My second commissioned painting of Kelly.

My last post was about the commissioned painting I did for my co-worker of her rescued Collie, Kelly.
Sadly this last May, Kelly had to be rushed to the University when she suddenly could not walk.
It was all very unexpected.
Once there, it was discovered that she had a blood clot in her leg. 
My friend was constantly on the phone, conferring back and forth with the Veterinarian.

They were running various tests and Kelly's "Mom" was struggling with the decision on whether or not to approve the removal of the leg, if that was what would be needed to be done in order to save her life.
She was torn between all that Kelly had already been through and whether or not to do the surgery.
If she approved it, she wanted to do it for the right reason.
To make Kelly happy and healthy and not to make her suffer because she could not bear the thought of losing her.
She was agonizing over this decision as the hospital tried to stabilize Kelly and bring her to a point where she would be able to handle such an amputation.
During this frantic time, another blood clot to her heart, took her life.
Startling and heartbreaking news.
Everyone was devastated and the veterinarian was in tears when my friend's husband made the trip to go get Kelly and bring her home to her final resting place.
Kelly had touched the heart of all those who had tried to help her.
Thankfully she had a loving home in the final months of her life, a home where she was with other dogs to run on an acreage and to know true love.
My friend commissioned another painting of Kelly from me.
At first she wanted something exactly like the first painting, to give it as a "gift" to the veterinarian.
I told her that I wasn't sure if I could reproduce it and then after talking, we decided on a different pose but still the same Starfish story.
I wanted to do this one also as a Mixed Media and I asked if I could include a rainbow in the painting to represent the Rainbow Bridge.
My friend liked that idea.
For some reason, I had a difficult time with this painting, I just could not seem to get it "right".

Finally I finished it.

My friend was very happy with it and my other co-workers liked it a lot.
I'm glad.
Of course, being me. I'm very critical of it but if she's happy, I'm happy.

COLLIE PAINTING

A while back, one of my friends/co-worker commissioned a painting of her Collie, "Kelly" from me.
Kelly was a rescue dog she had adopted who had a lot of medical issues.
One of the problems was that her blood didn't clot properly and she had chronic nosebleeds. 
Kelly had many medical emergencies and was rushed to the University Hospital several times.
Thousands of dollars were spent trying to make her well.
M co-worker sent me many photos and told me that I could paint it however I wished.
The only requests were for me to include starfish and to tell the "Starfish Story".
She also preferred a more pastel color.
This is the photo that she said was her favorite:

And this is the final painting.

Kelly's "Mom" was so happy that she cried.
I always worry that I won't be able to achieve what they might be envisioning.

Sadly, Kelly had to be rushed to the University when she suddenly could not walk.
It was discovered that she had a blood clot in her leg. 
They were running various tests and her "Mom" was struggling with the decision on whether or not to approve the removal of the leg if need be, to save her life.
When another blood clot to her heart, took her life.
Heartbreaking news...thankfully she had a loving home in the final months of her life.

Black Standard Poodles

Last Christmas I was also commissioned to do two Standard Poodles.
I really struggled because I like to have photos to work from that show their personalities.
Instead I had photos where one dog consistently turned his head away from the camera.

They also had been groomed in a non-traditional way, which was basically a shave down but they were left with beards...like Billy-Goats.
Hmmm....Yeah.
So I painted them and the client said that while she liked the painting,
it didn't look like them.

So I asked for more photos.
I did another painting and I, myself hated it.
So I just quit hunching over and painting so "tight" and just leaned back and did it.
I added some blue and purple to the black and came up with the painting at the top of this post.
I'm happy with the results. I'm not sure if the client was, although she claimed she was.
Yep, BLACK dogs are hard. But dogs with bad photos are even HARDER.

GOLDENDOODLE

A commissioned painting of Marley, the GoldenDoodle that I did last Christmas.
photo:

painting:

MAX

Here's Max the Boxer.

I was commissioned to do a painting of him last Christmas!

Acrylics on canvas.

IN MY DREAMS, I'M NOT OLD

My inspiration for this painting was my old dog Truman. I adopted him many years ago when he was between 7 to 8 years old. He was at a local kill shelter and my sister and her family saw him there when they were looking for a puppy to adopt. She called me and told me about this big sad dog. I couldn't get that phone call out of my head. So I went down to the shelter to see him. He was black and very dirty and had this huge tumor on his lip that was the size of a golf ball. I walked up to his cage and he pressed the side of his face against the chain link and closed his eyes. I could just "feel" his sweetness and his sadness. I asked how much was the adoption fee and they seemed surprised. They told me I could have him and for $20, they had a vet that would take the tumor off. So the next day I went to get him and he was passed out cold from surgery. They had to carry him to my car on a stretcher and put him in my back seat. When I got home I had to get help to get him out of my car. I stood in the backyard with him and wandered if I had done the right thing. He didn't want to be outside by himself so I would stand with him as he did his business and then once inside he would lumber up onto my loveseat and go to sleep. He was the BIGGEST couch potato. He weighed in at 155 lbs. He would follow me everywhere and when I left for work, he would just sleep on the loveseat, never chewing on anything and he was perfectly housebroken. My cat adored him and would climb up on him and sleep on top of him. He was a faithful companion for more than 5 years and then he developed a fast growing cancer and I had to let him go to Heaven. He was such a good dog. I am SO HAPPY that I got to share part of my life with him. I wish that more people would take a second look at the older, possibly scruffier dogs. They just might be passing up a diamond in the rough!

I did this painting on an old cupboard door. I primed it, painted it in acrylics and layered papers on it and painted it some more and used ink and colored pencils and stamped it. I then sealed it with a protective matte finish. I would say that my style is Folk Art. I am self-taught. I paint what I love.

I have attached hardware to the back and it is ready to be hung. The dimensions are approximately 18 3/4 inches tall by 18" wide and 3/4 inch deep.

TRUE LOVE

For anyone who has ever loved a Golden Retriever.
This is an original painting done by me, Cynthia Myers. It is painted on an old cupboard door. I like to reuse and recycle when I can. I collage papers, used several layers of acrylics, stamps and ink for details. I have already attached hanging hardware to the back so that is it ready for display. The painting measures approximately 15" x 15" and about 3/4 inch deep. I then sealed it with a protective matte finish. It is signed on the lower right hand corner