Made in Japan…now on Etsy!

Etsy header

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve just opened up a shop on Etsy!

To check it out, just click right here! Or click on the link to the right in the sidebar!👉

It all kind of came about in an unexpected way. On a whim, I happened to see a call to artists to submit portraits of a foster puppy that had been featured on The Dogist Instagram account. There was only one more day before the deadline, and for some reason, I really wanted to try painting the cute pup for fun! So I started a piece right away and sent it in with hours to spare! It wasn’t a contest or anything–but they did post entries on an affiliated account. It was fun seeing all the different interpretations of Finn (the puppy.)

It was a lot of fun to paint the piece, and I really hadn’t painted many animals in the past. Soon after, I was trying to think of a special ‘thank you’ gift for someone, and a friend suggested I paint a portrait of his dog. I thought it was a really unique and great idea! Again, I had a ton of fun painting the piece and my friend seemed to like the results. 😉

Now I was hooked! I painted portraits of our two family dogs (you can see them here) and to expand beyond doggos, I also painted a kitten and bunny!

Recently, I was also commissioned to paint a dog portrait for someone who had sadly lost their dog this year.

In the past, friends had asked if I sold some other pieces I had created and posted online and on social media. I would usually just end up gifting them instead. But after seeing more and more artists offering their work on social media, I thought why not try it myself?

I had already found a fantastic local printer when I had prints and canvases made earlier, so I decided to put together my own Etsy shop! For now, it’ll focus on custom pet portraits and maybe some prints. But in the future I’ll think about offering a variety of things I love to create–such as other types of artwork, sculpts or jewelry. Stay tuned!

Hope you’ll take a moment and check out my shop!

Thanks!

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changing it up…a little

kitten face painting

Before starting the dog portrait commission recently (see previous post here), I had the urge to paint more pet faces.

I realized I had painted quite a few doggies (which I have really been enjoying), but decided to change things up just a bit. Painting these cute little faces are just too much fun, so I painted this kitten! Have to admit that I couldn’t stop laughing while working on this piece. Those eyes were just too much!😂

rabbit painting

To really change things up, I also decided to paint a bunny! All of these different faces are a great challenge to recreate, but I’m always up for a good challenge!😉 It’s amazing how much personality they all have, and I love to bring that out in my paintings.😊

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pet portrait commission

yellow lab commssionI was commissioned to paint this pet portrait as a memorial for a very cute doggie who recently passed away. Labs always have the sweetest and happy looks on their faces.

After the recipient received the painting as a gift, I heard back that she was very touched, and really liked the piece. Losing a family pet and companion is never easy, but I was glad to hear the portrait brought a smile to her face. 😊

 

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Couldn’t resist…

Gus portrait

After painting Curly and Finn a few months ago (see previous post here), I decided to paint my two family dogs! Gus and Meshak were the best little guys! So different, but each had so much personality!

We got Gus as a Christmas gift for my Dad. Super cute as a puppy and cute as an adult, but he could be a stubborn little jerk sometimes…and would drive my poor dad nuts.😂

Meshak portrait

Meshak’s story is a little interesting…

One day my dad was taking Gus to the Vet, and was sitting in the waiting room. Meshak came in with his owner, and immediately jumped up on the couch and sat next to my dad! Turns out his owner was a Pastor and felt bad leaving Meshak alone all day. She had been looking for someone who could give him more attention. He seemed lonely and wouldn’t eat and was quite thin. Since Meshak took an immediate liking to my Dad, she asked if he would like to see if he got along with Gus and take him home. My dad really liked Meshak too, so we did a trial stay. Both dogs got along, so we kept him! Meshak was the sweetest and best-behaved dog! He and Gus were like The Odd Couple–Meshak was like Felix and Gus was like Oscar.😆🐶

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Painted Pets

 

Curly portraitI wanted to give a special gift to a friend, but couldn’t think of any good ideas. Another friend suggested I paint a portrait of his cute little dog, Curly! It was so much fun to paint him! I had it printed on canvas and I think it really pleasantly surprised my friend. 😊

Finn portrait

A little while later, I saw a post by The Dogist on Instagram, doing a call for art of their foster puppy, Finn. It sounded fun, so on the spur of the moment, and with only a couple days left before the deadline for submissions, I painted this portrait of the little puppy!

I really enjoyed painting these pieces! It also makes me laugh the entire time I’m working, constantly looking into their cute little faces!

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Resin Channel Earrings

Resin Channel Earrings

Yet another experiment for an earring design. This time I sculpted rounded rectangles in polymer clay. Then I dug out a channel down the length on one side and punched a hole where the channel stopped. The rectangles were then dusted with a dark copper metallic powder and cured. To fill the channel, I mixed a bit of green metallic powder with resin and filled the channel on each piece. I added a couple of layers of plain resin over the top to give it depth and put a couple of dots next to the channel for good measure. 😉

After the resin was cured, I attached some jump rings to the hole below the channel and hung a couple of tiny metallic charms–one an antiqued round and the other a very shiny silver oval (it’s difficult to see from the photo, but the antiqued and shiny charms add a nice contrast and some movement.)

I definitely plan on trying another variation on this idea, but must remember to make the polymer clay much thinner. Getting a jump ring through the bottom for the charms was a little tricky. I prefer much smaller components but the thickness of the clay prevented that. However, the larger hardware give the earrings a more industrial feeling, which I really like!

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Rectangular Mustard Seed Pendant

rectangular mustard seed pendant front
Here is the last of the commissioned mustard seed pendants I created. It all began last year when a good friend asked if I would create the pendants to give as gifts. She gave one to her daughter, one to her niece and kept one for herself. She then asked for one more to give as a gift so I decided to attempt a design I had sketched out when I started the others earlier in the year.

rectangular mustard seed pendant angle view
As with the others, it was sculpted from polymer clay and dusted with a copper metallic powder. The bail was harvested from a necklace that I had taken apart, then wrapped thin wire several times to one end of the chain link to anchor it in place. At the top of the rectangular window inside the pendant I had inserted a very fine chain so that only a couple of the small links protruded at the top. This provided a place to hang a small charm. The charm was made by encasing a single mustard seed within the middle of the resin, and embedding more of the tiny chain at the top of the resin to act as a very small bail. A jump ring attached the resin charm to the chain at the top of the insert cut into the pendant.

I had misjudged the size of the charm, so I had to sand it down in order to make it fit and be able to swing freely inside the cutout in the pendant. Once you sand it, you simply coat it again with a thin amount of more resin and cure it to give it a nice shine.

rectangular mustard seed pendant text side
As with the other pendants, a channel was carved into the side, and the text was inlaid, then encased in clear resin. To make the text more easy to read, I lined the bottom of the carved out area with white polymer clay before placing the printed text inside. As a final touch I added a couple of decorative drops of clear resin to the front of the pendant.

When I presented the finished pendant to my friend, I was relieved to hear that she was very pleased with the results!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

domo thanksgiving
Out of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is probably Domo’s favorite because of all the delicious foods that are served. Unfortunately, it seems as though Domo is unwilling to share the huge bounty on the Thanksgiving table, and is making a mad dash taking along the entire turkey and a whole pumpkin pie!

But little does he know that these two traditional Thanksgiving dishes are really sculpted out of polymer clay! The pumpkin pie tin is also sculpted from polymer clay with silver metallic pigment applied to it, and a coating of clear sealant to give it a bit of shine. The pumpkin filling also has a thin layer of sealant over the top.

Whether it results from eating all that food, or from all that running while scurrying away with the turkey and pie, I’m sure Domo will be happy and napping just like everyone else after their Thanksgiving meal!

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Happy Halloween!

domo halloween
Domo loves Halloween but seems to be afraid of the fog and darkness outside, so he’s rushing back indoors to safety! But he’s making sure not to leave behind his jack-o-latern and the biggest piece of candy corn you’ve ever seen!

Unfortunately, Domo will be disappointed if he tries to eat the candy corn since it’s sculpted from polymer clay, as is the pumpkin. But he doesn’t seem to mind, and looks determined to get them all back home out of the scary nighttime darkness!

If you look closely…it seems as though he’s also taking along a little hitchhiker! I guess Domo’s little spider friend is afraid of the dark too! He might be a bit hard to see in the photo, so here’s a shot of the little guy by himself:
spider closeup

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Oval Earrings with Center Charms

Oval earrings with center charms
I wanted to try something a bit different and create some earrings with a cutout in the center. To make things a bit more interesting, I thought it’d be nice to have something hanging within the cutout. This would add some movement to the earrings.

They are a simple shape, but it proved to be a bit more difficult than I estimated since these are fairly tiny in size. The round piece is about 5/8″ in height and the cutout is a quarter inch in diameter. They’re sculpted from polymer clay with a metallic antique gold powder finish. So, fitting the jumping, silver washer shape and the tiny green glass seed bead were pretty tricky! But after a little bit of wresting with them, I was able attach it all inside the earrings!

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