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!!!

Waiting for Christmas to arrive

It's December 8th and I've been drawing like CRAZY for the past few weeks! It's wonderful to be so busy with commissions, and I'd love to thank the people who have asked me to help with their Christmas gifting this year.

Anybody who knows me, knows how much I love showing off my work, so it's just driving me CRAZY that I can't post any of the beautiful pieces of work that I've finished so far.

A brief update though, on what I've been doing so far.

The portrait of an adorable West Highland White Terrier has been picked up, complete with frame, by a very happy niece. That's one lucky aunt who is getting a drawing of her lovely little girl!

The next portrait picked up was more than just a portrait of a dog. It's a memory of a special time spent out on the water in their sailboat. The dog is front and centre, lounging, but alertly watching passers-by. The person who commissioned it was completely thrilled with the finished work. It's exactly what she'd been hoping for! It's a gorgeous drawing and I'm going to be so proud to show it off to everybody!!

The next portrait, nearly complete, is a beautiful little shih tzu with the loveliest eyes. He's a Christmas gift from a pair of loving daughters to their mom. I can hardly wait for their reaction. :D

The final portrait is a two-some of pit bulls. Sadly, only one of them is still around, so it's going to be a bittersweet memory of the other one. I've been sketching him while waiting for the owner of the dogs to send me a higher resolution photograph of the other, and I'm getting such a happy feeling whenever I look at his picture. He's intently watching the toy that the photographer was holding, but his body language is so relaxed while his eyes are so intent. Still, he's got sweet eyes and I'm sure, from the other photos I've seen of him, that he was a real cuddler.

Time to rock. I'll be posting photographs of the finished portraits as soon as I possibly can!

In the meanwhile, have fun getting ready for the holiday season!

~ Chris

Vienna, the adorable Dachshund

The wedding date has come and gone, the gift has been gifted, and I can FINALLY post a photo of the graphite drawing of this absolutely beautiful little dog!

Graphite, 8 x 10"

The original photograph

As you see, her ear is flipped up in the photograph. The lady who commissioned the drawing asked if I could flip it back down. Because I didn't have any actual photographs of how her ear would look in that position (it was a wedding gift), I had to improvise. While I prefer to not make up bits and pieces for my portraits, I think it worked out pretty well.

*sigh* What a cute pose! I love it!

DA Agility Trial... combined photos for this portrait

So I'm hard at work again. Just finished a gorgeous portrait of a little dog. It's a wedding gift from somebody, so I have to wait until AFTER the recipients have seen it before posting pictures! It'll be worth it. I PROMISE!! It's so darned adorable!!!

I'm going to be working on another special gift as soon as things are finalized. I've been figuring and sketching, and I'm almost at the "let's start drawing" stage. I just need to chat with the "boss."

I'm nearly finished with a drawing of my own. As some of you know, I have been the photographer at the  NADA Agility Trials held in September and October of this year. Through the process, I discovered that my Nikon D50 camera can take up to a 2G SD card! This is fantastic news, as it frees me up from the need to dash back and forth from the field to the computer to download the pictures between each event. I'm not getting any younger, and I have to say that the activity is keenly felt the following day.

The picture I've been working on is from a pair of photos. In one, the cute little chihuahua is leaping over a jump bar. The second photograph shows the same little guy after he's jumped through the tire jump.

Hopping over the jump bar

Just finished the tire jump

Now take a look at what I've done with these photographs!

Jumping through the tire jump

I'm still working on it, but I thought I'd show you how it's going.

Input, anybody? :D

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

I'm hanging out in the living room this morning, thankful for the events that I've participated in lately because of all the wonderful people I met as a result. I'm also thankful that I don't actually have to go anywhere or do anything non-Turkey related today! It's nice to just sit and relax. ... wait... I have to finish vacuuming the upstairs... well, AFTER that, I can sit and relax!

So, what have I been up to lately? Well, the Wedding Show at the Sheraton Hotel was my "big" event and I'm thinking of what to say to get in touch with the brides who registered with the show. Just a little "Hi, how are ya, do you remember meeting me and loving my work and wouldn't it be great to have a special piece of artwork to commemorate your wedding, etc etc..." If you're one of them, you'll soon be hearing from me.

The last two Sundays were spent here in beautiful Torbay at the Farmer's Market at the Kinsmen Centre on Bauline Line. It was a much smaller venue, but it was so wonderful to visit with some of the people I know from the area! I had the chance to meet with the other vendors during the lulls, sampling their food (Shalimar, la Doyene, Outport Fudge... ) and admiring their wares...

I'll be attending the Healthy Living show at the Sheraton the Sunday after this one, (October 23rd). Spread the word!

I've been working on a piece of artwork during the past week, and the little darling dog is so nearly done! Just a few more tonal value changes, then a day of intense "Looking" and presto! Done!! It's so exciting. :D

The drawing of Casey, the "Cat in the Window" was picked up yesterday at the Farmer's Market. Kerry and the girls were so happy with the work. I had started it as a graphite piece, but thanks to the un-asked for attentions of my little guy, Igor, I had to start over again. This time, I drew it in coloured pencil. Just as beautiful, but in a different way.

Because my portraits actually belong to the people who commission the work, I have to resort to borrowing the artwork. However, I did draw a few pieces just for me to keep. Some of those were remarked on during the past couple of weeks. Somebody suggested that I make prints of those and sell them. I wonder if that's just a pipe dream or if it would actually work... I must look into that.

Just out of curiosity, if you're reading this, perhaps you could take a look at my finished portraits and tell me which, of all of them, you'd be interested in owning if it were available. Not a "specifically yours" portrait, but a copy of one of the completed ones. More will be upcoming, so keep an eye out and mention them as you think of it. I'll be asking... but bear it in mind as a possibility.

Another suggestion made was to do some sort of landscape scene that I could have scanned and printed. So, what sorts of things can you suggest? Out of all the "touristy" photographs you've seen, and there are so many of them, which would you like to see as a hand-drawn piece of artwork?

The Five Sisters? ... c'mon... give me your thoughts.

I'm also wondering about some miniatures of wildflowers and such that we take for granted as we walk along the trails...

Well, the pie smells like it's nearly done and that means it's time to stuff the turkey and tuck it in the oven for *ahem* safekeeping.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been giving it some thought...

Why would people want to commission a hand-drawn Portrait when they can just get a photograph? 


Well, here's just a few ideas!

• It makes a unique and thoughtful gift ... (gift certificates are available!)
• 
  
• Consider a hand-drawn portrait as a complement to your wedding photography!
• 
  
• What about a beautiful one-of-a-kind engagement picture?
• 
  
• How about a unique embellishment to your wedding invitations?! 
• 
  
• Remember: The traditional First wedding anniversary gift is Paper!
• 
  
• Celebrate the special moments in your life!

           ***   Weddings   ***   Birthdays   ***   Proms   ***   Graduations   ***   Births 
           Pregnancy    ***   Christenings   ***  Family Reunions    ***      Sports Moments

• Revive your parents' or grandparents' precious wedding photos with a bold modern statement
• 
  
• Bride and Mother    ***     Bride and Grandmother
• 
  
• What about your mother as a bride together with you as a bride?!

I still do pet portraits! I'd never give that up!!! But there's just so many other possibilities to explore and I'd LOVE to talk to you about your ideas. 

Cat in the Window

The finished piece. Coloured pencil

I'm drawing this handsome little marmalade fellow as a thank you to Kerry Tibbs, the lady who put me at 100 Likes on my Charmed by Christine Pet Portrait page on Facebook.

Kerry says that he likes to spend his time napping here, so they call him the Cat in the Window.

Sadly, Casey passed away only 2 days after the family picked up his portrait. One of the girls set up a "shrine" for him. His collar, some pictures of him, the portrait. They really loved their little guy. :( 

Bride

Original b/w photo

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

8 hours so far...

Again, the quality of the light affects how the photographs look, but I'm usually in too much of a rush to look around for just the right spot to photograph my work. I'll do better once I'm photographing the finished piece. Promise!

The Bride

Well, as far as the b/w goes, she's done! However, IF I decide to add colour to the flowers, and the fall colours are gorgeous, I'll be able to add them in later. Decisions, decisions.

This portrait was done specifically for the Wedding Show. It's an 8"x10" portrait, worth $300. It's pretty intense work! Usually I'll sit down to work for 20 minutes and come up for air 2 hours later. I've started logging the time spent so I get a better idea of how much time I'm spending per portrait. Sometimes I really don't want to know how much time has passed! 

Stretching is a necessity!!

Thank you so much, Linda, for allowing me to use your very gorgeous wedding photo for this project.

~ Christine Norman, of Charmed by Christine - Pet Portraits

                                                                                               (More than just pets!)