Last Saturday evening, the Delaware County Humane Society (http://www.hsdcohio.org) held their annual fundraiser, the Fur Ball, at the Medallion Club in Westerville. I was honored to have a portrait commission offered at their live auction. It is my understanding that it made a healthy amount of $$$ for the humane society, which makes me very happy. Some very nice and thoughtful portrait customers of mine made the experience remarkably easy for me by doing all the legwork and setup and using their own portraits as samples. All I had to do was say, "Okay," and it was done, which was great because I am swept up in the chaos of details that happens when you are preparing to put your life on hold for a little while, as I am preparing for some major surgery soon. If that is what it feels like to delegate, I like it! They and the folks from the humane society did a great job with the display, and I appreciate their efforts! I also appreciate the bidding that took place, and many thanks to the winning bidder. I look forward to creating a really special portrait for you!

Thanks for the photo Jason!

It's almost time....The Westerville Music and Arts Festival is coming up shortly, and I will be there! It's on July 13th (11 am to 8 pm) and 14th (11 am to 5 pm) at Heritage Park. That is located at the corner of Cleveland Avenue and Main Street in Westerville. If you need more details about the festival, or directions to get there, click here and that should take you to the informational page from the Westerville Chamber of Commerce. I will be located toward the north end of the blacktop walkway that runs north and south, and I will be on the east side of the walkway.

I usually send out a coupon to my mailing list members for a little something off a jewelry purchase at the festival, so if you would like to receive one, just go to "contact me" and send me a message saying "Add me to your mailing list!" or something like that, along with your email address, and I'll add you to the list.

I have quite a few new jewelry designs debuting at the festival, as well as lots of samples of my portraiture. So, if you've been thinking about commissioning a portrait and would like to see some work in person, the festival is a great time to do it (although you're always welcome to set up and appointment to come by at other times.)

I hope to see you there!

Check out this sweet little guy. As I was working on his portrait, I just wanted to squeeze him, he's so cute. Unfortunately, that won't be possible. Like so many of my portrait subjects, he has departed this world. It happened just a few months ago. He was 16 (like Sophie!). He was a much loved dog, with an owner that was crazy about him. I enjoyed meeting his owner, and she and I shared lots of stories about our recently departed loves. I think it was a little bit of therapy for each of us, and I was thankful for the experience. My job is about more than painting portraits, and I am grateful for the people I meet while doing what I do, and the bond I share with them that comes from not only loving our pets, but also knowing the pain of losing them.

The owner was given a paw print of her dog by the funeral home that assisted her when Nicho passed, and she inquired about having a pendant made with his print on it. I had never done one exactly like this before, but I knew it was possible. I scanned a copy of the print and reduced it, then transferred it to a special kind of paper that is used to transfer the design to the silver and create a resist for etching. After a soak in an acid solution, a very meaningful piece of jewelry emerged. (See below.) You know that as soon as I finished it I was wishing that I had a paw print of Sophie's to work with, but not so. I do have a personalized pendant with a stamped paw print on it, and the pendant that's a little figure of her, which I shared with you on 4-29-13, which I'm very happy with. But still....the etched paw print was very cool.