Monday, August 18, 2008

Tess



A couple of weeks ago, I painted one of our two Border Collies. This is the companion piece - the second of our dogs. They are unusual in that they are tri-color collies. Instead of being just the standard black and white, they have the third color, the tan you see here. 

Tess is the dominant female. She will allow people to touch her when they come on our property, whereas Meg will not allow anyone to get near her. Tess has the soft silky fur that you associate with this breed, while Meg's fur is rather coarse and more wiry. Both have the softest noses ever...

With these dogs, you can be gone for 10 minutes and they greet you as though you have just returned from a long trip. They are always happy, always trying to please the owner, ready to work or play at any time. They keep the coyotes away from the house, and ignore my "pet" deer that comes to eat our birdseed that the birds scatter under the feeders and any flowers that might have heads that are large enough to show color. (My husband believes that I grow flowers just to feed the deer. Perhaps he is right!)

Anyway, I do love having my dogs here on our acreage. They have incredible personality, and are fun to watch interact with one another. The pair of paintings look really great hanging together on the wall. 

If you would like to commission a painting of your pet, please contact me: jogiesbrecht@gmail.com






15 comments:

Michelle Wiebe said...

She is so beautiful, Joanne. :) The vibrant colour in these pieces do not show up on the monitor like they do in real life.

Anonymous said...

This is truly Tess. I know her, and I could recognize her instantly, it is so true to her. Congratulations, now you can do pet portraits as a genre on top of everything else you do so well! Wanna paint my dog?

Jean Victory said...

Joanne,
A nice companion piece for the other painting. The dogs look beautiful. Nice job!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Michelle. I am glad you got to see this piece before leaving on holidays. Hope you are having a blast in BC... envy you the smell and feel of being beside the ocean!!! And then there are the art stores - no! don't get me going on that! :-) See you when you get back.

Unknown said...

Hi Kim,
Yes - you know Tess well. I agree that this is a true likeness of her. I was very pleased with the expression I was able to place in her eyes - this is what her personality is like - not just her features... alert, bright, intense.
Send me a photo of Yancy and we can work out something for a painting of her. You could even send me a picture of the cat too - two for the price of one!

Unknown said...

Hi Jean,
Thanks for coming by this site with your encouraging remarks. What are you working on right now? I thought the take-out box was such an original idea for a painting, and it turned out so beautifully. Can't wait to see your next piece!

Jean Victory said...

Hi Joanne,
You know I just finished the Reese's but I have no idea what I'm going to work on next. My work really needs more direction. I would like to paint more "vintage items" but I also want to have another theme. You can always tell Todd Ford's work because of what he paints. Maybe in time that will come and I just need to concentrate on learning how to paint. I bought different colored fabrics today at JoAnn Fabrics in a bin at 70% off. I'm going to eventually use them as backdrops for my still lifes. My compositions need work. What have you been working on?

Unknown said...

Hey Jean,

I know what you mean when you say that you can tell certain artists' work because of the theme and the way they handle it. There is great value in doing certain items over and over, but I also think that after a (short) time, I would become quite bored with the pears or apples...

However, there are artists who do the same overarching theme over and over and their work always looks fresh and different. Take a look at a fabulous watercolorist Carol Evans at www.carolevans.com, She does the water theme over and over, but in a vase of flowers, the ocean, a river - and it always looks unique - but you can see her style. Yup, some day when I grow up as an artist, I want to have my own recognizable style in my art, no matter what the subject!

I am currently working on a landscape of the prairies in the fall. The canola field are absolutely gorgeous brilliant yellow right now, and against a green grain field and the incredible blue we get as sky here - it is just surreal. Hope to get that one done up and posted next Monday.

I can hardly wait to see the fabric in your still life's! The texture and pattern will really give the paintings an extra measure of challenge and interest. Great idea! Keep on thinking and experimenting. You will suddenly realize that your work has taken on a style which is shouts "Jean Victory"!!! I think you are well on your way there already. :-)

Jean Victory said...

Joanne,
I would love to see photos of the landscape that you've described. It sounds so beautiful. The yellow you describe reminds me of the bright yellow primroses that I had growing in my back yard this summer. I checked out Carol's work and she handles the lighting so beautifully. I started painting some nectarines surrounded by light tan fabric. I know...I'm painting boring fruit but I really need to practice painting fold in fabric etc...Catch ya later!

Unknown said...

No, no, Jean! It is not that paintings of fruit are boring at all... it is that as an overly active adult (read ADHD or A type personality) I get bored easily when I do something too many times over. As I look at the wall behind me, I see paintings of pears, tomatoes, peaches, crabapples - all done by me! I look forward to seeing this new painting... folds of cloth are so beautiful yet look so difficult! Let me know as soon as you post this one...

Anonymous said...

You have some really lovely dogs. Love your paintings of them.

Paz

Unknown said...

Paz,
You are always so very encouraging! Thank you. How are you feeling? How much longer before you are able to resume your "regular" life? Hope all is well with you...

Jean Victory said...

Joanne,
I hope all goes well with the surgery. Let me know!

theresamillerwatercolors said...

Hi Joanne! Tess is WONDERFUL! I love those eyebrows, so expressive! Have a great day!

Unknown said...

Hi Theresa,
Thank you for stopping by and commenting... i like this painting, too. It is very faithful to what Tess looks like.
I've been visiting you too and loving the tomato series. I suppose your daughter is back to school soon?
See you again soon.