Little Reagan | Commissioned Watercolor

Smile! Be Happy! Babies are good at that and especially little Reagan, even when she was just a month old. What a happy little girl. I was commissioned to paint this by her mommy for her daddy as a Christmas present. 

What dad wouldn't love a painting of his little girl? Something almost as special as her.

"Little Reagan" 

8" x 10" 

Commissioned Watercolor, 2014 

Thompson | Commissioned Watercolor

This cutie was commissioned as a Christmas present by two young ladies for their mother. The mother has admired my paintings for a couple years now. I recall that a year ago she purchased my "Three Little Foxes" limited edition giclee print. But now, she gets her very own Elizabeth Zimmerman original watercolor painting of her own dog, Thompson.

"Thompson" 

8" x 10" 

Commissioned Watercolor

Gideon & Thunder | Commissioned Watercolors

Do you remember Apollo? He's a Drum Horse stallion I painted earlier this year.

Well, this is Gideon. He's another beautiful HyTyme Drum Horse. All of his offspring has blue turquoise in their eyes. 

One of his colts was Thunder born in the spring of 2014, but sadly the handsome young Drum Horse passed away late the same summer. Below Gideon's painting is Thunder's little portrait. He had the most interesting eyes, speckled with the the blue turquoise amid deep brown.

"Gideon" 

5" x 7" 

Commissioned Watercolor

"Thunder" 

5" x 7" 

Commissioned Watercolor

Thank you for dropping by and looking at my art!

Buffy & Mr. Belvedere | Christmas Ornaments

A different shade of equine are these two cute and fluffy donkeys. Buffy and Mr. Belvedere live out in the Nevada dessert and are loved. They were commissioned to be Christmas gifts for a couples parents/in-laws. These were also in the first batch I painted this year. My, what long ears ....

Buffy

Mr. Belvedere

Dora | Christmas Ornament

One of the few cats I've painted for the Christmas season is Dora. She was commissioned by the mother of her owner. A special "grand" kitty. It was mentioned that she's called "Dora, the Explorer." She must have had many adventures.

Dora

Fred | Christmas Ornament

A loyal friend and companion, Fred the Basset Hound. Another friend who has passed on. This guy was commissioned by the owner's sister for a special Christmas present.

Fred

Cupcake, Bandit, Pinky & Greta | Christmas Ornaments

I met another artist while I was attending the portrait workshop in October and she commissioned four ornaments. Cupcake and Bandit are two horses close to her heart. Pinky is a beloved cat and Greta is a loyal Mastiff. 

Cupcake

Bandit

Pinky

Greta

Luke | Christmas Ornament

This is a little Lhasa Apso name Luke. The sister of his owner commissioned me to paint this little guy. Originally I was sent photos of a freshly groomed pup, and after I sent a photo for approval and learned that it "just didn't look like Luke." So, she gave me some new photos of Luke's character and I was able to portray the fun loving, messy hair, black and white dog.

Luke

Missy | Christmas Ornament

Meet Missy. She's a Wheaten Terrier and the passed away recently. The owner's daughter commissioned me to paint this as a special Christmas gift.

Missy

Bella, Athena & Schallimar | Christmas Ornaments

Here are some more special ornaments. Bella is a fluffy little Pomeranian which was commissioned for a friend. And the double portrait is of Athena, another little Pomeranian, and her buddy, Schallimar, an Aussie who sadly passed away last month. Three happy puppies.

Bella

Athena & Schallimar

Mattie & Noi | Christmas Ornaments

Meet Mattie and Noi. They are two little mini dachshunds who adore their "daddy." 

Their "mommy" commissioned me to paint the pair for a great Christmas present. What a great gift!

Mattie

Noi

Terra Fern & Tucker | Christmas Ornaments

Here are two very dear friends, Terra Fern and Tucker. Sadly, they have passed along and are missed. These pups were commissioned to be a Wedding Anniversary/Christmas present. There were some tears shed. They were and are still loved.

Terra Fern

Tucker

Justin | Christmas Ornament

Growing up I had an amazing Golden Retriever named Ginger. She was the best dog and I hope to have another one in the future. So, this commissioned Christmas ornament was a joy to paint (I enjoy painting all these ornaments) and near to my heart.

This is Justin, a Golden Retriever, who is a happy boy. This boy is a present to his "mom" and commissioned by his "dad." They own a couple dogs who own numerous dogs through the years and they knew it was Justin right away.

Justin

Dash | Photos

Skip, Mama Bear & Cub | Christmas Ornaments

Some of the first commissioned Christmas ornaments of 2014 were Skip, Mama Bear (aka Soft Spot), and a little bear cub. These were all commissioned by a collector in Maine. Skip is her handsome gelding and the photo reference of the bears were used with permission and taken by Dave Shaffer from Bear Witness Images.

Skip

Mama Bear aka Soft Spot

Bear Cub

Blue | Christmas Ornament

Another pup has been remembered as a commissioned Christmas ornament.

This is Blue. The mother of his owner commissioned this special ornament for her grown son. I received word that this gift was a tear jerker. The son was so happy that I painted Blue's trademark scarf.

The ornament is a hand painted one of a kind in acrylic on a shatterproof Christmas ornament. It will be cherished for years to come.

Sascha | Christmas Ornament

 I was contacted by a woman early this year regarding a pre-order on a custom Christmas ornament. She wanted to make sure I had time to create this special present for her friend who had this special German Shepherd named Sascha. The outlook was grim for the four-legged companion, she wouldn't make it till Christmas. I learned that she passed away in May 2014.

Yesterday, I received an email that the friend received this special memorial ornament and cried. It was a happy cry though. Sasha's bright and happy face will be looking out from their Christmas tree every year.

This ornament (and many others) was hand painted in acrylic paint on a shatterproof Christmas ornament, so there is no fear of it dropping and breaking (unless you sit on it, then it'd probably break).

Branching Out

Last weekend I completed my first mural style commission. Here I am with the finished painting. 

 

I was commissioned to travel up to Yelm, Washington to create a stylized silhouette of a tree on a wall in the family's new house. Then already had a tan matte wall and I worked with them to decide on using a semi-gloss deep chocolate paint for the tree and leaves. It really looks great in person!

And just this weekend (a week after completing the commission) I was sent a photo of all their family photos hanging around the branches. 

I already have an interest in someone commissioning me to paint another tree. This one might be a tree in a little girls room with pink, teal, and gray owls. This is an adorable concept. I'd love to "branch out" more with doing these simple and stylized murals.  

River Bear | Watercolor

"River Bear" 

4" x 6" 

Watercolor, 2014 

Do you remember when I painting "Forest Whispers?" Well, here's another great little bear painting I was from a photo taken by Dave Shaffer of Bear Witness Images.

Enjoy!

WSO 2014 Fall Show at Rogue Gallery

In the beginning of October, I attended the 2014 Fall Watercolor Society of Oregon Art Show in Medford at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center.

My painting "Cowboy Trappings" was one of 80 chosen from over 300 submissions. Being in the show is like having an award (there are 20 chosen for awards which then travel around to other galleries in different cities). I did a brief walk through during the opening reception, here it is:

I also went to a couple different talks and went down to the Rogue River with a small group and did some plein air painting. It was a nice weekend filled with artists and art (and good food).

Cowboy Poet Inspiration

This summer two of my watercolor paintings have inspired Cowboy Poet Tom Swearingen to compose a couple pieces.

"Sunbasking Broncs" inspired "Still Some Sun to Catch." Here is a video of Tom reciting the poem at 2014 St. Paul Rodeo:

And "Flying Solo" inspired him to write "Rode Away Alone."

Please click on the links to view the paintings and Tom's wonderful poems.

And now my painting "Cowboy Cadence" is the featured painting of Art Spur. Cowboy poets and song writers are challenged to use this painting for inspiration. I'm really excited to find out what they think of! Here is the link to my bio and images on the Art Spur website!

Build A Portrait | Workshop

In 2005 I took my first watercolor class. Since then I've just been painting and while at OCAC some of my figure drawing teachers did mini demos of gouache and watercolors. Other than that I haven't had a specific watercolor class since starting .... until now.

The past week I took a "Build A Portrait" watercolor workshop from Chris Stubbs at Menucha in Corbett, Oregon. She uses A LOT of color in her portraits. I learned about new colors and how to create warm and deep shadows. I had fun. I connected with other artists (and they connected with me). I really want to be a full time artist someday. I spent 6 hours painting in class and then went home and drafted ideas for the next day of class and after the last day of class I'm sitting at home working on a river otter painting. But there is yet work to be done before I make a change to becoming a full-time artist.

We worked on drawing eyes and then drawing and painting eyes. The double portrait is of my niece and husband. I made use of the light table and my reference photos and traced a rough outline so that I focus my time on the color. And the main portrait of the cowboy is 15" x 22" and the photo is used with permission from Celia Moyer. I took my time and worked a lot on looking and mixing the right colors. 

The way I painted reminded me of what I learned from Annie Heisey, one of my art teachers art OCAC. The use of heightened color: bright, bold, and alive. This workshop reminded me of how much I like to just draw. In figure drawing classes I used to draw not just the model, but sometimes my classmates, too. I don't mind going back to the drawing board. Hehehe ...

And here are some photos of all of the students 

(22!) and Chris plus the building at Menucha we worked in. And the food was AMAZING! Luckily I only signed up for lunches because if I ate all three meals there, I'd need to buy some new pants. ;-)

Dutch Auction

There are seven original graphite drawings over on my Facebook page available via Dutch Auction to celebrate my new studio name. Every day they are up, the price goes down $2. These great drawings are very affordable! Check them out! http://bit.ly/fbdutchauction

Back to the Basics of Thesis Year

This past week I've been thinking about my goals I had two + years ago while I was in my Thesis year at Oregon College of Art and Craft. Heightened colors, abstract shapes, dynamic compositions, lost edges, and experimentation (all with the subject of horses) were just part of my final year at school.

Since homework isn't a daily occurrence, I've been focusing on traditional western scenes and commissioned pieces. I really enjoying commissions, someone opens up part of their world to me and I portray something close to them in possibly a new perspective.

Lately, I've been inspired to use brighter colors and different perspectives and compositions. At the Fall WSO Convention I learned that there are many different kinds of paintings. This has triggered my crave for bright colors. There are different kinds of artists; ones who make paintings people will hang in their homes (what I primarily do) and those who make paintings for shows. The different types usually aren't interchangeable. So, now I'm playing around with this idea and am working on a new painting with this in mind. 

Bright. Color. Bold. Different. Equine.  Sunlight. Shadows. 

Western Rose Studios!

Here it is. Western Rose Studios. My own creation to showcase all avenues of my art.

The name is open and welcoming. Describing me, what I do, and where I do it. Painting, Sketching, Photography, Doodling, Designing. Anything and everything.

I have some goals to be more consistent in blogging and pinning art business items along with developing my photography (pun intended ... hehe), plus I want to post something to my YouTube channel every once in a while, too.

The possibilities are endless!

Changing to Studio Name!

On October 6 I will be changing all my social media sites to my new studio name!

Plus, to celebrate this on my Facebook Page there will be Dutch Auctions of original graphite drawings. So stay tuned!

"Forest Whispers" - Commissioned Watercolor

"Forest Whispers" 

8" x 10" 

Commissioned Watercolor, 2014

The reference photo I used for this painting was used with permission by Dave Shaffer of Bear Witness Images.

"Cowboy Trappings"

While at the St. Paul Rodeo this year I snapped a lot of photos and this is one of them that I used as reference.

I was inspired by the cowboy and his mustang. Living up to traditions in this modern age; revolver, gauntlets, shotgun chaos with fringe, and wild rag. Sometimes the focus is on the actual person, but with this one I focused on the spirit of the cowboy and his horse.

"Cowboy Trappings"

15" x 22" Watercolor

Meet: Drum Horses

I've made some new friends. They have fuzzy whiskers and beards, feathers on their feet, bold spots, and kind eyes. They are Drum Horses.

You may have seen these horses on the television during one of the Queen of England's parades. They carry two large brass kettle drums, one on either side. The riders drum and steer with the reins attached to their feet. And there is a breeder of these wonderful horses just 30 minutes of driving through the country from me! These horses are a mixture of Clydesdale, Shire, and Gypsy Vanner.

I've made friends with the horses and the owners. I first visited just a couple days after Epic was born. She was born on the anniversary of Mount St. Helens eruption and is the only offspring from her sire.

I've taken hundreds of photos of these horses and have already completed a couple paintings.

The painting I did of Apollo, a 11 year old stallion, was purchased by the owners and they have commissioned me to do another painting of their other stallion, Gideon. I've done a couple paintings of April, a two year old mare, in a field of daisies. And I will be doing many more of my four hoover friends.

"Apollo"

5" x 7" Watercolor

SOLD

"Daisy Field I"

5" x 7" Watercolor

Available for Purchase

"April Showers"

15" x 22" Watercolor

Available for Purchase