A Summer's Work

Percy & Ellie

8" X 10" pen and ink

2011

KC

5" X 7" pen and ink

2011

Earl

8" X 10" colored pen and ink

2011

Jibe at the Helm

8" X 10" colored ink

2011

Colby

5" X 7" colored pen and ink

2011

Year-End Tally

2009 has been a good year for PenPets, despite the economic downturn. I drew 32 PenPets commissions, two birthday presents, two Brooksville Breeze cover illustrations, and I carved one woodcut wedding present. Here’s the tally for PenPets drawings:

29 dogs

11 cats

1 out-house
1 Victorian toilet

3 houses
1 hamster

1 still life

1 bird
4 horses

I was so busy drawing PenPets portraits that I didn’t get in much woodcarving this year, only 5 woodcuts:

2 great blue herons

1 Haflinger horse

4 pigs

Woops! I almost forgot this little fictional pup, Katya, the tiny but intrepid heroine of my yet-to-be-published children's book Becoming Katya. She's my new year's baby.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Norwegian Fjord Horses

Norwegian Fjord Horses

15" X 7" pen and ink

2009

Left Detail

Right Detail

I finally got to my Norwegian Fjord Horses. These hardy fellows are from Darthia Farm. There are only two of them at the farm but I cloned them. Artists can do that. I meant to make the drawing just long enough to fit on my scanner (14"). As you can see, I'm an inch off. Artists can do that, too, unfortunately. Thus, the horse on the far left has been cropped in the picture at the top. Check him out in the Left Detail. These beauties will go in my show at the Deer Island Artists Association later this summer.

“A heart-beat at my feet”

Sleeping Simon

7" X 5" pen and ink

2009

When Edith Wharton described her dog as “A heart-beat at my feet,” she could have been describing Simon. I love this pose! For me it is iconic—a symbol of all our faithful friends who have ever slept soundly and serenely at our feet. I also love the way the two feet—one human, one canine—frame Simon’s sleeping face. Notice that I inked in both sets of toenails in the same shade!

Simon, a yellow Labrador Retriever, is not always so serene. “He was a fiend as a puppy,” says Tracy, Simon’s “Mom,” the one who is attached to the human foot on the left. “He has grown into a dog with a great zest for life. I adore him completely and he has inspired me to become a professional dog trainer and allow my nutty passion for all things canine to blossom. We participate in Agility and Rally together, and hike all year together in any type of weather.” Simon is lucky to live on Mount Desert Island, Maine, where he has all the spectacular mountains in Acadia National Park to choose from for his daily hikes. In this shot, he is returning from a day trip to Schoodic Peninsula by boat. “After a day exploring Schoodic,” says Tracy, “the vibration of the boat lulled him to sleep.”

This is the first of two portraits Tracy and I have planned for Simon—so far! The second will be a puppy pose that I hope will capture Simon’s zest for life. “He still is a fiend at heart and I have grown to love and admire him for that!” says Tracy.

Sweet dreams, Simon!

California Dreamin'

Fence Sitter and Friend

7" X 5" pen and ink

2007

It pays to go on vacation! Not only did I spend ten days in California getting the royal treatment from my family, soaking up the sun, smelling the flowers, and seeing the sights, but I sold three boxes of cards in my Etsy shop (I'm up to FIVE SALES now, folks!) and I had one of my drawings ("Fence Sitter and Friend") featured in a collection of goats on the Totally Timmy blog. Check it out! There are a lot of cool goats there.

http://timmyandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/04/soooooooooooooo.html

So now I'm home in Maine again. The snow is gone, the grass is green, and the Daphne--always first--is blooming deliciously. It's a far cry from the tropical gardens I admired in the San Francisco Bay Area, but it's hopeful. I have three PenPets commissions waiting to take shape on my drawing board and a vigorous crop of dandelions ready to be yanked from my garden. My work awaits me!