Sunday, January 17, 2010

New Daily Riding Essentials


The holiday portraits are for completed so I have been playing around with some daily paintings. Back by popular request are the Daily Riding Essentials! How fun are these? This is another hoof pick brush – very similar to the one I did last year. Hoof Pick 2 measures 6 x 8 and is acrylic on canvas panel.



The second image, titled Show Sheen, is of a very popular equine coat polish. I love it for keeping tails silky and tangle free. I really like this one! Measuring 8 x 6 it is acrylic on canvas panel.





These paintings make really cute groupings in a barn office or tack room. If you have any requests pop me an email and let me know! These are $50 each + $4.95 for Priority Mail Shipping and can be purchased through my website here
Click to purchase Show Sheen
Click to purchase Hoof Pick2

     If you are interested in more than one let me know and I will generate an invoice to combine the shipping cost. deborah@deborahosullivan.com. Remember to bookmark and check back throughout the week for new Daily Riding Essentials.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Acrylic Draft Cross Portrait




Today's painting is a 14 x 11 acrylic portrait of a draft cross mare named Bonnie. She is a draft cross and this piece was a Christmas surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this even though it was a real challenge getting it right without her owner's input! My final result brought tears of joy and a "it is perfect!" response from the recipient. That always brings me tremendous satisfaction.
On another note, I am having computer woes with my 7 year old Powerbook. It has been having kernal panics and apparently does not like my new Airport Extreme WiFi base. So I have a new Mac Pro laptop at the top of my 2010 wishl ist. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to help this one bring it on! :)

Hope everyone is keeping warm!

Deborah

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Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Book Review..Memoirs of a Bathtub Psychic


Today's post is a review of a super book. Okay, now I know it is not art but the author is an artist and the book is about dogs! I will get back to the art tomorrow. This book touched me on so many levels that I just had to share. I picked up this book called Memoirs of a Bathtub Psychic by Bethanne Elion  and I could not put it down. I read it in two evenings and loved it. This book is a memoir of how the author got started on her holistic journey to save her dogs and how she has come to terms with her psychic abilities. I have posted a full synopsis of the book below which explains the book better than I can. I am after all a painter not a writer. :)  This book is very informative and a real eye opener for anyone who manages their dogs conventionally.....ie kibble, full vaccinations, etc. You will laugh and cry as you read about  her journey. A real page turner!  If anyone is looking for a great read to cozy up with I highly recommend this one! You can get started by reading Chapter One at her website.
Chapter One

Enjoy!






Memoirs of
the Bathtub Psychic
The True Story of a Clairvoyant and Her Dogs
by Bethanne Elion

SYNOPSIS:

This debut memoir is the heartwarming true story of a woman’s relationship with her Newfoundland dogs, Sophie, Emma and Cubby. These “barking bears” teach her to trust her natural psychic ability, which leads to the discovery of a talent for animal communication and healing.

Afraid to acknowledge her instincts due to negative experiences as a child, a deep love for her dogs motivates Bethanne to open her mind and take unusual steps to improve their lives when they fall ill.

She begins to suspect that some conventional veterinary practices, especially vaccinations, may have actually caused her pets’ serious health problems. Following her intuition and signals provided by her dogs and the Universe, she starts down the path toward holistic medicine.

By opening the channel to psychic communication, Bethanne receives information about her previous incarnations and the lessons she must learn in her current lifetime. An enlightening relationship develops with her spirit guide (and love from a past life), a Native American entity named Gray Wolf who offers wisdom at key moments. She does psychic readings for farmers and pet owners while relaxing in the bathtub, when her third eye is open and important clues for her clients’ healing are revealed.

A compelling read for all animal lovers, this book will be of special interest to pet owners interested in holistic health, organic raw food canine nutrition, and critics of excessive vaccination. It is written in a dynamic, poetic voice and has been well-received by holistic veterinarians and professional psychics alike.


About the Author

Bethanne Elion has a BFA in writing and literature from Emerson College, in Boston. She was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and has lived in New Jersey, Massachusetts and California. Settled in Vermont since 1999, she shares a house and ten acres with her Newfoundland dog, yellow Labrador and three cats.

Bethanne has been deeply involved in animal communication and holistic healing for many years. She works as a nutrition consultant for private clients and for Volhard Nutrition, makers of natural diet and other whole health balancing products for dogs.

As a psychic medium, she incorporates her knowledge of the influences of health and nutrition on behavior in her intuitive pet consultations. Her clients include organic dairy farms, ill and recovering dogs, pets with behavior issues and their owners.

Bethanne is currently at work on her second book, the sequel to Memoirs of the Bathtub Psychic.

Bethanne's Website


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Deborah O'Sullivan
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Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Cheap Joe's Signature Field Easel

     Today I will be reviewing the Cheap Joe's Signature Field Easel. As soon as I saw this easel I knew it was exactly what I was looking for.  Those who know me know that I love pochade boxes. I have my little Guerilla Thumbox and my Alla Prima Bitteroot boxes. Both are great for acrylics or oils but were lacking for me for watercolor. It says on the CJ's website that this easel was designed with the watercolorist in mind. This looks very much like the easel that master watercolorist Joseph Zbukvic uses. I love this easel. It is super easy to set up and take down and it has plenty of workspace in all of the right places. The mast portion has a landscape orientation which I really like. You do need to tape your work to a board or use blocks. It can be set upright and flat as well. The legs are fully adjustable and super easy to fold up. The box also came with a free DVD that has set up instructions and a nice watercolor tutorial on painting trees. This is a great box for other medium as well but it may lack the storage space required for acrylic and oil. It is available in cherry or black and right now it is on sale for only $169. Cheap Joe's also often has great prices on shipping. I only paid $4.95  to have this UPSed to my home. Follow them on Twitter for some good coupon codes and art deals.
I originally bought this as an extra work station for my studio but I will definitely be taking this one outside to do plein air work. Overall- a super box for a super great price! I have a lot of photos below.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

The folded up box







 

 

Have a wonderful day!

Deborah

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Monday, January 04, 2010

Happy New Year! Newf watercolor and Dressage Painting


I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Now it is back to our regularly scheduled programmimg! :) I took a holiday break and now I am back to work in the studio. 
I have some interesting blog posts coming up.. so stay tuned!
I've  got a wonderful new easel...The Cheap Joe's Signature Field Easel which I will review here with photos. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this easel
I will review a book that a wonderful author/friend wrote. The book is titled Memoirs of a Bathtub Psychic by Bethanne Elion. I know it is not about art (although she is an artist, too) but this book is a wonderful read.
I will be posting more about the painting process itself. Lots of WIPS and commentary on techniique and answers to some of my most frequently asked questions.

I am looking forward to creating some wonderful new art this year.  Here is the start of a new dressage horse and rider work in progress. This is very large 30 x 22 (full sheet) watercolor. This is the initial stages of glazes ...lots more work to be done on this. After doing so many smaller pieces last year I have been wanting go larger!







I also have a couple of pieces that I had started that got put aside as commissions and pressing commitments came in. One of them is Newfoundland pup that has been haunting me. I started the painting.. early last year (I think) and as I was organizing the studio it's cute little eyes (which I had almost finished painting) were peering at me over a stack of canvases. This one I will finish this week. I got a huge chunk completed last night.




The eyes are almost completed here. This painting will require a lot of glazing. This is my typical portrait style watercolor . I thoroughly enjoy doing these and I haven't done many of late because of my many acrylic painting commitments. I need to take my time at this point to lay done the initial washes of color. This will help to creath depth as the painting progresses and the values deepen. So does anyone recognize WHO this little Newf pup is?




Enjoying the process!

Deborah

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