He's 17 years old and has that maturity about him that senior pets often do.  Even when Izadora get swatty he just ducks and walks away.

Here he is laying on my daughter's drawing table. He loves to keep her company when she's working.

Dustin 4-2019 17 year old (c)KMS -3b light

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

When I got home I took it out of my pocket and put it on the kitchen windowsill. Today I noticed it and decided I wanted to do something with it. Green is the complimentary color -opposite color on the color wheel- of red, and opposite colors on the color wheel make each other stand out really well. So I wanted to use green to really make the red cap pop. I thought of the green grass in the yard but it was raining pretty hard and I'm a bit too much of a worry wart to take my Nikon outside when it's so wet. So I put the Coca Cola cap back on the windowsill and started to make my daily green drink. Into the blender went healthy stuff like spinach, kale, and an orange to help it taste better. -How do those cows eat so much grass?- As I'm drinking it I realize it's a really pretty green so I pour some onto a white plate, drop the Coca Cola cap in the middle, and start to shoot. I took about 40 shots. I like this one the best. I love how the green makes the red pop and the red makes the green pop. 

coca cola 4-2019 KMS FRAME

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

These onions survived the winter in my veggie garden. They are tenacious! I love it that they can handle the cold so well. They stay green all winter, poking their heads up through the snow. My hat is off to you, little plants!

Here is the original shot in color. I do like it but prefer the antique plate version below it.

Onion 4-4-2019 KMS 4

Onion 4-4-2019 KMS 5

This is the top of the onion. It's bent over and a bit withered, but beautiful! 

Onion 4-4-2019 KMS loop BW

This tiny flower is about the size of a pea, if even that big.   Tiny Flowers 4-4-2019 KMS BW This is a photo from last year. These babies were in our tree. They were as big as mama in just a few weeks.

Can you count how many there are? They sure fit in with the surrounding colors!

Birds in our tree May 2017 edit  

I can't wait to see what else pops up in the next few weeks!

(There are three baby birds)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Jelly -March 2019

Jelly (3-2019) Digital

Have a great day!

Karen

This morning I woke up to rain and birds flying around outside twittering as they enjoyed the lack of snow and freezing temps. I don't think I was aware that the birds and rain were affecting  my choice of colors in this piece, but I think some part of me that was definitely enjoying the Springs Sounds made the choice for me.

Birds chirping, rain splashing, wind blowing, leaves flittering.
Buds peeping, flowers blooming, butterflies whispering, ladybugs chattering.

March 2 2019

Floating -Feb 28 2019

Floating feb 2019Photo: Red Bubble

Photo credit: Red Bubble.com

To see the pillow and other products with Floating on them click here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/37363260-river?asc=u&p=floor-pillow

I love red so cherries certainly grab my attention. I wanted them to look 3-D and edible, like they could be picked up off the paper and popped into the mouth.

Do you think I came close?

Let me know in the comments!

Thanks!

Karen MacDuff Squires

Cherries 1-2019

I turned to youtube again -I'd been watching loads of youtube art tutorials already- but this time I typed in -I'm lost-. I was lucky and got two really great videos on being lost. Apparently I'm not the only one. The videos helped me understand it was okay to feel lost. And that it's a good thing in the sense that at least I'm still trying.

Next I watched youtube videos on following a passion, because I hadn't been able to find one in two years. In a way art is my passion, but that's a very wide category, for me anyway. I like to focus a lot tighter than that. What I learned from watching those videos is that if you're struggling to find a passion, or have tried and can't find one, choose something you like, or don't mind doing, and become passionate about it.

I've always loved being outside in nature, although I don't want to paint or photograph landscapes. I love plants, flowers, love to grow them, and have a veggie garden every year -have to point out that I do not have a green thumb, but enjoy it anyway. So I have decided to focus on botanicals. 

I found a book called Flora by DK at Costco and bought it. It looks really interesting! I also found on Amazon a book called Flower Color Guide by Darroch Putman and Michael Putman. It's got 400 flowers, each flower large on a page by itself, flowers arranged by color. I also bought on Amazon Color Me Floral: Stunning Monochromatic Arrangements for Every Season by Kiana Underwood and Nathan Underwood. This last book hasn't arrived yet but it looked really interesting.

I've got a long and exciting journey ahead of me learning about plants and how to illustrate them. I don't feel lost any longer though, Whew!

Very simple, but a beginning!

Cone_Flower_Nov_2018 FLAT SIG

Dandelion_Nov_2018 FLAT SIG

Flower_Nov_2018 FLAT SIG

Lavender_Nov_2018 FLAT SIG

Queen_Ann_Lace_Nov_16_2018 FLAT SIG SHARP

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

xoxoxo

Betty_Aug_4th_2018 FRAME

I had fun drawing Betty. I loved not sticking with "dog" colors and just having fun with a summer theme.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires

He loves to fly! We have to watch him carefully because he tries to fly off the couch and the bed. He's so happy and full of energy!

"Sterling The Bird Dog" July 2018

Here he is as a bird dog. I think that's what he is in his mind:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires

xoxoxox

We had a fun chat when we got home and it appears he loves to get his portrait made, and since I love to make portraits, we decided to team up and get some work done.

After he had a nap, Mr. MacDuff took off outside to check out the backyard. He sat right down in the bright sunlight. It really was hot! It made his nose ouchy so I showed him how to hide under the shade of a tree. He felt much better under the tree.

Two kids, innocent, sweet, playful, staying by each other's sides.

The way it should be.

Baby_Coo_July_2018-3 SHARP SIG

Feel free to leave comments:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires

xoxoxoxo

For me, the first Wait was 16 years.

The_Wait._July_2018-3 SIG FRAME

I was late for my cycle and was hoping again that I might have conceived, but I knew that I hadn't. I'd hoped for 16 years!

I was feeling nauseated and it was increasing by the day. Sore chest. Tired. But I figured I had the flu.

For about a week I got sicker and sicker. Then one day at work I started needing the loo every 30 minutes. Oh great! I've also got a bladder infection! But then I remembered my mother had an over-active bladder early in her pregnancies. In fact it was her first sign that she was pregnant.

That day at work I decided it was time to get tested. I went to the local hospital where they ran free pregnancy tests. I was taken back and given a cup to urinate in. I handed the sample to the nurse and was lead back to the waiting room. I sat and waited for my news.

My thoughts were all over the place! I bet I'm really pregnant this time! I'm nauseated and getting worse by the day! Running to pee! No cycle! It MUST BE!

Then reality set it. No WAY is this happening to ME! It's been too long to turn up pregnant now! Sixteen years....!

I saw the nurse walking toward me with a smile on her face. She simply handed me the paper with a box check POSITIVE on it! I very calmly said thank you, took the paper and headed toward the door to the hall. Two steps out the door and I had tears in my eyes. Another few steps and I was waiting at the elevator with more tears.  Two floors lower and I had tears running down my cheeks and was beginning to gasp like a child who'd lost their cookie. The elevator doors opened and I stepped out and was walking down the hall toward the door to the parking lot. People who were walking toward me stopped and looked at me as I was now crying buckets, gasping, and trying unsuccessfully to get control of myself.

I made it to my car and climbed in. As I sat there continuing to cry, I all of a sudden realized that I actually had a baby growing inside me at that exact moment! I put my hand gently on my abdomen and said ."Hi baby! Hi"

Then my next "The Wait" began. It was a glorious time! Perfect! I loved my belly as it grew. The kicks. Hearing the heartbeat.

Our son was born right on time. He's 21 years old now and still bringing us complete joy!

The drawing isn't a representation of me. It's every woman.

Children are the purpose of my life. I'm sure many other women agree, and men too of course.

I adopted a son as well and his story is beautiful as well. I'll draw that one day.

Drop me a comment if you'd like to!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires
xoxoxoxoxo

A loving couple stands by the shore.

Are they watching a grown child leave to seek their adventure?

Are they waiting for a loved one to return?

Are they simply enjoying a moment together by the water’s edge?

No matter what they are doing, they love each other and are doing it together.

They are bonded.

Bonded_June_2018 SIG FRAME

I drew this because they are watching their youngest child move away. My youngest is 13 years old and I am certainly feeling a sense of urgency to fit as much into the next few years as possible with her.  My job has been a mother for the last 35 years and I'm feeling I may be completely lost when they are all grown up.

Anyone else feeling that too?

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires
xoxoxoxox

Summer_Evening_June_2018_

I love the black because it reminds me of heating our home with coal. It seems that everything was dusty and black, even the sky. It kept us warm though and I'll take dirty and black over being cold any day. I love yellow because it reminds me of warmth and I feel it brings life and happiness into the drawing and it's no longer dreary. What do you think?

Got to add some cool celtic text.

Summer_Evening_June_2018_Scotland Screenshot-2018-6-29 'Scottish Girls' Women's Fitted Scoop T-Shirt by macduffstudio(1)

https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/32473926-scottish-girls?asc=u&p=womens-fitted-scoop&rbs=&rel=carousel

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires
xoxoxoxox

Willard Bay June 2018 smugy faces

It sure is a beautiful place. It's as close to a beach as we're going to get in the middle of the desert, although the Great Salt Lake is pretty amazing and we love to head there too. (I blurred all the faces for privacy)

Here are some photos I made of my kiddos while were there. It's hard to believe my oldest is 34!

This is Alex Joay.

Alex Joay Wiscombe Willard Bay Utah June 2018 (2) BW

This is Keaton. He's 21.

Keaton Arthur Squires Willard Bay Ut June 2018 (4) BW Keaton Arthur Squires Willard Bay Ut June 2018 (2) BW

And this is Izobel. She's 13.

Kiyah Izobel Squires Willard Bay June 2018 (1) ANTIQUE Kiyah Izobel Squires Willard Bay June 2018 (2) BW Keaton Arthur Squires Kiyah Izobel Squires Willard Bay UT June 2018 BW

This is a path that leads from the beach to the camping grounds. It's very pretty!

Willlard Bay UT June 2018 (2)

We left a couple of hours later. It was pretty hot there and we were not in the water cooling off. We'll be heading back there soon though:)

Willlard Bay UT June 2018 BW

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires

xoxoxoxox

"The Walk" June 2018 SIG FLAT SHARP FRAME        

I was born in my grandmother's bed.  My mother was born in the same home in the same bed. 

The drawing is my older sister and I running through the park. I bet we're heading home to have some haggis and chips. I bet we'll have some trifle for dessert. Delicious!

Life goes way too fast! Take photos, make videos, draw memories!

Have a great day!

Karen MacDuff Squires

xoxoxoxox

"Mother And Child On A Windy Day" June_2018-1 SIG FRAME

I drew "Mother And Child On a Windy Day" this morning while everyone was asleep...except for our five dogs. They are up and ready to go the second I wake up...the very second...or 7:00 am, whichever comes first. So I had five snuggle buddies with me. The more the merrier, and the more the hairier. (NEVER buy a velvet couch when you have pets. You'll be purchasing those sticky roller things to get rid of hair by the truck load) They're sure worth it though, the pets, not the rollers...although they are needed too:)

I hear cats are the same way...waking you up early that is. Our cats play in the rest of the house all night so they are not in the bedroom to wake me up.

I love mother-child images. The bond is certainly among the most powerful there are. Stephen King, King of Horror, said in a book he wrote, "There is no bitch alive like a mother in fear for her child." Except that I just went and checked I had the quote correct and apparently it's, "There's no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids." I like my version better, Stephen. (WINK) I love Stephan King though. He's brilliant!

Okay, I'd better get back to the laundry, then onto mowing the lawn.

Have a great day!

Karen MacDuff Squires

xoxoxox

Based on his style, I made this drawing today.

Sunday Morning June 2018 In Markey Robinson Style

I love the simplicity in his work. He was from Ireland, close to my homeland of Scotland.

This painting -below- is by Markey Robinson.

Markey Robinson

So unique and full of emotion! It really grabs my heart:)

Off to have dinner with the fam:)

Karen MacDuff Squires
xoxoxoxoxo

We didn't have a tv.

When I was a toddler we had an outhouse.

We played outside as often and as long as possible.

Food was simple.

We heated our homes with a coal fireplace so it was cold most of the time. We went to bed when the sun went down to conserve fuel. We froze all night. We had to start a fire every morning and it took most of the day to heat up the one room that was warm in the house.

We wore uniforms to school. We got wacked with a ruler if we spoke in class.

Our parents wacked us if we stepped out of line. 

Life was hard, but life was simple.

I tend to like simple art. Sort of folk-arty.

Gal In Simple life (C)karen MacDuff Squires June 2018 FLAT FRAME SIG

Simple colors. Simple character. Simple life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires

The spots behind her are urging her forward. The spots in front are supporting her as she moves into unfamiliar areas of her life.

I can see a fun color and my brain will light up! I start dreaming about what I can do with it.

That's what happened when I saw pink and yellow in an ad the other day. The ad was a pineapple on a pink cloth. I couldn't wait to get to the drawing board to make something. This is what I made:)

Bubble Gum June 2nd 2018 (C)Karen MacDuff Squires Sig Frame Stroke

BubbleGum Redbubble https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/32061461-bubble-gum-in-springtime?asc=u&p=a-line-dress

The pink reminds me of bubble gum, the yellow reminds me of summer.

For some odd reason, I think I pretty much only chewed bubble gum in the summer! Hm. Could that possibly be true? Memories can be really odd things.

Have you ever shared a childhood memory with a sibling and they said that's not how it happened? Brains are funny.

My brain is saying right now that I need to go outside and pull weeds from the veggie garden. My body is saying no way! I'm good at counting to 5 and making myself get up and move.

So:

One

Two

Three

Four

FIVE!

Bye!

When I was a child I felt that someone was watching over me. Although the "someone" didn't have a name, a face; looking back, it was my father. He'd left when I was 4 years old and didn't look back. I missed him and in my young mind I made up his presence.

I eventually found him after years of searching as an adult. Unfortunately he was dying of cancer. He was living in Canada, I in Utah. He didn't want visitors and thought he'd get better and then we could meet. I knew it wouldn't happen though. He was too sick.

He passed away three months later, but we talked a lot during those three months. I learned that we had a lot in common and it answered questions I'd always had about who I was. I'm grateful we had time together during those long phone calls.

After he passed away I felt his presence for about a year. He was hanging around and I needed that. I think he's moved on now as I don't feel him anymore. But that's okay. I still carry his love with me.

I don't hold it against him that he left. We all make mistakes. Living with pain and anger is not good for the soul and it holds us back.

I'll see him again someday. Until then, draw on dad, draw on.

Eye_One_5-27-2018-2 stroke on frame

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires
xoxoxoxoxox

I do!

Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes it's okay. Sometimes it's just rotten.

Depends on the day and my current mood.

But either way, there are blocks of colored metal everywhere. Things going fast. Car noise. Great music playing. And if you sing along, you'll feel much happier.

Floor and Wallpaper May 2018 Karen MacDuff Squires FRAME SIG PINTEREST

Markers and Caran D'ache pastels. 18"x15"

Have a great day!

Karen MacDuff Squires

I don't have a green thumb.  In fact I planted the flowers in the pot last year and I discovered them today hidden under one of the evergreens. They survived the winter! Awesome!

The new baby trees are in the middle and the left.

Newly Planted Tree May 2018

Here is another plant that survived the winter. It's an herb that went ahead and flowered this spring. Wish I could remember what it's called. You can see I'm not a gardener, but I enjoy playing in the mud and growing things...and enjoy taking pictures of them too.

Newly Planted Tree May 2018 (2)

Been a long day!

Good night!

Karen MacDuff Squires

Duckling_March_4_2018 (C) Karen MacDuff Squires FRAME

She reminds me of the rain yesterday. I love rain, the ocean, pools, lakes. It's obvious we came from the water a long time ago:)

Duckling_March_4_2018 (C) Karen MacDuff Squires NO SIG CONTRAST TANK REDBUBBLE

If you love to draw and would like to have your art on clothing, check out RedBubble.com.  I can't wait to get this ordered!

Photo Copyright: https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/31582599-happy-little-ducking?p=contrast-tank&rbs=

Duckling_March_4_2018 (C) Karen MacDuff Squires NO SIG Phone CASE REDBUBBLE

I'm Quackers for this phone case! (Okay, Okay, OKAY! I went too far. Not funny, ha ha)

Too-da-loo!

Karen MacDuff Squires

Jen and I were both shooting photos like crazy capturing this guy as he ran from one spot to the next. He was moving like a lightening bolt! It was fun seeing him so excited! 

He's got a huge grin in almost all of the photographs! Here are two of them.

_MMS6651 CROPPED edited _MMS6625 cropped and edited

See that smile? He's impossible to watch and not smile along with him.

I bet he slept for a while after he got home!

Au revoir!

Karen MacDuff Squires

I bought some for the sole purpose of using the colors.

Chard_ with 3d FRAME 5-1-2018-1

I ended up not using the green in such a saturated way...the green on the leaves was a darker green and very saturated. I went with this lighter, less saturated version instead.

I added some text to give him attitude!

Chard_5-1-2018-2

And here is Chard on a t-shirt.

Kick Rocks means -leave me alone! So if you told someone to leave you alone they look down and kick rocks as they are walking away.

Chard_5-1-2018-2 REDBUBBLE
Photo copyright: https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/31581561-monster-with-an-attitude?asc=u&p=womens-fitted-scoop

He's called Chard...for obvious reasons:)

Au revoir!

Karen MacDuff Squires

This drawing started with a squiggle that reminds me of my 21 year old son's long curly hair.

Original_With_Whiskers-1 FRAME SIG

The character (Karakter) did have a lot of pink in it originally. I decided it wasn't working though so black and white it is.

See you on the flip side!

Karen MacDuff Squires

It's so delicate, so beautiful! I just can't agree that this is a "weed." I'm mesmerized by it!

Plants in the garden at 2611 S Thoeau Drive Magna. April 14-2018 (3) SIG FRAME

Whew! I'm blown away by this tiny plant!

Just, wow!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen MacDuff Squires

I had planned on drawing another dragon/dinosaur when I sat down to draw two days ago, but Poody Tat Cat emerged instead. Sometimes switches just happen. In fact, they happen all the time. I think it's best -for me anyway- to just go with the flow -unless it's a commission- and see what happens. No point in fighting it.

Poody_Tat minus sig and dots SIG FRAME

I decided to put Poody Tat Cat on a pillow so he could get snuggles. I can't wait for Poody to arrive in the mail!

Poody_Tat minus sig and dots RED BUBBLE PHOTO

Photo Credit:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/31280332-tabby-cat?asc=u&p=throw-pillow

Quote: "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."
-Pablo Picasso

I love that quote! Although I am not painting like Raphael, I sure love drawing like a child:)

Well off I head to pull weeds from the garden. I'll grab a photo of the weeds and post them tomorrow. Some of them are pretty! It's rather messed up how humans decide what are weeds are what are flowers. I just need them to not choke out the food we've planted. I do feel rotten about pulling them up though. Ugh:(

Have a great day!

Karen MacDuff Squires

I'm taking a digital drawing course from Udemy.com. This class: https://www.udemy.com/the-digital-painting-mega-course-beginner-to-advanced/ 

(I'm not getting any perks from sharing the class link:)

The class is $14.99 right now -as of April 11, 2018. If the price has gone up, don't worry, they have sales all the time.

Part of the class is drawing a dinosaur. I'm not sure my version looks much like a dinosaur, especially the flames, but it was fun following along with Austin, the teacher, and seeing the drawing come to life.

This is how mine turned out.

Dragosaur (Created along with Justin Batchelor From Udemy.com) I was thinking after I'd added the flames that maybe flames do not come out of noses, but come out of mouths. I did a quick search and was relieved to see that flames do indeed come out of noses. I guess I'm showing my level of knowledge of scaly beasts. :) Kiyah, my 13 year old daughter, was kind enough to tell me that I could draw the creature any way I wanted to. That's great news because I plan on drawing more of these!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

He's obviously got a great wealth of knowledge in that head of his. He's also very personable. He was in Salt Lake City a few years ago but I didn't find out until it was too late to get a seat. I was rather saddened by that.

I came across a quote of his just recently. It appears he and I have similar feelings about education Whether it's taking place in a brick and mortar building, or at home, kids need to be taught empathy.

Now I adore kids! I just love them, but understanding is a complicated thing. It's not just a matter of feeling bad for someone -that's sympathy, or happy for them, it's also understanding why people act the way they do, because if we can't "get" why they are behaving the way they are, sometimes in a manner that we're frustrated with, we can't empathize completely. And to complicate it even further, even when we are educated to understand behavior, we're at a loss if we don't know how to react properly and communicate in a way that helps the situation.

If I could design an education I'd start with empathy, understanding, communication skills, and how to handle emotions, ours and the emotions of others. Next is the importance of health and how to maintain it, including how to cook, eat properly and exercise. Then comes studying the arts/being creative.  Only after those "core" subjects should history, math, science, reading (reading skills being the most important) and other subjects come into play.

Here is the quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson:

"Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy."

Neil deGrasse Tyson

I decided to put it on a t-shirt along with a painting of flowers I did a few months ago. What do you think?

Breathe_Easy_9-2017 sharp REDBUBBLE

women's premium t shirt - Copy women's premium t shirt 2 - Copy women's premium t shirt 3 - Copy

-Last three photos by RedBubble.com. The t-shirt is here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/macduffstudio/works/31162046-neil-degrasse-tyson-quote?asc=u&p=womens-premium-t-shirt

I'm happy to have found another use for the flower painting besides my wall hanging:)

Be sure and leave a comment if you'd like to add to the conversation:)

Have a great day!

Karen MacDuff Squires

I'm an introvert, and getting more and more that way as I go through life. I love to grab my camera and head outside and get lost in shooting nature. Being alone is energizing for me. I love being with my family as well though. They bring me complete joy.

I was out a few weeks ago and shot this photograph. Can you imagine yourself walking through the snow, feeling the crunching of the ice under your feet, breathing in the crisp air? I can get lost looking at the wonder of the scene.

Utah 2018 Well, I'm off to have diner with the fam:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

There are artists who are insecure and feel their art is not good. They may be right, they may be wrong.

There are artists who have no idea if their art is good or not.

Art is a personal experience though, whether it's the artist looking, a critic, or the casual observer.  Even critics don't always agree on what's good. I've watched trusted critics completely disagree on the success of a piece.

So if you're the secure artist, great, keep drawing! You'll get better! If you're not good, you'll get better.

If you're the insecure artist, keep drawing, you'll get better.

I'm the artist that has no idea. So I keep drawing. I am going to get better.

It's not true that you need to be born with a gift to be a creative. It's just like any other skill. The more you practice. The more skill you acquire.

To train your brain to become more skilled takes a lot of practice. Drawing once a week will not be as effective as drawing every day.

So grab a pad and pencil, or whatever tool makes you happy, and draw:)

Tiger 3-2018 Karen MacDuff Squires

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

I lived in Missouri for a couple of years. It wasn't the South by any means, but it was more South than Utah.

I remember summers in Missouri with watermelon -which I'd never seen before...maybe there aren't, or weren't any in Scotland when I lived there- and I was blown away by the size of it, and the redness inside, and the taste!

The summers felt just like they are portrayed in the movies like The Sandlot...oh wait, that was the early 60's. Close enough. Okay, The Brady Bunch... summers were just like that! Fun! Outdoors! BoomBoxes! Bongs! (Can I say that?) Fantastic music! Great times! -End of tangent.-

I think a breakfast biscuit and a red checkered table cloth will jog most memories though. Heck, it might even make some folks think of Mickey D's. Whatever works:)

Butter My Butt And Call Me A Biscuit 3-2018 Karen MacDuff Squires

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

It's heartbreaking to know that every single one of them, and their mothers, were dropped off at the shelter. Some of the puppies I have fostered were no more than 24 hours old. I just can't understand why people would allow their dogs to get pregnant and then drop them off at a germy, scary, building with their young. I've held puppies in my hand as they died from kennel cough that they picked up at the shelter. They were too young to fight the virus. 

Another issue is when puppies are adopted and then taken to the shelter once they reach adulthood. A decision to bring home a dog is a serious one. It means the dog needs the family for the rest of her or his life. Dogs grieve when they are abandoned. They have feelings just like we do.

Spread the word as far as you can. Families are forever, and that includes any pets that are brought home. You will be saving lives:)

Forever_Family_March_2018 (C)Karen MacDuff Squires FRAME

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs

Karen

I had her at a park with a fellow CAWS photographer. It was a really chilly morning but she didn't seem to notice. We got a lot of really cute photographs of her. I love the one I used to draw this illustration especially because of the way she's got her mouth. It's a howl look, although there was no howl.

She also looks like she's got a donut in her mouth, it's just her adorable chin though.

I think I'll put this on a t-shirt. If I do, I'll share the results.

Kayla CAWS dog Drawn Feb 2018 -Karen MacDuff Squires FRAME SIG

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

P.S. No French words this time. My computer is being weird and it won't let me highlight the French words to make them italics. Once I get that issue solved, back to the French.

I love BIG hair! Maybe it's because I have small hair, ha:)

I love the rain -pluie, as well as the nighttime sky full of stars -étoiles, so this gal got both.

I drew her face from a photo on www.Pexels.com. Artist's name: Adina Voicu. 

I added the red in her hair to show her fiery side. She's nice, but don't push it! (Am I talking about myself? Not that I wouldn't love to be her, but I'm more of a rug trying to be fiery) I always wanted to be an art therapist. Art is a great way to say what maybe we can't say with our mouths. Maybe I'll throw her on a back female cut t-shirt and wear her attitude, lol:)

February 7th 2018 (C) Karen MacDuff Squires FRAME

Okay, done for now!

Thanks for stopping by -Merci d'être passé!

See you soon! -à bientôt-

Hugs!

Karen

French words displayed as writing practice. My daughter and I are learning how to speak it so when we head back to Scotland someday we will be able to speak French when we visit France, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from Scotland.

Who is absolutely in LOVE -amour- with their dog -chien-, and their dog's face? I mean like a crazy, puppy dog love, excuse the pun. I love Trinity's eyes. I can stare into them for ever! They are so beautiful -beau-! I love her neck and the thick, almost chubby quality to it. I love her paws! I understand the term: Furkid!

Here she is!

Trinity Jan 2018 (C) Karen MacDuff Squries FRAME

Thanks for stopping by -Merci d'être passé!

See you soon! -à bientôt-

Hugs!

Karen

French words displayed as writing practice. My daughter and I are learning how to speak it so when we head back to Scotland someday we will be able to speak French when we visit France, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from Scotland.

When I sit down to draw I have no idea what will end up being made. I know a lot of artists have plans on what's going to be on the paper at completion. I think I'm just too hyper to pull that off.

Ah well, a surprise is always nice:)

So here is La Dame Rouge - The Red Lady.

Jan_27_2018_Karen_MacDuff_Squires FRAME

Thanks for stopping by -Merci d'être passé!

Hugs!

Karen

French words displayed as writing practice. My daughter and I are learning how to speak it so when we head back to Scotland someday we will be able to speak French when we visit France, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from Scotland.

We've got a daisy illustration this time! Gotta love those simple shapes that burst into something so loved,
aimé, and adored, adoré .

January 26-2018 (c) Karen MacDuff Squires FRAME

It's a balmy 37° in The Great Salt Lake Valley today, ha ha! I'll have to get my heeler, Trinity out for a walk. 
She's going hyper this winter, hiver! She hates the cold and refuses to leave the end of the driveway when it's too cold.
Maybe today we can get her farther.

Thanks for stopping by -Merci d'être passé!

Hugs!

Karen

French words displayed as writing practice. My daughter and I are learning how to speak it so when we head back to Scotland someday we will be able to speak French when we visit France, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from Scotland.

I seem to be stuck on plant life! Can I have spring fever in January?

I really love tiny little flowers -minuscules petites fleurs-. Their delicacy -délicatesse- is delightful!

I think this would look cool on a canvas bag:)

Flower Jan 25-2018 (c) Karen Squires

Thanks for stopping by -Merci d'être passé!

Hugs!

Karen

"Fall Tree" Jan 2018

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

I made the illustration -bottom of post- at the vet's office yesterday while I was waiting for our darling Dustin to get seen by the vet. I was trying to take my mind off the fact that he is old and had started acting sick the day before. I was hoping to be told he had a cold, but we were told he has a bad liver and has prediabetes. We're so very sad. We are crazy about him! We're hoping the diagnosis is wrong -first stage of grief- and that he has some virus that affects his liver. The calicivirus can do that. He is acting better today so our hopes are up. We won't let him suffer if he's in pain or miserable though. I dread making that decision and carrying through with it. 

This is Mr. Dustin about three years ago. He was a CAWS.org cat at the time. I was taking photos of lots of cats and dogs that day with other photographers and happened to be the photographer up for taking the next cat's photos when it was Dustin's turn. Little did I know that we'd end up fostering him and falling head over heals in love. I love those happy little coincidences because I have his pre-adoption portrait.

Look at that face! He's a love ball! He's so purry and friendly! He loves his girlfriends....we also have three girl cats that he adores! He kisses their faces all the time..even the Miss Izadora, who loves to swat him. He just walks away and tries again later.

We're hoping with all our hearts that he'll be okay and we can have more time with him. He's about 17 years old but we've only had him for about 3 years. Get well baby!

UPDATE on Dustin: It's been three days since we were at the vet and he's doing much better! He had a virus, a nasty one. Probably the Calicivirus. I don't know how bad the liver test at the vet was but I'll call and find out. Hopefully it wasn't that bad and that the virus caused it and hopefully his liver will recover as the virus clears up. His runny eyes have cleared up. His pink, half-closed eyes are back to normal. He's beathing normally again. No more growling at the other cats. He's eating and drinking now. And after days of sleeping, he's now awake and getting around.  We are so incredibly happy! Euthanasia was recommended by the vet so always be careful about making quick decisions.

Izobel, my 13 year old, drew a portrait of Dustin last night. She's not done yet but I'll post it when she is. It's her way of dealing with the sadness.

UPDATE: Here is the drawing Izobel made of Dustin. I love it! Her Instagram name is izobelsquires. She'd love to see you there!

Dustina Izobel Squires Jan 21 2018

Here's the illustration I drew in the vet's office. Dustin was gone for a while getting tests ran, poor boy:(

There are flowers and snow. Seems to cover this winter's weather.

Jan 20-2018

Happy winter-spring-winter!

Hugs!

Karen

This painting seems to be rather Christmas-y, but I didn't have that in mind when I started. My only idea was to use a limited pallet of blues. I love being intrigued as the image comes together.

Midnight 1-2017 frame sig

I love magical images so that crept into this one. In fact it reminds me of a photo I made a couple of years ago. 

This one below: I drew in the white fluffy weeds behind the twins. I also made those floating white and orange puff balls.

I added some magic to this one too. All those orange, purple and white fluff balls were added in during editing.

Just looking at a few more from that same day. I must have been on some crazy person fluff ball trip!

Off to watch the new release of Blade Runner with the fam. I love the original Blade Runner and can just about quote the whole movie....speaking of magical things. The effect in that show were, and still are amazing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen:)

I made this drawing of her to use as a poster for CAWS.org. She's got such a beautiful face! 

-Love-_Caws_Dog_3-2017-_Drawn_Dec_2017 TEXT

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Unfortunately I have the awesome job of being a poop scopper before the sun sets. We have five rescue dogs and they can sure make some work out there. The field behind our house, photo below, is full of cows. Lucky farmer gets to leave the cow mess to the worms, birds, the elements. Of course the cows don't head inside so they can't track it in with them. 

(I hope you're not eating)

So here are some more frozen shots.

1) Field behind my house. Can you see the cow hunkered down trying to keep warm in the field?

2) Chain link fence.

3) Blades of grass.

4) Upper part of an iron garden chair.

5) Back support on the iron garden chair

Dec 12 2017 (9 color) Dec 12 2017 (8b) Dec 12 2017 (7) Dec 12 2017 (6) Dec 12 2017 (5)

I hope you're staying warm!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

A few hours later when it was nice and light outside I decided to head out and grab some frozen photographs. For you photogs out there, I used the Nikon D810 and the Nikon 60mm f2.8 micro -the older version.

Dec 11 2017 (1) Dec 11 2017 (2) Dec 11 2017 (3)

Dec 11 2017 (4)

I really don't like cold weather but it sure can create beautiful images.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

I've always wanted to learn Adobe Illustrator, but never got around to it. With Black Friday offering Adobe products on sale, I grabbed Illustrator! Yeah! Can't wait to learn it!

In the meantime, I drew this with Adobe Draw: what I believe is the iPad version of Illustrator.

Learning new things is so much fun!

Project - Drawing 1 frame

Keaton loves landscape photographs and asked me to capture some of the beauty we were seeing. He's planning on using them on his computer desktop.

Trinity had so much fun! She ran and ran and ran! Keaton had her on leash so he got to run with her. They both had huge smiles on their faces. Kiyah climbed the huge rocks nearby. 

We discovered you can rent canoes. We'll have to try that out. There is also a restaurant/grill that faces the water. We're definitely going to do that!

If you want to visit there I suggest late fall and very early spring. The summer is so hot and the bugs are everywhere! 

Trinity MacDuff Squires Nove 23rd 2017 (F)

Antelope Island Nov 2017 (2R crop) Antelope Island Nov 2017 (3) Antelope Island Nov 2017 (4) Antelope Island Nov 2017 (5) Antelope Island Nov 2017 (6) Antelope Island Nov 2017

This is what it's like!

Just fun, crazy, running all over the place, laughing, joking, hugging, joyful!

Yah!

Great times for sure!

Play Date

Lexi and I played keep-up as he ran and ran. He played with leaves, dirt, and sticks. After a couple of hours he actually asked to go home. He pooped out before we did, but just barely. He wanted to be carried back to the car. I bet he weighed twice as much with all those rocks he'd managed to stuff in his pockets. He was asleep as soon as we pulled away from the park.

We had a blast and made some really great memories:)

Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (23) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (6b) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (1) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (6) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (5) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (9CR) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (10) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (12) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (14) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (16) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (17) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (18) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (19) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (21) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (20) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (4b) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (2b) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (7b) Anastasia and Landen November 8th 2017 Memory Grove (7BW)

Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (5) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (13) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (15) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (17) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (19) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (20) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (21) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (8b) Anastasia and Landen October 25th 2017 Memory Grove (10b)

Love_Nov_2017 Frame Sig

The dogs woke me up way too early this morning and I couldn't get back to sleep so this painting was born. I started out with colors in my mind, then kept laying them down till I liked it.

My husband and 12 year old daughter said they saw a praying mantis. I didn't see that at all.  I still don't. But it's interesting how they looked for something in it that was concrete. I just enjoy looking at how the colors and other elements go together and affect each other. Each type of seeing is great and I love to know what pops into the viewer's mind when they look at it:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

See more of my art here http://www.macduff.studio/macduff-art

"Flowers" October 2017

I was at the dentist's office with my mother and took the iPad along to draw while I was waiting. This is what happened:) The colors make me happy!

Messy is my thing, apparently. I think I'm too hyper to slow down for details.

I've got a yellow bedroom that this will be fun in. The yellow bedroom seems to relax our infrequent guests.

The window looks out over 51 acres of fields with farm and wild animals, and mountains of course. It my favorite room in the house.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

See more of my art here http://www.macduff.studio/macduff-art

"Summer's Eve" October 2017 (C)Karen MacDuff Squires

It's October now and summer is over. We're still having some really nice days though, the evenings are perfect! We love to walk the dogs and ride bikes. The mosquitoes have gone to where-ever mosquitoes go in the fall. The blistering heat has moved on till next year. Time to gear up for the holidays and get ready to bundle up against the cold that's sure to arrive any day now. Are you ready?

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

"Heaven Scent" 9-2017

"I'm an introvert... I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky." ~Audrey Hepburn
https://www.brainyquote.com

Audrey, I couldn't have said it better.

When I was younger I wasn't really interested in flowers. Sure I thought they were pretty. But I didn't see past the "pretty" and actually feel the beauty. I now absorb the beauty so strongly that my soul aches!

I studied art in college for 6 years. I was lost! I just didn't get what all the hoopla was about. (So why was I studying art? I was told as a child that I could draw, so I kept it up for lack of a better goal)  I was four weeks away from my very last art class and I still hadn't figured out what all the excitement was about. I was standing in the bookstore at the University of Utah and I noticed a book on Vincent van Gogh. I knew who he was and had looked at his paintings many times. But I hadn't really felt anything. That day as I held the book in my hands and turned each page I was overtaken by my emotions. Vincent's brush strokes brought tears to my eyes! I had to control my reaction since I was in public, but I knew in that moment I finally understood! I got it! I could feel art, and I ached from the joy. That day was almost 25 years ago.  I can remember it vividly.

Not everyone can be a Vincent, a Monet, but that shouldn't hold anyone back from creating art. Get out those pens and pencils. Mix oil paints and acrylics. Make something that brings you happiness and peace. Hang the art on your walls. Personalize your home. All it takes is making that first mark on the paper. Have fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen
See more of my art here http://www.macduff.studio/macduff-art

Paradise!

Those colors! They bring to mind, tropical birds, sunsets, ice cream cones, flip flops, Ferris wheels, snowcones, swimming at the municipal pool all day long, every day during the summer months, fireflies, best friends.

Where did the time go?

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Karen

See more of my art here http://www.macduff.studio/macduff-art

I love water!

The ocean is me! Do you know what I mean? I grew up on the coast of Fife, Scotland and the ocean was my everyday life. I loved her with my eyes, my ears, felt her running over my feet and flowing through my heart and soul.

Rivers are a source of calm and fascination. The sounds of a rushing river can take me to that place we all need to retreat to, to restore, refresh.

I am moved by the blues and greens. How they interact and react to each other. So soft and gentle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

See more of my art here http://www.macduff.studio/macduff-art

"Forest Fire" 9 2017

Forest fires are devastating! Individuals, families, pets, firefighters, may perish. Wild animals certainly do. Homes may be lost. The vegetation is lost.

I view photographs of the fires and am saddened by the loss. This painting is in response to the emotions that arise.

Let's be careful with fires we create. Keep them under control, and follow forest service guidelines.

Hugs,

Karen

See more of my art here http://www.macduff.studio/macduff-art

AdobeStock_116068938 Spring_Orange_4-2017-1

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

This digital leopard painting -painted on my iPad Pro- can print up to 30x40". That's one huge plus for digital paintings! I can imagine the amount of paint it would have taken to paint the leopard at that size with oils, or acrylics.

Leaopard 4-2017 Leopard_4-2017_(C)_Karen_Squires

Someday I'll give it a shot:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Here is an imaginary creature that may look like a bird, but the body doesn't. I call her "Little Bird". 

She was created with professional grade Caran D'ache Luminance colored pencils and professional grade Copic Markers. She is on stretched canvas on a wood frame.  Size is 12"x12".

Imaginary Creature 4-10-2017 Imaginary Creature 4-10-2017

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

AdobeStock_139328826Empty poster in old interior with brick wall and wood floor Lies_4-2017

"The Perfect Kiss" 2017 (C)Karen MacDuff Squires "The Perfect Kiss" (C)Karen MacDuff Squires

They wanted people photographs, and photographs with them and their dogs.

Can you see the love between the four of them?

Ah! It's so sweet!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

"Izadora With Attitude" 2017

The shelter she was in killed cats without doing much to help them. One amazing young gal, the same one that rescued Izadora and all the other cats that day, and had done that very same thing for years, eventually went public after her failed attempts to have the shelter treat the cats better. It's terrible what cats went through there. Cats were left untreated with serious injuries for days until the shelter killed them. Many people and rescues offered to take the cats, get them to the vet, and find new homes for them. But the shelter refused to work with anyone and killed them after days and days of pain and suffering.  So this young gal created such a public outcry that the shelter was forced to stop their inhumane practices and agree to make changes.

"Izadora With Attitude" 2017

This is one of my favorite quotes:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret Mead

As soon as I got her that day I took her to a friend who rescues so she could get de-wormed. Then to the vet the next day where she was given three prescriptions, two for upper respiratory infection. I had to quarantine her in a bedroom for three weeks till she was feeling better. The first week I didn't think she was going to live. I had to force-feed her around the clock. As sick as she was, she purred whenever I went near her and held her.

Izadora is absolutely delightful! She is super friendly, has a very, very quiet meow, loves to be held and snuggled, is fluffy beyond fluffy, has huge feet, and is my daughter, Izobel's best friend. We think she's either Main Coon or Norwegian Forest cat.

It's horrible to think how close to death she came. We are thrilled and blessed to have her. But many cats every bit as amazing never make it out alive. Some shelters are like Nazi war camps. It's awful that goes on. I have many hopes for this world as it moves ahead, one being a stop to that kind of treatment.

I hope you're not too depressed reading this but the change has to happen, will happen, the sooner the better so less animals suffer.

Have a great day!

Karen

I love flowers! Their perfection is breathtaking! They smell nice too. I grabbed the camera to get a few photos. This yellow rose was my favorite.

We've been having such nice weather, well we were having nicer weather last week -it's rained this week -not that I mind rain...but the color of this rose made me feel like spring was here. Of course the weeds came right along with the rain so we've got weed pulling in our near future. Yuk.

posterEmpty poster in old interior with brick wall and wood floor

Off to walk the dog. She's climbing on my head! I sure love her!

Karen- Mori

She looks similar to my dog, Trinity. I bet that's why I was drawn to her photo -why I wanted to illustrate this based on her photo.

I feel there is a wonderful place for animals after this world. Maybe even a place away from those rotten humans that hurt some of them. Or maybe there is a place for those rotten humans so they can't inflict pain again. (I read about a terrible case of cat abuse yesterday so my blood is boiling)

Source photograph for this illustration created by victoriap107. A license was purchased to use the photograph as my source photo. The photographer was paid. Remember to always respect copyright:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen(Mori)

"That Expression!" 2017 (C)Karen MacDuff Squires

Elephants are such wonderful animals! (All animals are wonderful-:) I came across this video on youtube a year ago and it's been on my mind since. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsu3SGAdLs

Watching it makes me want to boogie along with them!

Source photograph for my illustration created by kyslynskyy. A license was purchased to use the photograph as my source photo. The photographer was paid. Remember to always respect copyright:)

The next illustration will be of a dog. It looks like a Spaniel. I love dogs and am heavily into rescue, but I really stink at knowing breeds-:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Head over to CAWS.org if you are looking for a new best friend, or even just to view more cute faces!

Thanks for stopping  by!

Karen (Mori)

Cute fluffy kitty had some wild fur that was interesting to draw. I did better this time than the last time I drew long fur though. Practice makes not perfect, but better than the last time. 

I think the next illustration is going to be an elephant. Should be interesting, all those wrinkles.

Source photograph for my illustration created by Светлана Валуйская. A license was purchased to use the photograph as my source photo. The photographer was paid. Remember to always respect copyright:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I'm shooting for CAWS again tomorrow - February 28th, 2017- so watch out for more photographs of adorable rescued cats and dogs coming to the blog next week.

We're at PetSmart in Salt Lake City from 11:00am -5:00pm.

389 West 1830 South, Salt Lake City.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Here are the rest of them. All lovely! All in need of homes!

I'm shooting again tomorrow so more cats and dogs will be posted next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Today's lesson in the book: Drawing Made Easy: Forest Animals, by Walter Foster, is a prey animal's eye. Next lesson is a dog's nose! Whoo hoo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen(Mori)

Today's lesson from the drawing book I'm learning with is a predator's eye. 

....which is different from a prey animal's eye. That drawing is next. Then onto noses. The dog nose will be fun!

The book is called Drawing Made Easy: Forest Animals, by Walter Foster.

Off to get started on the prey eye. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Well there we go. Done. Tons of room for improvement. I didn't let the old fear of ......I can't draw those feet....hold me back-:)

Next lesson is drawing a predator's eye. I love drawing eyes! They are my favorite part of portraits! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Lesson one - once you're past drawing cones and cubes- is drawing a raccoon ear. 

Fur and hair are hard to draw!

Today the lesson is chipmunk paws. Off I go to give it a shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Got an idea for a white snowy scene. I'm giving it a shot today! Fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Having six cats around means it wasn't much of a stretch for a cat to pop into my head last night at midnight when I was wondering what I could do a really fast drawing of before I fell asleep. I wasn't expecting to actually finish it but sometimes things go fast and sometimes they go on for days, longer too.

I think I'm desperate for spring because I keep putting flowers in the drawings. I'm tired of snow and can't wait for it to all melt. In this kittie's world, flowers grow in the snow:)

I think there are only about 2 months till spring. Counting down!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

This is the book's description: "Are trees social beings? In this international bestseller, forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in his woodland. After learning about the complex life of trees, a walk in the woods will never be the same again."

I going to purchase the book, but in the meantime, I decided to illustrate a tree family.

The varying degrees of shading on the green leaves on the adults signify stages of wisdom. The lightest green being the youngest adult and therefor (often) means less wisdom. The small yellow tree is the child and of course is being protected and watched over by the adults. The apples mean  good health. The bird means freedom. The bunny illustrates innocence and the need of the child to be cared for. (We've had bunnies for pets and miss them dearly. They passed away from a nasty organism called E. Cuniculi last year)

I should make an illustration of my two bunnies. It's on the drawing idea list:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

People are fascinated by ballet. The dancers move like gravity doesn't affect them. So graceful, every move is perfect. And can we talk about their muscles? I'd love to have those! Yes I know I could work out like they do but house work just doesn't do it. (excuses excuses) 

I found a ballet shoes photograph online and purchased a license from the photographer so I could use it as my source image. Thanks, welldoneteam! I had a blast making this illustration!

I'd love to take up old fashioned highland dancing.  I wonder if YouTube has some instruction. Going to check it out:-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Going to get a book today on how to work the correct colors into art so I can improve on that. I'm sure I'm way off!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Izobel, my 12 year old daughter, said she'd love to take a bite out of the pears when I showed her this one. Pears are so delicious! Why is it though that I tend to grab the apples, oranges and bananas? Human's are creatures of habit. It's helped us survive. Of course habit can be a curse as well because we can stick to the same old routine instead of branching out. There are certainly books available on how to succeed and breaking old habits and making new ones are a large part of the process. It's a matter of retraining the brain. Sounds easy enough:)

Source photograph for my illustration created by larshallstrom. A license was purchased to use the photograph as my source photo. The photographer was paid. Remember to always respect copyright:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I learned how to loosen up on the brush strokes a bit. I am not interested in photo-realism and want more choppy strokes. It's hard to let go and not try to have the result look real for some reason.

Okay! Back to the drawing board!

Source photograph for my illustration created by Erik Lam. A license was purchased to use the photograph as my source photo. The photographer was paid. Remember to always respect copyright:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I could really use eating one of those apples now! I wish I'd taken note of what kind of apples they were so I could get more. They seriously tasted as juicy and they look. Nice and crisp too! I'm not into mushy apples.

On another note: I've got two cats living in my garage. I'm not sure if they are stray or are just enjoying the food I leave out for them. It was 1 degree last night! So even the garage was freezing!

I have crates and feral cat boxes from Best Friends for them in the garage. I put heating pads in them. They seem to be keeping warm. I've felt their sides when they came out to see me and they felt warm. I need to find out if they have owners or not. Today I bought two breakaway collars that I was going to write my phone number on and ask if they had homes and please call me if they do. The darn collars aren't as break-away as I'd like though and I fear the cats might get hung up somewhere, on something. Back to the drawing board on how to find out if they are stray or not. If they are I'm getting them into CAWS and finding them homes. (It's illegal to take pets into your home and keep them without knowing for sure they are stray, or I'd have brought them in by now-:)

Off to get some chores done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

We're trying hard to do a painting a day.  We got the idea from http://www.duanekeiser.com/apaintingaday. I do believe he started the whole movement.

Danny Gregory has a few popular books on how to get started. https://www.amazon.com/Danny-Gregory/e/B001JP28SW/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1   I'm reading Art Before Breakfast on my Kindle app. Sounds cool so far!

It's a really cool way to connect to your kids each day too. If you've got 5 kids, just pass it around to all of them. See what you get!

I'm still working on the apples painting -post a few days ago- I am close to being done! Whoo hoo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

For some reason I always thought it would be really cold there. I asked Siri last night and it was in the upper 40's! It was below freezing here in Salt Lake City, Utah. I don't enjoy the cold at all!

When I was a child growing up in Scotland -this is going to make me sound like I'm from the ice age- we had one source of heat in the house: a fireplace downstairs. Of course it went out during the night and it was my job, along with my brother and sister, to get up in a cold house and start the fire. We began by cleaning out the ashes from the night before. Then we went outside to get some coal from the coal shed. We then folded old newspaper into special zig-zaggy shapes. We put the coal and paper in the fireplace, and lit the fire. It took a while and we froze the whole time. Then it took half the day to make just that one room warm! If you needed the loo...well...your tiny butt was going to turn blue before you could make it back to the fire and turn your bottom toward the flame to warm it up.

My hubby and I have temp wars. In the summer I want to keep the AC at 78 and he wants it a lot colder! And in the winter, same thing. We are known for sneaking off down the hall pretending to need the loo, only to smoothly as possible, turn the temp gauge to what we want it.

This drawing is me as a not so older than I am now lady with a scarf, sweater, long skirt and boots. I know I'm going to be cold for some reason. Maybe my croft on that tiny island will not have central heat, I don't know. But cold is in my head. And the HUGE hair? Well I've always had fine, thin hair, and darn it..I was some  more! So I gave myself some.

Be sure to leave a comment if you have any thoughts to share:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I had a weird day too. The cat I had in mind did not appear on the paper. Something else came out. It's rather a mess but I'm sharing anyway. Maybe someday I'll look back and enjoy seeing these early drawings...because I will have improved! (hopefully!) wink

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

As I was walking past the produce section on the way to checkout, I spotted some of the reddest, shiniest apples I'd ever seen! As soon as I saw them I knew I had to either draw them, paint them, or eat them. Probably two of the three.

I bought them and brought them home v e r y carefully! No bruises for these babies!

Once home, I got a white sheet, pushed the blankets off my bed, put the white sheet on the bed, carefully put the red apples on the white sheet, and spent an hour moving the apples around, and moving the sheet around making new folds. After about 50 photographs I called it done and went to the computer to see what I had. It took a while to narrow down the one I liked the best. But here it is.

I thought I'd throw it in a frame to get an idea of what it might look like when it's done. I was thinking after I'd taken the photographs that an old wicker or wooden bowl may have looked nice peeking out from under the sheet in the lower middle. I've gone as far in the past as to put the project on hold and made the second-thought changes, only to decide I liked my first version. So for now I'll go along with what I've got. If I find a bowl that I like while out at the store one day  I'll use it in another setting.

Now to paint it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I drew a cat today. I haven't finished it. I may not, either. I'll look at it again tomorrow and decide what to do.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I loved the mouse so much that I asked if I could color the mouse too. She said yes! So I printed the mouse out and transferred her to some Bristol paper. I used Prismacolor Pencils, Dick Blick Markers, and a white gel pen to render her.

We both got to enjoy coloring the same cute tiny mouse:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

This morning we decided to draw something on the first page. Since it's watercolor paper we choose Caran d'Ache Neocolorii pastels, and Caran d'Ache Fancolor water color pencils. The pastels are water soluble too.

Unfortunately Izobel drew on the thin paper that appears in the book just before the first watercolor page so she was unable to use water. She was a bit upset but decided to make the best of it.

An hour later we were done.

I drew flowers.

Izobel drew her favorite subject, a wolf!

It's really relaxing to just grab some art stuff and draw. We might turn this into an art journal thing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

It snowed like the dickens here in Salt Lake City! We woke up to a very white Christmas! There wasn't much out there that wasn't painted white.

I had to shovel the back steps before we could start Christmas so the little dogs could go to the loo. They would have disappeared in the snow.  We may have lost Sterling, who is white.

Keaton helped me shovel the snow off the driveway at dusk. Being out there with him, looking around at the white blanketed neighborhood, I have to admit that despite my lack of excitement about snow,  its beautiful.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Last week I looked at 3250 photographs of my kiddos that I've made in the last decade. It was a sweet trip back in time. It was also a reminder that life goes way too fast. Kids grow up and adults get older. We really do need to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Family and friends are everything!

Speaking of families. There are way too many homeless animals in need of homes. Something needs to be done to stop the careless pregnancy rate. Thousands of homeless and abandoned animals are euthanized every day in shelters. It's completely heartbreaking. Let's all make a resolution this year to help make even more changes so that stops. Speak more often about the situation. Help make people aware of the problem. Volunteer. Donate. Adopt, don't shop.  Let's fix this.

Here are some of this month's rescue cats and dogs I photographed. Some have been adopted already, yeah! To see more cats and dogs that need homes head over to CAWS.org. Or look up rescue groups in your area. Check out shelters. PetFinder online is a great resource. Bring home your best friend for Christmas.

Happy holidays and thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Needless to say, we have kittens and cats that would LOVE a home by Christmas! If you're interested in having a new family member, please come to one of our events.

I made this portrait today with the help of Stacey Mikesell and Lori Greco, two other CAWS photographers.  I manned the camera while Lori and Stacey played cat wrangler. It's actually impossible to click the camera fast enough to get a photo of a cat when you have the cat(s) set in position and looking in the correct direction. They moves the second you move your hand away from them. The cats(s) have to decide to stay put for at least a second. They often don't want to do that. With the three of us, along with four cats that had decided it was time to just hold still for a second, we got our portrait. Thirty shots later, we were elated to have our group portrait. Well worth the effort!

I hope to see you at an adoption event someday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I drew this pony with the aid of a book that shows you how to draw baby animals.  It's called Baby Animals by Cindy Smith.

Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Baby-Animals-Learn-Paint/dp/1600581358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481945349&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+animals+cindy+smith

The book makes it look easy, which is why I bought it. But like many other things in life, it was not as easy as it looks. It took me about a week. I have to admit that I can only draw for about 2 hours at a time before my hand gets sore. There are a ton of tiny lines for hairs on that foal. I guess I need to build some muscles in my hand.

I think I'll give the lamb a try next. It has a fuzzy kind of hair. It might give some other muscles a work out and let the pony muscles take a rest.

I got an idea to draw an astronaut for my hubby for Christmas. Not sure I've got enough time at this point. But I may give it a shot:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Imperfect Bunny(C)KarenSquires/MoriMacDuff

This is ImPerfect Bunny. I gave him a hump. I didn't mean to. But you know what? Most of us have imperfections, so I left his hump. It doesn't bother him.:)

I found some cool black technical pens at Michaels and wanted to try them out. Scribbling is frowned on in schools, or at least it was in mine, so I decided to go ahead and scribble all I wanted to. There....got that childhood memory taken care of:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Mori

Imaginary Bunny(C)KarenSquires/MoriMacDuff

Meet Imaginary Bunny! He's got a Tiny Friend who found a twig with some berries.

Imaginary Bunny has ears that give him some protection from the snow, and thank goodness Tiny Friend has a hat. I wonder where he found such a tiny hat.

I was washing the bathroom floor. It's vinyl. I saw a shape in the pattern that looked like a bunny....much like you'd see something in the clouds. I got my camera and took a few photographs of the floor. I did it early enough in the morning that no one was around to ask me what in the world I was doing. I took a printout of the floor to my drawing table and made this picture.

Thank goodness I was inside and warm while drawing. I don't like being cold, hat or not.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mori

I love looking at drawings of bunnies. It makes me grin like a happy pit bull...love their smiles! So in honor of my bunnies, here is a drawing I made yesterday.

Thanks for visiting!

Karen (mori)

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Toddlers are the most adorable little energizer bunnies! They are fascinating to watch. It's entertaining to see them go from one "project" to the next. If you pay attention, you can almost read their minds.

It goes something like this:

.......................

"What will happen if I pull this cord?"

"Nothing"

"What will happen if I pull it as hard as I can?"

Crash!

........................

"I'm going to throw a rock at the flowers."

"Mom went nuts!"

Got removed from the flower patch.

.......................

"What happens if I dump my dinner on the floor for the dog?"

"Mom is not happy again."

"Dog is sure happy though."

......................

My daughter is 11 years old now. She's my youngest. I love to watch her pick up new words, new drawing techniques, new ways of handling life, stresses. She's become "Dog Patrol" too. Dogs bark outside. She runs out and brings them inside. It's one of life's pleasures for me to observe and enjoy children's learning processes.

This little guy had fallen asleep on the way to the session. He was not very happy being woken up to discover he was in a new place, and was wondering what was going on. We all relaxed and played with him while he adjusted, then the fun began. He ran and ran and ran.

The portraits where he is shy and quiet were made after he woke up a bit but was still feeling snuggly with mom and dad. The rest were made while he ran to mom and dad, played hugging and kissing mom and dad games, threw the ball I made for him, and the doll. Mom said, "It was really fun being able to do a photo shoot where Landen actually showed his personality!"

Don't feel that you can't have portraits made of your youngster.  All it takes are patience and having fun.

Here are their portraits. We had a blast!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

Izobel and I love a black, and a black and white paper flower I made so we designed a photo shoot around it. We also included a teddy bear that I found at an antique shop. Since she turned 11 I've wanted to get a portrait of her with a toy to indicate the passing of that stage of her life. Teddy bears were her favorite.  She recently gave them all away.  It's beautiful, but it makes me tear up.

Keaton, big brother, came along to help. Izobel adores him and he adores her. I love how he helped get Izobel's hair how I wanted it. Below, after our final edited portraits, are two unedited take-outs. They show the fun, crazy side of creating the images.

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Out-take: This one (below) shows how we got her hair to blow back off her face. See Keaton in the bottom right corner blowing air at her? It took a lot of shots to get it right. (It takes a lot of shots to get it right using other methods too) I have a fan and a hair blow dryer but they decided this was more entertaining. Don't worry though. I use the other options on clients.

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Out-take: This time (below) we wanted her hair up in the air. Keaton tossed her hair and then ran out of the photo, or tried to.  As you can imagine this caused a lot of giggles. We got what we wanted though, see three photos above, so it was well worth the work out:)

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Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

The first time I remember making paper flowers was when I was about 7 years old. I received a kit for Christmas. I used the entire kit in one sitting and was left wanting to make more. We were flat broke though so that was the end of it.

I never forgot how much fun it was though, and as an adult I'd occasionally remember making those flowers.  For some reason I never got back into it, until recently.

I saw a tutorial on making big paper flowers the other day and fell in love all over again. I've always loved larger than life photographic prints. I print my children's portraits at least 16x20". Even that seems small on the wall. So large 20" flowers just grab my heart!

I have so many design ideas flowing through my head. I'm also dying to make some peonies, huge of course!

My latest favorite thing to do is to set up the card stock, scissors, hot glue, and the templates, on my kitchen counter. My daughter turns on Pretty Little Liars, and we binge watch while I make huge flowers. I hope to get her involved too. She usually draws while we watch. She's quite the artist.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I made a cape last year sometime. Izobel came across it the other day and it sparked a new interest in her and she wanted to make a tiara to go with it. We headed to Michaels and found some interesting cotton branches, a bird, and some tiny roses. As usual, making it was a mess of sticky hot glue. Gotta love and hate that stuff. It holds like cement though so it's my go-to solution. No matter what breaks around here I can fix it with hot glue. Despite the mess, we always love making them and will continue to do so.

We made some portraits with the results of our project. Some with and some without the cape and tiara. We really had to drag ourselves out of bed in the morning to get it done though. The day before was the Scottish festival and we hung out there all day. Thank goodness it was raining so the temperature wasn't too bad. We ate the kind of pies and treats I had when growing up in Scotland. It was one fantastic day.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

I was made in Scotland. My maiden name is MacDuff. I was Morag for the first part of my life, but my grandmother didn't like the name so my parents changed it to Karen. I would have preferred to stay Morag.

When I decided a few months ago to update my business name, I was drawn to using my maiden name and my original first name.  I would no doubt have been called Mora, short for Morag, but decided since my old business name was on the chopping block, I could change my first original name a bit, and went with Mori. Hence: Mori MacDuff.studio

Meet Alli. She's 1/2 Scottish. She looks like a queen that would ride on horseback along side her country-people. No hiding in the castle for her. I love her red hair, her striking blue eyes, and her gentle gaze. Yes, a queen she could definitely be.

We had fun creating these portraits! Next time let's get some period pieces of clothing, Allie!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen (Mori)

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These little boys remind me of my oldest when he was a baby.  Alex's hair was long, blonde, soft and curly! I wanted it to stay that way forever. But just like a puppy often looses it's soft baby fur, children often loose their soft baby curls. I have some of his hair in a bag in my treasure box. As Alex grew older his hair went brown and stiffer. The odd thing is that the hair in the bag changed changed color and texture too.

The boy's mama and I acted a little funny to get these little boys to smile but it was a blast and we pulled it off. The promise of a trek through the farm when we were done certainly helped.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

poster on blue wooden wall, bedroom 3d illustration

Izobel and I had a virus for a few days. We called it the tired bug because we slept for about 48 hours. When we emerged from sleep and were able to stand again, I was quite surprised. It's one of those bugs that has you feeling so dead awful that you think you'll die from it. If it's possible to say getting sick has a good side, it's that once you feel good again you really appreciate it!

We were so happy that we decided to make a portrait. We both love this Christmas decoration and wanted to use it and see how fancy we could make it look. We're happy with the results. It took us a bit to get her hair just right though. I wish I was a hair dresser and may have to actually take some classes. I have been thinking about getting a certificate in make-up too. Where will I get all that time? Hm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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There are many more available cats and dogs on the website too!

This tiny 1.5lb kitten lost his eyes because of a simple to treat eye infection that wasn't treated. By the time CAWS got him it was too late and his eyes had to be removed. How sad.

He is one amazing little guy though and will have a great life despite it. He makes his way around really well. He can find the potty, the food, climb the cat tree. He is very friendly, just a love bug.  He posed so nicely for his portrait too. We just called his name and he turned my direction.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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The old master painters often used one light source. The idea was to mimic our one natural source of light, the sun.  Not only do I love this look, but I feel it's the easiest to use.

The simplest way to do this is to position your subject next to a window that doesn't have direct sun streaming though it. That light is too harsh. Either wait till another time of the day when the light is not so harsh, or go to another window.

Have your subject stand close to the window facing the glass. Izobel was about 1ft away from the window in this portrait. Slowly turn your subject's head toward you while watching the way the light falls on their face. You're looking for the window light to barely light the opposite cheek under the opposite eye. There should be some shadow on the side of the nose that's away from the window.

Even though one light source is simple, it takes time to get it right, so just keep practicing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Mini Portrait Sessions! (There will be people before and after you at mini sessions)

The cost: $25 for your full-sized, fully edited digital file. Two for $40 (No session fee)

Location: Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake City.

Date : May 28th, 2016

9:00am(BOOKED)

9:30am.(BOOKED) Text or call me at 801-450-3718 to book this 30 minute session.  Please provide your name. Let's connect on Facebook, (https://www.facebook.com/karenmacduffsquires) or call me to plan your portrait.

10:00am(BOOKED)

10:30am(BOOKED)

You can make as many prints from wallets up to 16x24" wall art as you want with your file.

Nichol's Photo Lab, my favorite Pro lab here in SLC, charges around $5 for an awesome 8x12" print.  So getting your portrait printed is inexpensive.

Mini sessions are great because they allow people to have their portraits created without paying for a full session. Full session are wonderful of course, but not everyone wants, or can afford one.

When they are all booked I will mark it BOOKED above.

If you would like to be tagged on Facebook, or receive a text when the next Mini Session is happening, please contact me via text: 801-450-3718, please include your full name, or send me a message on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/karenmacduffsquires

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Izobel all wrapped up to keep warm while we heated the studio up.(C)KarenSquires/Mori MacDuff Studio

Izobel all wrapped up while we set up the strobes.

Izobel and I wanted to make a flower head piece. We'd seen some on Pinterest. We went to Michael's with the dress we wanted to match the flowers to and found some pretty ones. Next was finding wire -easy- Michael's had that too. The type of wire we got is for making flower displays with. It's black, a bit thinner than your cell charging cord, and quite bendable.

We went home and started pulling the heads off the flowers. Once that was done we cut a piece of wire the size of her head and used hot glue to hold the ends together in an oval shape. We then started hot gluing the flowers on the wire. It took about three hours but it really wasn't complicated. The natural fluidity of the flowers allowed us to pretty much glue them on and they looked good.

Mistake- The flowers took up a lot of room on the wire and it was too small when completed. I had to cut the wire open at the back and add another 2.5" piece- just used hot glue again to attach them together. Then we added more flowers to fill it up.

It's pretty sturdy and I bet it lasts for a long time if put away when not in use.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Now that the weather is perking up a bit it's time to get shooting again. I'm looking for couples of any kind including human and their cat/dog - parent and child, BFF's - engagement, married couples, dating couples, etc., who'd love some relationship portraits created for only $39! You will receive two full-sized edited digital files and a print release to make as many prints as you like. Here is a relationship portrait I made for a couple at the Great Salt Lake.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Enjoy this Gift Certificate toward a Photo-shoot, plus $100 towards portraits.
Celebrate your relationships. Enjoy this beautiful session with your mum,
sister, best friend, partner, or children: four legged or two.

The first ten people that contact me via
email: mori@morimacduff.studio
or
text me: 801-450-3718

will receive this gift certificate via email. Be sure to include your email address when texting.

Well I'm ready to make the move! I've gone ahead and done it After ten years of wanting and not doing. Ten years of fear. Ten years of feeling frozen.

You know what though? I really wasn't ready before. Some things just take time.

So, what did I do? No, I didn't decide to have a baby at 53 years old. I did that at 43:-) I decided to get a portrait studio!

Can I say "squeeeeee" at 53?

More info to come!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Karen

vintage background with rose petals and keyvintage background with red rose petals and antique gold key

This is Teddy a few days before he passed away. He wasn't feeling well, but he sure loved his romps through the yard.

We fostered Theodore for 3 years. He was our little Teddy Bear.  The shelter that CAWS rescued him from named him Teddy because he loved teddy bears. We didn't learn that till after he passed away.

He was older when we brought him home, about 17 years.  He was on thyroid meds soon after. He was really crabby and swatted and scratched us.

He loved our daughter though. She was 8 years old at the time. Initially my husband was worried that he'd scratch her, bite her. But he never did.

As time passed he decided that we were okay after all. He was still a crab, just not as intent on actually doing harm. He was just warning us that he only wanted as many head rubs as he wanted and we'd better stop the second he was tired of it.

We sure grew to love him. I checked up on him multiple times a day. I worried about him, his health, his struggle with weight loss. I bathed him when he stopped grooming himself. As much as he hated baths he tolerated them and put up with me drying him so he wouldn't get chilled. I loved to brush him, gently. He allowed it for a bit. I adored how soft his fur was. How white his paws were. He had this way of hanging his head and looking at me that always made me wonder what he was thinking. How desperately I wanted to hug him! But I knew he'd say no if I tried. About 45 minutes before he died he laid on my chest, his head tucked tightly under my chin because pressing his head was something he needed to do since the stroke. It was the hug I had always wanted, although I wish he hadn't been so sick. We got about ten minutes of hugging before the vet came in. After she checked him she said he needed fluids and as she walked toward the door with him, Teddy and I looked at each other. I didn't have to wonder what he was thinking. He wanted to feel better, and he wanted me to take him home.

A few days before we took him to the vet he changed over night. He stopped meowing almost completely.  He started pacing in circles. Stopped eating, drinking, using the liter box, and he was pressing his head into the wall. I suspected a stroke. I got him into the vet and the vet agreed that a stroke seemed likely. I left him there that morning fully expecting to see him again. I had read that cats can recover from strokes much better than humans. Before I even made it home though, the vet called and said he had taken his last breath soon after I left. I pulled over and got myself together so I could make the drive back there, pick him up, and leave without breaking down. I somehow made it.

I buried him in a really nice spot in my yard. He's not here though. I feel him in the house in his favorite bedroom. I'm sure he's often running through the acres of farm land at the back of my house.

Thank you for the hug, little man.

We sure miss you.

:-(

We needed some cat and dog portraits with the background dropped out for the van wrap people to design the wrap with. (That means the background is white) Neither Jen, Stacey or I had much experience dropping out the background so it was exciting to learn, and a wee bit crazy too because we could not fail.

The room we use for our studio is at PetSmart and it's a tiny room. It's about 71" wide and maybe 10' long. We managed to get three strobes in there, a backdrop, the white roll of backdrop paper, the photographers, various people who had brought their cats and dogs to get their portraits made, and a couple of other volunteers. Can you say "hot?" How about "claustrophobia?"

The shoot ran for 4 hours. It was a ton of fun! The van wrap gets printed in a few days and I'm so excited to see how it looks!

Below are the portraits I made.

Thanks for stopping by:)

Karen

And...ta-dah! It's done!

Here are some of our cats and dogs I created portraits for this month. There are more to meet at www.caws.org.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Izobel loves her "Poofy Face," otherwise known as Sterling. He's also been called "Flat-Face," lovingly of course.

As a long time mother -32 years- and a long time dog lover -all of my life- I know how fast children grow up, and how fast dogs grow old and pass along.  Being almost too aware of those things put a fire under me. I got in gear, and made this portrait.

I know I've said this before but portraits are so important in documenting life. Cell phones sure make it easier to keep it up too. When I was little, my parents had one baby photo made of me. I was about 18 months old. It doesn't seem to bother my mother at all but that's the way it was for most people at that time I'd be ill if that's all I had of my children as babies. I have thousands! Of course I may have more than most people, and I don't know that thousands are needed, but I think most parents want a lot. Either way, keep snapping, my friends! Our memories are not that good. We need photos!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Izobel With FlowersHand-painted with Corel Painter.

I've been itching to get this dress on her for about a year. I'm happy it still fits! The egg-shell blue shoes that I bought to wear with the dress are too small though. It's not a problem since her feet are not seen. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Keaton Playing the Piano

True story. My 18 year old son, Keaton, has been playing the keyboard for over 2 years and I haven't heard him play even once! He puts on the headphones, which mute the keyboard, and plays. I have asked him repeatedly to let me listen but I've been shot down every time.  I've even gone as far as bribing him with money, and still got a no. Don't ask me to explain this odd behavior because I have no answer, other than kids are a mystery.  He also plays the violin and I get to hear that every day. I love listening to him! As far as I know there is no way to completely mute an acoustic instrument so probably that's why. Lucky me!

This painting idea of Keaton started when I was stopped in my tracks, with an armful of clean laundry to fold, when I noticed the light coming through the window and how it was shining on him. The kids are used to me staring at them and saying, Don't move, when I notice something I love! I said just that to Keaton, dumped the laundry on the nearest counter, and ran to get my camera.

One thing I love about painting is the ability to manipulate the images more. You can paint absolutely anything and everything. Keaton hangs out in the basement, just like in That 70's Show, same decor as well, so the background was a large metal shelving unit full of sheets, blankets, and sleeping bags.  If I were going to leave this image as a photograph it would have looked a bit horrific.  It's a painting though, so I changed the background.

I also removed the wires from the headphones because I found them distracting -there are wireless headphones, right-? Either way, they're gone and I like it better this way.  I love the color of his shirt so I didn't have to have him change. That's always nice, less fuss.

This is a hand-painted digital painting, the same as a digital photograph, so a print needs to be made. My favorite size is 20" X 24" and I have a few of them already. I'm going to need more walls.

Now to get a photograph of him playing the violin so I can paint that too:)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Kiyah with Rescued Kitten

Last winter we were fostering some kittens. They were found at the dump inside a machine. Their mother had been unfortunately killed so the babies needed help to survive. They were only three weeks old.

We decided to foster them, which required bottle feeding them around the clock. At first they hissed at us because they were feral. I tell you, there is nothing cuter than a tiny ball of fluff trying to scare you off with a barely audible hiss! Needless to say, we were not afraid, and it didn't take long before they decided I was mama and they ran to me for their bottle.

Around 12 weeks later they were ready to be adopted. We were so sad to see them go. We loved them and they loved us. They went to a great home though and I know they are having a wonderful life.

This all happened because of CAWS.org, the rescue that saved them.

Here is a painting of Kiyah and Emmaline, one of the kittens. Emmaline was about 4 weeks old.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Newborn AsleepLove the tiny ones!

There's something about babies. I just have to look whenever I see one. I love their tiny feet and hands. Their tiny noses are so kissable. Their baby breath, so delightful. I'd love to hold my children again as babies. I'd sit longer, stare more intently, not worry so much about the dishes in the sink. If only that were possible.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen
Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Kiyah in Her Kilt

Kiyah and I went to the Scottish festival last weekend. I am Scottish, I grew up there, ancestor all Scottish. Kiyah is 1/2 Scottish. We both love kilts and she has grown out of her current one so we looked for a kilt her size in the MacDuff tartan -my maiden name- at the festival, but couldn't find one. She really wanted a new kilt so we bought one, shown in the painting. On my to-do-list is to find her a MacDuff tartan one:)

We went to Red Butte Gardens a few days ago and made a photograph of her in her outfit so I could paint it. We sure had fun at the festival and at Red Butte Gardens! Making memories with family and friends is the best thing in the world!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Isn't She Lovely

I met Rachel when she was only four years old. She was, and still is my niece's friend. I have an image in my head of a tiny little girl with long, dark, curly hair. She had beautiful, soulful eyes. She was quiet and thoughtful, and just a treasure to be around.

A few years ago she asked me to create her bridal portraits. I was thrilled she asked! She brought her mother along and together we made her beautiful photographs.

Last week I was looking though photographs from the last few years and I came across Rachel's bridal portraits. I needed to paint one of them. It's not just I wanted to paint one. I just had to! I chose which one and got started on it right away. Three days later I was finished. I posted it on Rachel's Facebook page. It was also her birthday. She saw the painting and loved it! 

For her birthday gift I am giving her the painting. 

Here it is.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

Here are some of the kittens I made portraits of.

I made a painting of one for the CAWS Facebook cover.

Have a great day!

Karen

My sweet dog, Trinity, wakes me up too early every single morning, but it may have some benefits after all. Since I can't get back to sleep after being woken up, I've decided it's a great time to paint. The house is quiet, after Trinity goes back to sleep as soon as she's done her business, and I can have a few hours to myself while the rest of the family sleeps.

I made a photograph of a mother and her baby a few years ago. I came across it last week. I immediately thought it would make a real sweet painting, I like how it turned out:)

I'll have to track down the mother so she can see it. I bet the baby is about 5 years old now.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Digitally hand-painted, one brush stroke at a time.

While she was here we made some portraits of her.

We had a lot of fun and it's great to have portraits of her, and a family portrait of our mother Kathleen, Fiona, Kiyah, and I.

I've started a digital painting of it.

Here is a digital portrait of Fiona: I painted it using Corel Paint.

The photo and painting side by side.

Close up.

Back to the photo-painting board:)

Karen

My Mother: Kathleen

My mother. We were at the park a few years ago. It was SO COLD! I got a blanket out of my car to wrap her up in. She looked like a portrait wanting to be made. A photo portrait that is.

Now she's the subject of a painting.

Just as well she's so willing to be my test subject!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen
 

Then I graduated from high school.

Had a baby.

Went to college.

Graduated from college.

Had two more babies.

Started a photography business.

Decided recently to oil paint again.

Never did like the mess of paint.

Nor the smell.

Tried digital painting.

LOVE IT!

Yes, the Great Salt Lake can be buggy during the warmer parts of the year. If that bothers you, go during the spring and fall, or winter. Right now it's glorious!

Warning: There are some really nice patches of sand, but watch out for the sand that you sink into. There is water under the sand and it can be too soft in places. So bring old shoes along and put them on before you head to the beach. You'll want to put your better shoes back on before you get in your car. And if you go there in the early spring or late fall, bring jackets. It's colder there than even a mile away:)

Oh, and bring your camera, and a micro lens. There are so many fascinating things to see and make photos of.

I noticed her intense expression.

I grabbed my camera and stood to the side of her...

...and waited.

She looked up.

My grandfather loved to sing and he was good at it. People would say, "Albert, sing us a song." And he would. Singing is free so anyone can do it, but not everyone is good at it. I am not one of them.

My great uncle played piano for the silent movies. One story about him was when he went to visit my grandmother and someone asked him to play the piano. My grandmother had one in her home. He played into the wee early hours of the morning. My grandmother was really worried about that because she had the kind of neighbors that would regularly complain about the slightest noise. And here was this music playing through the night.

The next morning when my grandmother went outside to tend the garden, the neighbor approached her. She knew she was going to hear about the piano playing. But to her surprise, the neighbor asked who the wonderful piano player was and said that she had stayed up as long as my great uncle had played, enjoying his music.

We had two pianos in our home when we were growing up. That doesn't seem very poor to even me at this point in my life. But lessons cost money, so we didn't get lessons. My sister, brother and I would play children's songs on them but it never went any further than that.

A year and 1/2 ago I decided to learn the violin. I chose to rent them just in case it didn't go well. I rented two, one full size violin for Keaton, 16 at the time, and I, and a 1/2 size violin for Kiyah, 8 at the time. At first none of them wanted to play, not really anyway. Kiyah loved the idea of playing, but didn't want to actually put the effort into it. Keaton had a whatever kind of reaction. I was excited beyond excited! I couldn't believe I was going to learn to play an instrument!

We've come a long way, Keaton and I. We have so, so far to go. Keaton now loves it as much as I do. We traded in those first rentals and purchased better violins. We're on our fifth upgrade now, the most recent upgrade was purchased yesterday. I'll make a photo of it so you can see it. She's a beauty and sings like an angel:)

Kiyah completely backed out of playing. It's just not her thing. She might change her mind one day, but I'm fine if she doesn't. Her passions is drawing and she's good at it. She does love to listen to classical music, Keaton and I do too. We were listening to "Air" by Bach when I made this photo.

Well, back to practicing. Keaton and I practice about 3 hours a day each. We sure love it!

He needs to be an only dog, and would do best around older children. He walks well on the leash, is loving, loves to jog, hike, walk, anything that's physical, and is just an all around great guy!

Stacey, another CAWS photographer, and I, took Bosch for a long walk a few days ago. He loved it! We loved it! He is so cute and funny!

Here are some of the photographs I made of him. Thanks so much, Stacey, for helping with that! We also made a music video. If you'd like to share his music video to try and help get him into a home, go to my Facebook page and share from there. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206612727421979&pnref=story Thank you!

They adopted two of my foster dogs. I was fostering a momma and her son through the Humane Society. The son, Pipa, was only about 3 days old when I started fostering him. His ears were almost longer that he was.

When Pipa was 12 weeks old, vaccinated and neutered, Danielle called about Pipa. She and her children wanted to meet him. I took Izy with me so Pipa wouldn't have to travel in the carrier alone. Izy was very bonded with Pipa, and I really wanted them to be adopted together. I was also hoping that taking Izy along would result in them staying together.

They loved Pipa! When I mentioned that Pipa and Izy were bonded, they decided to take them both! I was thrilled!

That was just over a year ago. A few weeks ago they asked me to make some family photographs of them. Of course I said yes! They wanted Izy, now named Isis, and Pipa, now named Yoda, in the photographs as well. Awesome! This was beginning to feel like a family reunion:)

We met at Daybreak. It was warm-ish. The sun was setting. Danielle opened the car to get the dogs out, Pipa barked at me:( I was a bit sad about that. Izy didn't bark at me but she didn't seem to recognize me either. I wonder if we hadn't met outside if they would have acted differently. It was high stress for them out there.

Despite that, we had a lot of fun!  The kids did a great job! The dogs were great! What an evening!

Here are the photographs we made together.

Thanks, Danielle, Bella, Aaron-Martin, and Kathryn, Isis and Yoda.

(Pipa is brown. Isis has a lot of black on her.)

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