Making plans ...

Looking forward to the changing of the seasons has me hankering to paint some landscapes like these. 

Chilly and foggy. 

With no mosquitoes.

Plus I’m pretty excited that I got a commission today, for a painting of a sweet little Swedish Chihuahua. “A Swedish Chihuahua?” I can hear some of you asking, “What is that, I never heard of that breed.”

Well, sillies, it’s a Chihuahua who lives in Sweden. And his name is Tabasco. Just wait ’til you see him; he’s cute as a liten champinjon!

Colorado road trip series continues ...

I Love a Road Trip No. 3: Summer Light

SOLD

Summer Light  © 2012 by Karen Mathison Schmidt

24 x 18 x 7/8 inches • acrylic on archival, museum-quality, cradled GessobordTM

private collection • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I finished this one yesterday but ran out of time for blogging, so here it is! This is actually composed from ... let’s see ... about five different reference photos. Gotta run for now, but I’ll show the photos in my next post!

Later, taters!

Biscuit finished ...

Her Function Is To Sit and Be Admired  © 2012 by Karen Mathison Schmidt

6 x 6 inches • acrylic on GessobordTM

LIMITED EDITION PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE

in my eBay store (Look for ACEO Ltd Edition Art Cards there, too!)

The title of this painting, which went to its “forever home” this evening, is taken from a quote by Georgina Strickland Gates. When she received the painting, Biscuit’s servant Ramona was very pleased. And that makes me happy.

You can’t see it in the picture, but I gave this one a little subtle bling; I used just a few here and there touches of iridescent gold acrylic on Biscuit’s luxurious fur ... it’s noticeable on the painting only when the angle of the light is just so. It’s like a little secret built into the art. Fun!

Dog Rules ... or maybe that should be Dogs Rule!

SOLD

Favorite Chair  © 2012 by Karen Mathison Schmidt

6 x 6 inches • acrylic on archival, museum-quality GessobordTM

private collection • Poway, California

I ran across this list yesterday on Pinterest, and laughed and laughed. It describes our seven canine family members to a T.

All except for the last two rules. We’re not there yet.

At least not quite.

DOG RULES

1. The dog is not allowed in the house
2. OK, the dog is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.
3. The dog is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture.
4. The dog can get on the old furniture only.
5. Fine, the dog is allowed on all furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with humans on the bed.
6. OK, the dog is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation.
7. The dog can sleep on the bed whenever he wants, but not under the covers.
8. The dog can sleep under the covers by invitation only.
9. The dog can sleep under the covers every night.
10. Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the dog.

Equal time for dogs

SOLD

Napscape II: Buster  © 2012 by Karen Mathison Schmidt

6 x 6 inches • acrylic on archival, museum quality GessobordTM

private collection • Bozeman, Montana

A rainy day here in the Ark-La-Tex. A good day for an afternoon snooze in a comfy chair.

By the way, I fully intended to post work-in-progress pics of this one, but didn’t realize until I uploaded the photos from my camera that I had accidentally turned off the automatic focus. Now, I am perfectly capable of using the manual focus, but thinking the autofocus was engaged, why bother? Anyway, the bottom line is that my progress pics were fuzzy. And therefore uninformative. So there you go.

I will say that I had a lot of fun with the brushstrokes on this one ... yesterday I watched a 2008 video of a Carol Marine painting, so today I felt inspired to be even looser and quicker with my strokes, just to see what would happen. 

Well, let me tell you: fun happened.

I can hardly wait to try it again tomorrow!

Tea Time for Moustachio

Tea for Three  © 2012 by Karen Mathison Schmidt

10 x 8 x 7/8 inches • acrylic on cradled GessobordTM

gloss varnish for UV protection • sides painted dark umber

can be beautifully displayed with or without a frame

CLICK HERE TO BUY

from my eBay store

Here’s a whimsical glimpse of Moustachio, lingering after tea with friends. My inspiration for this painting was the photo I took of Moustachio waiting for his dinner on the front porch. I was struck by the similarity in shape between his legs and the table leg. As artists, we’re trained to notice these things. :)

It also strikes me now that I’ve finished the painting, that Moustachio’s demeanor is much like that of the Blue Dog in Louisiana artist George Rodrigue’s paintings. Maybe I should do a whole series of Moustachio in this exact same pose. I’m envisioning it now ... Moustachio at the Louvre, Moustachio at Tower Bridge, Moustachio visiting the Cathedral at Chartres, Moustachio sailboating off Nantucket, Moustachio at a vineyard in Tuscany, Moustachio visiting the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (Impressed? Don’t be ... I googled it), Moustachio in the tulip fields of Holland, Moustachio ice fishing in Nova Scotia ... well, you get the idea.

Tabasco Tabby

Tabasco  © 2012 Karen Mathison Schmidt

8 x 10 inches • acrylic on cradled museum-quality, archival GessobordTM

commission • Shreveport, Louisiana

LIMITED EDITION PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE

This painting was commissioned by fellow Shreveport artist Robin Clawson, in memory of her beautiful Tabasco (Tabby for short), who she lost just about a year ago. I just love Tabby’s markings ... it’s been such a joy to paint all the beautiful patterns and colors in her coat!