I have finished my bluebird and indian paintbrush wildflowers miniature painting. Here is an image of the completed painting :). 
New Artwork – Cats & Birds
I have just started two new pieces – one of them is a fairly large scaled painting. They are both in their sketch phase at the moment, but I will likely start painting on them this evening.
The first piece is of a white tiger — one of the beautiful tigers we studied at the Cincinnati zoo (read this post here… ). This is the large painting. I plan to paint it about 24"x36".
The second painting is of an American bald eagle and will be about 9×12. I haven’t painted one of these for a little while and I really like the expression of this bird. It should render well in paint.
I will try to get photos of these pieces in their sketch form up on the blog in the next few days.
Mountain Bluebird Miniature
I am finishing up on my Mountain Bluebird piece – I should have it done tomorrow sometime. I’ll post the final image of the painting as soon as I can.
Miniature Paintings
I have been painting on this new miniature wolf painting for part of today — I started working on it a few days ago. I’ve added a photo of the inital sketch for the piece in this post (I am currently working on the painting in it’s color phase). The wolf in this painting does not have the typical grey wolf patterns — it is a white wolf. The fur will be painted in a warm ivory color. This type of wolf is not very common, so I was very pleased to have the opportunity to study it in person.
When it’s finished, this wolf painting will be showing in the "Little Jewels" miniature exhibition in Jackson Hole at Galleries West Fine Art. :)
Updated Image – Mountain Bluebird
This is how my watercolor painting of the Mountain Bluebird and Indian Paintbrush wildflowers are looking at the moment. I will be bringing out more of the habitat around the bird before it’s finished — but it is nearly complete.
The painting is 5×7 inches.
A Photo Shoot That Wasn’t
We headed off bright and early this morning for a photoshoot in the northwoods of Minnesota to get some new references. Unfortunately, we ran into some fairly poor conditions (there is a stand of trees in the very center of the photo that shows as a faint grey because of the heavy snow falling and blowing) for reference gathering, and had to return to the studio empty handed.
Blog Delays
It has been quite a while since my last post. My apologies to all of my regular visitors — I have been a little under the weather. I over did it during our fall/winter show while trying to get everything done. I will try to add ‘catch-up’ posts soon.
As for what is going on at the moment, I am making the final adjustments to my mountain bluebird commission. It should be finished soon. I am also working on my pieces that will debute at Galleries West’s miniature show "Little Jewels". This gallery exhibition is my last deadline of the year, so a little relief is in sight ;).
Whistle Pik Galleries Miniature Show
I just found out my painting of this barred owl found a new home during the presale (before the official show opening) at Whistle Pik Galleries’ 10th annual Christmas Miniature Show in Texas. Some day I would like to visit their show. I have been a part of their holiday show for a number of years now, but have never actually visited the gallery. I hear it’s very nice. :)
Thanks to Whistle Pik for their support and comments!! We appreciate it!! :)
Little Pictures – Hilliard Society Miniature Exhibition
I just received notice that two of my miniatures that were sent to an exhibition in Britain found new homes (one of them is pictured on the left).
They were showing at the Hilliard Society of Miniaturists annual members exhibition in Wells, England. Both of the pieces were also selected as favorites in the exhibition by the public and were given the "Most Popular Exhibit" award, which is also very flattering. The Latham Studios What’s New & News page has a post about it as well.
Some members of the society’s administration were originally considering a purchase of my work, but then decided to offer the pieces for sale to the public. I have been trying to send work to this exhibition in England for quite a while, but for one reason or another always seemed to run out of time when the deadline finally arrived. I am very pleased that I was able to do so this year.
Goldeneye Painting – Waterfowl Series
I have been painting on this piece (of a drake goldeneye duck) today. I like how all of the soft tones in the painting are coming along. :)
