Skyline Dog Fanciers Catalog Cover 2010

Skyline Dog Fanciers Original oil painting by Terry d. Chacon

I have been commissioned by Skyline Dog Fanciers to do their catalog cover for the next 5 years.   Skyline Dog Fanciers has joined forces with Del Valle Kennel Club to become part of the Harvest Moon Cluster of Dog shows which is always the 3rd weekend in Oct. in Pleasanton, CA.  

Because of a previous commitment with the Afghan Hound Club of America I was unable to attend Skyline but did make it over to the Del Valle shows on Sunday and Monday.   On Sunday Ryan Hovarth presented me with the catalog.   To my surprise it was in a beautiful periwinkle blue.   In years past Del Valle has always done their catalog covers by Artist Heidi Martin in black and white.   Heidi does beautiful drawings of the 3 breeds chosen each year by the club.   Ryan and his group wanted to follow suit with 3 breeds from 3 different groups opposite of what Del Valle would be doing and something a little different than what Del Valle does to make them unique.   The 3 breeds were chosen and sent to me and I prepared the composition of the 3 head studies and after approval did an 11 x 14 oil painting.   The oil painting was then sent to their printer who made giclee prints for all of the group winners and the painting was given to Best In Show.  

SKYLINE DOG FANCIERS 2010
catalog cover by Terry d. Chacon

Following with tradition with  Del Valle huge banners of the artwork will be hung during the cluster for Skyline Dog Fanciers and Del Valle in the convention center for everyone to see each year.   Del Valle's are in black and white and Skyline will be in color.  The collection that Del Valle has from over the years is something to see.    

It was cold and rainy on Sunday when we arrived, my friend Alicia Morrison Jones took this photo with her phone and sent it to me.  Thank you Alicia.  Of course I did not have my camera and I was not walking in the pouring rain back to the parking lot to get it.  Thus this is the only photo of the day.

It is such an honor to work with these clubs and see my artwork appreciated by so many people. 

Thanks to all!

Until next time, please enjoy the ART!    Terry d. Chacon

74th Annual Afghan Hound Club of America National Specialty

"Judy's Vision"   AHCA 2010 by Terry d. Chacon
It was an exciting week in Sacramento, CA. enjoying the 74th Annual Afghan Hound Club of America National Specialty.

 A year ago Judy Bloom this years show chair,  contacted me with a vision of what she wanted for the AHCA 2010 National specialty. After much thought I started the 138 trophy pieces in Feb. of 2010. They came into form and were given out to all the winners this past week.   It was a lot of work but the overwhelming response made it all worth while.   Congratulations to all the Winners and congratulations to Judy Bloom and her show committee for putting on one of the best Nationals I have ever been to.   The attention detail was unbelievable.  
The above painting that I did on site while judging of the dog classes,  "Judy's Vision" was auctioned off at the Art Auction (an event that started 5 years ago at the first National Specialty Judy chaired). The winner of the painting donated the painting to Judy for all of her hard work involved in putting on this huge event. In the painting I put in some of the things that Judy was so passionate about on her show site. The trophy cart, her large pumpkin floral pieces, the huge tan canvas tents, the beautiful red and tan umbrellas, the courtyard, the judge, the exhibitors, the people and the Afghan Hounds who make the event so special to all who attend.

The following photos are some of the trophies that I did and were awarded throughout the event.  All sculptures are one of a kind original pieces.  The Best awards are one of a kind Bas Relief tiles depicting the performance event,  framed by King of Frame and the Bas relief tiles for 1st and class placement medallions are from original pieces that I did in plasticine and made molds from for the event classes.   Each piece was then fired and hand painted to a beautiful faux bronze patina.  

Best of Breed in National Specialty



Best Opposite Sex in National Specialty




Best In Sweepstakes and Best Opposite in Sweepstakes




Best in Veteran Sweeps and Best Opposite



1st place Bas Relief large tiles 2nd through 4th Medallions





Grouping of Conformation Trophies




Some framed art-Best Puppy, Best Bred By Exhibitor, Best of Winners and Best Junior Handler




High in Obedience Trial and 1st Place Bas Relief for all firsts in event.



Best in Field (Lure Coursing) and Bas Relief Tile for all firsts in event, notecards for all other placements.



Best in Agility, Bas Relief Tiles for all 1sts, Notes for 2nd through 4th





The trophy cart, changed out each day to depict the event.

















More on the event in another blog posting.   Stay tuned.   

Until next time, ENJOY THE ART.  Terry d. Chacon

Week in Review

"Aspen Grove"  by Terry d. Chacon  (c)

This week my friend Pat and I treated ourselves to a much needed break from studio work and drove up the mountain toward Big Bear to the Aspen Groves.   We were in hope to find them changing colors, but we were a little too early.   After going past the turn off by several miles we back tracked and found another outlet which did lead us to the parking spot to hike down into the canyon to find the grove.   Upon our arrival it was definite that they were indeed there, but the color changes were just starting.     At this point we turned around and retrieved our gear from the car and hiked down the trail.  

 I chose this scene to paint because of the high color contrast of dark and light.  I also liked the stream that was flowing at the bottom and the rocks on the side of the aspens.    As you can see from the camera shot, the trees were glowing at this point, but the camera photo washed out their beautiful color.  

 This photo shows a little bit more of the color and me painting.  

 It was a great time, we left around 1 pm and headed back to find a much needed restaurant.    I have no idea why we went to the forest with only 4 cookies and a few bottles of water.   Much needed lesson learned!  I guess we are just city girls!

On Saturday PAAR (Plein Air Artists of Riverside) held a Meet and Greet to kick off our 2010/2011 season.   Approximately 25 artists and their guest arrived around 9 am to paint Fairmount Park.   Fairmount Park is in Riverside, CA and one of my favorite places to paint.   I always love the water reflections.   I chose in the morning to paint the water reflections below.   This was indeed a challenge.   I had always wanted to paint something like this as I have always been drawn to other artists paintings of this kind.   It did turn out a lot better than I thought, when I got home I added a bit more blue in the foreground which seemed to be what it needed to make it pop and give the feeling that I had when I was painting it earlier in the day.     

"Water Reflections"  9 x 12 oil on canvas by Terry d. Chacon   (c)

After painting in the morning, we all joined in for a wonderful picnic followed  by a critique session of the paintings we had done in the morning.  It was a great meeting and seeing artist that I had not seen in a while and making new acquaintances with some new  PAAR members.   

I had gone over to chat with one of the other artists earlier in the day and really liked the view.   After scoping it out a second time Pat and I decided to give it a try.   By this time the late afternoon light was so beautiful.  I liked the way the boat house was in shadow and most everything was back lit.   The reflections in the water of the boat house was another draw as well as the mountain in the back ground which had just a bit of light on it.     I was quite happy with this little painting and we called it a day.  

"The Boat House Early Evening Light"    8 x 10 oil on canvas  by Terry d. Chacon (c)

Patricia Rose Ford spotting the Aspen Grove from the trail.   (I am sorry this is at the end of my post.  I really do not like the new way of adding photos on my blog, if they get screwed up you cannot move them around without starting over.   But I thought this photo added to the story!)

Until next time, PLEASE ENJOY THE ART!     Terry d. Chacon