Spring Days

Indiana loves lying on the balcony during nice weather.  He'll let himself bake for a while, then come inside and spread himself out on the floor to cool off, drink some water, then go back outside to work on his tan.

He especially likes the dirty blue tarp, since that corner catches the last of the afternoon sun.

Stinky dog is now less stinky

Yesterday, Indiana came back from the dog park covered in dust and slobber more than usual.  Dreading his presence on the sofa, I took it upon myself to give him the dreaded B-A-T-H.

Now, of course, I need to mention with the fact that Indiana hates baths.  What a surprise!  He's kind of like this guy-

 

Skip to 5:35 for the dreaded "shiba scream" which Indiana does a great imitation of during his baths.

During the days I worked at Daily Wag dog daycare, I had the free use of their very nice dog washing tub, complete with a hand held shower nozzle.  Our apartment has no such luxuries (the shower head is firmly attached to the wall), so we have to fill a variety of bowls and  jars with water in preparation.  We then pour these over Indiana in the bath to get him clean. This takes forever to set up, use, and clean up.

Getting ready for the bath.

So, I tried turning on the shower to rinse him off.

As you can tell by his face, Indiana was not amused and is still recovering.  Peanut butter helped quite a bit to relieve his "pain" though.

The dog bath eventually lead to the decision to wash all of the dog bedding, which was a serious contributor to his built up stank.  Of course, now my washer is covered in dog fur, which I've been slowly picking out.  The interior of the washer also smelled quite a bit (not surprising given the amount of odor on the blankets) so I had to run a quick wash with no clothes to at least freshen it up.

What was recovered from the washer.

Any ideas on how to clean doggie blankets more efficiently?

Ralph's Finished Pet Portrait

This painting came a long way from where it was before!  

I am currently waiting to hear back from Ralph's mom to see if she'd like any changes.  Then, I'll let the painting dry for a few weeks, apply some varnish, more drying, and it will be shipped out so that Ralph can enjoy it around the end of April!  (I'm sure his parents will enjoy it more than he will, but that's okay.)

20" x 16" oil on canvas

I also painted a custom Schnauzer silhouette for an order from Canada.  I had to fill out a customs form and everything.  I am now an international artist! (Hopefully the painting will make it there ok.  It can take more than a month to go through customs and travel through the Canadian mail system.  Yikes!)

Last week, I redid all of my listings for dog silhouette watercolors on my Etsy shop.  My first idea was to do a painting of a lot of breeds and then I could sell archival quality prints from the paintings.  It turns out, getting prints made is EXPENSIVE and FRUSTRATING!!  It is much easier to paint a new silhouette for every order that comes in.  I also like that this will make every piece original and unique for the person who buys it (just like their dog!) 


On another note, my birthday was this weekend.  I am now old enough to rent a car! 

Wordless Wednesday: Ralph's Portrait in Progress

Monday Mischief: Indiana's New Favorite Thing to Chew

I think the only way to properly describe the new shenanigans Indiana has started is to show a picture of the evidence.  But, I have deemed pictures of the evidence unsuitable for the internet, so, this picture, of a related event, will have to do.

Now I have to go jean shopping, the bane of my shopping existence.

Yes.  It seems My Dog Won't Stop Eating My Underwear. The link leads to an article I found while googling this strange new habit Indiana has and it is soothing to know I am not alone in this fight against chewed undergarments thanks to the many comments of dog owners voicing their frustrations with similar situations. 

In fact, Zooey at the Colorado Basenji Rescue has a similar affliction.

Find out more about adopting her!

 Zoey has become very well acclimated to a crate and can be crated during the day although she also exhibits good behavior when left out, unless one leaves one's underwear available. She simply CANNOT pass up a good pair of undies.

The Husband and I have been keeping an eye on Indiana and his access to the laundry pit that is our bedroom has been restricted unless he is sleeping under the covers on the bed.  Extreme measures have to be taken because he can knock over laundry baskets and open our sliding door closet, but the occurrences of lost knickers is decreasing.

I can't stay mad at him though.

The Dog Silhouettes Keep on Coming

More dog silhouettes!

Dachshund

Scottish Terrier

Schnauzer

They are available as 8x10 prints through my etsy shop!

Breeds that I've painted so far - Dachshund, Scottish Terrier, Schnauzer, Pomeranian, Shiba Inu, Boston Terrier, Bulldog, Boxer, Greyhound, Yorkie, Beagle, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Great Dane, Shih Tzu

Mango and Roxy

It's been quite a while since my last post.  I've been busy with a couple projects, including some watercolor commissions from Etsy.

Mango

Roxy

I'd never heard of a Dutch Shepherd before.  Turns out they are cousin to the German Shepherd and came about around the same time.  Dutch Shepherds also have long hair and wire hair varieties, but a general image search really only comes up with short haired brindles.  Roxy turned out to be one of that kind anyway. 

The image source also has lots of fun pictures of other lesser known dogs.

I've updated my Whiskered Paintings Facebook Page, to the new timeline, which I am not enthusiastic about.  It seems that every time I get used to a new format on Facebook, they change it!  To me, the new timeline looks cluttered and unorganized.  But, that is pretty much Facebook nowadays...

I'm also in the process of considering moving this blog to my own url.  It would either be "blog.helenpavlac.com" or "whiskeredpaintings.com."  I think it will be a pretty big headache though, so I'll probably keep putting it off for a while until I know exactly what I'd like and how to do it.

The animals have been doing well in my blogging absence.  They are enjoying basking in the sun from the sixty degree weather Denver has been enjoying and being skeptical of each other's presence.

My apartment isn't that dark; my camera just likes to turn up the chiaroscuro in all my photos.

Like what you saw?  Custom Dog Breed Profile Watercolors available here!

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!

I learned this morning, from many blogs, that it is Dr. Seuss's birthday!  And there is a fun theme going around.  So, I decided to dedicate this post to my favorite Seussian pooch, Max, who had to deal with a lot over Christmas, and had a pretty terrible owner, but everything worked out in the end.

As drawn by Chuck Jones

Since Dr. Seuss was not just a writer, but an illustrator, I decided to do my poem with a picture!

 

Upon waking up, Indiana looked up in dismay

And realized he was wearing an antler today

He grumbled and mumbled and said, "These aren't for wearing, but chewing!"

Now, he's in the corner glaring at me and stewing.

(I didn't actually tie an antler to Indiana's head.  They are one of his favorite chew toys though.)

Finished Pet Portrait - Gracie

Gracie is a Labradoodle who goes to Daily Wag almost every day. 

in progress

finished

Her 16 x 20 portrait will be hanging in the lobby!