Where Have I Been for the Holidays? (Part 1: International Orders)

Painting, of course!

November and December flew by thanks to the many dog lovers who asked me to paint a beloved pet for Christmas. I'm so blessed by all of the commissions that came my way, but let's just say winter break was a welcome sight! 

First up, a group of beautiful photos from Norway. I was honored to complete such a large international order!

 

Next, I completed a painting for an Instagram friend in Canada. I combined the following two photos to create a painting of the dog they love in a place they love.

Please email me at artistlabeau@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Thanks for your support!

More Dogs- Proceeds Help OKSAD!

 Portion of profits go to OK Save a Dog! My email is artistlabeau@gmail.com.

 Process of paint the Boston, Rob:

Start with a photo: the better the photo, the better the painting

Sketch an outline with wet acrylic paint

Create a background

Paint in the darks and lights only

Add detail and clean up the edges!

 This is a red chow, aptly named Red. Beautiful dog and fun to paint. My kickboxing instructor gave it to her friend as a birthday gift and it was well received!

 A former colleague asked me to paint her three dogs- ALL adopted from shelters!!! Love that! All these guys had such personalities that came right out in the photos. It was a fun challenge to paint three dogs on one canvas!

Started with a great photo!

OklaHOMEa

OklaHOMEa

What can I even say about the last week and a half? Sunday a tornado just missed Norman and proceeded to tear apart Shawnee and parts of Prague (luckily our favorite shelter, OK Save a Dog, was spared). Monday the F5 tornado blew through Moore. I was at work with my kiddos; the tornado changed paths and just missed our school. Unfortunately, three other schools were not as lucky. Homes and businesses were flattened, including those of coworkers and students. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. 

School was cancelled for the remainder of the year and the day the students could come pick up their stuff and say goodbye to teachers was the same day as my surgery to remove a basil cell from my cheek. Due to the surgery and needing to keep the wound clean from sweat, dirt, and germs, I couldn't help out with clean up. What to do... Paint of course! Painting has always been therapeutic and I have had to turn to it a lot in this past year. 

I knew my subject was going to be Oklahoma. After seeing the people of this state come together with their overwhelming generosity, kindness, and love, I just swelled with pride! The Oklahoma spirit is alive and well. 

Dog Paintings Galore!

In December, a friend of mine adopted two puppies and had to put both to sleep the week of Christmas. Their vet bills were huge and they had an empty home. So, the fundraiser began! Several friends and friendly strangers commissioned me to paint their dogs with 100% of the profits going to the family's vet bills. Here are the results of all the hard work!

Here's one I just completed for a silent auction for a shelter in Nebraska. 

And here's one I completed as a gift with funds going to OKSAD.

Whew! What a whirlwind of paintings and I still have more coming in! The fundraiser for the family is over and over $500 was raised! All future paintings are going back to my original deal of OK Save a Dog receiving a portion of the profits.