Another form!

Another form of art. This is a leather wallet that I recently was commissioned to paint by Caroline Alleman of Switzerland. Caroline has commissioned me in the past for many things from paintings to ceramics. Thank You Caroline! Caroline sent me some photos of her dogs and I chose these 2 to put on the wallet. I believe the Afghan Hound on the upper right was a dog she had 20 years ago and the one on the left just passed away recently. I think this wallet will be very special to Caroline for many years and I thank her for asking me to do this. This week I also painted 2 pairs of denim jeans. It seems many people really like my painting pants that I clean my paint brushes and palate knives on while painting and are ordering them for themselves. Designer Jeans by Terry......I will take some photos of the jeans when someone is wearing them and send in another post. I have been very busy getting ready for my next trip to the Afghan Hound Breeder's Cup in Virginia Beach, VA. I leave next Wed. Mar. 5, 2008. My art booth will be open on Thursday, Friday and Sat. If you will be there I look forward to showing you all the new pieces of art that I have done for the occasion. Jewelry, new Ceramic sculptures, new note cards, new giclee prints, ceramic tiles, music boxes will all be on display and ready to go to their new homes. The total entry is over 200 Afghan Hounds so it should be well supported by the Afghan Hound fancy. See you soon, Enjoy the ART! Terry

PS A new thing that happened this week is Heritage Bronze of Hesperia is now representing me and my bronzes. To view their website, with me included, go to www.heritagebronze.com.

Gallery Cat

This is a painting that I started while gallery sitting this week at the Banning Center for the Arts. As a co-op artist we are required to sit the gallery 1 day a month. We can paint as long as we are there to answer questions for customers and answer the phone. I had been wanting to paint the gallery cat for a while now. She is very skittish when it comes to people. Her food bowl is right outside the front door. In the morning when you get there you set out the open sign, the flags and then feed the cat. I watched her as she set there waiting for her food for quite some time to try and get some ideas about her. Unfortunately because they are feeding her, there are now several other kitties coming around. She sits there and watches the food and sometimes will let others in for a bite. She won't let you touch her and the other cats run the minute you walk outside. She will sit there for a while but don't try to pet her. I set up my easel and of course that scared her and off she went. I quickly blocked in what I could remember and waited most of the day before she came back around. I quickly blocked in more and finished the piece today. From what I recall, I think I got it right. She had patches of white on her and the rest was black. White by the side of her mouth which looks like "Got Milk" and the white on her chest, which my husband Eddie says looks like she is wearing a tuxedo. Her eyes always look surprised. I can't remember what the Gallery Director calls her, but I will call her Gallery Cat for now. When I find out her actual name I will add it to the POST. This painting along with other paintings are for sale either here, my website or by contacting me through my email. I have finally figured out how to add the buttons so you can pay directly through Paypal.com. You have to go to my blog to do this. Any questions, be sure to contact me. This painting 6 x 8 inch is $100.00 unframed, once framed for display and sale at the gallery it will be $165.00. Enjoy the ART! Terry d. Chacon

Afghan Hound Head Study-Alanna-

In Sept. 2007, I was given the opportunity to judge the Tara Afghan Hound Club Specialty in Atlanta, Georgia. I was also commissioned by the club to paint the Best of Show winner, which would be the Best of Show trophy for the winner of that award. The winner was a lovely 7 year old bitch named Alanna. Alanna's registered name is "Ch. Dragonfly's Whiter Shade of Pale" and she is owned and bred by Thayer and Lucia Brown, co-owned with Sharon Ferraro. She was handled expertly to this win by Philip Schafmayer. She flowed with excellence around the ring in a proper gait and her beauty in the stack was undeniable. She reaked with arrogance, which is a quality that I love to see in Afghan Hound bitches. It was such a pleasure to judge her and then to actually get to paint her as I see her. The photos that the owners sent were so good of her that I had a hard time deciding which one to use. I chose this head study from a full body shot of Alanna, in actuality I was tempted to do the full body and would love to do that at a later time. This photo really captured Alanna and how I see her and was great reference material for the oil painting. I sent a photo of the completed oil painting to the owners last night and here is a quote from Lucia.

Terry!

It came out beautiful! I LOVE it. You did an excellent job and I cannot thank you enough!

Lucia

I love painting portraits of animals. If you have a favorite you would like me to capture in oil, please let me know. Enjoy the painting of Alanna. I will have this painting on display at the 2008 Afghan Hound Breeder's Cup in Virginia Beach. Come by and take a peak. Terry (below is a photo of Alanna winning Best of Show at Tara Afghan Hound Club)

Bird Of Paradise

The life of a Plein Air Artist. It is very difficult to pay attention to daily duties in the studio when the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming. The Bird of Paradise is in full bloom in my garden and I have been just waiting for the right time to go out and paint them. Yesterday I was suppose to be getting ready for our 3rd Annual Paint Out for the Plein Air Artists of Riverside reception when I looked out my bedroom window and saw this Bird of Paradise with this fabulous shadow on the brick wall behind it. I quickly ran and got my paints, a small 5 x 7 canvas board, my knife and a brush and went outside to capture the beauty of this plant. They make you smile as they look like the head of a very exotic bird and the shadow was even better. I hope you enjoy this little painting, I know I enjoyed playing hookie and getting it done! Terry If you would like to purchase this painting by using your credit card through PayPal, please press on the button below

Pathway to Two Trees

Yesterday a group of artists from PAAR were treated to a paint out and potluck at Elin Pendleton's home in Riverside, Ca. Elin lives in "Box Springs Park" Two Tree's Trail, so there is literally nothing but beautiful landscapes on three sides and a expansive views across the valley that goes on forever. Everyone should be able to live like this, it just doesn't seem fair. We arrived around 2 p.m. as I was waiting for an ebay auction to go off. I wanted to bid on a pochade easel box that I had found, and luckily I won. One can never have two many easels as an artist. Elin gave me a tour of her home and I took a tour of the grounds trying to figure which view I wanted to paint. It was not easy as there are so many great views. She has all kinds of critters that would have been fun to paint, but I chose the view in the canyon. I can just imagine the beautiful walks on these pathways and I hear they are quite rugged in some spots. Elin had been bragging about the magic light and that we would want to be ready for it starting around 3:30 p.m. I set up my gear and started to work on my design. I got enough down on the canvas before the potluck as I wanted to capture the beautiful light after 3:30. We had a great potluck with Louise's barbecue beef sandwiches, Durre's Indian veggies, Elin's salad with all the fixings from her garden and much more that other artists had brought to share. Then for dessert we had a wonderful banana pudding with hot fudge topping made by Louise. I started noticing the beautiful light going on outside and decided I needed to get on my painting if I wanted to capture the light on the mountains and the trees in the canyon and finish before dark. The light started changing from pink to orange to red, it was wonderful. The contrast on the mountains was so beautiful. We packed it up around 5:30 and headed home. Later we found out that one of Elin's beautiful cats had escaped during the day. She was so worried and all of us were checking our cars as he likes to get in cars when they are open. Then she remembered that she had been showing me around in her studio and checked the doors. Yep, there he was. Bats was safe and sound and really hungry after a day in the closet. Elin was relieved as were all of us. The end to another great day in Nature. Enjoy the art, Terry

San Luis Rey Mission

The Plein Air Artists of Riverside will be having a show on California Missions at the Banning Center for the Arts starting the later part of April 08. In preparing for the Mission show we are painting several S. Cal Missions. Yesterday a group of us went to San Luis Rey Mission near Oceanside, Ca. It is a beautiful Mission on the outside and very well preserved. I think we picked the wrong day to go. There were over 300 4th graders in attendance and they were everywhere. I wanted to paint a particular view but I was unable to set up my easel from the kids running around. I was afraid they would either knock me over or my painting! One kid used the F word while I was standing there. One of the other artists said she heard one of the adults using the F word also. I don't know where or what school these kids attend, but someone needs to get some help over there and soon. Anyway, I walked out into a field to get away from the kids and just as I finished setting up a security guard came out to tell me they would be bringing 6 school buses in and she was afraid my view would be taken away. So I looked farther down, grabbed my gear and set up again. As I started drawing my sketch in the first bus arrived. Yep, she parked it right in my view of the large tower that I wanted to paint. So I quickly redid my painting to start at the large part of the main building and continue down through the archways to the left. When I started painting the front of the building was in full sun and the beautiful shadows were in the archways which was my main focus. As I started putting in the darks I noticed the clouds coming from the ocean just over the top of the left side of the painting. By the time I got most of my darks and lights on the painting, the clouds began to move in faster and faster. I was painting as fast as I could, one I wanted to capture the light and two I wanted to make sure I got something before the next bus arrived. About this time it became really cold, the skies were dark and the light was gone, everything was the same color. I hurried to complete the painting of what I could remember, luckily I had enough done and starting packing it in. About this time my friend Luz called, said she was freezing and did I want to quit. I said yes, I had already started packing up. We all packed it in. We went to the gift shop to get our hat pin. We are trying to purchase a hat pin for all the different places we are painting. Some wear them on their PAAR caps. I have started putting mine on my carrier. As busy of a group that we are, some of the groups hats are getting quite full of pins. We then stopped by the museum show to see about returning as a group. The security guard said she thought we could buy passes to paint inside the mission as a group. Well we can, but it is $60.00 per person for the yearly fee. I think we will continue on and paint the outside of the Mission as it is free. I can't imagine being inside with 300 kids. At least on the outside we could walk far enough away! We then went to one of the local Mexican food places, had a bite to eat, laughed about the day and started our journey home. Since we had picked up some of the painters at the Riverside Art Museum we thought it would be a great opportunity for us to see our show that has just been hung. What a great show. I am so excited. Our reception is Feb. 7, 2008. Until next time, enjoy the painting. Terry