Jazz in My Soul

Jazz is the driving force behind my art, my painting, my life in general. While I'm most inspired by trad jazz, especially swing, I'm stoked by all jazz.

It's a rainy, overcast Saturday afternoon in July. The heatwave has finally broken and I've been cooking and painting since all day. It has been so hot and humid this week - 102 degrees at one point - that it has been hard for me to work. I just wanted to rest and reflect. It's jazz on a wet afternoon, the creatives forces are flowing with the sounds of Johnny Hodges with the Billy Strayhorn Orchestra. It's really the Ellington Orchestra transformed into another lyrical plane. All my life, I loved the sound of Johnny Hodges alto. My mother didn't know quite what to make of her child that loved the Ellington sound. I loved the tune Azure from the first time I heard Ella sing it with the Ellington band. The song is playing now! Later, when I heard some Strayhorn melodies, I instantly knew who wrote and arranged Azure. It's so intoxicating...

I like to joke that jazz is in my DNA. It's been a part of my soul my entire life. It's certainly part of my early conditioning. My parents were fans. Fortunately for me, they had good taste. It rubbed off, too. I grew up surrounded by jazz LPs with great cover art. I just ran with it and expanded my exposure. I have a rather large jazz LP collection that I now have in storage since my conversion to CDs. Stardust is playing now, I'm a Bix Beiderbecke fan so that's a special melody to me. I have to get back to painting before the time vanishes.

I've been so busy that I didn't get to post last month. I need to play catch-up soon. One of the highlights in June was attending two days of the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival! I took tons of pics and have been planning some portraits based on my experiences.

A Saturday at the Specialty with the Airedales and Their People

On Saturday, May 15th, the Airedale Terrier Club of Greater Philadelphia had its Specialty and Sweepstakes. It could be said that it was perfect Airedale weather - windy with brilliant sunlight and temperatures in the low 70's. Early in the day, those winds made it hard for those of us helping with the hospitality tent. Several mighty gusts ripped through the tent in an attempt to strip the tables clean. I was so glad that I'd baked my Cinnamon Buns in a large, heavy Pyrex® dish that I used, long after the buns were consumed, to hold down the table cloth. My Pecan Sour Cream Coffee cake was a large cake with enough heft to hold down the other end of the table cloth until it started to dwindle in size... The cake container helped keep it from becoming airborne but a box of lovely pastries from a bakery on Staten Island wasn't as fortunate! We lucked out that the winds had subsided by the time that we put the food out for our tailgate party.

The club also held a raffle after the tailgate party where we raffled off the portrait (right) of Mako @15 Weeks - with his ears glued in place - that I painted especially for the Specialty and a huge, bountiful basket of Airedale related stuff (donated by members) that was artfully assembled by Treasurer Ann Kochler. Diane Sinclair won the portrait. I was quite touched by how she cradled it in her arms, as if it actually was a puppy! Club Secretary Brenda McCann won the basket of Airedalia. We also had a large jar of pretzels as the third prize which was won by a young boy who was visiting with his family and Airedale named Abby. See the ATCGP Facebook page for pictures of Abby and many images of the ATCGP Specialty and Sweepstakes.

Below is an image of a visiting Victorianne puppy, Winslow, who was on also he scene to have his ears glued by his breeder, Anne Curtis. Anne can seen in the first picture posted above and in several below.

 We were all so happy to have so many visitors with the Airedales joining us ringside during the show.  Everyone stayed for the tailgate party, too. New members, Julie and Matt Eastburn, were there, too with their sweet Airedale, Violet. In a previous post, I blogged about meeting them - Violet had the pleasure of meeting Mako and Punch - at the Dog Fest. They blogged about the meeting, too, and have also added posts about Violet's haircut for the event by longtime club member, Jack McLaughlin and their impressions of our Specialty.

Punch the PBGV & Mako the Airedale Visit the Dog Fest & Mako Falls in Love, Again

We had a marvelous time at the Dog Fest this past Sunday afternoon. It was sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue. There were Great Danes everywhere plus many other rescue groups, vendors galore but most importantly lots and lots of dogs and dog lovers. We were there for several hours while Punch and Mako socialized with a wide variety of canines. Punch isn't as used to crowds as Mako is so I exposed her to the outside events for a long period before we went into the pavilion area that which densely populated with dogs and vendors. Punch had a blast while Mako was in love with all the canine females that he met - each and everyone of them.

We were thrilled to meet another Airedale, a lovely Aire girl named Violet. Of course, Mako was in love (or lust) and there were lots of play bows and Aire snaps. Violet had only been with her humans for four months but acted as if they had always been together.  I was pleased that sweet Violet's humans, Matt and Julie, are enthusiastic about the breed. Julie posted some pics of the two dales to her blog east plus 4 & 1 more.  Mako actually looks like he's playing hard to get (hah!) in some of the pictures! You can see in the image below, how Mako's attention is locked on Violet. That's the back of his head that's directly in front of her! I think that we'll be seeing more of this Aire girl because her people are interested in checking out some of the Airedale Terrier Club of Greater Philadelphia's activities!

There were a number of rescue groups at the Dog Fest. Besides the Great Danes, there was also the Greyhound rescue - think it was the Diamond State group - the Siberian Husky rescue, Rottweiler rescue plus rescue groups that were open to all animals. 

Don and Anna Brown of the Academy of Dog Training in Newark, DE were there with an agility display where folks could let their dogs do trial runs.  It was great to see Anna and Don again. I have taken show handling lessons where Don was the instructor and he's an excellent trainer. I learned so much in those classes and both Mako and I had a great time. The Brown's have an Airedale connection, too. Their daughter Christine is very active in Airedale rescue. When I first met her, via the Internet, Christine was President of the National Airedale Rescue. We met when I donated a custom portrait for an on-line senior Airedale auction. (That portrait Holley the Airedale can be seen on my website as the last entry in the gallery. Holley was 14 at the time and had a huge Airedalian beard!)

 The Dog Fest turned into a hound fest for Punch the PBGV. We met Jeff with Sabrina the Bloodhound plus Madelynne and Daisy the Basset girls. He trains his hounds in agility at the Academy. Jeff did a trick with his hounds where they all went into a down and stay as he placed a treat on the top of his boot. Little Punchie went into a down, too, and stayed while she intensely watched the treat poised on his foot. It was only a few inches from her, yet, she waited! Jeff was nice and rewarded my Peeb girl with a treat.

  Of course, Mako was busy being an an Airedalian male. He was surrounded by girls and tried to make the most of the situation. He couldn't keep his nose to himself - or his paws. He especially wanted to grab Sabrina the Bloodhound. 

Punch wasn't jealous. She was busy watching for more treats! Her patience was rewarded, too. She had a wonderful time chillin' with the big hounds and getting the occasional treat.

Meanwhile, there was also Pookah the Chow for Mako to lust after. The redhaired vixen wasn't the least bit interested in him but he isn't a guy who takes "no" for an answer. 

Later, we also met Olivia the black Standard Poodle and two Giant Schaunzers - one of which was a female. Mako worked his charm relentlessly and decided to zero in on Olivia. You can tell that Spring is here! Mako is in lust, er, love. He tried to grab her at least three times!

Libby the Airedale's Portrait & Delaware Pets

I don't normally show the source images that I use for my portraits. I thought that I'd include this photo (below) of Libby the Airedale (RB) that I recently used for her memorial portrait because it shows how a painting can not only enhance a memory but actually improve upon the original image.

Libby was a rescue dale from Airedale Rescue and Adoption of the Delaware Valley. I didn't have many good photos to work from and I settled on this one because it showed expression plus it showed her head to advantage. The image is blurry but I knew that I could sharpen the focus in my painting. As you can see, I edited the out the extraneous background and used much more saturated color. I cropped it a wee bit closer to the nose than the photo since I like it to look as if the dog is about to emerge for the confines of the border! The nose touching the border creates a visual tension that draws your eye to that spot and you then follow the image across the canvas. Libby was a sweet Aire girl that I had the pleasure to know. Mako was especially fond of her. I think that she liked him, too!

I am fortunate to be featured in an article -"With lens, brush, artists capture love" - in the Spring edition of Delaware Pets! I'd like to thank Ken Mammerella of the News Journal for the interview for and including me in the story. The print version of Delaware Pets was included in 3/25 edition of the News Journal.

There is a quote in the article from me about grief counseling. Many of my clients have recently lost a pet and the pet's passing is the reason that they want to commission a portrait. Often, they have waited for a year or more to commission a portrait from me and the death of their pet has triggered the desire to have a portrait done now. A painted portrait is a way to still have a special connection to that pet. It is how I got started in the profession. I painted my Monty's portrait just before he died of CRF. Monty still guards the house and that portrait is my official image of him. Our society still doesn't fully recognize the validity of grieving over the loss of a pet. Sometimes, people feel guilty or that something is wrong about the intensity of their feelings. I'm here to say that it is normal. When you've shared your life and your emotions with your pet, they are part of the fabric of your life. Of course it hurts us when they die! Especially if you nursed them through that final illness. Anyone who puts you down for grieving for them is insensitive and cruel. I'm lucky to have a life and career where I am surrounded by animal lovers. We all understand the meaning of the human - animal relationship. It doesn't mean that you love the people in your life any less. In fact, it may mean that you love them even more.   

And to paraphrase the title of Temple Grandin's recent book - Animals Make Us Human!

Announcing the Launch of Margery Good's Web Site

This week marks the one year anniversary of professional handler and renown Sealyham terrier breeder Margery Good's fabulous Best in Show victory with CH. Efbe's Hildalgo at Goodspice (Charmin) at Crufts. Crufts is the world's largest dog show. To win at Crufts is reaching the pinnacle of the dog show world.

To mark the occasion, I'm happy to announce the launch of her new web site margerygood.com - web design by Blue Zephyr Studios, LLC! I certainly had great material to work with... stunning dogs and videos, too. Margie and Charmin are even in two Eukanuba commercials! I even included my Mako, too! You can see him with Margie at Westminster on the Handling page and you can see his lovely head on the About Goodspice Kennel page as an example of their grooming artistry I'm a proud mama!

Punch and Mako Meet Ricki the Cairn Puppy

Punch and Mako are always so happy to meet other dogs at the parks when we go walking. On this particular day, they had the pleasure of meeting an adorable 4 1/2 month old Cairn Terrier puppy named Ricki. It was Ricki's first trip to a park and her first time socializing with other dogs. She did quite well. She was greeting a Porty (like Bo Obama) when we initially approached. We stayed back because the Porty was a male and didn't act like it wanted to greet us. It just tolerated Ricki.

Punch is a PBGV and they are bred to be pack dogs so she is in her element when we can walk with other dogs. She loves just "being" with other dogs. Mako is a flaming extrovert and he wants to greet other dogs and interact with them. Mako especially loves little dogs and goes into a down so he can be on their level. Of course, he tries to crawl in and sneak a sniff under the tail, too. He's quite good at that!

This is my first attempt at editing a video so it's nothing fancy and mercifully brief. It's not too bad for someone who was holding a camera while handling two dogs at the same time. It was also quite windy, as it always seems to be at all the parks, so you can hear that on the soundtrack. Oh yeah, that was one crazy lady with the red gloves!

How to Pick a Shelter Dog

After writing about how to select the right breed and how to find a breeder, I thought that I should also include, how to select a shelter dog. I came across a recent article in the Houston Chronicle where dog trainer Victoria Stilwell, who stars in Animal Planet's It's Me or the Dog, does an excellent job of outlining exactly what to look for in a shelter dog. I have learned a great deal from watching It's Me or the Dog and have had success using Stilwell's positive training methods with Punch and Mako. She makes it easy! 

ANIMAL PLANET

Victoria Stilwell says to do your research on breed characteristics. You can check my previous post for help. “If it's a border collie, for example, and you are laid-back and don't get a lot of exercise, then don't get a dog that has border collie in it.”

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Note: They misspell her last name in the article's photo caption!