Progression Of A Portrait: Missy

Here is another recent portrait

in memory of a dearly departed dog named Missy

Here is some of the progression...

I love this one...I think I captured her essence pretty perfectly.

(If your interested in portraits of your fur babies just message me Whimsy@MandySaile.com)

and keep an eye out for a YouTube video we hope to soon put together.

Progression Of A Portrait: Zoey

When it was time to do a custom portrait I was more than happy to

break out the old pastels after a long time away from them.

This is a portrait of a puppy named Zoey

want to see some of the progression?

 

I love drawing animals, probably more than anything else.

Being able to capture a precious soul and family member on paper for people is a lovely feeling.

If your interested in portraits of your fur-family just send me an email Whimsy@MandySaile.com

We are currently working on a short little video for YouTube on the making of this portrait.

Awesome Company

I have never ever felt the calling or urge or need or desire to have children of my own...

but I love being an Auntie and I adore my awesome niece...

 

I am so happy whenever I get to spend time with my Munchkin (she's one insanely busy kid).

So a day in the yard where I had her for company alongside some pastel fun was just perfection.



Squirrel Tales, An Old Illustraton, and Something Wooden

Well it's Thursday, which for us is our 'Friday', it's been a crazy week with house projects and I am honestly just feeling pooped. Not to mention the very rainy and humid weather is just making my migraines worse and more frequent, but I am proud of myself as I am spending little time in bed with my trusty ice and heat packs and I am just grinning and bearing it and ploughing forward getting lots done.

This weekend my dear friends Lisa and Jon and their two sweet boys Noah and Ben are coming in for the weekend so I am very excited to see them. And my old friend Bruce is coming into town too so I am looking forward to catching up with this old chum, who I have greatly missed.

So for today, because I am not ready to show you any new work quite yet. I am choosing this older illustration of mine for 2 specific reasons.

1 - Because even after all these years (it was created in 1999) I still love this image of mine. It reflects a strong belief of mine, which is...to fully be able to give to others and nurture and nourish other's souls, you first have to tend and be kind to your own. Right now, with all the pain I endure with my headaches, I am just giving myself alittle bit extra time to either sit and snuggle the bunnies, more time to stretch and yogify, and just abit more time to sit with a tea and read. I am allowing myself more time to just be still and breathe and let go of my worries and stresses. I am also allowing myself to divert from my usual routine abit more than usual, and spend some time on the house, just organizing and cleaning and re-arranging because doing so always relaxes and centers me.

2 - Because I am thinking of my friend right now...I won't mention her name in case she doesn't want anyone to know...but she is going through chemo right now and after a rough couple of years, she's remaining strong and focused on taking care of herself and I am proud of her. With the selection of this image today, I am also sending her good vibes and thoughts and hope that she continues to honour herself and her body at this rough time.

On to lighter topics...we are having abit of a 'problem' with chipmunks and squirrels running rampant in our house! We seem to be chasing one or the other out atleast 3 times a day. Yesterday, I walked out of the bedroom, to see Ella and Roo all stretched out on their hallway carpet watching a chipmunk, who was sitting right in the middle of their bowl eating their morning oatmeal and pellets!

Today, I saw that the squirrel Rudy, had taken to the kitchen counter to snack on a banana!! and last night...I discovered that my last piece of delicious dark chocolate...one I had been saving all day, had suddenly disappeared and since Jon is the only other one in the house tall enough to reach the kitchen counter and he didn't eat it, and I didn't eat it...again the suspected thief is the squirrel Rudy!

The other year, my nice little wooden honey sticks would go missing. I had the habit of leaving my morning dishes outside on the back deck until the end of the day. No one believed me, everyone thought I just misplaced them. Yet that fall, when Jon was stacking wood in the wood shed, what did he discover but my honey sticks, nicely chewed and nicely piled on a shelf in the shed...alongside a beautiful collection of my sunflower heads, which had also suddenly been stolen one day that same summer, ha ha! Now with the missing chocolate piece, I wonder what else they are going to start stealing from inside the house!

I wanted to share this photo with you, I took it yesterday morning...a Cone Flower on our new little deck, I just love the texture.

Anyhow, as I was taking this shot, Rudy the squirrel hopped down from the roof on to the the table where my lovely little breakfast was waiting for me.

He looked at me for a minute and I said "What do you think your doing mister", well he was quite sure of his plan because without hesitation he jumped up onto the side of my bowl...surveyed what layed within, and then grabbed a big strawberry and then just sat there on the table eating it, not even a foot away from me....I guess I had an uninvited guest for breakfast.

And the other day, I saw the cutest cutest cutest little dormouse hopping into the garage...I just love all the critters running around our home, it just makes me feel so content. In that same theme, I've been sketching alot of ideals out for illustrations based on my hero Jane Goodall.

Okay, enough about squirrels....lastly for today I wanted to show you this beautiful necklace I just got.....again yes from Etsy, my favourite place to shop.

It is from Ashlee Rising over at "Natural at Heart". This wooden medallion is so nice and light and I just love the intricate beautiful design. I think as a 'carpenter's daughter' I love all things wooden and when I saw these necklaces I just had to have one...you can't beat the price at about $9.00 a pendant..check them out at http://www.naturalatheart.etsy.com/ .

Well, that's about all for this week...we are back on 'holidays' and off to another busy weekend. Be Well everyone, thanks for taking the time to visit me and please come back next week.

An Old Illustration to share with you

Hi Everyone, today was so lovely and I was reminded of an important and old adage "Seize The Day". The skies were quite stormy looking but it was still a beautiful day with many flowers blooming and birds chirping, the sound of the pond and a gentle wind rustling all the trees. I almost didn't go outside but I thought, today is the perfect weather for myself and the rabbits, not to hot, not to cold with wind to keep the mosquitoes away. So, instead of staying inside from worry that it would rain any minute, I hustled all four rabbits outside, including myself and my coloured pencils and we just had a glorious afternoon working away and playing outside. Hazel was so sweet and kept falling asleep with her little nose twitching away in the air only to be woken by the cawing crows, then she'd fall asleep again as soon as she heard my assuring "Hazel, it's fine, your too big for them to steal" ha ha. So yes, I was reminded that you should just not worry and do things anyways because the outcome may be wonderful or at least something to learn from...and in my case today, a perfect working day surrounding by happy bunnies and not a drop of rain.

So anyhow, I can go on and on can't I, even about the simplest things! I hoped to have new imagery to show you today but I just don't, everything I am working on currently takes longer than 1 or 2 days and a couple of the images are a surprise which I can't share with you all quite yet. So as I am still in the mode of Saturday's tea party, I have selected this older illustration of mine to share with you today. It is full of whimsy, fairies, mother nature and living trees, I hope you like it. I did this image long ago as a cover ideal for "Emily of New Moon", because I grew up just adoring all of L.M. Montgomery's fictional works. This one is done in pastel with coloured pencil on canvas. I am really hoping that tomorrow I'll finally be able to introduce a new friend.

I am just fine and an old image "African Tea"

Good Monday Evening Everyone. I wasn't going to post today because I didn't get my painting finished and I really really wanted to keep this blog for new imagery only, but I have been assured by many friends that old images would be welcomed and embraced by my viewers and readers as well. So once in awhile, when I really have to I'll post one of my favourite older illustrations, like tonight. I've had a few friends ask if I was okay, because I missed my blog post on Friday as well and I just want to assure everyone that I am fine, thanks for worrying though. Friday I have no excuse but I was mostly stuck in bed with a really bad migraine, the temperatures reached almost +40 with the humidity and that didn't help matters.

We had an excellent weekend though. On Saturday we went for a beautiful bike ride with our friends Becca and Darren, we biked to Callander, back and forth was probably about a 40km run. We stopped at the beach for a waterside picnic which was a hit with everyone, we filled our tummies nicely and our hearts with good chuckles and friendship, I know that sounds cheesy but it was really just a lovely time. We then proceeded to the Callander gallery/museum to take in a retrospective by our dear and beloved friend Arlington Hoffman. (I've asked Arlie for some jpegs, so I can hopefully blog about the work we saw there soon). Despite the fabulous day, we all got pretty sun burnt and I found myself suffering that evening with badly burnt knees and all day Sunday I had a case of heat stroke, it was all worth it though, ha ha.

We've also be abit sidetracked with our sweet velveteen bunny Hazel. Even when it's tiny things we get stressed out. Somehow she hurt her right front foot and wouldn't walk on it for a couple days so we've just been diligently watching her and trying to decide whether x-rays are needed or not. But as I spent a few hours painting upstairs today, I was able to watch her very closely and I was able to determine that she doesn't need a vet visit, she just needs to keep off it and relax abit.

This older illustration is one that I conjured up after drinking a rich, earthy roosibos tea. It gave me flickers of an African scene so that's why it's called "African Tea". I choose this image to share today because I am thinking of my beautiful and greatly missed dear friend Vicki, who lives in Victoria, who was born and raised in Africa and who still greatly carries with her that lands beautiful spirit.

Anyhow, dear friends, that is about all for today. I promise a new image tomorrow...promise, promise, promise! Good night, sleep well and lovely dreams to you all.

New Illustration "Florida Granny" Take 1

To buy the original please click here.

To buy a print please click here.

Here is a new illustration that I just finished this morning. It is done in pastel and coloured pencil, an equal mixing of both. I say 'take 1' because I plan 3 different reincarnations of this image, it's always interesting to see how differently they turn out. 1 will be done in just coloured pencil and the 3rd will be an large acrylic on wood most likely.

Today is gloomy and it looks like a boom shower is on it's way...I am off to the cafe' to meet a friend. Till tomorrow, stay warm and cozy and happy creating.

A Good Mail Day & An Old Illustration

Good Friday Everyone. I am busy working on some larger pieces, so I don't have any new imagery to show you, hopefully this coming week. Because I work on alot of different things, I am honestly questioning how feasible a 'daily' painting would actually be for me. I've tryed a few, but even still I think they are too complex to keep up on a daily basis...but I'll keep trying. I have a few product ideal on the go also and though it is nothing that I can share with you right now, I'll just say that I am super excited to have gotten a big slab of beautiful clay...now I just have to find someone with a kiln! and set up my sewing machine...no more hints, ha ha. Honestly at the moment, despite all the recent travelling and stress with Ella-Luna, I feel myself bubbling over with excitement over new ideas, not just for illustrations but for various hand-made products featuring my illustrations

In the meantime, let me show you an older image of mine, but one that I still really like. This one was done in 1997, while I was in college. It's done in pastel with coloured pencil and speaks of a something that is never far from my mind or heart...the seal hunt.

In 2007, over 215,000 harp seals were slaughtered for their fur. The Canadian government simply refuses to end this agonizing and sick practice, so it's up to us animal lovers to stand up again and again and keep fighting to protect those who can't protect themselves. We give money every year to the seal hunt protests and I strongly urge all animal lovers to follow suit. Those of us who aren't strong enough to stand on the front lines, can still help alot but donating, because the protests take alot of money. If the protesting stops, the light won't be shed on this matter...we must continually make the government and people aware that it's cruel and unnecessary and putting our beloved country in a very poor light. After all "The greatness of a country is reflected in how it treats it's animals". Visit http://www.hsicanada.ca/

I plan some new illustrations on this topic, which I am hoping to send to the seal hunt protest organizations to use for free.

On to something lighter...Today was a great mail day. I just love getting mail, buying stickers and paper and stationary etc really is one of my pleasures. With email however, my mailbox treats have dwindled. I am past complaining about it though, now I just really really enjoy it when I do get a treat by snail mail. Today I got a letter from my oldest friend Lisa...she sent me this cute 'yogi' card and her two sweet boys Noah and Ben made me some sun catchers...shaped like bunnies of course, ha ha. I just love them...thanks boys and thanks Lisa

Well, that's all for this week. Until Monday, be well...breath....and simply 'be'.

Monday Musings

Good Morning Everyone. We are having a lovely morning here at our house, Ella and Roo lay in the sunshine in this spot every single morning, it's pretty cute and sets our day off to a nice start. Although this morning they were naughty and I had to clean up some pee! Even after being a rabbit slave/parent for over 10 years now, I have to remind myself that 'bunnies will be bunnies'.

I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to face this new week with coziness and excitement. This weekend I had a recap lesson on how to NOT covet what others have, but I won't get into the details, ha ha. I do truly believe that there is something to learn, big or small from every single person we meet throughout our day. Luckily, lately my life is full of wonderfully warm and fulfilled people with successful careers and successful personal lives, it's lovely and empowering to be around, that's for sure.

So hmmm...let's see, our weekend was rather quiet, we spent Saturday at my folks, eating, eating and eating, my dad had to try out his new grill, ha ha...it was a lovely visit, I love my parents. They are the kind of parents who are there for you no matter what, they see a need and they fill it and that means alot to both myself and my sweetheart. They are also, our one and only trusted bunny-sitters, ha ha.

I was served breakfast in bed on Sunday, where we proceeded to watch "War of the Worlds", I don't know why, it seemed like an odd pick for a sunny Sunday morning but that's what we felt like watching whiles we ate and vegged out, it is one of our favourite movies. I didn't realize that that story is written by H.G. Wells, which I found funny because I am currently listening to the audio book of H.G. Wells 'The Invisible Man" and it's not my cup of tea at all!

Speaking of tea, let me share with you a new find and one that I love, "Yogi Teas". As you can see I have a growing collection.

Well dear readers (though I don't think there are very many of you at this moment!), I have to get my little fingers to work. I started on a new pastel this weekend and I am frustrated because it's been a long time since I played with pastel and I forgot how messy it is till I get to the coloured pencil stage. My trick also with pastel is to work with a tiny little keyboard vacuum. Because I have allergies and pastel dust can often aggravate me (but I am not willing to give it up entirely) and I really dislike blowing the dust into the air. However this weekend I couldn't find my vacuum, so every time I'd get enough dust to blow away, I'd run upstairs and out to the front porch to blow it off out there! Maybe I'll go searching for a new little vacuum today, as I turned my studio upside down trying to find my old one!

Have a good day everyone. I'll share a new image with you tommorow. Happy Creating in whatever form you choose to do it in.

New Sketch and a Portrait

Good Morning All. It's another brilliantly blue day and only -26 I believe with the windchill. I guess I'll have to bundle up later this afternoon when I walk to the cafe for a client meeting. I am just not a morning person but I am making an effort to get into my studio abit earlier now so that I can get my blogging done.

I thought I would share a new sketch with you. This is just a quick life drawing of Hazel and Jin, sitting in their beloved house. The two are sisters (Noo's sister's) and are thick are thieves. It's been a long journey to get them to trust me, but I am slowly seeing some progress which is heart warming.

Also today, let me show you another recent portrait I did of my parents late dog Tassie. This one is done completely in pastel. She was a beautiful dog to draw.

That is all for today, short but sweet. Once again your comments are welcome. Cheers All.