Max, the Clarenville SPCA rescue

Earlier this year I was contacted by a woman inquiring about a portrait of a special dog whose plight had touched the hearts of those around him. She told me about Max, how he had been chained on outside without food or water. How, near to death, he had been taken in by the Clarenville SPCA, given medical treatment along with a good dose of love and care. How in spite of their efforts, Max had passed away only days after his rescue.

This story isn't an isolated one. This type of thing happens so very often that I think we, as a society have become inured to it. Seeing and hearing sad stories over and over again, we think there's nothing we can do to help anyway, so we turn away. Either in resignation or acceptance.

However, there are people who refuse to accept what others see as inevitable, but fight and rail against it. Who go out of their way to help and protect, and try to prevent it from happening again.

These people are special. They take the time to do what they do because they have caring hearts that refuse to accept what others turn away from. They force our eyes to see what they see, to cry for what "we" as a civilized society allow to happen.

By bringing these atrocities to the public eye, they force us to engage our attention, if even only for a brief time, on what should not be happening.

Animal abuse. Two words that shouldn't ever be put together.

This portrait of Max is my small contribution to the very special people at the Clarenville SPCA. They have my permission to use this painting for whatever purpose they see fit, in order to raise awareness and funds to help other animals.

Please, if you see this portrait in another format, as a card, poster, whatever, pause a moment and reflect on what it represents. Help them in whatever way you can. Help those unfortunate and helpless animals who deserve such better lives than they have been given through no fault of their own.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

- Christine Norman
Artist, Charmed by Christine Portraits



http://www.silverhawkpromotions.com/Max/news.html

Back at it!!

I've been remiss in attending to Computerland lately! I'm going to remedy that, now that my brother has kindly assisted me in regaining access to my Blog.

(I may have to apologize for the way this entry is laid out. I'm using the iPad to upload and I'm not getting any option to place the photos where I want and labeling them, so please bear with me and my techno boo-boo.)


I completed a gorgeous pencil drawing recently! A co-worker of mine, Delores, commissioned a portrait of her husband and his beloved Harley Davidson motorcycle as a 25th Anniversary gift. I was invited to the party, and I have to say that his reaction was all I could have hoped for. He was gobsmacked into pure speechlessness! He's since told me that he absolutely loves it. It's in pride of place in his den, right where he can look at it whenever he relaxes in his space. He says he enjoys using the magnifying glass to check out all the amazing details in the reflections.

Boys and their toys. Craig and his new Harley

Cindy with Zoey

The next piece, a First Anniversary gift from Allan to Cindy, was an Acrylic painting on canvas board.


I've completed two others since then. One of them is a Christmas gift for the mother and grandmother of a former coworker. I'm not going to spoil the surprise by posting it yet, but I will say that it's a cute painting of an adorable dog. The original acrylic is getting scanned for printing in order to give a copy to Grandma... Or is the copy for Mom? I'm not sure! :D


My very latest portrait is another of those "I need something new to show off" pieces. I took the photo at last year's Agility Trial and have been giddily waiting for the right time to turn it into a piece of art. The time arrived and it's now a beautiful acrylic painting.

I'll love you forever - Dianne & Baxter

This is Dianne and her dog, Baxter. Baxter has since passed away, so it seems my photographing that particular moment was especially auspicious. I call this painting "I'll love you forever."

I'm always thrilled to hear what people have to say about their portraits, and with that, I have to share a couple of things. I texted a small copy of the image to Dianne for her to look at. She and a friend were checking it out in the University's pedway. They both burst into tears. I tell you, it does my heart good to get that kind of reaction. Ive since sent her a big file to post on Facebook and so I get to I share the public note that Dianne wrote on my Charmed by Christine Portraits page.

Yup. Need the password for this too...

Of course, I can update by emailing to the blogs, but what if I want to make some important edits?! Well... I just have to figure that darned thing out.

:D

Sent from my iPad

Teddy in Acrylic

I've been enjoying this little painting of Teddy, a Lhasa Apso/Pomeranian cross. His portrait is on a 12x12" canvas. Two young ladies commissioned me to paint this beloved dog's portrait for their mother.

Teddy
Original - Acrylic 12x12"
(I seem to have chopped off the sides in my photo... sorry about that!)

Photograph of Teddy

Those of you who have been following along with my work will recall that the majority of my portraits have been done in pencil or coloured pencil. This was definitely a switch! I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to do an acrylic portrait! I enjoyed it so much that I'm inspired to do another, just for me.

I'm also having the painting of Teddy scanned, which means the young ladies will be able to order prints for themselves. Prints can be ordered in a variety of sizes, including larger, smaller, or same size as the original.  ... Something to think about for those of you considering a portrait!

Scanning and Prints are very reasonably priced. Please allow an additional bit of time for the scanning process. I've been asked to allow @ 2 weeks.

Capelin are Rolling!!!

Good morning and welcome to Summer in Newfoundland! We've been having some gorgeous days of sun and whale-watching from Torbay. The capelin have been in for several weeks and are now rolling on the shore. Capelin feasting season has begun. I'll post two of my paintings for you to enjoy again.

 The first one is "Boys on the Beach," and is a trio of young men fishing for capelin at Torbay Beach while a minke whale does his own fishing just beyond them. I took the photographs for this painting my first summer in Newfoundland. The boys were using a net and a rod, hooking and snatching the capelin and dumping them into the bucket.

I'd never seen capelin before. I'd certainly never seen a whale so close-up before! Anybody who has been to Torbay Beach when the capelin are in has probably seen just how close the whales actually come to the shore! It's astonishing!! This year's whales nearly beached themselves on Little Beach in their enthusiasm!

Boys on the Beach
Original - Acrylic
Prints are available in variety of sizes - Please ask about them!

The photograph used for this next painting, "Casting for Capelin," was taken a few mornings later. I went down to watch the capelin, whale, and seagull show and found this fisherman! He must've been there for a while already because he had several fish buckets worth of capelin already. The photographer in me couldn't resist taking several pictures of him, and the artist in me decided to paint the scene. It brings back memories of the smell of the capelin, the screeching of the seagulls, and the early morning sun warm on my face.

Casting for Capelin
Original - Acrylic
Prints are available in a variety of sizes. Please ask me about them.

Casey & Bella

And yet another...

Casey is a Shih Tzu and Bella is a Ruby Cavalier. Their owner was the winner of the $500 portrait from the Wedding Show earlier this year.

LOVE their eyes!!!

Casey & Bella
11x14" Graphite on Bristol paper

Casey

Bella

Lucky

It's been a while since I posted on here! Wow! Time sure does fly. Anyway, I've been working on a couple of portraits. This is Lucky, a terrier-cross. Such an adorable picture. He passed away recently and his portrait was commissioned as a gift to his "mom."

Lucky
Graphite & Coloured Pencil

Yellow Lab in a Swimming Pool

Well, it's been a long time in coming, but I've finally completed a portrait of Jack! I started off with the idea of painting his portrait using Acrylic, but the photograph just wasn't working out for me.

He was posed in front of a white rabbit... yes, a white rabbit. His light coloured fur blended right into the background so I couldn't get much of an idea of where he ended and the bunny began.

Asking his "mama" for another photograph made me change directions completely. The picture of him in his blue kiddy pool was just too tempting to ignore. Take a look and see what you think!

Jack - Pencil and coloured pencil

Original photo

*** EASTER SPECIAL!!! ***

*** Charmed by Christine Portraits ***

That's right! I'm offering, for a limited time, a 20% discount on all portraits booked (including a down payment) by the end of April. 

Portraits do not have to be completed by that date, but MUST be BOOKED by April 30th to get this really great deal.

Happy Easter!

Preview the 2012 Calendar

CLICK on the LINK below:

2012 Charmed by Christine Portraits CALENDAR

This gorgeous calendar is available for $20. There are only a couple of them left, so if you're interested, don't delay. Yes, it's March... so what?! Art is eternal, isn't it? lol... :D

My "plan" is to include my 2012 portraits in a calendar for 2013!! If you want a calendar with only "your" portrait at the top, you'll have to let me know so that I can arrange for the portrait to be scanned for printing purposes.

Charmed by Christine Portraits 2012 CALENDAR coming soon!

I'm putting out a 2012 Charmed by Christine Portraits Calendar, available here and on Facebook, or through my e-mail. The cost will be $30.oo.

I've just ordered a handful of them and am expecting them to arrive sometime in the next week. My plan is to take a photo of the pages and post them in a slideshow on this Blog. You'll be able to get a look at it and decide how many you want to order! lol... (I'm only half kidding)

Yes, I know it's a bit delayed, but it's a beautiful calendar, and I'm sure you'll enjoy having it on your wall. It's not going to be available for very long, as it is nearly the end of January, but if a special request came in later in the year I'll oblige you by ordering it, but it will have to reflect the higher cost of ordering it in ones and twos. 

Next year's calendar will be put out earlier, and I'll be taking orders ahead of time. The 2013 Calendar will feature portraits done throughout 2012! If you're one of my customers, please keep that in mind for gift-giving ideas! 

As they are going to include Christmas portraits, they will not be available until just after Christmas. My apologies, but that's the way it is in this business!

I'm considering other ideas featuring my artwork, so if something comes along that piques your interest and you'd like me to consider it, PLEASE contact me! I'd love to hear your ideas. I'm thinking about selling reproductions of some of my own pieces, and I'd like to hear which ones are your favourites!

I'm hoping to get involved with the very popular Etsie store this year, and I'm not sure what that's going to be like. Any input from my fans would be appreciated.

Don't be shy. Contact me, either by commenting below, or e-mailing me directly. 

~ Christine

CharmedbyChristinePortraits@gmail.com

Brand New Look!!!

You can now view my body of work using the Slideshow at the top of this Blog! 

The Contact Me button is easily positioned at the right-hand side of the screen, which is where it STAYS no matter WHERE you look!

If you want to find out a bit about me, you can still do so by peeking at the "About me" section on the right... or not!

I'm hoping to make further upgrades to my Blog over the next months.

Cheers!
~ Christine

Christmas is done, and WOW... was I busy!

I've already posted the finished drawings on my Facebook Page and my Website, but I thought I'd post a few of my progress pictures for anybody who's interested in seeing how things progressed.

This is Sophie

Sophie is a West Highland White Terrier. A Westie.

She's wearing a spiffy Christmas ribbon in front of a Christmas tree filled with twinkling lights,  Christmas balls, and a garland of netting.

Here's another piece.

Pugsley

He's a beautiful caramel-coloured Shih-Tzu

I think he's gorgeous!

Here's another piece:

Taz

He passed away a few years ago

And here's his good buddy,  Buster:

They're a beautiful pair

And one last piece I'm going to show you:

This is Cohen, out in Trinity

Cohen is a Portuguese Water Dog. :D (Yes, like the one that the Obama family owns)

Here's a close-up of his collar

I had fun working out his eye in all that gorgeous shaggy fur. 

Isn't he gorgeous?!

This is is the original photograph that I worked from. The person who commissioned the portrait provided a few photographs for me to work from. I took a couple of extras of Cohen so that I could get the details just right. 

Well, that's it for now. I refuse to post anymore when supper is waiting for me. (somebody else is cooking!) 

I hope you enjoy taking a quick peek at what I've been doing, and thank you for following along. I hope that this brand new year brings me many more meetings with many more people. 

Happy 2012!!!