i’ve gone over to the dark side…

The crazy cat lady has adopted a dog. Well, it was my husband’s idea…I like dogs but just never really knew what to do with them. They seem to require a lot more work than your average cat.

I’ve never owned a dog, unless you count that one that followed my brothers home from the convenience store. Mom let it stay only for as long as it took to find it a new home. Which was about a week.

But now I have a puppy. The vet guesses she is about 7 or 8 months old. We’ve named her Dobby…after the Harry Potter house elf. She is a free elf…complete with 4 socks!

She moves quite fast so it’s hard to paint her. But here is a quick sketch of Dobby and a chew toy.

I swore after Abby died that I didn’t think I’d ever get another pet. But they bring us such joy. Now I can’t imagine living in a house that didn’t have an animal or two.

Dobby has only been with us a little over a week and we are head over heels in love!!

Everyday, we tell each other that we hit the doggy lottery! She is potty trained, sleeps all night and only chews on her own toys. She’s amazing!

and one more...

lemonade pitcher

One of my favorite things about summer….lemonade!

fat dog? bear?

I think it’s a dog. I don’t know.

I do know that it’s another secret hiding place for ch♥colate!!

fat cat

This isn’t your ordinary ceramic fat cat. It’s full of chocolate!!

Always!

terra cotta bird

one more little bird

bird's-eye view

blue bird's friend

blue bird

Today's doodle.

stacking dolls

This little drawing was kind of fun. I realized when I got done that I probably should have drawn the backside of one of them…or maybe a side view??

Oh, well, maybe next time.

teapot with swirls

One more teapot…then on to something completely different.

flowers in clear vase

Summer has taken its toll on the garden. Everything is starting to look a little sad from the heat and dry weather.

I worked in the garden last night chopping down a lot of the overgrown herbs. It was a jungle there! I still have plenty left over for eating. Just not as wild as it was.

teapot with sunflowers

Have a great weekend!!

teapot with olives

I know the perspective is all wonky on this one but well, it is what it is.

teapot with grapes

Added a background just for fun.

tulip teapot

teapot with lemons

I’ve gathered up some of my teapots to draw for this week. Here is the first one.

sunflower in the wind

i remember...

I’m taking my grandson school shopping this weekend. It reminded me of a summer tradition when I was growing up. I always got new tennis shoes on my birthday in May. By the end of summer, they were pretty sad looking little shoes.

Which is surprising because I know we went barefoot a lot of the time. I must have just been really tough on shoes!

teapot with pink flowers

hAppY fRidAy!!!

stuff to hold other stuff

I like tins….the stranger, the better.

fishy stuff

This is a…well, I don’t know what it is actually. It’s a terra cotta, painted “fish” with a big mouth. It is the keeper of small things that used to clutter my desk—clips, post-its, rubber bands—stuff like that.

camera stuff

A painting of a treasure I found at a flea market. I bought this so I could take TtV pictures. Go here for a description and here for some images.

Here are a couple of pics I took with it. It’s fun and a little challenging to get the images to come out just right.

When I first got the camera, it was so dusty inside. It probably hadn’t been used for 50 years or so. I had to take it apart and clean it out. I was so afraid I’d mess it up. But I got all the pieces clean and back where they belonged!

paint stuff

I have several palettes…this is the one I use at home. I really like it because it has a lid and keeps my paint juicy and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

mexican sunflower and friends

It rained a lot this weekend. So I brought in some flowers to pose for me.

We still have lots of zinnias and black-eyed susans and this bright orange beauty – “tithonia rotundifolia” – also known as Mexican sunflower.

stuff

Every month, I try to give myself a new challenge or theme of things to draw. I was thinking of getting out and about and drawing some things in the town where I live. But it’s just too stinking hot outside! Maybe I’ll do that in September or October when the weather is a little nicer.

For this month, I’m staying inside where it’s cool. So I’ve decided to just draw stuff in my house.

So to kick off the month of “stuff,” here is a typewriter I bought a few years ago. It actually works really well for something that is over 80 years old! I bought a new ribbon for it and dusted it off and it’s good as new.

color and lines

It dawned on me the other day that my earliest influence with art came when I was one week old. That’s how old I was when I was taken to church to be baptized. I’m convinced that my earliest art influence is stained-glass windows.

That has to be why I love colorful images outlined with black lines.

If it wasn’t that, it has to be coloring books. Those lovely black lines just begging to be filled with color.

What or who influenced you?