Poets & Writers & Remembering 9/11...

I was honored to have my work published in the September/October 2011 issue of Poet & Writers Magazine to accompany an editorial piece on the Literature of 9/11 by Kevin Nance. I painted this piece on 9/11/02, it was a very emotional experience to paint, even a year later...I had done a lot of work in my sketch book around the time of 9/11/01 but it took a year for this painting to emerge from my consciousness. Still leaves me with a heavy heart.

My dog spotted on Mapquest satellite map...

At this year'sFields Project Art Fair I had a lovely lady and her daughter come to my display and excitedly share with me that my dog field sculpture (done in 2007) shows up on the MapQuest satellite map! This is pretty amazing because we mowed that field in one day and the photo was obviously taken early in the day since the negative space around the dog and the flowers was not mowed yet. You can't see us, by we are down there on the tractor...we stayed out there until it was done, in spite of the fact that Jennifer, the farmer was pregnant at the time...women farmers rock! ; ) See below for the finished project:

Anne’s 11 acre Field Sculpture

....it was an amazing week on the farm: part I

I spent a magical 9 days, June 18-26th, at the 13th Annual Fields Project Artist Residency. I'll split my recap into a few posts because I have a lot of photos that I would like to share. I stayed with the Pfieffer Family near Ashton, IL on their pig farm, and I'm glad to report that they have agreed to adopt me! ...do you like their license plate?! My toes are the green ones, painted in honor of the week, which was filled with laughter and an endless supply of rural artistic inspiration.

I'll start with the family farm dogs...this is Beauty.

...and Bebe, hard working farm dogs most of the time!

...and old, Tiger - he has quite a set of lungs!
Lots of kitties running around, too!
Pigs! I'll go into much more detail about these guys in the following posts. Momma cow and her calf...sorry Taryn, I forgot momma's name, baby'g going to be an 'L' name...I suggested "Louie", "Lester"....oh, how about "LeRoy"?
And this is Frosty (note the ears...struck with a little frost bite) and Daffodil in the background..they were really fun goats, totally engaging and loved attention! So beautiful.
A painting of them in process in my outdoor art studio at Castle Rock State Park.
Daffodil, so pretty.

Frosty was often 'standing' on the fence like this when I would get in my truck to leave for the day.
Look at that mug!
...more to come!

...some things I've been working on in clay...

carved this one on my birthday.

april was tough this year.

carved this back in january...did i mention our house is for sale?

"Day of the Dead" inspired narrative pet portrait...my favorite!

...just helped my fabulous new client, Claire, pull off a wonderful surprise for her partner, inconspicuously hung a narrative portrait of their dogs in my storefront window:

...her priceless response when she noticed it:

...i'm still smiling, this was such a fun project and the joy and surprise with which it was received, heart warming. ...and I love, love, loved creating the Mexican 'day of the dead' inspired details. It's my new favorite pet portrait! Do you like the subtle little angel/el angelito & devil/la diablita details? and the leaves and vine motif...with scalloped edges...this is going to carry through into some new paintings!

my dreaming mind...

I had some strange dreams last night...this drawing is a bit of an embellishment. Here's what it would look like as a 'day dream':

Happily Ever After...

VanSluys

This Custom Narrative Commission Print was a gift for newlyweds Katie & Tim. It features their Chicago neighborhood, Lincoln Square, their house, their beloved beagles: Nigel & Zoe, their love of travel and Mini Coopers (he races) and the site of their recent wedding ceremony: the Natural Bridges of Santa Cruz, in California. They received a Gift Certificate and were able to collaborate with me on the design for a most meaningful and vibrant work of art!

Katie & Time came by the studio this afternoon to pick up "Happily Ever After". And on that subject, they are currently fostering Kaylee (see below) a very sweet Beagle here in Chicago that needs a home. Please contact the number below or visit FoundChicago.org if you think you could give this wonderful dog a 'happily ever after', too!

4 Legged visitors to the studio...lead to exciting news!

This little cutie is Jack, he came to the studio back in January with Susan who brought her dogTuesday's portrait in to be featured in the 190 North tv shoot which will air this Sunday!

I also got to meetBarkley whose portrait I did back in December, his owner Tom brought his piece in to be featured as well.

We did part of the shoot atTango's house in Bucktown: Unfortunately I don't have any other photos from the day of the shoot...but it was great fun! I'm nervous but very excited to see how it all turned out...tune in to 190 North at 10:35pm on Sunday on ABC Channel 7 in Chicago!