ANNOUNCING … CHARLOTTE’s CHARITY
DRIVE:Those of you who know
me, know of my deep love and admiration for animals.In every issue, we feature several
prints.A donation of $2 from each
featured print will be made to our featured charity that month.Thanks from the bottom of my heart for
supporting the care and appreciation of animals everywhere.
The D.E.L.T.A. Rescue SuperSanctuary is home to more than 1500 dogs and cats that have been abandoned in the wilderness. Located in the high desert area outside Los Angeles, this 94-acre ranch is beautifully landscaped and surrounded by rolling hills. It is the largest “No Kill, Care-for-Life” sanctuary of its kind in the world and has two fully equipped veterinary hospitals and a full time veterinary staff on the premises.
At the SuperSanctuary, the animals enjoy days filled with good food, playtime and the knowledge that they are not only safe but greatly loved.
D.E.L.T.A. Rescue is the only organization that absolutely refuses to accept animals from the public when they want to give them up. Instead, D.E.L.T.A. rescues only animals who are abandoned in the wilderness. D.E.L.T.A. Rescue relies solely on contributions.
What is the significance of the way you portray children with animals that are unrealistically large?
Children have such wonderful imaginations, fearlessness, belief in magic and an ability to always be in the here and now. As adults, we often spend too much time ruminating over the past or worrying about the future. Children don't concern themselves with such things.
As a child I believed anything was possible. Fortunately for me, my parents encouraged my imagination and offered ample opportunities for adventure and creativity. I rarely heard them speak a "No-that's-not-safe" kind of lingo.
As I grew to adulthood, my inner child lived and thrived.
Today, my grandchildren and I explore ideas such as "What would it be like to fly across the sky on a pig?" and "What would it feel like to ride through the ocean on a giant fish or to sit with lions in the park?"
These conversations have inspired many of my paintings. When I create a painting of children with animals I make the animals larger than life. It's part of the magic, part of the way kids view the world, not as they see it with their eyes but how they see it in their hearts-full of wonder and awe.
I place the children in my paintings in fun situations, comfortable among these giant but gentle creatures, happy just being in the moment where anything is possible.
At an art show in Georgia one day, an older gentleman sporting a scruffy beard and overalls came up to my booth and looked over my paintings.
“You must love dogs,” he observed.
“Yes.”
“I love bloodhounds. Why don’t you have a painting of a bloodhound?” He queried.
He told me he had owned a succession of them through the years and that they were great hunting dogs, especially for small game like squirrels and opossum. “But when they aren’t sniffing out a trail, nose to ground, they’re couch potatoes!”
Nevertheless, he loved them all and was devoted to the breed.
He didn't ask me to do a painting of a bloodhound, which was no surprise since I guessed his wife had dragged him to the show.
Later, I got to thinking about bloodhounds, and my mind meandered back to some of the titles I previously used from the medical field. Lab Results, CatScan, Scratch Test, and By Polar Disorder were so successful; I decided to go with Bloodwork.
I played up the idea of couch potato and put the dogs under a tree sleeping the afternoon away while two chipmunks chatter just above them with no fear of these “great hunters”. Sure enough, the first time I displayed the print, a hospital lab technician snapped it up to hang over his desk.
My husband, Mike, and I were listening to Click & Clack on the radio one day and someone called in with a question about bulldozers. Immediately my mind went to sleeping Bulldogs. That's the way I work. I pick up a word or phrase in an overheard conversation and it goes visual for me, but in some other way off context, bulls, bulldogs, bullfrogs, something like that. Bulldogs with their shortened noses do snore a lot. That cinched it. So I went to work painting this Mom and Pup snoring in languid concert on their comfortable pillows, snacks at the ready, and oblivious to the lovely day outside.
I just love making people smile. My hope is that my art catches people off guard, and makes them laugh in unexpected, silly ways. Much of my art includes animals, and I think by portraying their beauty and devotion in playful ways, it will bring awareness to the need for all of us to take loving care of all the animals in our beautiful world.
Each month, I will answer a question in the hope that it will encourage you, the reader, to expand your awareness of your own artistic nature. Just play and have fun, like you did when you were a child! I will also reveal the story behind my art. For each featured piece, you will learn how the idea came to me, and see the fun I had creating each piece. And I will offer my suggestions for the perfect place in your home or workplace for that piece of art.
I want to encourage you to have fun, and feel free to be playful in life. I truly believe, when we feel happy, we can reach out and share that happiness with each other and with animals. Good things will naturally happen when happy people open their hearts.
If you are going on a vacation this summer, remember to pack lots of smiles -
Friendship: A chance meeting can lead to a friendship that lasts a lifetime. A new friend may come along in perfect timing, and turn out to be the support or inspiration we need to get through.
Sometimes, a friend might appear in an unlikely package. Our most cherished friendships may outlast careers, marriages, and other "permanent" situations.
That's a great thing about friendship, it can be just as surprising as it is constant.
Put your pooch in his own cool Doggie T-shirt from American Apparel. He’ll be the envy of all the pups in the park. Let him wear a doggie-cool design so he can express what he’d like to bark out loud. Do it up in doggie style!
The D.E.L.T.A. Rescue SuperSanctuary is home to more than 1500 dogs and cats that have been abandoned in the wilderness. Located in the high desert area outside Los Angeles, this 94-acre ranch is beautifully landscaped and surrounded by rolling hills. It is the largest “No Kill, Care-for-Life” sanctuary of its kind in the world and has two fully equipped veterinary hospitals and a full time veterinary staff on the premises.
At an art show in Georgia one day, an older gentleman sporting a scruffy beard and overalls came up to my booth and looked over my paintings.
My husband, Mike, and I were listening to Click & Clack on the radio one day and someone called in with a question about bulldozers. Immediately my mind went to sleeping Bulldogs. That's the way I work. I pick up a word or phrase in an overheard conversation and it goes visual for me, but in some other way off context, bulls, bulldogs, bullfrogs, something like that. Bulldogs with their shortened noses do snore a lot. That cinched it. So I went to work painting this Mom and Pup snoring in languid concert on their comfortable pillows, snacks at the ready, and oblivious to the lovely day outside. 
