Sketch of work to come

"Tule Sketch"

NFS
ink on paper

This is a composite based on two different pictures a client sent for me to create a painting from. One photo has Tule in a field of tall grasses and the other she's on a boat. The tall grass obscure some of her body and face, but it's a nicer setting than the boat. The boat picture shows more of her features and so that where the pose comes from.

The background will be more suggestion versus reality. Something I'll looking forward to creating.

I almost forgot. I'm showing at the Northwest Crossing Saturday Market on Sat. Aug 1st from 10-2 and then I'll be at "The Dog Show" opening reception, that evening, at Sisters Artworks from 4-7 pm. 204 W. Adams St. Sisters OR. I made gluten free brownies for the occasion.

Bri-

Let's Hit the Road (finished)

"Let's Hit the Road"

6x6 acrylic on canvas
SOLD


Man this was a fun painting to create. I loved hanging out at Inga's ranch the day I took this photo and her dogs are great subjects. I have a bunch more to work from so you might see them depicted in some future paintings.

I love how the light highlights their heads and ears. The photo I worked from had both dogs much more back lit than in the painting. I just thought it made for a better picture to show the details in their faces.

Bri-

Let's Hit the Road

"Let's Hit the Road"
(in progress)

6x6 acrylic on canvas
$125 unframed plus $6 for shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

These are two dogs owned by my friend Inga. I loved the old Chevy pick-up and the dogs were willing to pose just about anywhere for me.

This will be part of the "Family Vacation" show at the Benjamin Benjamin Gallery in Hood River, unless of course it sells before hand.

I used a mixture of Open Acrylic and Heavy Body to create this piece. It should be all done tomorrow. I think if I had been at the Short Term Gallery today I would have finished it.

It's funny how having a good internet connection hinders my productivity. I guess I could go to dial-up, and I'd be so frustrated be the lack of speed I'd never use it. My blog entries would probably decrease as well then.

Bri-

Drippy Tigger finished

"Drippy Tigger"

20x10 acrylic on canvas
$500 plus $20 for shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

So I ended up using Heavy Body acrylic to add all the final details because it's more opaque. The Open acrylic works so great though I started a new painting today that I'll post tomorrow.

I'm so happy with the results I'm getting. I should probably send a note off to the folks at Golden Paint to tell them how much I like using it.

Bri-

Drippy Tigger

"Drippy Tigger"
(in progress)

20x10 acrylic on canvas
$500 plus $20 for shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

This is Tigger, a dog I've painted before, but not in this style. Having done so many environmental portraits of dogs lately, I really needed to do something different.

So not only did I change styles, but I also chose a different kind of paint. I'm doing this painting using Golden Open Acrylic instead of the Heavy Body paints. It works different than what I'm used to for sure, but I really like it. If there were a wider range of colors I might switch to it altogether. That said, I don't have to worry about the color palette because it works great in conjunction with the Heavy Body mediums as well. I used a little of Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue in his eyes.

I'll have this all finished up tomorrow for sure.

Bri-

Harbor House completed

"Harbor House"

6x6 acrylic on canvas
$125 unframed $6 for shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

I had the pleasure of working at the Short Term Gallery today and painting. When there weren't groups of people looking at the art or friends coming into chat, I worked on finishing this piece.

It sat around for several months just waiting for the finishing touches and I love the way it turned out. I'm not sure if this is repeating myself or not, but the original photo this is from was taken at night time. I just thought that the dog was so sweet looking that putting it in a night time setting might change the feel to something darker. Pun intended.

I might have a new coffee hound tomorrow but with 75 mile bike ride on the calendar I'm not sure I'll feel like painting when it's hot in the studio. We'll see. Sunday I'll be starting a new contemporary piece.

Bri-

Katie reduax...

"Katie"

18x18 acrylic on canvas
$1800 unframed $25 for shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

I created this originally for a customer, but just as I was finishing they decided that the image wasn't really capturing the character of Katie, so I started from scratch and made a completely different painting. Which they loved.

This has sat in my studio for a little over a year now and I brought it back out this week to see if there was anything I could add to it. I spent the better part of Wednesday adding more detail and texture to the fur of Katie's neck. I'm so happy with how it turned out and next week it will be added to the "Dog Show" at Sisters Artworks, in Sisters, OR.

I've seen some of the other work that's part of it, and I'm very honored to be part of it. The opening party is Aug. 1st from 4-6 pm. Hope to see you there.

Bri-

Life is better...

"Life is Better with a Dog and a Bicycle"

Terracotta Mug
$19 each plus $10 shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

Here's an example of the mugs Corrine and I created together for some of my summer shows. They were a big hit down in Los Altos.

I figured I'd post this today, because even though I finished a great painting today I can't find my cameras cord to download the pictures. If it doesn't turn up early tomorrow, I'll just have to use my other camera to photograph it.

Back to the mugs though. We created several other designs and if you're interested e-mail me and I'll send you pics.

Bri-

Home again, home again....

We made it back in one piece. Yeah. So I'm hoping to get back to painting tomorrow.

Did you know that without a VW camper van it's really hard to stay in cool places without spending a huge amount of cash. We had planned to stay in Calistoga CA and Truckee CA as well on our trip home, but without the van it would have cost $150 or more per night in each place. Not that those places aren't worth it if you have it. We didn't.

Corrine and I are both so physced to get the Airstream so that we can start staying in cool places again for about $30 a night instead. Ahh, the life of an artist.

Bri-

Tripping home..

So we've started the trip home. "Fluffy" the Suburban is riding great and the A/C is bonus because of the heat here in CA.

Since we didn't have the VW any longer we weren't able to stay in Calistoga. Bummer since the cycling there is so great. I guess that's why the cheapest room we could find was $160 a night.

So we walked around a little while visited Calistoga Pottery and then had a great dinner at the Sarafonia Cafe. Portabello Mushroom Sandwich, Onion Rings, and a piece of Apple Pie. Mmmm good stuff.

We drove out to Colusa and are staying in a nice little motel. Tomorrow back toward the studio we go.

Bri-

Fluffy Coffee and a wheel change

"Fluffy Coffee"
9x6 coffee and ink on paper
SOLD

This is Fluffy, the dog owned by James the mechanic in Sunnyvale, CA. What a super sweet dog. We met them because when we rolled into town our van was making some strange noises, and so we stopped in Precision Auto Tune to have it looked at.

Turns out it needed a little work but right after we left the shop a guy stopped us and asked to buy our van. Long story short we sold it to him this morning.

Here's a picture from our trip down when we got a flat tire outside of Pleasant Valley. The flat ended up costing us about $550 because the tire place didn't have a matching tire in stock. Enjoy the new tires new owner.

I miss the VW already but it just wasn't large enough for all my art show displays, artwork, and Corrine and I to sleep in when filled. So instead of driving around looking like mid 80's hippies, we'll be rolling in a '96 Chevy Suburban. Looking like we have a family of soccer players.

I guess we could teach Zephyr and Bettini to play soccer.

Bri-

At last supper...

"Food!"

48x36 acrylic on canvas
$6500 plus the cost of shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

I'm finally done with "Food!" Yeah! The past week or so I've been anxious about getting started on new work, and so I'm very happy with the final results of this painting, and I'm happy to be moving on.

Speaking of moving, Corrine and I will hit the road tomorrow and head south to be at the Los Altos Art and Wine Festival. It's July 11th and 12th in Los Altos CA. I'm hoping to have a great show again this year and I'll have a bunch of new work for sale, including "Food!" Hope to see you there.

Just a little note to say I'm not sure I how often I'll be posting while on the road. I plan to do a little though.

Time to hit the hay.

Bri-

Legs and Paws

"Food!"

48x36 acrylic on canvas
$6500 plus the cost of shipping in the US
Email:dogbri@q.com to purchase

I worked only a little bit on the floor today, well the floor in the kitchen anyway. I did some more work on the wood floor of the dinning room and then made slight adjustments to Corrine's legs.

I also added tones to Bettini back, plus I reshaped her front paw. I worked from left to right and back again. I kept changing from chair to stool, and then I ended up sitting on the floor to work on the lower left corner.

With the Los Altos Art and Wine show coming up I'm working hard to get this done. I think I'll head back to the gallery to work more in a little bit. If you'll be in the area July 11th or 12th stop by downtown Los Altos and see me.

Bri-