my home town commission

I've been slow in working on this commission as there was no deadline set...never good for me! I tend to drag my feet for some reason on open ended commissions, but once I can find my groove with it then it goes pretty fast!

I was asked to create a drawing that represented my town of La Canada. In the process of walking and hiking around the city this year, my daughter Emily and I have discovered the most beautiful areas I've never seen before in my almost 17 years here...heck I didn't even know we had a dam on the east side...pretty bad I know! I typically spend my time in the town just west of us and not La Canada, so this has been a super fun experience and despite already having my commission drawn out, it's still an on going exploration.

A few years ago the La Canada Trail council created a 12 mile trail in and around the city. We've hit up 4 sections of it in search of the perfect La Canada scene...which I did find! But hoping to hike the trail near Angeles National Forest this Saturday and then one day soon hike the whole trail in one day. Josie our dog is up for it...Emily and I are not quite there yet!

day 7 of the New Year!

Lily Marie from my dog competition on Facebook

my new year is starting off with a bang in many ways...an art show at topanga canyon art gallery, new drawings, two commissions, 3 new foster kittens, and my youngest daughter just got her license! yay! such wonderful things makes me temporarily forget about all the endless car repairs on both my oldest daughters ancient ford and my honda! yikes...car repairs do add up into the thousands, don't they?!

Cantik, my newest commission

but the bills will get paid and forgotten, the good stuff sticks and celebrated! 

my newest drawing Percy

this is Meatloaf, 1 of 3 new foster kittens

hope you have lots to celebrate too in the new year!!

geesh...what a weekend!!

this weekend was one for the records...many emotional and physical ups and downs as saturday started off with a bout of food poisoning from a trader joe's vegi wrap, which by the afternoon had me in bed. 

this weekend also had my youngest daughter off on a church retreat, so i was in charge of getting our foster kittens to Happy Strays to be adopted that morning...which could be a long post in itself! needless to say, their separate adoptions fell thru, which is a sign that they were meant to be together! but they are still up for adoption at Petco, which despite not feeling well, i spent a good deal of time at as it was hard to see them cooped up in the brand new, but very small "cattery" there. of course i cried...a lot...as i missed them terribly and knew they were not happy with all that transpired that day. but if this helps them get a good home, it's something all three of us have to endure for a while! this, as i have said many times is the hardest part of fostering for me as i attach (especially to these two) in a nano-second. 

the ups of the weekend were:

that i did get close to finishing up my commission of sammy, which i wasn't expecting! 

and i did received another commission from a former client when i first started creating pet portraits! but i can't say anything more about it, as it's a christmas present!

and i found out that The King and Queen B were accepted into an art exhibit in december at a wonderful gallery! 

and my daughter made her first goal of the season at a late afternoon game on sunday! (they won 5-2!)

and shortie brought me a furry gift in the middle of the night! which only took me half an hour to retrieve from my room and return to the great outdoors...a new record...one time it took me over a day to find the rat (poor thing) he brought me. 

and my sammy brought me a lizard, which he kindly placed in the bathtub for easy removal!

despite all the good things that happened, i hope never to repeat this kind of weekend again!

on the prowl again!

queen b is back on my drawing board again and needing to be completed very quickly now, not just because i still have 4 commissions to go but because i want to enter the pair (king leo) in an upcoming gallery exhibit...so the race is on!! wish me luck and cross everything you've got!

even tho i completed my large house commission on friday evening, i still can't show it to you, as it needs to get framed and then given to their client...hopefully next week! but here's a few more snippets of the piece. little leo (our foster kitten) can't stay off my drawing board...too many pencils and erasers to play with!!

Moo is mooving along!!!

although i haven't drawn since last wednesday night...moo is coming along pretty quickly.

my last commission, jessica and crystal are safely in my clients hands! 

the two day art show i participated in with 14 other awesome artists went very well. i received another commission, sold some prints and small pieces and was approached to do another show for designers and interior decorators! so, aside from exhaustion and a small cold, all in all it was a wonderful weekend!

and jesus orchestrated us with his magic red paint brush!! what more could we ask for?!

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” 

~Roger Caras~

Bella & Ricky (c) commission 11x14  2013   Kathryn Hansen

Ohhh Nuts! (c) 5x5   2013   Kathryn Hansen

 

 

below is a new drawing on the board...one of our foster kittens from last summer. my daughter named him coonie after a cat we had many years ago...see the original coonie here.  this sweet kitten loved to sit on my drawing board soaking up the warmth from my light, play with our dog josie despite the size difference and was just the friendliest little thing you ever met!! although he had many health issues and eventually had to be quarantined, he is now with an awesome family and healthy as can be!!

 i see a future drawing or two of these sweet 6 week old little bundles of joy from happy strays pet rescue!! our newest foster kittens, ariel and adella (i wanted frida and georgia but lost out!)

 

 

the end is in sight!

if all goes well i should be done with this first go around by the end of this week (could be tricky tho with both soccer and Easter this coming weekend!)...then it's onto tightening up the details in the sand and grasses!