Monday, May 5, 2008

Longest Entry evar - getting back into the groove

okay okay. I've finally got some decent updates!

First of all, I'd like to mention that we did not win anything at the show in Trenton on sunday. Marco thought it would be fun to walk on two legs instead of four - he had the judge laughing. Perry, bless him, lol, was excellent. He stacked well, gaited well - I was very proud of his performance and cooperation. He beat one dog in Open class but got defeated in the Winners ring. I had a lot of fun though, the weather was great, so no hard feelings. Our next show will be at the end of May.

In other news, I got interviewed! Check out NanjoDogz to read it! There were some fun dog-themed questions and Nanjodogz chose great pictures of my dogs and shells to go along with the interview. Thanks, Nanjodogz!

Now here's some long-awaited new merchendise! ;) As always to the right there's an Etsy-Mini where you can see the items in my shop if you want.


My first attempt at something Brindle - this is a Boxer with uncropped ears. As much as I am personally pro cropping and docking (at least in the show ring), I know that among pet people its a dying fad. And that's just fine, the floppy ears definitely bring extra cuteness.


A Jack-slash-Parson Russell Terrier in full body.


This one I'm excited about - Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier (or "wheaten"... or "wheaton" for those who don't know the correct spelling) on a soft shell clam! My three experimental soft clams all survived shipping perfectly - so I'm ready to introduce them for sale in my shop.

That's all I got painted thus far. I always have a major urge to not put any shells up until I got like 6 finished. I'm not sure why - efficiency i guess. That way I don't have to take my camera out as often, I can get all the pics done at once, I can get all the shells up at once and then spend time checking back every ten minutes to see if i got any new views. Such newbie mentality, I know. I know its best to stagger stuff rather than put it all up at once, i know. lol so I stopped myself at 3 shells and decided to get them up before i go on to make any others.

I tried to force myself out of my boundary with that brindle boxer. Mostly because I've never done brindle before. But I'm gonna need to because I'll be making a portrait of two brindle corgis soon, and i need practice.

Its funny, as much as i claim that I don't do custom portraits, I'm "signed up" to do two right now. The other day someone convo'd me and asked nicely and i couldn't resist so i said I'll give it a try. She asked for three dogs on one shell - two of which are sorta shaggy fuzzy dogs. I gave her a very fair price because this is gonna be out of my comfort zone, probably even more than the brindle dogs. But I'll give it a try and hopefully it will go successfully enough that I overstep the hurdle and finally offer custom portraits to the public.
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anyway - we got presents! Sorta. Actually I took part in a trade with PunkyWoofster (also known as Jenn). But it feels like I got a present anyway. Jenn makes collars for bad ass (punky :P ) dogs! The designs she uses make me think of classic rock. Of course my boys are too fruity for skulls and rock and roll, so I chose the greenest fabric she had and Jenn made me a collar with a fabulous Celtic design.


Perry showing off his 1.5" wide martingale collar. Italian Greyhounds have long slender necks and heads, so they do best with a martingale-style collar. It tightens if the dog puts pressure on it, but it does so without choking the dog. But because it tightens the dog can't slip out and run away. Of course if the dog relaxes and doesn't pull, the collar relaxes too. Personally, I'd recommend it for any dog with a slender head, not only sighthounds. Martingale collars can also work well for dogs with long coats because they don't put pressure on the dog's neck, and don't break the coat.


Marco got a green martingale collar too! Funny story, Jenn made me a collar and was going to scrap it and start over because the label was a bit off. She insisted on being a perfectionist and making a new collar. Pfft, if you ask me, the first collar looked just fine (who's gonna see the label when its on the dog?). But since this collar was gonna be scrapped anyway, I volunteered to give it a home... on my other dog ;)

We finally got a chance to test these collars out today. They're great, very comfortable. Marco (who has no manners) tends to pull and didn't choke himself once wearing his. The extra width spreads out pressure and makes it easier for slender sensitive necks! It also shows off the design better :P

I think Jenn deserves something extra for the added effort (even though she insisted on making the extra collar herself ;) So I'm gonna try to send her something extra one of these days. After all, she said the nicest things about the shell that I sent her as a trade... (this one - blue IG with bead necklace).
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meh. this is turning into the longest entry ever. So I'm gonna shut up here. Believe it or not I actually have MORE to talk about. That's what happens when I slack off from posting here. evil organic chemistry...

4 comments:

T.Allen said...

I like long posts! Too bad your lovelies didn't win...I did laugh about the two-legged walking incident. As a former child pageant contestant...I can so relate to the rogue rebellion! Congrats on getting back in the groove, I love you new wares.

fluffnflowers said...

My girl used to pull a three-legged routine in the show ring. I'm very, very, very glad she's retired, because she's way too much of a brat to be on the road every Friday. :)

Have you considered donating a couple of your pieces as trophies to specialties? You do beautiful work.

Tatyana said...

fluff - I hear that girls are even harder to work with (ie "they call them bitches for a reason" ;) Oh man, if the breeder ever told me that i could skip showing Marco and just focus on Perry it would be a godsend.

I haven't thought about donating to specialties, no. I'm brand new to actually participating in shows, so I'm not very savvy yet. Its something to consider. Although I do wish to get a vendor gig at a show some day, i have a feeling I'd do well, especially with the less common breeds (coincidentally they're my favorite subject to paint). But I think I'd have to stock up on inventory before doing so - I've only got about 40 pieces of very varied breeds.

Wonderfully Sew Knit said...

Oh wow! Your art is so neat. :o) I'm glad I stumbled upon your blog.