A Farewell

August 29, 2011April 8, 2014 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 30 Comments

My little ball of fluff with the big blue eyes passed away Saturday at the age of 23. She died in my son’s arms with Sampson by her side.

Minou was six pounds of dignity, disdain, fury and frivolity. She was so small and yet she meant so much.

Thank you Minou.

Thank you for the years of love and loyalty.

Thank you for waking me up every day. I now have to learn how to use an alarm clock.

Thank you for teaching every dog you met how to respect a cat. When we brought home a 150 pound mammoth of a dog from the SPCA, in less than a minute you taught him to never chase cats again. And he never did. He chased dogs. So that was helpful.

Thank you for your War on Earwigs. It started way back in ’89 and not once was it funded by taxpayer money. You fought well, you fought hard and you never gave up. Generations from now, tales of the Fury with the ice blue eyes will haunt the dreams of earwigs everywhere.

Thank you for eating my brown couch. You were right. It was ugly, it was old and yes, I do keep things for too long.

Thank you for making senility look fun. In the last year, I didn’t scold you for sitting on the dining room table because I knew that in your heart, you sincerely believed that you were sitting on the couch.

Thank you for biting every vet you met. Especially the arrogant young one in Colorado who insisted that it was easy to give a cat a pill. He tried for an hour and he still bears the scars today. He lost his arrogance and gained a much needed respect for small animals. Good girl.

Thank you for sitting with Max that noble dog as he lay dying, you licked his muzzle and you cried. Thank you for taking every puppy and kitten we brought in to your side. You trained them well, scolded them and babied them. And now they cry for you.

Thank you for sitting in my lap, purring and offering comfort when my child was sick, when my husband was at war, when my Dad passed away. I don’t tend to let people know when my heart is breaking. I’m silly, I make smart ass comments, I carry on. But you always knew. You were always there. Throughout the times of joy and the times of deepest sorrow. You were there. A little brown and black ball of fluff with big blue eyes purring and yowling and fussing.

Now the house is quiet and you lie under the purple mums by the forest’s edge.

And I miss you so much.

I will always miss you.

Goodbye my little friend. Meow.

For my sister…

August 23, 2011 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 15 Comments

I recently sent my sisters a link to my blog.

My sister Sherry being an excellent sort of sister said “I love it!”.

My sister Yvonne (who is way older than me and don’t let her tell you any different) said and I quote..

“About your blog. How about telling people what paper you use, what kind of brushes you use…expensive or cheap, do you cut your artwork with a border, do you leave it on a big sheet, does it curl when dry, how do you display your artwork, how do you send your work, do you matte it..”

and then…

“Have you considered doing a project where you do the same picture but in different medium, you know, for those who may like water colour or crayons? “

and then…

“Okay, I just got why you call it the purple dog…slow or what”

and then…

“But I LOVED your blog. And I love you.”

She’s an excellent sister too. And she has a point. So inspired by my sister, here’s a personal list of items I like to use. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, Dummy is kindly playing Vanna.

The List!

pre-stretched canvas or watercolor paper, the higher the gsm the less likely it is to curl ( and no I never stretch my own canvas, too much work for me)
tripod or any firm surface
paint, I prefer Liquetex or Amsterdam but use whatever you like, student grade or otherwise, it’s all a personal thing.
that being said, having a warm grey and a cool grey is great, I always use both in almost every painting as well as my favorite violet blue.
lots of brushes, some expensive, some very cheap, again whatever works best for you
Sta Wet palette (but a plastic bin with a lid and wet paper towels with a piece of waxed paper on top works just as well)
a sketch pad
a corkboard with a photo of my cat
pencils, conte, white erasers
kleenex, paper towels, rags
a pink rabbit
scissors and tape (in case you get bored waiting for your paint to dry and want to make some cut outs)
good lighting
a cigar box full of pencils and pens
a good pencil sharpener
a water container, I like the kind with the ridged bottoms, they get your brushes cleaner.
a worried looking elephant
acrylic varnish
a piece of cupboard lining cloth, I use it to open up stubborn paint lids, it gives a good grip
rulers, straight edges, T-squares, templates and other implements of destruction
a good reference, either go outside (au plein aire) or paint from your own photo or use someone’s photo but only with their permission of course (most art forums have image reference libraries)

I’m sure I probably missed a tonne of things but those are the basics I like to use. Any questions?

Artist Trading Cards (or ATC’S, ACEO’s or minis, whatever floats your boat)

August 17, 2011August 18, 2011 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 17 Comments

Recently I joined a trade on Wetcanvas. For those who aren’t sure what I’m talking about. An ATC (artist trading card) is about the size of a baseball card and can be in any medium. And you trade them like baseball cards to other artists. It’s fun, you get to meet artists all over the world as well as being great practice. Plus it’s nice to get real mail once in a while as well.

If you’re in this trade with me stop reading this until you get your mail. 😀

The theme of this current trade I’m in was Animals. Here’s a couple I did. These are all the size of a baseball or playing card..they will appear larger on your screen then they actually are. These are all acrylic, except for the skunk which is pen on acrylic.

Hope you enjoy.