Pets and portraits

 My family and friends have been keeping me busy with painting.  Annie made a trip to Florida in January (which I am still jealous of) and knew she was meeting up with one of her blog followers named Ann.  Ann has a slew of animals, the two most precious being her Boston terriers, Sadie and Panda.  They are so stinking cute it makes me wanna ignore Zac completely and let him come home to me cuddling a tiny puppy.  How could he resist the combined cuteness of a pregnant wife and a puppy?  I think science would prove there is no way.  No way!   Now back to the reason I am posting....

This is Sadie 

This is Sadie and the much loved Panda.  I love their expressions in this picture!  

I painted Panda first.  Then I laughed repeatedly about how it was unmistakably Panda. 

I loved the painting, I was a little sad to see it go...but it turns out, my muses approve. 

They have been forever immortalized on canvas and as you can tell by their faces, they are both thrilled and appreciative. :)

The next up on my painting agenda was a family portrait for one of Maggie's stylists, Casey.  This was her first Christmas as a married lady and the picture she and her husband took is classic.  

The cat!  How in the world they got lucky enough to catch that cat's expression is beyond me, but I was so glad for it.  

This is Casey, Brett, and Cat ( I have no idea what kitty's name is).  The cat makes me laugh out loud everytime I see it.  That is how I know that I've painted something worth while.  Doesn't matter if the client likes it.  Doesn't matter if you do...it has made me laugh and therefore, I love it!

I also love Brett's wonky mouth...in both the picture and the painting.  Like I said, classic family portrait.  

My last family portrait was for a friend of mine named Jamie.  She and I worked together when I was in high school at a little pharmacy in town.  She is my go to pharmacist, which is especially handy for a chiropractor that knows more about natural remedies than frequently changing prescription meds.  She helps me to be informed and I don't have to worry that she thinks I am ignorant and I appreciate her so much for that!

I was so happy to do this painting for her for her anniversary.  It was the only present she asked for, so I did my best to get it right.  She has been married to Scott for 20 years (I think this was #20) and they have 2 beautiful children...who are still children in my mind.  Seriously, if you would've asked me, I would have said they were like 10 and 13.  I just simply can't believe it's been 9 years since I graudated high school and that children don't live in a time bubble where they never age.  I swear...where does time go!

For Jamie, I had some pictures from Christmas and I loved the idea of making her family portrait "formal" so I dressed them all up fancy. 

I love it.... I love that Jamie's kids are big enough that I got to make them the same size as her in the painting.  I did, after finishing the painting, read the PS part of Jamie's email that said her daughter loves the color purple.  Ooops... Luckily Jamie loved it and that's what counts.  Happy customers and paintings that make me laugh, that's what my paintings are about!