watercolor, oil pencil, pastel pencils

2012

Isn't this the funniest little dog ever?  I sort of wish I had one myself (this one happens to belong to the Canadian lady who, via the Dog and Horse fine Art Gallery in Charleston, commissioned portraits of her two insepearable dogs).

My only problem with Boston Terriers (as with Pekignese, which I also like a great deal) is that, if I did have one, I couldn't do as I do with my own, underbred terriers.  For various reasons (probably just working at home, alone all day) I find it amusing to come around a corner and startle/scare them by making a loud noise.  If I had a Pekignese or Boston Terrier, I'd be afraid that one or both of their eyes would finally just pop out completely and go rolling around on the floor like marbles....

watercolor, pastel pencils, and chalk

2012

This is a study for a much larger (or at least I'm thinking it will be) portrait commissioned by a Canadian lady via the Dog and Horse Fine Art Gallery in Charleston.  I just love the internet.....it's so odd to consider that the picture's going to Ontario, having been sold through Ye Olde Charleston and made in North Carolina....

pastel pencil and watercolor

2012

This is a portrait of  Penny and Peter Dinwiddie (both British)---who, over the past twelve or so years, have  BEAUTIFULLY restored the 15th century manoir of Kerledan in Brittany and re-opened it as a B&B.  The whole thing, gardens and all, is just lovely....and I'm sort of awestruck at the energy and sheer WORK they've put into the project.  Not surprisingly?....turns out that they're an "ex-military" couple, and they've made many homes for themselves over the years before Peter retired from service.

I admire that sort of determination, energy, and sheer good-will.  They remind me of the Admiral and his wife, in Jane Austen's "Persuasion" (perhaps the only marriage which, across seven novels, Austen describes in completely approving terms).  The admiral and his wife were infitely adapatable, often self-sacrificing, happy, and didn't at all mind working hard.....just as long as they could do it together.

So, I titled this "The Good Marriage".  Peter and Penny's website for Kerledan is at:  http://www.kerledan.com/

Kerledan  (more accurately, what they've done to and for it) is just beautiful.

And just for the record?....yes, this is the first time I've ever painted the inside of a chicken.  Doing so isn't as easy as it might seem.

14" x 17"

2012

oil pencil, pastel, and watercolor

2012

 This is a potrait of Kate, the oldest of my west highlands.  I should emphasize (just in case someone's looking at the door and wondering why D.Terry can't draw a straight line) that there really aren't any straight or plumb-lines in this old house; you can put a tennis ball on any floor, and it'll roll to the other side of the room.

 and, yes....I've been studying John Singer Sargent lately......rather obviously, it shows.  I just happen to have a house filled with Scottish dogs, rather than arriviste, American expatriates......

 and, yes, Kate parks her ass near the front door....every day at about four p.m.  She barks at the mailman (whom she loves), and then she waits for Herve to come home at around 7 p.m.  Try as you might, you CAN'T move her from her self-appointed sentry position......

Oil pencils & watercolor

2012

Jaynie Spector (the canny owner of the Dog&Horse fine Art Gallery in Charleston) suggested to me, a few days ago, that I paint a cairn terrier for my portfolio.  It occurred to me "Wait...I got me a live one right here....do let's exploit him...".  So, we now have my first portrait of "Morgan" ( Herve's birthday present to me eight or so months ago).  I can assure you that he looks far more dignified and self-possessed in this portrait than he does in real life.

As I drew and painted this, I kept thinking I was going overboard on the Bambi-eyes effect......but the kid really IS this beautiful.

and, yes...Bizou is adopted.....yet another example of how Geraldine and Tony make a point of seeing that their lives are as fine as their many books.

pencil, watercolor, and oil pencil

2012

pencil, watercolor, and oil pencil.

2012

10"X12"

I think this is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, I first saw it, 8 or so years ago, in the dining room at Phillipe and Francoise Briggant's house, Lussault sur Loire. This is the same large country house where I've painted all the white doves for various paintings over the years.  The main house itself is a rambling, 17th century manoir onto which Francoise has added an 18th century cottage (now the very large and open dining room) and an enormous 17th century, stone barn (don't ask me how she got the thing "moved").

Francoise (a very wry professor of classical languages) has hung the dining room with a series of these prints, all of which depict the various, readily-indentifiable follies and vanities of the Haute Bourgeoisie.....the woman obsessed with shoes (apparently, Sarah Jessica Parker did not invent this all on her own in the 1990's), the woman who breathlessly reads every scandal-sheet (the 18th century equivalent of our celebrity tabloids) she can get her hands on, etcetera....and yes, half of the series is devoted to peculiarly Male affectations, follies and vanities (the "sportsman", the "gourmande", the "bibliophile", etc.).

Francoise was nice enough to simply knock the picture out of it's 18th century framing and make a very high-resolution scan for me.  So, I can now give that to friends (trust me....a print is hanging in my own, little-white-west-highland-terrier-filled house).  In any case, it's a delightful picture.  If you want a copy, simply email me at dterrydraw@aol.com, and I'll email the jpeg to you.  I should add that it's a large file, at 4.4 megabytes.  Once the jpeg's downloaded, simply copy it to disc and take that to a good print shop.  Printed at the orignal size (approximately 12" x 10"), it's indistinguishable from the original.  I have mine done at my local framers, and archival-quality prints cost only about 25$.

All in all, it's the perfect gift for anyone who, like me, is  more than aware that he/she could be accused of being afflicted by "Caninomanie".