German Shepherd Dog

I finished this portrait of Foxy, a sweet German Shepherd,  a while ago and am just now getting it uploaded here.  Seems that the time flies by, and I realize that I am not attending to this blog as regularly as I should.  But I digress...

The completed portrait of Foxy, the German Shepherd Dog.

A while ago I held a contest to win a pet portrait.  The rules were simple, post a photo of your pet to my Facebook page and whichever photo inspired me to paint, would win!  Well here is the original winning photo:

The original reference photo for Foxy's portrait

 I just love GSD's.  They are so loyal, faithful and sweet that I couldn't resist this photo.

As with all of my commissions, I spoke at length with the winner about the portrait throughout the process.  It may sound corny, but I love to hear stories about the pets that I am painting.  I want to know their temperament and anything that helps me get to know the soul of the animal.  I really think that it helps me connect with the animal and, in turn, create a better portrait.  She requested a 16"x 20" canvas and she wanted a green background in reference to the plant beside Foxy in the original photo.  As I neared completion of the portrait, I showed it to her again, and she thought that Foxy's coat needed to be a bit darker than she appears in the original reference photo. When all adjustments were made, this is the finished portrait and she was quite happy with the results!

Here is a detail of Foxy's eyes.  I truly believe that a pet portrait is all about the eyes...once I get the eyes right, the whole portrait comes together...This dog is such a sweet, gentle soul who would do anything for her people.  What do you think?

A detail of Foxy's eyes -
the window to the soul...

A funny thing happened after I gave this portrait to Foxy's family...They told me that they had to move the portrait from its original spot because Foxy's doggy sibling, Oscar the Pug, kept barking at it.  I guess it looked real enough to him!

As always, if you are interested in ordering a pet portrait or any painted project, please don't hesitate to contact me.  Thanks for looking!

I Painted One Of The Most Creative Halloween Costumes

Okay, I realize that Halloween is now over for this year, but let me just show you one of the most creative Halloween costumes ever!  I got the idea from Family Fun Magazine last year.  The original costume idea  is called Alien Encounter and full instructions can be found by following the link.  I had to change things up from the original idea posted on Family Fun because they used paper mache for the alien.  We tried that but that paper mache head was just too heavy for my son to carry around.  Instead, I painted a gallon milk jug to look like an alien.

YES!  A gallon milk jug is painted to look like 

the aliens face!

Last years Alien Abduction

My son got so many compliments on his costume last year, that this Halloween he wanted to do something similar.  Instead, he was abducted by a VAMPIRE!  Here is a photo of this years costume:

Again, I used just a plain gallon milk jug and primed and painted it to look like a vampire.  I decided that I had to add some texture to his hair to really make it look realistic so I applied masking tape to the bottom of the jug (top of head) to cover the grooves in the plastic.  Then I painted the hair black.  After it was dry, I used a hot glue gun to apply "hair" on top of the vampire's head.  I then painted over the hair one more time.  The texture really made the hair look realistic.  The kids in my son's class couldn't stop touching it!  I added some cardboard "ears" to complete the look.  The cape nicely covers the milk jug's handle in the back.  

My son has already decided that next year's costume will be a similar abduction.  He loves the attention he gets from people as they try to figure this costume out!  Oh, and he loves the extra candy he gets while trick or treating in this creative costume!

And because I am such a proud mommy, here are my other cuties in their costumes:

Batman

Of course, you know Slash from Guns & Roses, right?

Now you can start getting ready for Halloween 2012!  If you want more detailed instructions on how I put this costume together, which has several changes to the Family Fun costume, please let me know.  Thanks!

I Painted Mine Yellow!

Pretty often when I want to do something, I just do it.  But, I admit it...sometimes it takes me FOREVER to make a decision.  Especially when I try to involve my husband in the decision-making process.  Take, for example, our front door.  It really needed to be refreshed with some paint. It was basic builder's white.  Well, actually, a dirty-looking shade of off-white which I realized later as I began to paint our trim a nice, crisp white. But, I digress...

You see, last year, we decided it was time to paint our front door.  And we couldn't make a decision on a color, so we left it.  FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!! So recently, I decided it was time to finally JUST DO IT already.  Our house is a steely blue-gray and our shutters are a dark, dark blue.  Well, I didn't want the door to match the shutters because I thought it would be too dark.  

But that's what EVERYONE DOES!  

Walk around our neighborhood and everyone's door matches their shutters, unless they have replaced their builder's basic door with a fancy wooden one.  If you live in the suburbs like I do, take a walk around your neighborhood and I bet it's true there too. Am I right?

I searched online for information and images on painted front doors.  I learned that it really is okay not to have a plain white door or one that matches your shutters.  I learned that it's okay to have a different accent color on your front door.  It's OKAY if it stands out, or "pops".  In fact, it's even a very good thing.  Really.  (But try to explain that to your conservative husband, and, well....just realize that you two are both very different and then go with your gut!)

So I considered several shades of red, which is a classic front door color. Nope, not for me.  I considered a lighter shade of blue, a darker shade of blue, and I considered gray, brown, black, and even white again.  I used this awesome online tool by Sherwin Williams called the paint color visualizer which allows you to upload your own photo and then change the paint colors of your selected areas.  

I also grabbed a bunch of paint chips that I thought might work.  Then I cut them down into little door-shaped rectangles (and even drew a doorknob on several of them, just for effect).  Then - and this part will really intrigue your nosy neighbors! - I stood on the curb facing my house and held up the little paint chip rectangle until it was directly in front of my actual door.  If you squint just right, it will look like this little paint chip is your actual door.  It works, really!  See, most people will tell you to buy several little sample bottles of your possible colors and paint them on the surface your considering and then make your decision.  Not me.  That's not how I roll...

The problem was, none of the "popular" front door colors appealed to me.

See, I LOVE yellow, but, you can't paint a door yellow, right?  Everybody knows that.   So like any normal, creative, DIY-er, I strolled around blogland until I found these pictures of people who weren't afraid of a yellow door and I knew I had to do it!  

From My Notting Hill

From Your Nest Design

From Simplified Bee

Photo credit:  HGTV.com

So I DID IT!  I painted our front door yellow!!!  And I LOVE IT!!!

The BEFORE - with the plain white door.  Okay, but just not me...
Obviously, this is an old photo - the shrubs have grown up quite a bit!

And the AFTER!

My new yellow front door.  So happy.  So cheerful.  It's totally ME!

This color is "Shoreline" from Valspar.  

The yellow is so cheerful and happy.  And quite the contrast to the subdued gray-blue of the house.  I love walking up to our front door now.  And my husband?  Well, let's just say that he doesn't totally hate it...

What do you think?    

Pet Portraits

One of the things that I really LOVE doing is painting (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before).  I also love animals.  So, one of the things I really enjoy is PAINTING PET PORTRAITS for other animal lovers!   

I have been steadily adding to my portfolio as new commissions come in and 

am ready to share a few of them with you...  

Bear, a Newfoundland mix, was painted for Deb and Kyle K.  as a memorial after 
he lost his battle with cancer.  
Bear was described as a "valiant protector" and I added this custom tag in the shape of a shield, 
as a symbolic reminder of his devotion to his loving family.  

This portrait was painted for Nancy and Don R. as a tribute to their beloved Killian.

This is a portrait of Princess, an American Eskimo dog, was  commissioned by Amanda S. and Kris R.
as a gift for his Aunt Sue.   I customized this tag for her.

This painting of "Puppers" was commissioned by Michelle W. and Steve  N. as a gift for his Mother.    

I work from photos that people have taken of their pets and I always ask for a description of their pets before I begin work.   I want to know about the animal's personality and what makes them special to their people.  It may sound corny, but I keep these descriptions in my mind while I am painting and I think that it really helps me "capture" their personality on canvas.  My customers always have the choice of background colors and I love to add personalized details to the portraits when appropriate.  One of my favorite ways to do this is by adding a custom dog tag or pet tag with their name.  Usually the tag somehow relates to the personality of the pet.  Perfect examples of this are the tags I made for Bear and Princess!  

Hello, Blog! It's Me, Jenny.

Okay, first things first.  Let me admit that I am in total awe of the amazing people out here in blogland  who are completing amazing projects!  I have been losing sleep, literally, thinking of all those projects out there just waiting for me.   Do you do that too?  


Here's a little bit about me...


I have always loved all things creative and am definitely a diy-er.  My husband shakes his head and gives me that look whenever I see something in the store and say "I could do that" or "We could buy it and paint it - then it would be awesome!".    We moved into our first home about 5 years ago, painted and decorated a little, but mostly, I am now ready to re-paint and re-decorate.   But, like most people, I need to do it on a budget.  I have Pottery Barn dreams on a thrift store budget...


We have 3 boys and now that they are getting bigger I have a little more time to devote to home projects.   I discovered blogger and have become totally addicted!  The problem is, the more I see, the more I want to do!  Will there ever be enough time to do these projects I have my eyes on?   


Mostly, I am just so excited to be out here, in the same universe as all these incredible, creative people.   It's a bit scary, though, kind of like going back to school and really wanting to sit with the cool kids and hoping that they like me...


The boys are calling me now to go out and play in the snow - that's how things go around here...Just when I start something, the boys go and decide that they need me.  Not that I mind (too much) of course!  So, good - bye for now.  I hope to hear from some of you soon.