Dog Books On Their Way To Me!

I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of the Dog Scratchin' books. Soon there will be more than several boxes of them stacked and waiting to go to their next home. Or homes. This is good. This is very, very, good. Now, if I could just breathe!
The show is up at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the U of Arkansas Fayetteville and officially opens today and runs through the end of the month. It's open M-F 10-6pm. It's located on the 4th floor of the Union blg. I've been parking in the parking garage on Stadium Dr. Easy-peasy once you figure out the payment machine, and then a short walk over to the most confusing building I've ever been in. There are what seems to be half floors. Many different levels and wings. Good luck.  I'll leave breadcrumbs so you can find it. Please come to the reception on Thursday Oct. 11th 6pm.

Anne Kittrell Gallery Dog Show

Today I will take all of the scratchboards to the Anne Kittrell Gallery on the campus of the University of Arkansas and begin to hang and set up the room for the month long show. The show opens on October 4th and runs until the end of the month. The reception is Thursday October 11th at 6pm. The books are being printed and will be shipped in time for that event. (I hope!) It will be nice to have the artwork in my hands again. I've had all of the boards packed up waiting for this.
This past week I started 6 new dogs and two cats. Just for fun, for sale, for me. I'm happy to be back at it. And work has begun on the Cat Scratchin' project that I hope to launch after the first of the year if not sooner.

Is It Here Yet?

This is Molly. She's a sweet hound mix. She and I are both waiting, and waiting for the book to be done. Soon, my friends. It's so hard for me to be patient...and yet, what else can I do? I've started drawing several new dogs that are not in the book. Just for fun, and hopefully finance. These will be framed and hung at Wally Workman Gallery to sell in November (or whenever). It was good to get back to scratchin'.  I'm ready...anytime now!

Printing, Printing, Printing...

This is Marlowe. He used to be a "junk-yard" dog who got retired because he was old. Now he's got a pretty cushy life in the Barclay pack. Lucky guy. He is just one of 78 dog drawings that I did in the Dog Scratchin' book that is being printed right now. I mean it. It is at the printers and should be delivered to my homestead in about 2 1/2 weeks. Yippie eye oh! Boxes and boxes of books. In case you missed my endless stream of information about this, the first showing of the book and art will be at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the University of Arkansas October 11th at 6pm. The show will be up for a month there, but the reception is not to be missed! Let me know if you need directions etc..It's in Fayetteville, and in the Union Building on campus.
Also I will be bringing myself, art and books to the great Wally Workman Gallery in Austin Texas for a fun evening November 13th 6-8.  Both events will have a portion of my proceeds from sales going to various rescue groups. The Oct. event will have 10% going to Fayetteville Animal Shelter, and 10% going to For Pet's Sake in Springdale AR. The Texas event will have 10% going to Austin Pets Alive.
Bring your friends and come celebrate with me.

Dog Scratchin' Book Preview

I've got the unbound proof sheets of the book in hand. I'm spending the rainy weekend looking at it to make sure there are no changes needed before doing the run of 500 copies. So far I see a hyphen or comma to add or remove here and there. Making changes costs more money, so I have to decide what I can live with.
 It just makes me very happy to see it just as I envisioned. The two on the page are Trabi and Mopsie. I love the way they look. And they have a sweet story, as do all of the dogs in the book.

Dog Scratchin' Book Report

Here's Zipper and Zoey. The "Security" and the "Greeter". They are just two of the over 70 dogs that I drew, using scratchbord, between April 11 and July 20th. The book has been read and re-read and corrected, corrected again, and finally finished and is on it's way to the printer in Minn. Now I wait for the proof to check and then receive the finished product by or before Oct 11th. There will be a show and debut of the book Oct. 11th at 6pm at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the University of Arkansas(Fayetteville) Then on November 13th at 6pm, I'll be at the Wally Workman Gallery in Austin with books and artwork. If you are in either of those areas I hope you can make it out. It's going to be fun, how can it not be, there are dogs, stories and a Miller Williams poem! Thanks y'all.

A Good Dog Day Afternoon

This past Sunday I got to meet little Magaidh (Gaelic spelling of Maggie) at the park with her owners, Ryan and Heather Marie Wells. It was a sweet afternoon, as I previously had only known her through her owners photos and stories. And from those I drew the artwork that will be in the book. The purpose of the meeting was to get photos of her with the artwork because she has bladder cancer and after two surgeries and chemo and nothing more to be done, no cure available, her loving folks are at the point of making a difficult decision. I've been there, with my seventeen year old cat. It was and is the hardest thing in the world. But I believe with all my heart that having an animal you love put out of their pain peacefully is the greatest expression of love there is. Magaidh has a few more days on this earth. I am confident that they will be the best days of her life. That's all any of us, animal or human can hope for or work on, making every day the best day of our life. This dog, this story, these people, they are a big part of why I'm putting this book together.
The photos above (except for the artwork that I scanned) were taken by Ryan and/or Heather Marie Wells.

Little Dog Cute

I did this little dog drawing just because. He belongs to a gal I know in Austin. She's going through her dear mother's things and she had offered me a bunch of art supplies. I told her I would trade her a scratchboard or two of her dogs for those supplies. This is Tino. I don't know much about him, but he is darned cute. I love dogs and scratchboard. Yippie! The book is really coming together. I haven't seen it in a few days, turned it over to Liz Lester Design after reading through and making corrections on the 1st pages. I will debut it October 11th at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the University of Arkansas. In November there will be a book event at the Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, TX on the 13th. Stay tuned, I'll give you all the information as I know it.

Eddy the "Bucket Boy" Dog

Eddy's photo was listed under "Beagles" on the rescue site that he was on. His owners have no idea why they were looking there, they certainly were not "Beagle people". And Eddy clearly is more of a Staffy-Lab-Spaniel mix, so it was a mistake all the way around. A very fortunate mistake. His story though shows how it takes a village to save a life. I won't share it all here, suffice to say, his early nickname was "Bucket Boy" because he had been found on a construction site in one of those five gallon buckets. He was so weak he couldn't stand on his own. Through the work of two different rescue groups and a foster family, and then finally his forever owners, he survived and has grown into a sixty pound bundle of love. His owners say, "When people ask, what kind of dog is he? We answer, Perfect."
I am in the midst of reading the 1st pages, making corrections and changes. I have not gotten tired of reading all of these stories. And believe me, I've read them many times. I know each of these dogs by their names and their stories, although I haven't met most of them. The fact that I haven't been bored once with this project gives me hope that many will enjoy the stories and my illustrations as much as I have. I love the fact that these dogs and people are what you might categorize as "ordinary", no heroics or amazing tricks, just normal. (nothing wrong with normal)And despite the lack of Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin qualities, all of these dogs share such an extraordinary love with their owners. That is what gives me chills as I work on this. Thanks y'all.

Prairie Dogs

Oh Frisco and Sadie, I knew you well. These two were dog-sitting clients of mine, and belonged to my good friends, Jo Edna and Reina, when I lived in Austin. They were fun and adorable. I say 'were' because they are off in 'Doggie Heaven'. Their owners like to imagine that they are chasing prairie dogs and coyotes like they used to do at their New Mexico home. (they were lucky to have two homes!)
Work is wrapping up on my portion of the book. I will soon hand-off to Liz Lester Design and she will turn it all into a real book. It's been a long haul, I'm ready to be done and on to the next project. I will debut the book in Fayetteville Arkansas at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the University of Arkansas in October. And the Wally Workman Gallery, Austin in November. That's also when they will start shipping out to all y'all. (I hope!) Wish me luck. My eyes hurt from starting at the computer. I would much rather be drawing dogs and cats and monkeys than focusing on this detail portion of the project. I really am a 'Big picture' kind of gal. But, I know I must do all of it, not just the fun part. Stay tuned.