Art Dog Blog

Rethinking Life and Business

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 18:24:00 +0000

This blog has become a bit of a dead space in the past few years as I have been more focused on my health and really on creating glass mosaics. Art Paw has been cranking along though even after a cancer diagnosis. Many of my wonderful previous clients have continued to add to their packs and they have needed new pet portraits so I am still doing a lot of pet art. I am ready to start writing more and posting more to this blog as I start to focus more on the pet portraiture work and return to this wonderful job in more of a full-time capacity. A terrific company called Yoo in The Park placed portraits of their residents pup in the grooming salon on their property. They contacted me earlier this year to do a few more. Next week I get 3 more of these colorful works in the mail to Atlanta.

New Glass Mosaic work

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 20:43:00 +0000

Art Paw is slow right now so I am working on mosaics every day this week. Today I did a very quick video of a work in progress.

20 Years Of Pet Portraits!

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 22:46:00 +0000

Decided I need to get back to the Art Dog Blog and give this digital space a pulse again. In September we will be going into our 20th year at Art Paw. Wow, that is a long time to run a business. I am not marketing it as aggressively as I once did because I have been spending more time doing random art for myself. I still do a few portraits each month, but my average was once about 30 projects per month. I am cool with it though, I am happy to spend more creative time on fewer projects.

I am doing a video a day over at youtube this month and I will be posting a few of those here. Please subscribe to our channel.

Pet Portrait Deadlines 2017

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 16:04:00 +0000

Last day to order custom Pet Portraits for out of state clients is today Tuesday the 5th.

Local Dallas and Texas clients can order up until the 13th of December.

If you are out of state and really need a portrait under the tree you can give me a call and we can discuss rush fees and overnight delivery options.

Place your order today!

If you have questions give me a call : 214-321-1150.

Pet Portrait Deadlines Posted

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 22:42:00 +0000

Wow, November flew by! I am still accepting out of state orders with a promised delivery by Christmas for just a few more days. Texas clients can drag their feet until the 12th although extra shipping may be required. Dallas folks can pick up their prints in person.

Place your order today!

If you have questions give me a call : 214-321-1150.

Revisiting the Color Pink

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 21:00:00 +0000

In 2011 I spent the entire year focused on the color pink. I added it in to pet portraiture work and in to my mosaics. I concentrated on it because I hated it, I figured it would be a terrific challenge to find original ways to use a hue that is so laden with stereotypes and misunderstanding. I am a huge fan of the artist Jeff Soto and he often uses the color pink in the most amazing ways. I think his work was a big inspiration for me to adopt the color pink and make it my own. The end result of my experiment is that I fell in love with the color pink.

Bella
© rebecca collins artpaw.com

"Pixie"
© rebecca collins artpaw.com

Flash Forward 2016: Lisa Huffaker is a pal that is big into zine making, you might even call her the "zine queen" and she has launched her White Rock Zine Machine down at Deep Vellum books. Her next round of zines will be on the theme of color and she has asked me to contribute a zine based on the color pink. Of course I jumped at the chance to work on a collaborative project that is all about color. There will be three visual artists and nine writers creating one hundred colorful tiny zines each in a rainbow of hues. These hand crafted books will be available in an old fashion baseball trading card dispenser. For just a quarter you can spin the knob and be the proud owner of a tiny book of poetry and art. The color zine event launch is October 7th at 7:00 p.m. at Deep Vellum books.

This weekend I will be cutting paper and starting the assembly work on this labor intensive labor of love. I am using the project as an excuse to revisit pink and will be posting about the color here on the blog in September and on my facebook pages as well. So stay tuned for trivia, art links and more on pink. I will also be creating trading card sized mosaics and assemblages in the color pink this month. Below are just a few examples of the direction my personal work is heading.

Pink is not for Sissies!

Robots Robots Robots

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 17:53:00 +0000

I have been working in the studio on a series of robot assemblages and glass mosaics. I have some more "serious" projects in the works but sometimes nothing clears my head or makes me happier than playing around with these silly little robots. You can find these guys in my Etsy shop on sale at 50% off until the 19th of August and then they jump back to regular pricing.


© Rebecca Collins http://www.etsyonsale.com/shop/artpaw

Mosaic Monday / On Starting New Projects

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 15:40:00 +0000

Self Portrait
Work In Progress

Countless times over the years I have seen students sit in front of a new project and move at a snail's pace to really start. They take their time getting their mind around where to begin to even begin because they can not see where they are going and they know that due to the nature of mosaic there will be twists and turns and detours within the journey. They are fearful to even start because they can not see it finished and totally designed in their mind. I felt all of that when I started this project. I glued nothing down yesterday; zero, nada, zilch! I played with glass rod, smalti, big thick clear glass with spray paint on top, and I fretted a lot. I worried that this might be a big waste of materials and time. Then I slowed down and started thinking about what I knew was true about this project. I came up with a list and it will be my starting guide post.

• I want to use glass rod and round pieces to echo the half-tone dot pattern in the digital print.

• I want glass circles to be used, circles that make me think about cells, healthy happy cells.

• I want to use thick clear glass and spray paint a dot pattern on top to tamp down the shininess of the glass. I can brush off some of it with a scrubby sponge so that it has a nice grunge effect.

• I do not want to have this be just another painterly portrait like the one I recently finished of my husband. I love that mosaic, but I want to try something new. I want to experiment with having some of the paper showing, and having paint on the surface of the glass, as well as below.

• I want paper and spray paint to move to the top of the project and mix in with the final layering of materials.

• I will not grout and so I plan to work tight and allow myself to layer upwards with my materials, placing glass on top of glass.

• I want this to have the feeling of a glass collage with paint on top.

So my advice when you are not sure where to begin is to make a list of what excites you about the project, and what things are for sure the things you plan to use or incorporate into the piece. Write it down an then dive in ... go to the deep end of the pool and dive in. That first jolt of cold water is a shocker, but then it starts to feel really nice after awhile.

Ginger, Sadie, and Mellie

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 20:28:00 +0000

Work feels steady yet somehow slow right at the moment. I will get 2 or 3 orders done and think I am caught up and then a couple more projects will trickle in. Summertime is the perfect time to order pet portraits for yourself. During the holidays I am usually overwhelmed with projects that are being ordered as gifts and everything has a sense of urgency about it. In the summertime I get to take my time with each pet portrait project in front of me.
I will post a few recent pup portraits below.

"Ginger"
©2016 artpaw.com

"Sadie"
©2016 artpaw.com

"Mellie"
©2016 artpaw.com

Filling The Well / Finding Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 19:09:00 +0000

Artists have to take time to fill the "inspiration well" and to do this we have to take vacations, go to galleries, read books and sometimes unplug from the web. Last week I got to do just that. I went to Gulf Shores Alabama with my family and had the best time. In the pics my husband took of me I look like a totally different person, I guess on vacation I am a different person.

Last night I started teaching again up at the Creative Arts Center of Dallas. I am teaching mixed media mosaics. This morning on my dog walk I found some cool metal bits that I can add to my box of found objects for future projects. My students always inspire me and I learn so much when I am teaching.

Rusty Found Objects

I find inspiration from my Peers!

Last but not least I have to post a fun pic from Monday night of a couple of my mosaic pals. Gila Rayberg was in town teaching last week and Barbara Dybala was hosting her for a few days. Barb invited me out for Gila's last evening in town. I have been following Gila's work for years, I think we first bumped into each other over on Flickr. She was so warm and so much fun. The evening was just way too short. After dinner we had coffee at Barbara's magical mosaic compound in Rockwall. I came home with a dozen duck eggs and a smile on my face, ( Barbara & David raise ducks).

Barbara Dybala, Gila Rayberg, Rebecca Collins
Mosaic Mural by Barbara Dybala

Dan Collins, David Dybala
Mosaic Mural by Barbara Dybala

Dappled Beauty Found

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 11 May 2016 16:50:00 +0000

Dappled Beauty

This morning on my dog walk I found these lovely leaves. This scan does not do them justice, they are really perfect little dappled things. I slept so good last night and found myself very present this morning on my walk. Usually I am in my head planning out the day, but this morning I was observing and it was a lovely walk.

Yesterday I had a chemo infusion, it really is a breeze at this point. I am no longer on the really tough drug, just two maintenance drugs that keep the beast at bay. I met a lovely woman in the elevator that complimented me on my periwinkle hair. Her hair had just started coming back after her treatments and I told her it looked like it was coming in very strong. We both agreed that life is too short and we may as well have fun. She said she may do a bold color when she gets more length. I often touch up my hair right before a day at Baylor because the people there are so positive and supportive. Everyone from the patients to the Doctors totally get it.

Periwinkle

Evie is here today stretching canvas for me and we will be shipping out a few finished projects. I have a couple of new orders to attend to and of course paperwork is always waiting for me. I will post today's orders below. Art Paw is steady right now. I should do some marketing to try and get crazy busy again, but I sort of like just being steady with work. I get to have more fun and take my time with each project in front of me.


"Maddie" © artpaw.com

"Boo"
© artpaw.com

"Thor & Matilda"
© artpaw.com

Mosaic Monday / Luna Mosaic Interview/ Community

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Mon, 02 May 2016 22:35:00 +0000

Today I want to send a thanks and a shout out to both Sally May Kinsey and Cherie Bosela for the terrific interview and feature they gave me on Luna Mosaics' new website.
Luna Mosaic Arts is Cherie's new shopping site and brick and mortar mosaic shop located in Orlando Florida. Each month they will be featuring a new artist. Last month they talked with Flair Robinson and showcased her wonderful brightly colored creations. This month I was featured, you can read the full article on-line here.

Luna Mosaic Arts ... Go buy some candy!

Featured Artist ... me!

When Sally sent me the interview questions one that I had to really think about was "Tell us about your single greatest mosaic moment." I could have talked about going to Italy to study with a very special group of mosaic pals that I met at the Creative arts Center of Dallas, or the trading card parties we use to have, or any number of shows, or my first Sama conference and meeting cyber pals for the first time, or teaching my first class. The one moment in time that really stood out was the "Tres Milagros" show I was invited to participate in back in 2011. It was the brain child of my teacher and mentor Katrina Doran and she invited both Apryl Begay and me to be part of it. We all three worked for months on pieces for the show. We often took over my dining room table and worked together all day on Sundays bringing in food from a local Mediterranean restaurant. Everyone had serious life challenges and losses along the way that year and yet the mosaic work happened and a close bond formed.

In looking back over the years all of the mosaic events and special moments that I cherish have less to do with the work itself and more to do with the people and the communities that I am part of. I have a feeling that Cherie is going to do great with this new business venture because bringing Sally on board to write these artist interviews is all about community. When you know your community and you are committed to them you are bound to be successful.

Mosaic Monday " Petri Dish"

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 20:13:00 +0000

Been away from the blog for too long. Today I am posting my most recent finished mosaic project. It is a donation for the Creative Arts Center of Dallas's Blue Plate Fundraiser.
The instructors and art students at the center have glazed plates and platters for the event that will be auctioned off on April 30th. I decided to mosaic mine since that is what I am best at. I felt a little weird straying from the glazing but I heard rumor that a few other artists have also backed away from the glazes, choosing other methods to embellish their platters..


" Petri Dish" © rebecca collins

The project started out with an original cell drawing that I created while receiving chemo at Baylor hospital. I cut the drawing out and did a layer of spray paint on top of it and then added clear gems that magnify the little cells and hairs. I have always loved anatomical drawings and biology charts and diagrams. Being so focused on my health this last year has me thinking about healthy cells and fantasy biological worlds. The little hairs started appearing on my doodles at about the same time my hair started coming back in. The work is abstract but it has a very personal narrative.

Chihuahua named Chewie

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 20:24:00 +0000

"Chewie"
© rebecca collins artpaw.com

January has been a very busy month. I have created around 14 different pet portraits for a variety of clients. I will start sharing those works here on the blog ....starting today with Chewie. This sweet little pup is a new addition for a terrific repeat client.

Reinventing Myself one Hue at a time

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:49:00 +0000

Cancer sucks and loosing all your hair sucks, but being able to hit the reset button on your hair and on your sense of self is not so bad. Yes I am taking lemons and making lemonade I guess. I think if I had not gone through hell and back last year and just decided to suddenly start dying my hair odd-ball colors some of my family and friends would shake their heads and say whatever .... as it is they all seem to genuinely enjoy my colors almost as much as I do. I also feel a bit like a sixteen year old girl taking selfies and focusing on my outward appearance so much. You know what ... it is ok ... I get a pass, at least I am taking one. Once you have gone bald and your hair comes back you are allowed a little bit of vanity.

Some of you may remember sweet Lola that worked for me for years.

Lola's hair was often a different hue every other month and I always thought if only I was younger I would do that. If only, if only. Well I am finally younger and I will be enjoying this newly found youth for the rest of my life.

Each new year I take a word or even a color and make that a sort of mantra in my life and artwork for the coming 12 months. This year is going to be about color for me, not just on top of my head but on my walls, on my work table, in my camera lens .... yes I think it will be a year all about color. All hues will be explored and discussed on this blog and in life.
So my word of the year is color.
My color of the year is ALL ... every last one of them and every chroma mutation, every hybrid and every dirty little tint in between. I want to breath them all in and exhale them as though every fucking cell in my body were becoming a new and different shade.

Not a Pretty Selfie

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 14:41:00 +0000

Rebecca and Sad Lizard Toy

Have you noticed we tend to just post selfies when we feel pretty? Today I feel like a dog toy that has lost all its stuffing. Lately I often feel cute and trendy in my blue and purple hair, oh yes, a fearless woman making the best of a bad situation, but other times I look in the mirror and just see a chewed up dog toy. Back in August I had a double mastectomy and they literally ripped the stuffing out of my chest and sewed me back up. I could have opted to have some sort of stuffing put back in, but I chose to just keep moving forward and pass on additional work thank you very much. When we have done that with dog toys in the past it never lasts and the toy is never the same again, better to let it become what it is going to be, the dogs don't notice, nobody does really. I am thankful that like this little toy I am still a favorite among those that love me. I have not been tossed in the trash bin yet anyway, and I am definitely not a choking hazard.

I dunno why I have to see the world through a four legged filter, but it makes for a fun post. Don't feel too sorry for me, I am going to put on some lipstick and go upstairs and work on pet portraits today. I will be feeling like my old self in a jiffy. Oh and Art Paw rocked it in December yall ... thanks to all that helped me double my monthly sales in Dec. compared to the previous year. I really needed that.

Yea, not a pretty Selfie today, but life is so good. I know what day of the week it is, and I am working! I am working.

Pet Portrait Deadline

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 18:30:00 +0000

Time To Order Your Pet Portrait!
CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW!

It is that time of year again, the orders are starting to come in faster than a snow storm. I have posted my deadlines and this year I am going to be sticking to that deadline. I have just a couple of weeks to get a lot of pet portrait orders out the door. This Friday is the very last day to place an order on-line with a guarantee delivery by 12/24.

12/01: Very last day for out of state clients to order .
12/04: Very last day for Texas clients to order .

12/14 : Deadline for holiday orders with "proofing only" supplied on-line, approved prints will be shipped after the holidays on these very late orders.

Order on-line today!

Or Call me at 214-321-1150 and place your order by phone.

Doodling & Drawing Reduces Blood Pressure

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 17:26:00 +0000

This last week I had an infusion on Tuesday. I am currently receiving 2 maintenance drugs every 3 weeks. It is a about a 3 hour afternoon and at this point I am no longer asking my pals to join me on chemo day. I pretty much have this thing down, but I do spend a lot of time in waiting rooms alone. I have gotten into a habit of sketching and doodling in my sketchbook. This week I had a pretty long wait and I really got into my drawing and coloring, the time flew by. When you go in to the infusion room the first thing they do is take your vitals. My blood pressure is usually pretty good, the bottom number is often in the low 70's and sometimes it can be as high as 80. On Tuesday after 30 minutes of meditative drawing the bottom number was only 58, that is crazy low for me. At first it alarmed me, and then I realized it had to have been due to the relaxing activity of drawing.

I tried to find some studies on-line that would confirm my suspicion and have not found much. I did see an article that indicated that "looking at art" will reduce your blood pressure, and all artwork is not equal in this aspect. They found that looking at figurative art of landscapes, and familiar objects or faces will reduce your blood pressure while abstract art can actually provoke anxiety and increase your heart rate and blood pressure. You can read more at the Alternative Daily.

An article from the UK states that a study has shown that "painting, drawing and sculpting in old age lowers the risk of developing the first signs of dementia by 73 per cent." You can read more at telegraph.co.uk

I also found a great article in the Dallas Morning News about adult coloring books, stating that they could reduce muscle tension, heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure and cortisol, the stress-related hormone, in the bloodstream.

As I gear up and go into my busy holiday season here at Art Paw I think I will try to doodle each morning while I drink my cup of hot green tea, and then again at night before bedtime. I want to have a crazy wonderful holiday season like I always do here but I am going to also be doing a lot to maintain my health and balance.

Proofing This Week At Art Paw:


© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Khan The Kitty Pet Portrait

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 17:47:00 +0000

I just provided proofing yesterday for Khan the Kitty. I love this guy's huge eyes, he almost looks like an owl to me. His photo was stunning so this was a fun one. We are starting to get busy for the holidays and I have a handful of new projects to work on. This was a donated auction portrait.

Below is a screen capture of his proofing page. Here at Art Paw I never show just one sample, I like to offer my clients a variety of background options. I often will send along little complimentary 8 x 8 mini-prints with the orders, or whatever size is easily ganged into the margins on my wide format plotter. The mini freebies are fun to frame for the office.

Mosaic Monday / Abstract Self Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 18:17:00 +0000

Last week I completed two little 5 x7 abstract self portraits using vintage medical illustrations of cells, glass, beads, millefiori, and old glass syringes. The one on the bottom is the first one I did and it is crazy busy and chaotic, much like I imagine the cancer cells to be inside my body when this disease started. The 2nd one on top is calmer and the design work is a little less intuitive and I feel it is pretty representative of where I am at with an illness that has changed my life. Powerful medicine along with some major life style changes have things under control.

I have breast cancer and yet the cancer itself is not about my breasts, it is not about any of the organs that the disease has spread to ... at the end of the day it is about cells, cells that go bad. I am not at war with my body. I am fighting a battle yes, and I am on a journey yes, but there is more to the story. How much more I do not even know yet. As an artist that has always been fascinated by medical illustrations and anatomy I wanted to create a work of art that depicted my cells as beautiful, even the chaotic cancer cells that do not behave. I am sure if I looked at them under a microscope I would find them interesting and fascinating. It is not helpful for me to imagine them as evil invaders. They are outnumbered by the healthy cells and I know they will eventually cease to exist, for now they are part of me.

Sketching through Cancer Treatments

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 18:52:00 +0000

Sketching my way through Treatments:
Ask anyone that has been by my side during this surreal cancer journey what my most constant complaint would be and they would tell you it has nothing to do with hair loss, or nausea, instead I whine about not creating enough and not having an urge to create. With that said, I have throughout all of this been creating pet portraits and doing a great job of keeping up with business. My day job at Art Paw has been a wonderful source of normalcy and I have enjoyed all of my commission projects this year.

I have not been making mosaics and for that I beat myself up, I whine, and I feel a loss. At the end of a short 4 or 6 hour day at the computer I am tired and I do not feel like making art for myself. I watch TV, I play on-line scrabble, but I have not been making a lot of art. Today I was clearing my desk and I saw this cat sketch that I did just this last week in between Doctor's appointments. I am actually doing a lot more art than I am willing to give myself credit for. I would like to be working on a large 34 x 34 inch mosaic but every week, and every chemo session I am sketching. I am fitting creativity into "the new normal". I would bet that any of you artists out there that may be complaining about not having enough time to create, I bet if you look around at how you are living your life you will see that you are in fact fitting creativity in somewhere. You will find it in a well cooked meal, a beautifully wrapped package, a doodle on a cocktail napkin, there are hundreds of small ways we live creatively and yet we all hunger for the big projects. Life as an artist is not about the next big project.

Stolen Joy

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 22:33:00 +0000

"I don't want you anymore
Cause you took my joy

I'm gonna go to Slidell and look for my joy
Go to Slidell and look for my joy
Maybe in Slidell I'll find my joy
Maybe in Slidell I'll find my joy"

- Lucinda Williams

Me and Pickle ... we are Terrier Tough
so don't even Fuck with us
Photo: Kris Hundt

I have always loved the song "Joy" by Lucinda Williams, she belts it out in such a forceful way that you think Joy is some sort of physical object that you can take back and put in your pocket. According to Rolling Stone Magazine the song was originally penned as a kiss off to an unfaithful lover, Williams says "Joy" has always been a song "of triumph – a 'kick in the ass, screw you, motherfucker, I ain't takin' this shit no more' – song,".

Over the years cancer has stolen our joy countless times by taking Scottie dogs from us. A year and a half ago our sweet girl Pickle was diagnosed with bladder cancer and she is still hanging in there, she is terrier tough. In March I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and so once again cancer has darkened our door and stolen our Joy. I have had 8 rounds of Chemo, a bilateral mastectomy, and now radiation. Because of the stage of this cancer I will likely be in some sort of treatment for the rest of my life. They do not talk cure because it has traveled or metastasized to other parts of my body. They do think they can control the beast and I will have many more years ahead of me.

I am doing great, my scans last June showed that I was kicking cancer's ass, and it was shrinking at that time. I have scans again at the end of the month and I am sure the news will be good.

I feel great, I should .... I am working hard enough at being healthy. I have lost 30 lbs due to life style changes. I gave up both wine and Diet Coke, cut down on carbs and cut out sugar from my diet. I am exercising with Zumba classes. I am doing everything right, but still trying to find the joy, I know it is within reach.

For years I have wanted to find my voice on this blog and speak with more authenticity. I have always kept it light and business oriented, not wanting to get too personal. I try to educate other artists with tips and I try to inspire others that want to make a living at art, because yes it can be done. I could not get back to blogging until I was ready to share the journey I am on. I think I am ready to do that. I am heading in a great direction, cancer does not define me, but it has stolen my joy and I am going to get it back. "I ain't takin' this shit no more." I may have to go to West Memphis, but I will find my Joy. I will find my Joy.

Me and Pickle
Photo: Kris Hundt

Photoshop Tutorial on Doggy Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:12:00 +0000

This week I proofed sweet little Oscar. His original photograph was pretty awesome. The only real issue I needed to address before I could start painting was the eye to our left (his right eye), was a tad bit dark. I created a quick video tutorial that shows my process.

Join me in Dallas on April 11th and 12th for a Photoshop workshop where I teach my students to use the wacom drawing tablet and the smudge tool in Photoshop to create stunning pet portraits from their very own snapshots. Over the years I have had so many clients that like playing art director and I know half of them were closeted artists themselves. I really enjoy teaching Photoshop to people and letting them have the fun of creating their own original pet portraits. It is not an easy fast program to conquer, but in this class my students do walk away with a basic understanding of the tools and techniques that I use to create my art. This class usually fills up so don't wait to sign up on-line at the Creative Arts Center Website.

Pet Portraits with Toys

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:42:00 +0000

I love doing artwork of pets with toys! In this case the client asked me to change the green toy to red. She had ordered a small 14 x 14 and yet the square format did not allow for the entire long toy to be included so I offered her a free size upgrade to a 20 x 14. This is an unusual long rectangle and a custom size that fits the subject(s) perfectly.

You can check out all of Beufford's proofing options over at Smug Mug.

Productive Day

noreply@blogger.com (artpaw) — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 23:16:00 +0000


"Kota" © rebecca collins artpaw.com

Well today was productive and I am finally turning the corner on this dumb flu virus. Evelyn came in this morning and she shipped out Kota and organized the shipping shed. I spent most of the morning on the computer ordering supplies and working on a couple of portrait projects.

This afternoon I was rather naughty and took a break in the middle of the afternoon to rest and watch Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I never watch TV in the daytime, but this children's animation was just the ticket for me today. The dogs curled up next to me and I really enjoyed this clever movie with characters from my childhood. Higgins gives it 4 paws up.