of things with butter. If you have any favorite destinations...please spill!

And I feel a TGIF coming on...:)

Perdy Pear

"Red Pear"
6" x 7" acrylic and collage on canvas
available in my Etsy Shop

Just finished this perdy pear last night. There's an abundance of lovely little pears in the stores right now...so many different colors and shapes. Uh oh...I feel a pear painting frenzy coming on!
Hey Ro...I used yet another one of your incredible papers in this one. I love them!

And when you have a moment...pop on over to Michele Maule's blog. Besides the fact that she just got a new Boston Terrier puppy (cutie pie!)...she's an amazing Artist. Her mixed media paintings incorporating graphite, paint, handmade gesso, collage and wax are just beautiful. Really nice work, Michele!

"Little Bottles" 3" x 3" by Michele Maule

paint, collage, beeswax, graphite and gesso on panel

Abstract Aberration!

"The Dress"
5" x 6.5" acrylic and collage on paper

This is my third and last abstract piece for the week. As I was painting it...an orange dress appeared in the middle! Must have been Halloween spooks still lurking in my studio.

I painted it on a paper surface I had prepared in Shari Beaubien's workshop a couple of months ago. I loved the textures that developed using her techniques. Hope I did ya proud, Shari!

Have a great weekend everyone! xo

Halloween Pet Costumes

HA!...did you see this from CuteOverload.com the other day? Love it! This was pretty much Abby's attitude when I tried to dress her up as a cat one year.