Charlie...

This is what I have been struggling over for the past couple of weeks - it is a private commission but is a surprise for someone so I only had some very basic photos to work from.  Also, this little dog has the most unusual eyes - I had to get several extra photos showonig them in order to make sure I got the colouring correct.  This was done using Dersent Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper.
 

The Birds...

 I was a bit naughty last week and took a break from commissions to paint this little watercolour.  It's a scene I saw on the Explore.org bear cams in the early autumn when a little bear was just standing on the log minding his own business and being pestered by about 10 or 12 ravens.  I don't know what they were after, but they gave him a hard time!  I didn't add all the ravens, just enough to get the idea across.

This one sold within hours - never even made it to my Etsy shop!

On the drawing board - I'm behaving myself and working on a commissioned dog portrait!

I'm also sewing a number of stuffed bears - 2 Otises and 1 Popeye will be available shortly.

Popeye...

I've made so many Otis bears over the years, as well as other favourites from the Explore.org bear cams, so it was an interesting challenge when I was asked if I could make a different bear.  This is bear 634 Popeye, in real life a huge boar with a large shoulder hump and piercing eyes.  Not so easy to achieve in fabric and plastic!

However, considering this was an experiment and the first time I have made him, I am very pleased with how he has turned out.  Now to find out of the recipient is as happy as I am!

On the easel - a quick bear watercolour before embarkingon yet more dog portraits.
 

Sunrise over Brooks Falls...

 Here is the piece I have been working on over the past week.  I attempted it a few weeks ago using ink and it was a disaster, so I wanted to try again using watercolours.  I just cannot photograph it well, whatever camera I use seems to bleach the colours out from the water - perhaps it is due to the poor daylight we have at the moment.

So you will have to imagine that the colours are more intense than what shows here!  It is taken from a scene I snapped from the Explore.org bear cams a couple of months ago.  The light shines from behind the mountains and far trees leaving a shimmering path up the river with the bear silhouetted against the water as he stands on what is left of the island.  I was very happy with how this turned out - the trees have been worked wet in wet and thankfully did exactly what I wanted!

This one sold within hours of being put on Facebook - you snooze, you lose!

Baby Bear...

I was asked to make a baby version of the Katmai National Park hat - I did this by missing out one of the 3 bears in the pattern completely.  I don't think there was another way to do this without wrecking the overall pattern. 

I think it turned out OK - although I feel the baby in question will only be wearing it for one winter!

On the easel...something I am very excited about as it is going fantastically well.  I've been in a bit of a slump over the past 3 weeks after finishing the last commission - no commissions, no enthusiasm, no time, and the one painting I did attempt went horribly wrong.  Hopefully this situation has now rectified itself!  The good news is that I have a further 4 commissioned dog portraits coming up very shortly.

Chunk...

Whilst tidying (and I use the term very loosely) my corner of the sitting room where I keep various craft materials, I found an unfinished bear.  I don't remember not finishing him - I must have got sidetracked by something else.  So I sewed his feet on, gave him his eyes and nose, stuffed him, and then had to make a slight adjustment.  This is bear 32 Chunk from the Explore.org bear cams and two years ago he suffered a horrendous wound to his nose from a fight with another bear, slashing it open almost to the bone.  It has healed into an impressive scar, so of course I had to include that in my toy!

That also shows that the unfinished bear must have sat in that corner for two years or more - sorry Chunk!  He will be available in my Etsy shop shortly, unless you'd like to snap him up beforehand and save a bob or two - just get in touch.
 

More Sunflowers...

 I had a couple of weeks with no projects and no enthusiasm, so I decided to use up some of the yarn cakes that are languishing in a box in the spare room to make a crochet lap blanket for a friend of mine who has been suffering from long Covid for the past 3 years.  I thought the blanket could use a little brightening up, so sewed some crochet sunflowers on the corners.  I had initially thought to sew more sunflowers all over it, but when I discovered just how thick they made the blanket, I decided against it! I'm hoping this will keep my friend warm and cozy through the winter.

Nothing on the easel - I'm really struggling with the winter blues brought on by horrendous weather and the clock change last weekend.  I find it hard to paint when the light is bad, plus I have no inspiration at the moment.    Hopefully that will change soon before I go nuts!

Reedus...

 This is what I have been working on for the past few weeks.  The client wanted the lemon trees from the background of the reference photo added, but they were a bit sparse so I ended up making up the background which possibly took longer than painting the actual dog!  The dog was quite a challenge, all that curly fur and only part of one eye visible, but I am very happy with how it turned out.  Watercoluor on paper.

I now have no painting commissions at all, which is unusual for this time of year. I do, however, have a few knitting and sewing projects to be getting on with and just hope that no-pne shows up at the end of November wanting a painting done in time for Christmas!

Otis Is Back In The House...

After what must be nearly a year, I'm back to sewing Otis once again. 

This one is taken, but there will be plenty more coming soon - if you'd like to pre-order, just get in touch.
 

How To Spend A Rainy Day...

 It's been HOT!  Last week we had a heatwave in the UK, but thankfully due to a spur of the moment decision 3 weeks ago to book a few days down by the coast, we escaped the worst of it and spent our time pottering on the beach looking for fossils.  We found some good ones!

On our first day I found this - I spotted it due to the urchin shell markings on the one side of it and was then pleasantly surprised to see that there was a sparkly geode on the other side of it.  Mr.B was happy for me but I could see that he was just a little bit envious...

...then on our last day, he found this!  Three sea urchin fossils attached to a rock - each one is only the size of a hazelnut.  I think this one has to be the find of the year!

We returned on Friday to find our house hot and that the garden had survived the extreme temperatures.  Saturday was even hotter and we had to drag out the little aircon unit I bought a couple of years ago in order to make the sitting room bearable.  Yesterday was still too warm and then at lunchtime we had a few hours of very welcome rain.  So I sat and painted the above picture - Otis in his office - and it was fun to be able to complete a painting in one afternoon.  He will be available in my Etsy shop soon.

Next up - another dog commission!

Huffing & Puffing...

I made a puffer fish!  Not my own pattern but from a cute book called Curious Crocheted Creatures.  He already has a new home...
 

Forty Winks...

Here is the bear known as Pepper 821 who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska, taking a short nap while resting on a partially submerged rock.  This is based on a snap I took recently from the Explore.org web cams.  This has been painted in watercolour on paper and will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

Next up...I really don't know!

Crown Jewels...

 I have knitted the Crown Jewels...you will have to wait and see what they will be used for!

James...

 I have just finished this watercolour portrait and am so very happy with it!  When someone asked if I could paint their late partner, only recently deceased, I felt a huge responsibility and was anxious that I might not be able to achieve a suitable representation.  However, the photograph I was given to work with was so good and so joyous, I knew straight away that this was going to be a thoroughly enjoyable task.

This one is big - it's about three times the size I usually work with, and took up my whole drawing board - as I work with my board in my lap, it was a bit of a handful at times!  I started with the background and then the scarf and shirt - unusual for me, I usually start a portrait with the eyes, but as the eyes were sunglasses in this case, I thought to begin from the outside in.  There was not a single part of this painting that I did not enjoy, and I am particularly proud of how the sunglasses have turned out, especially as once I had completed them and their reflections, I realised you can see the suggestion of the gentleman's eyes behind them.

Now to await the client's reaction...

Orb...

Here is the knitted orb to go with the crown I made previously.  Next up, the sceptre...
 

Crowning Glory...

Just a little something I have been working on lately...
 

Interlude...

While I was between commissions at the weekend, I wanted to paint a little watercolour just to get back into the swing of using a paintbrush after pencilling for the past few weeks.  This painting is based on a scene I saw on the Explore.org bear cams a couple of weeks ago.  I haven't quite captured the light I wanted to, but I love the granulation on the bears.  It will do!

The commission I have just begun consists of a very large watercolour portrait - I drew it out yesterday and cannot wait to get started with the paint!
 

Pugs...

 I finally completed this one yesterday - thoroughly enjoyed drawing these cute little pugs.  Derweent Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper, private comission. That is the end of the dog portraits for now - my next commission is a people portrait and I am very excited about it!

I Am Still Here...

 I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted!  I have been doing stuff, but just not had the time to sit down and post it.  I have been knitting a few things for Nudinits, crocheted another sunflower shawl, and am currently working on a pencil portrait of a pair of pugs - this is how far I have got.

We have also been on holiday - we needed it after the drama of April!  We spent a week by the sea in a quiet village, with the beach two minutes walk away from our holiday let.  We just relaxed, collected fossils, pottered by the sea and generally restored our batteries.  The weather was great, the beach was deserted most of the time and was also dog friendly.

Upon our return, the garden had gone berserk and everything had grown about two feet taller, so I had to spend some time sorting that out.  Looks like we will have some veg this year after all!  And my daughter had her follow up visit to the hospital and we have been told that after a few more days on the reduced dose of 1 steroid tablet per day, she can finally come off the meds and all we have to do is make sure she does not come into close contact with any birds.  What a relief - its been a nightmare but it is finally over.

So hopefully I can get back into the swing of making and painting without any huge (for now) worries hanging over my head.  The next portrait commission I have is a very interesting one and Icannot wait to get started!

Finally Finished...

 This commission has taken me literally months to complete, mainly due to April being a complete disaster with my daughter's illness.  Once we had got over that, I had lost all motivation and it was difficult to get back in the swing of things as far as painting was concerned.

I was also not happy with the composition of this piece - the dog's head peering through the lilies is a picture of the same dog when it was a puppy, at the client's request. It is not something I would have ever chosen to do myself.  I also had about 6 photographs to work from in order to get the exact composition wanted by the client, so it was quite a task!

However, it finally got finished this week and the client is very happy with it, which is all I ask for really.  This was painted in watercolour on paper.

Next up - a pair of pugs in pencil on paper!  Looking forward to that one.  Funny how this year it is all about dogs whereas last year it was all about bears...

Violet...

Now things have settled down a bit since last month's slew of terrible things, I have had more time to spend at the drawing board.  I am still trying to get a commission finished that I started far too long ago, but I took a break over the weekend to draw this one.

Violet is a very special little person to me,and I did this picture as a birthday present for her mother. I used Derwent Coloursoft and Drawing pencils on a blue-grey pastel paper.  I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this one - not just for the subject matter but it felt so good to be sat with pencils in my hand after so long!

Here's how it looked framed:

Hooray!

My daughter come home Tuesday evening and slept for 10 hours.  She didn't stop smiling yesterday, so happy to be back.  She's on a stackful of meds for the next few weeks, but so far so good, she is breathing normally, is the right colour, and is carrying on like nothing happened.  Thank God for the NHS!

Hospital...

 On 18th April, my daughter was taken in to hospital again as her condition deteriorated.  After a barrage of tests yet again - ECG, CT scan, X-ray, bloods, and an echiocardiogram - there followed the most frightening 24 hours of my life as we were told she had either a hole in the heart, a blood clot on the lungs, as well as the lung inflammation, and it was potentially life-threatening.  Her oxygen levels were seriously low and her breathing fast and very shallow.

After a dreadful night in the respiratory ward watching her struggle to breath(sleeping in a chair when you are freaking out is nigh on impossible) my daughter  was moved upstairs to a more specialised ward where the prognosis was not quite so bad.  Her test results had been sent to the Royal Brompton hospital in London and the diagnosis received back from them was that there was nothing wrong with her heart other than the strain of dealing with the lung inflammation.  The CT scan showed she did not have a clot on her lungs.  So that left the lung inflammation - they still do not know the cause of it.  We were asked if she had been exposed to anything unusual such as chemicals, building work, new pets, to which the answer was no, not to my knowledge.

She has been treated with strong antibiotics, oxygen, and for the past 3 days steroids.  The turning point came 24 hours after the first steroid dose - she slept for 9 hours straight and she began to perk up and her oxygen levels rise.  After sleeping on a mattress on the floor for 2 nights, Friday night I managed to go home for a much needed shower and some sleep.  Yesterday morning we turned up as she was eating a large breakfast and dancing along to the music onthe radio with one of the nurses.  By the late afternoon, she had finally got our of bed to walk to the toilet by herself (she had been bedbound, hooked up to machinery,  and had the indignity of wearing nappies and using a bedpan, which caused her extreme embarrassment and distress) and was then able to sit in a chair to eat her dinner and watch a dvd. We've been told when she can manage without being attached to oxygen, she can come home, hopefully within a few days.

I still have a ream of questions for our GP surgery regarding the run up to this - why did no-one take me seriously about her cough?  I also am in the middle of  researching into whether or not the fact there has been a sewage leak into our waterways (that I only found out about yesterday) might have some connection.

Looking forward to seeing her this morning - will she be tap dancing down the corridor?

A Tough Week...

I have not been able to do much crafting over the past couple of weeks.  My daughter, who has Downs, has had a persistant cough since before Christmas.  We both had colds and both were left with an annoying cough that just would not shift.

I contacted our doctor's surgery on many occasions about my daughter's cough - she has always been healthy despite her condition - and was initially told as it was probably viral, it would go away on it's own after a few weeks, no need for antibiotics.  At her annual health check in February our GP was unavailable so we saw a practioner.  She had her chest examined and sent for a chest x-ray which came back clear.  I was told it would probably clear up on it's own, no need for antibiotics.  

Next, as my own cough was also not clearing, I submitted an e-consult and we were given an appointment to see a locum as yet again our GP was unavailable.  The locum examined me but did not even look at Stacie.  We were both prescribed anti-inflammatory inhalers - no antibiotics.

A couple of weeks ago after Stacie had a dreadful coughing fit one morning (one of many, the cough was not getting any better with the inhaler) I submitted yet another e-consult.  This took me two days as apparently by 10 a.m. the surgery had reached it's full quota for the day and would not accept any further emails.  We got an appointment to actually see our own GP!  She examined Stacie's chest, called another doctor in to do the same, then informed me they had discovered a small heart murmer and considered her cough to possibly be the result of fluid around the heart.  Odd, Stacie has never had any heart problems despite having Downs - also does not explain why I had the same cough.  So we were given an appointment for the following Monday for her to have an ECG. There followed a very worrying weekend.

Last Monday we went for the ECG and when the nurse saw the results, she took them to the on call doctor (our GP was unavailable, surprise, surprise) who said Stacie needed to go to A&E at the local hospital immediately and gave me the paperwork to ensure she would be seen without having to queue.

Upon getting to our local hospital, Stacie was taken in for various tests - she had another ECG, she had another chest x-ray, she had blood taken and a canula inserted into her arm, she had a CT scan, and she had a mega dose of antibiotics via IV.  Considering she has never been to hospital in her life, Stacie was incredible, very calm.  The only time she broke down was when they told us she needed to be admitted overnight for  further antibiotics and monitoring as her x-ray had shown a weird thing they call 'ground glass' - a kind of sparkling effect on every part of her lungs.  I had to stay with her - no way could she be left on her own in a strange place, let alone a ward full of geriatric bronchial patients, half of which had some form of dementia and shouted and howled throughout the night.

Despite the noise, Stacie managed to snag a few hours sleep - I lay with her wide awake and uncomfortable!  In the morning she was given yet more antibiotics and had her vital signs tested for the umpteenth time.  We were told by the consultant that as she was responding so well to the antibiotics, she would be able to go home after having some more blood tests taken.  The opinion was that she had infective bronchiolitis - no mention of any heart problems...funny that.

So we have had a rough week - Stacie is on a double dose of antibiotics for 10 days, which while they are doing a cracking job of getting rid of her cough, have caused her to have diarrhea (thank God I have a Vax...), loss of appetite and a sore mouth.  She also had a fever over the weekend for some unaccountable reason.  I rang the 111 NHS help line, who were great and I got to speak to a doctor within minutes, who put my worries to rest.

Yesterday we went to look around a shop and Stacie wanted to come with us.  She was fine until we came out, whereupon she turned a funny greenish-yellow and nearly keeled over.  We took her back to the car and then home - I think the combination of everything, plus not having eaten anything substantial for three days just became too much for her.

However, she did eat a bit more yesterday and had a good night last night with no coughing, no fever, and no upset tummy.  She has woken up this morning cheerful and has eaten a couple of Weetabix.  I think we might have turned the corner at last.  Three more days of antibiotics, then a follow up visit to the hospital, then hopefully she will be out of the woods.

I have a lot of questions for our surgery when this is all over - why was her cough not taken seriously in the beginning?  Why were antibiotics never given?  This could have been stopped before it escalated to where we are now.  Why was she not examined before being given the inhaler?  Why was it assumed that her heart was the problem when she has absolutely no history of heart problems?  Is it because she has Downs Syndrome she was automatically labelled as having a weak heart?  I feel Stacie has been failed big time - thank goodness the hospital were on the ball.

So that's why I have not had the time or inclination to paint, sew or knit - plus I am exhausted!  The garden did get sorted out though - physical activity helps with the anxiety.  Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly.

 

Headache...

The commission I am currently working on has given me such a headache - it's a matter of combining about 5 different photos to make one cohesive composition and I am having a hard time of it as what the customer wants and what I would choose to do artistically are two different things.  However, I think I have found a working solution, and this bit has gone very well so far!
 

Vidar...

 This was such a special commission and I am so pleased I managed to do it justice.  This is a British army service dog who has recently passed away. I was asked to paint him with his medals as a surprise gift for his handler, who is understandably very upset by his passing.

This turned out to be a bit of a tricky one - the photos I was given to work from were either fuzzy or from the wrong angle, plus I have not done a pencil portrait for a very long time and felt extremely rusty.  However, with the help of Google and a lot of perseverance, I got there in the end.

This was worked in coloured pencil on pastel paper, the medals were painted using a mixture of metallic paints and other mediums.

Hats...

I seem to be knitting an awful lot of hats lately - but that's OK, they are quick and easy.  I had a last minute hat to knit for my granddaughter over the weekend last week - she was going as the Very Hungry Caterpillar for Book Day and needed this to top off the costume.  After a bit of a tantrum and refusing to try it on when she first saw it (they don't call it the Terrible Twos for nothing!) apparently she went off to nursery in her costume yesterday very happy.

 Thse are a couple of hats knitted from patterns in the Knit the National Parks book.  The one on the left is based on Yellowstone and the one on the right is Capitol Reef.  I like the Yellowstone hat very much, not so keen on the other one, but I do know that it represents a rock formation so I guess if you know, you know!  These are a commission.

Still on the drawing board, that wonderful army service dog - I am working on his medals now and it feels like they might actually take more time to do than the dog! Wish me luck...

Knitting A Rainbow...

 

I found this wonderful bright yarn at our local Hobbycraft store a few weeks ago, and it took me a while to decide what to make with it. In the end I chose this lacy scarf, knitted in two halves and grafted together in the middle.

It has turned out well, despite the Kitchener grafting being the wrong way round and causing a ridge down the centre - the instructions in the book were either wrong or I misinterpreted them!  This only took just over half a ball of this yarn, so I have that and another ball left over - what to make, what to make...

I'm extremely busy at the moment - unusual for the weeks following Christmas.  I have a dog portrait on the drawing board, another waiting in the wings, two painted boxes to do, two  knitted hats and some rather interesting animation pieces to knit.  Perhaps the family can learn to feed themselves for a while?

Snow Dogs Complete...

And suddenly it was finished.  I can always sense when a painting is nearly done - I start to get bored and think about the next piece I have lined up, but I wasn't quite sure this one was ready.  Turns out it was - just an hour's work yesterday and there it was, all done.  I am very pleased with how this one has turned out - I haven't painted such a large acrylic for a very long time, plus the fact that while Mr.B was convalescing I didn't paint at all for two months, I wondered if I might have become rusty.

But just like riding a bike (actually, I can't ride a bicycle, so that's a rubbish analogy) it all came back to me.  This is a private commission, heading off to Maine, USA.

Next up, quite an exciting one, a portrait of an army service dog complete with his medals in coloured pencil.  I've been looking forward to getting my teeth into this one!

Coming Along Nicely...

 

Sunflowers...

A friend of mine commissioned this and provided the pattern.  It's not something I would have thought to make by myself, but I am very glad that someone asked me to as it was a lot of fun.  It was also a fair bit of work - each sunflower is crocheted individually, and then joined by crocheting together with the green - again individually.

This meant there were an awful lot of ends to be woven in!

As with all my knitted and crochet wraps and shawls, I washed this carefully by hand and then thought I would pop it in the washing machine for a short spin to get rid of the excess water before blocking it. That was when disaster struck - the washing machine decided it did not want to spin that day, it just kept going round and round, tossing the unfortunate shawl as it went.  Despite several tries, and increasing panic at what might be happening to the shawl, the washing machine never did spin that day.  I ended up taking the shawl out and wringing it by hand before squeezing as much water out as I could by wrapping it in a towel and standing on it.  Thankfully there did not appear to be any damage other than a couple of ends had come loose, and I successfully blocked the shawl - it did take nearly 3 days to dry however!

Mr. B pulled the washing machine out and took the back off it the following day - discovered there was no way he could get into the workings without breaking various seals, so screwed the back on and put the washing machine back in it's place.  Needless to say, it was worked perfectly ever since - go figure!

No More Snow...

 That's the background just about done, now on to the good bit!

It's Cold Outside...

I woke up to thick fog and frost on the ground this morning - it's been a week of heavy frosts here, which makes outside activities not a lot of fun.  However, it also means I have no excuse not to get on with my current commission.  This will be a double dog portrait, but I am starting with the background as it is nigh on impossible to paint a detailed background around completed animals without it looking weird.  This is painted in acrylics and it feel so very good to be back at work!

Currently on the needles - or should I say hook - a very showy crocheted shawl made of sunflowers and leaves.  Not something I would ever have thought of making myself, but a friend has commissioned it and it has been a lot of fun and will certainly be a talking point once it is finished as it is absolutely gorgeous!

First Painting of 2023...

 Happy New Year!  After December being full of sickness, things going wrong and bad weather, 2023 seems to have got off to a bit of a better start, although the weather is still abysmal.

I've not been able to paint for about 6 weeks since Mr.B had his second knee replacement surgery.  It's hard to find the time when you are caring for two people as well as trying to prepare for Christmas.  It has been incredibly frustrating, especially as I have three commissions waiting patiently in the wings. So rather than start with a commission, I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with a quick bear - I know what I am doing with a bear, and it is a excellent way to get those painting muscles moving again. It felt very good to get paint on to paper once more!

So now that is finished (and it looks like I may have sold it already) I can get on with my first commission, which is a double pet portrait in acrylics. I've not painted one of these for a very long time, so I am really looking forward to it.

I'm also crocheting a very interesting shawl for someone - consists of 15 sunflowers.  Watch this space!