of masked gentlemen, gaggle of jrts, a mysterious cat, and my muses

Lets revive this place a little. Its been quite a few moons since I last posted and yet my stats tell me that people still occasionally visit this blog, for which I am grateful. Perhaps they wind up here by accident but I know I'd rather stumble onto a live blog than a dead one. So for the sake of those people, and perhaps for those that miss us I figured I'd throw in an update :)

As usual - i've been busy! School, work, a lot of dog shows, and a little painting here and there.

I put two new shells into my shop just today. Here we've got two boys hiding behind masks. Or maybe they're girls, that's really up to the buyer to decide.


Here we have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a sighthound from Africa that was once used for lion hunting, as the story goes. Man you guys should see how intense Ridgebacks are on the lure coursing field, its amazing. i like this breed a lot.


And here we have a Bullmastiff. Now most of the bullmastiffs I've met have been mushy fools, but my understanding is that they will protect their family with whatever means necessary if the need ever arises.

Oh here's a fun one, I painted a custom kitty not too long ago! Okay it was long ago, but I never blogged Java:

Java is an abyssinian, a beautiful slender red cat with huge jade-colored eyes. He is unfortunately no longer with us and I hope this shell portrait will bring Java's human fond memories.

Oh you guys know what else I did? I painted 20 Jack Russells over the summer. Twenty!

That's a bunch in progress.
Here's one of the finished JRTs:

You can have a look at the whole set, if you'd like. Why on earth did i paint twenty of these guys? They are for the Gulf Coast Jack Russell Terrier Network!

But enough about stuff for others, I've also been busy taking pictures of the skinny boys. Life as muses is demanding stuff!

Catching up - Customs!

Well, my friend Beth gently reminded me that I have been completely ignoring this blog for the past four months. The shells that were featured as new listings in the last entries have already reached their four month limit on Etsy and have had to been renewed. Seriously, shame on me.

In fact I've been incredibly slow on painting in these months. Schoolwork has kept me occupied and miserable :P

I've had a couple of commissioned portraits to keep me busy though! So I'm gonna show them off :)


This is River and Coyote, two bi-black shelties. They are very, very handsome gentlemen. And they're tough little dogs too - River herds cattle! The photo doesn't really do the shell justice, because here the picture looks a bit warped due to the curvature of the shell, and the flash made the shading look very harsh. But it really came out quite nice.


This is Francesca, a graceful little Italian Greyhound girl. Iggy ears often go in wonky directions throughout the day (my boys can attest to this). But the dogs never seem to notice and continue with their godly attitude. Much like here - Francesca's ear went all funny but she kept a serious look on her face! Silly iggies...


Karen and Yoshi are two brindle greyhounds who are no longer with us. Yoshi was a sweet sensitive boy, and Karen was a bit of a prankster. Unfortunately the shell took a fall and broke. I was able to repair it pretty well, though. Thank you, Gale, for being so patient and understanding!


Now this sweet girl is Cheska, a retriever mix rescue. She has the most beautiful eyes and a lovely sable coat.


Look familiar? Its Cheska again. Her mum decided to get two portraits, showing two different sides of this pretty girl, one serious and one smiley :)

I've also got a pretty exciting custom portrait coming up that I'm just starting to work on. What's exciting about it? Well, it isn't a dog ;) I'll show you guys when its complete. And next I'll feature some shells that I have painted for my shop.

Patience and paint

So I hope 2009 has taken a good start for everyone. Its been a little difficult here.

One of the reasons is that Anton has a booboo. Yes, a booboo. He broke one of his nails all the way down to the quick. And he hasn't told anyone so by the time i saw it by randomly trying to cut his nails and seeing a big gaping hole where a nail should have been, it had enough time to get infected. So he's had a hefty dose of antibiotics and a bandaged foot.

He's being very dramatic about it. Like he'll be totally fine but the moment he sees someone looking at him he'll start limping. He's been on antibiotics for a couple of days now and I've been bandaging on and off. We'll be checking progress officially with the vet today.

I also have some new creations. The first I bring to you is a custom portrait of Mickey the mini schnauzer...

He is one of my favorite clients at the grooming shop. I've been grooming him for almost four years now, and he's been one of my favorites since the beginning. He is now a sweet, older gentleman. It was an honour to paint him :)


That's Mickey in real life.
-------------------

Last but not least I've got two new shells in my shop that I haven't yet mentioned here. My most recent addition is this Weimaraner:

I just love how silly he looks - sort of like a teenage pup going through an awkward growth stage. Where their ears are huge and their legs are long and they don't know what to do with themselves to coordinate. I'm sure this funny pup will grow into a very handsome adult some day.


The second shell I've got listed is an Australian Cattle Dog. They've got the coolest mottled coats, these dogs. Very smart, trainable and full of energy.

Both shells above are available in my shop, ShellVergel!

Gaggle of new

Heh I've been aching to sit down and paint for the past month. I haven't been allowing myself due to finals at college. Its really a shame but while everyone was out there promoting to death in December, I was forced to mostly ignore my shop all month. And my last (and most difficult) final was on the 22nd, right before Christmas. Yah.

Now I've got a month off so I'm stepping up to painting again. I've missed it! I bring a bit of a variety...


First up is a puppy German Shorthaired Pointer. I just love the green eyes they have when they're puppies. He is painted on one of the largest shells that I've got. Overall, i think the shell came out quite lovely.


The next is a Tricolor Rough Collie with a sorta smiley expression. I just love how contrasted tricolor collies and shelties look, those tan eyebrows are utterly handsome!


Another tricolor beauty, this is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. These guys typically have a large white blaze on their face, and the large white spot on the forehead it called the "kissing spot". I really love this breed - their tan eyebrows make them look stern but they are some of the happiest dogs I have ever met. Their tails just don't stop wiggling. He is painted on a delicate soft shell clam.


The last one is a shell i painted as a gift. I don't often do this but it was for a secret santa gift exchange at my favorite online forum. Harley is my giftee's heart dog who passed away from cancer last year, and i knew she would appreciate it.

The Harley shell is also my first official ornament. I got the idea from a sale that didn't quite happen. Someone had asked me to make a shell into an ornament and i had to practice by drilling holes in a blank shell. The sale fell through, but i had a shell with holes drilled into it and i had the idea to make what you see above :)

The shells are available for sale at my shop, ShellVergel! With the exception of that last custom girl that was a gift for someone.

Cove, the Wii, and spots!

A quick mention of a custom portrait I made for Emily of Dreameyce. Meet Cove the catahoula leopard dog, and Kiwi the teeny pretty pit bull!


The shell has undergone some minor alterations to make Kiwi look a bit more like herself. This is a shot of the shell before it was finalized. But you get the idea. The shell looks even better in person, if i say so myself!
----------

Also, another new shell up in my shop! This is a Dalmatian on a soft shell clam.

I love how he came out. Soft shell clams are a great canvas - their texture is almost paper-like and they're so smooth, they take to paint really well. Alas they're brittle. I coat the back of the soft shell with varnish so that they have a little more strength to them. This guy is on a fairly large soft clam (their size range is different from my typical Atlantic clams, and this guy is one of the bigger ones I've painted).

The dalmatian is available in ShellVergel!

Three English Gentlemen

I finally got a little painting achieved! I've got a bit of a theme to them! I bring you three gentlemen from England - the English Springer Spaniel, the English Setter and the English Pointer!

Dogs from the British Isles dominate the sporting group, with the pointer, all of the setters, several spaniels and most of the retrievers. They come with boundless energy, loving temperaments and the loveliest, softest eyes :)


English Springer Spaniel.


English Setter.


English Pointer.

As always, you can find these shells and others on ShellVergel.
--------------------
Another reminder - if you are interested in getting a custom shell portrait for the holidays, please try to get your order in by Saturday, November 1st.

I miiiight be taking custom orders later in November depending on my school schedule. I will not be painting in December at all, due to preparation for finals, sorry.

So get any custom orders in ASAP please! It can take me up to two weeks to paint a custom portrait, so time counts!

Deadline reminder and a very fast dog.

***I'd like to give another reminder that the deadline for custom portrait orders is November 1st, one month from now. This is if you want the portrait ready by Christmas/Holidays.

If you're thinking about having a custom portrait done, please have the order in as soon as possible! I'll be taking finals in December and the whole month will be pretty much off-limits to painting. So I will be getting custom orders out and done by then.
-----------------

I'd also like to give my whippet shell a formal introduction...

I can never go for long before delving into sighthounds again. I adore them to pieces, I do. This is a red masked Whippet. But he can pass for an Italian Greyhound too I suppose. I really love dogs that have a thick clear blaze on their faces. Its my sorta "ideal" facial marking. I love how this dude came out :P

As always, available in my shop, and you can click on it in the promotion box on the right.

Gold trim muzzles

I'm so thrilled at the great response to my Those vet bills... post. I oversimplified some very complicated stuff an awful lot to try and get my point across without being too too wordy. But several people commented that they learned something and I'm very glad to hear it :) Being able to afford vet care is really something you need to think about while everything is okay. Don't wait for a pet emergency that costs a thousand or more before you think of how you'll be dealing with the cost - chances are you'll be so shocked you'll barely know your name and that is no time to think about fiscal responsibility ;)
-------------------------

Ahem. Anyway. I promised I'd quit stalling and get to work and i did just that. I bring to you two black and tan beauties. Except one is liver and tan :P


Here's a Rottweiler with a gigentic smile. They're really such goofy dogs, aren't they?


And a liver and tan Doberman Pinscher. Wonderfully sensitive and very intuitive dogs.

Both shells are available in my shop, you can click right on them in the "Shameless Self-Promotion" box on the right to see them :)

Since I was so wordy with the vet bills post I think I'll make up for it by shutting up now :P

Louis, Personalization, and the Holiday Season

I've been a little slow on shell-painting, i admit. College has started and there's barely enough time for anything. As usual.

But i did get one custom portrait in. Meet Louis...


Louis is a beautiful happy lab mix. I hear that he always wears a smile on his face.
----------

Hey have you ever seen something in a shop and thought to yourself "it would be totally perfect if only it had..." Lets say we're talking about the shells in my shop. And you see this shell... and you think to yourself 'that looks totally like my dog, if only his body was all white, or his face didn't have a blaze or whatever else...'

If it was a minor request like a bit of a color change, i would be willing to change the shell and edit it. Now I can't do large alterations like change position, or open a closed mouth, since there is no way i can erase paint off a shell surface. But don't be afraid to ask. I will also gladly write your dog's name on the shell. Well not that gladly - my handwriting isn't as neat as i'd like it to be. But I try my best to get it to look neat. Because lets face it, its one thing to have a portrait that looks like your dog but its totally another to officially dedicate it to them.

Perhaps this isn't for every sort of art, and some artists might not be willing to change a piece by request. But I don't mind at all and will work with you as long as the request is do-able.
------------------

On a last note... it may only be September, but the holiday season will be here sooner than you imagine.

The reason I'm bringing it up is that if you have been thinking of giving someone a custom shell portrait as a gift but have been putting it off for later - get it done now. I'm a college student in my senior year of pre-med and I'll have some serious finals in December. So there will absolutely be no last minute portraits. In fact my last final will be on December 22nd, so you can see I'll really be pressed for time.

As much as I hate to say it, the deadline for custom portraits will be no later than November. As long as you want the portrait to come in time for Christmas or whatever holidays. When I'm in school it can take me two to three weeks to complete a commissioned work due to assignments and tests. And I'll really have to pause any artwork when my finals are coming up. Its unfortunate, I'm not happy about it, but its important that i set this deadline.

So to reiterate - if you would like a custom portrait done in time for the holiday season, the deadline to set up the project and send me photos is by November 1st. After that I may squeeze in projects if i have time, but there is no guarantee that i will have a chance to.

Of course shells that are already in my shop will be available for purchase right up to the last moment.

For those that will meet their humans again someday

I started painting shells several years ago. I didn't do anything particular with them yet, just some patterns and designs. I had a bunch of tubes of acrylic paint and a few shells lying around. This was one of the "designs" i made. I even wrote the date in the back - I painted it in 2005. The best part is that in those three years the paint has stayed in perfect condition, so i can vouch for their longevity.

In fact I painted them, tossed them on the very top shelf of my desk and forgot about those shells. And I recently rediscovered them cause i was browsing up there for whatever reason. They were just lying around and i thought let me DO something with them. Naturally i thought of putting a dog in front of the background. And this reminded me of some paintings i have seen of dogs in a heaven scene (complete with wings and halo and clouds). The picture on the right isn't from the painting I'm thinking of, but its a similar idea (by Artwolf on Etsy). And I'm not particularly religious or anything but for some reason I am intrigued by the idea.

So I decided to try a hand at the idea.
I decided to paint a senior beagle, squinting inthe sun. I decided to leave out the wings and halo (of course I can always add them by request :). That way it can still apply to any senior beagle that loves wide open spaces, not necessarily as a memorial or angel-dog.

But I am still thinking of it as a "Rainbow Bridge" piece. A happy dog who's led a long life. Maybe he was happy for every moment of it. Maybe he's dealt with hardships and tough living conditions and people who didn't appreciate him enough. Either way now he's happy and all he is missing is his favorite human.

A different kind of paint

My apologies once again for the MIA thing. We've been remodelling my room and I have been stressed out beyond belief. Its mostly because my stepdad is doing the remodel entirely on his own, basically on nights and weekends and meanwhile i'm forced to live between the kitchen and my parents room. Now I don't do well in such dormatory situations (I had to quit Stony Btrook and transfer to a local college because i couldn't handle dorm life). I haven't had any time to paint or think or anything in the past week and a half, it seems.

My room's been a few colours over the decades, apparently. White and green and red and blue and bright yellow. I'm thinking of doing a lime/olive green number on it.

So far we've got the floors done, and Anton gave them a test run.
-------------

I did get a few shells painted before the remodel started and i never had a chance to put them up. I'm having a calm quiet day today so I figured that this was a great chance to do so.

Westie, or more formally a west highland white terrier.

And on the other hand i decided to try something new...And came up with a kitty on a soft shell clam. I'm a little weird on it. The angle came out funny and the proportions look funny to me. But its a first. I've painted a kitty before but i never really released it to the public, so to speak. And cats are so... different to paint. They're so curvy and fluid, while I'm used to drawing streamlined and angled animals (ie dogs). But its a start.

And I've got one more shell painted but its extra awesome so i'll be devoting a whole entry to it later.

getting to know Jack

Seems a lot of you enjoyed the feature on Felted pets. I love them too. If only I could afford one. Or four :P

So I'm back in the painting mood and got a bit done last night while watching Beauty and the Beast. Actually more like listening to Beauty and the Beast - I let random favorite movies play on my laptop in front of me while painting. I focus on the painting but look up on occasion. And sing/say along any lines that i happen to have memorized. Its more lively that way. (psst... what do you guys do to keep the surroundings less quiet while crafting?)


I've always felt so weird painting Jack Russells standing still. It seems to really defy the essence of a breed that never stops moving. So I painted one flying. Okay well not flying, but mid-gallop as they prefer to be.

Actually, thinking back to the first JRT I painted... he wasn't really standing still either.

This guy was rolling around and being a silly puppy. This was one of my earlier shells that sold several months ago. Its fun to note changes in my style. I must have painted him in January (when i officially started the painted shell 'business'). I was experimenting with poses and the colours that i outlined the dogs with. I am still learning shading with acrylic paint, but it was something i really didn't have a handle over then. I also used any random shells, whereas right now I try to use ones that have the most even surfaces. Yep, you live, you learn. To be fair, i used to price my shells a lot more generously in my more rudimentary days.


Here's a more recent Jack Russell I painted, another shell that sold. This is the only JRT I have painted that's actually standing still. And honestly i've never liked this shell, it feels very awkward and unnatural. But someone else liked it obviously, so at least it has some merit.

----------
And here is another shell I painted last night - only it is not going into my shop. It will be a gift for someone that i promised to give a shell to probably two months ago. Hopefully she won't think that i have forgotten about her!

I tried something different and painted the background a bit of blue. Actually a lot of blue. I normally prefer to rely on the background of the shell itself, but this one was stark bleach white and looked like something was missing. I'm not sure about how i feel about the blueness. Its an experiment.

the latest

Kingston's mom sent me a picture of him posing next to his shell. What a cute smile he has! I just love seeing photos of the shells' new niches.
-------

I took this picture of Perry a few days ago and I'm just absolutely amazed...

pb6
Originally uploaded by ShellVergel

I am so in love with this dog - he is one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen! I'm thrilled with how clear and pretty this shot came out, too (click to see it bigger). It would be perfect if his back leg was a liiiiitle further. But i didn't want to touch him or I'd lose his gorgeous pose.

------

horseshoe crab congregations
Originally uploaded by ShellVergel

Just a fun note - its Horseshoe crab spawning season. The other day we were at the beach and met just the hugest populations all coming out on the shore to spawn and hang out. It was a high tide and a full moon later that night, and i think that's their spawn trigger.

PS - if you ever see an overturned horseshoe crab on its back, make sure to turn it over! Otherwise if the tide leaves, they will be stranded and will die either from seagull attack, or from drying out. They can't hurt you, so don't be afraid to help them out.

Marketing and volunteering

So a couple of new things. First, I spontaneously decided to get rid of my .com site and redirect it to my Etsy shop.

So now http://shellvergel.com = http://shellvergel.etsy.com

I did it cause mostly shellvergel.com was useless. I made it before i had an Etsy shop. And I was just too lazy to update it with the new shells and pictures and whatever. I've got Flickr for a gallery. I've got this blog to let everyone know what I'm doing and what's going on with my works. And I've got an Etsy shop... where i can actually sell stuff. The .com was useless.

But i have six more months of hosting, an extra email address and the .com is printed on hundreds of business cards. Shame to let it go to waste. So with the help of a little html, I just made it so that it automatically redirects. Now I won't have to tell people "go to this address, not that one" when handing them business cards. Not everyone knows what Etsy is obviously, so this will save me time on explanations on why I want them to go straight to my shop, not to the .com.

If you have a domain you want to redirect to your own shop, have a look right here.
----------

Moving on! We've got some new shells done!

This wrinkly dude is in my shop now:

He's a happy English bulldog. I've been painting a lot of smiling dogs lately. I like it - doggie smiles are much easier to capture in paint than people smiles, for one thing. This guy's painted on a hard clam, which is super sturdy and can probably survive a fall or child or two (not that that's a guarantee, but just saying).

And we have a custom shell - featuring an inscription!

Kingston is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi - another happy smiley guy. And, man, I love how he came out. I had no idea I could paint like this. I'm seriously thrilled :) I know, I'm so humble... The inscription was a request from his owner. Its the first time I tried something like that. I never offered to caption pictures... because doG did not bless me with penmanship at all. But the owner asked and I couldn't say no (are we seeing a pattern here?). I tried super hard to stay neat, though, and the letters came out okay. So yah. super proud cause sometimes I just need to be.
--------------


I found me a volunteering gig. Today was my first day helping out at Animal Haven at their SoHo location. Technically I need some hours volunteering for my Vet school application. But I also do want to help out, I'm not a totally bad person after all. The SoHo location is a very small facility, they've got about five dogs and maybe 15 cats. The dogs have little "corrals" and the cats have two rooms where they all hang out. They also have a boutique storefront whose proceeds go to help sustain the facility. I spent some time walking Mollee all around SoHo (and getting to know the town cause i don't know that area of Manhattan at all):

and some other pups. Walking big dogs is definitely a change from my 13 lb guys :P got some good exercise out of it too...