Survived the Flood and Gone to the Dogs....

Sandbags a common sight in Cedar Rapids some have become inventive in their uses.

The Cedar River got to it's 2nd highest level ever and I was evacuated out of my home for about 3 days.  I ended up moving most of my belongings to the 2nd floor of my home.  Then, I moved most of my studio and a few larger items to a friend's garage.  It also affected my work which was almost directly across the river from my house.  I must say sometimes it's not a good idea to be within walking distance of your work.  In this case it was like having all my eggs in one basket.  But temporary barriers and a whole lot of sandbagging managed to save most of the city and I was lucky.

But with all of that moving and what not I got a little behind on some of my commissioned pieces.  But thankfully people were understanding.  Here's some dog commissions that I recently finished...

"Jack #1", an 8"x 10" Ink with Watercolor.

"Zephyr #1", 8" x 10" Ink with Watercolor

"Zephyr in Reflection", 11" x 14" Ink with Watercolor.

Sorry to say that these are memorial paintings, but I hope they will provide good memories for my friend Polly.  Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment.

Memorial to Triton....

It's been awhile since I've posted here.  I've been training a dog and had my hands a bit full; still do but not quite as bad.  Back at the beginning of the year, I had my friends ask me to do a commissioned piece for their dog Triton.  The sad tale is of a dog's life shortened quickly and too soon by a tumor in the brain.  Here's the finished Memorial painting....

Photo: "Memorial to Triton"; 11" x 14" watercolor on paper.

They were very happy with the painting.  In fact, there were tears in their eyes as they looked at the painting.  I hope it brings them good memories for years to come.  Here's a close up of the painting that I took...

And here's the photo that I used to do this painting...

I welcome any comment you may have and thanks for stopping by!

Dad Had One...

Yep, Dad had one of these!  This is painting based on one of the several photos I took at the Good Guys Car Show this last summer in DesMoines.  I was drawn to paint this one because I remember my Dad had one of these Pontiac's.  It was a faded green too but had a great deal of rust.  We ended up getting rid of it because a passenger side door that would never stay shut.  I remember hanging on for dear life to my little brother, who hung on to my mom as she would take the left turns.  These were before the days of safety belts.  The final straw was the time Mom took a left turn on 1st Ave Cedar Rapids, I forgot to hold on, and I thankfully rolled over to the curb missing the on-coming traffic.  That was it and it was traded in for a newer Ford LTD.

Photo: "Dad Had One"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 10" Paper.

Thanks for stopping by, and I welcome any comments you may have!