Art Wortd Coop

Recently I have discovered a few new pet portrait artists that I really admire, and two of them also work in glass.
Linda Lawrence is a lampwork artist, jewelry designer and art educator. She has recently returned to her earlier work in Pet Portraiture. I love the background in the portrait she did above.
Also new to my web radar is Manon Doyle from Canada. Her site HoochiePoochiestudios.com showcases her whimsical pet portraits while her other site Mosaicsbymanon.com highlights her amazing and detailed mosaic artwork.
And one more terrific find is Anne Leuck Feldhaus. Her artwork is bright, bold and very fun.
Thanks to Jamie of Cowbelly for making me aware of the last two gals on this list.

Here I go again ... straying way off-topic.
I have been purchasing stock photography to dress up my blog and website for awhile now. A few posts ago you saw a Chihuahua sitting atop a laptop, that was from istockphoto.com. As a small business woman on a budget I love stock photography.

I just read a funny news story about the kid in a recent Clinton ad that is now 18 and an Obama supporter. Yep, she was just 8 when the film footage was shot, and now at 18 she finds her younger self being used to fear monger a few votes ... or at least that is how she sees it. I guess the lesson to be learned is you might think twice before letting your kids model or act for stock film agencies. Oh and if you are a business woman with the money to hire your own actors, you might want to do that.

Read more here

This is Bailey and we are proofing this guy by e-mail today. His project is on a very tight deadline. I could have played with this pup for weeks, he was such a joy and his original photo was just flawless. I really like this handsome pup. We are a little swamped with orders at the moment so we will be proofing most clients by e-mail this week and not on-line. Proofing by e-mail saves time.

Hendrik Kerstens is one of those artists who have managed to develop a career seemingly concentrating on one subject throughout the years. In his case, the model has been his daughter Paula. How different is she as a subject because of being his daughter? Not very. Which is as powerful a revelation as any. After all, one would expect some closeness, some special insight. Nothing of the sort. What we get is a serious young lady, as serious now as she was on the pictures being only a few years old. A gaze that refuses to talk. Our only partner in dialogue seems to be the light that paints the face gently, yet at least on surface, without the love one would expect. We see all the Vermeers and other 17th-century Flemish painters participate in this creation, yet this, here, is darker, less inviting. It doesn't pretend that something can come out of this encounter. Nothing more than a picture, a gaze, a world that is forever there, for us to admire, but not to discover.