I'm Not Hard of Hearing, I'm Just Ignoring You

This cat was sitting on the tarpaulin on the back of a boat in Cinque Terre, Italy.

It totally ignored my efforts to get it to look at the camera, and remained content to preen and clean himself.

Typical cat personality, but he certainly was a clean fella when he was done. LOL

Morning Bath, Now Breakfast

This lovely guy was just finished with his morning bath in Galveston, and got straight into his oats after that. The team of these horses pull the carriages around town and are quite beautiful.

I was about to say well mannered, however, the day before this photo was taken, we saw the same team of horses with a carriage full of tourists galloping at full speed down the street, with no person at the helm so to speak.

My friends and I (a painting group) were all sitting on a veranda sipping drinks when the horses charged past the B&B.
Chaotic times in Galveston, but we were told it has happened before.

Very scary for the folk in the carrige, as it all turned out all was fine, thank God! Maybe we should take out some insurance prior to any of these tours?

Anyway, I loved the contrasts of the white against the red fire hydrant and the reflections on the ground. It suited my love of water and horses combined.

If interested please contact me at:
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Cato Springs Eternal

On a trip to see my family Down Under two years ago, I snapped this gorgeous St Bernard (whose name is Cato)... swimming in a river in Queensland.

How he loved that water, and he just stood there, enjoying the coolness, a great opportunity for me to take photos.

Nature's Tapestry

Those of you who know me, will also know how much I love painting water.

I can gaze at it for hours, studying the ripples, memorizing them, sort of a small video in my head.

This helps when I demonstrate my technique for doing water of all kinds, the ocean, rivers, waterfalls etc. I do a great deal for memory.

I guess you could say I have 'water for brains'.LOL

This little duck was in Bandera a few years back, and although he (or she) was not that colorful I embellished my oranges in the body of the bird, knowing that my water ripples would have blues and pale greens as well as deep greens for drama.

I also placed the duck smack bang in the center of my format, and this made me think more about the way the ripples should be directed, not only for drama, but for compositional movement throughout.

I hope you are not getting too tired of my 'ANIMAL ' pastels, it makes a nice change from the figures for a while.

Ah, Breakfast At Last...SOLD!

This beautifully colored horse was eating at the side of the road in Galveston only months prior to Katrina.
I loved the play of the blue bucket with his colors.

The horses were part of the tours they do for tourists in carriages. I am happy to say after Katrina, they all survived okay.

He took no notice of me snapping photos, breakfast was high on his priority. LOL

Take Me too, Please!

This beautiful dog was in the back of a truck in Alaska last year when I was there.
I could not get him to take his eyes off his owner, who was walking away from the truck.

The longing this little guy had in his eyes was what I was striving for in this painting, he was just so intent on his master.

Lovely to draw this one.

Flamingo Fashionista

Such stunning colors in these birds, I used just about every red I own to get it something like the actual color.

I took this photo last Xmas at Busch Gardens in Florida, I loved to watch them grooming, (I sat for about an hour taking many photos). Such a parade of legs and feathers, not to mention their necks!

No double chins on this fashionista.