Confessions

Ok, I have a confession to make - I've been somewhat 'lazy' behind the easel and haven't done very much since the holidays. The reason?

Well on the one hand I could 'blame' Zara. Being the only one working from home I find myself, on the whole, her sole carer. Thankfully she is almost fully toilet trained so don't have to follow her every move but now I have a problem with guilt. I feel I should be spending more time with her - those eyes of hers get to me every time - and do feel guilty working on my drawings. When I get a chance to that is as I am forever having to stop to attend to her needs for one reason or another.

On the other hand I could blame myself and lack of motivation (post holiday syndrome I like to call it). I had work to complete the week beween Christmas and New Year and decided to take the following week as my holidays. My promise to start work 'tomorrow' changed daily and all of a sudden it is the 21st January! Whatever my reasons it is not a good start to the year and, whether Zara likes it or not, it's back to normal hours tomorrow.

I haven't been all bad and finished updating my website galleries with my Christmas commissions which included pencil drawings of Seonaid, a lurcher and Italian spinone cross....

And, staying with lurchers, 2 brothers named Miller and Fynn.....

I am never happy with how my graphite pencil portraits scan or photograph but it gives you an idea.

So what's next? Looking forward to future commissions which include 2 German Shephards, a Great Dane, Greyhound and a colour pencil montage of a beautiful Spaniel. First up though is Mollie the cat and I will be adding her to my WIP pages tomorrow.

The story so far

With the Christmas rush over things have calmed down a bit behind the easel giving me some time to update my website - well that was my plan. My computer had other ideas and decided to 'crash' on Christmas Eve. The timing couldn't have been worse with nowhere open to take it to be fixed - if it could be fixed!!

I spent all that week convinced I had lost all my data. That worry combined with my severe lack of sleep (thanks to Zara) didn't make me the greatest company to be around. But it is only a computer I hear you say - this is true but I have EVERYTHING stored on my computer, pictures, website, client details to name but a few. As it turned out I needn't have worried as I was, and I quote, "very lucky I didn't lose everything on my harddrive". I have learnt a valuable lesson after all this however and that is to back-up all my data and updates on a regular basis.

So with my computer back I have made a start on updating my website with my Christmas commissions beginning with the colour pencil portraits. The portraits I will be adding to this gallery include.......

Amber, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier

Lenny, the Collie

and Millie, the Chocolate Lab

All beautiful dogs, don't you think?

Our new addition

Now that Christmas has come and gone (hope you had a good one) and all the chaos that goes with it I'd like to introduce you to our new addition to the family in the form of a 12 week old gorgeous boxer puppy we have named Zara.

Zara was a surprise present for my daughter who has been desperate to have a dog for more years than I care to remember but couldn't due to her dad's allergy to cats. However, the lady we bought her from kindly agreed to take her back if it turned out he had any reaction to her. Thankfully, almost 2 weeks down the line, all is going well which is probably just as well because we couldn't part with her now even if we had to and would probably end up getting a room somewhere for my husband instead!

Although we love her to bits I don't think any of us were prepared for the amount of work involved in looking after her. I have had 2 children and can honestly say they were a lot easier - at least you could stick them in a nappy and leave them happily in their chair or whatever and not move. Zara is happily peeing and pooing her way around the house so find myself following her every step - not easy when I have commissions to finish.

To top it all she is not letting me sleep through the night and will howl to get out. Now on night 12 I have never felt, or looked, so tired. I have to keep reminding myself that it will get easier and we can start to take her out for walks come Tuesday - if she'll go that is! On the few occasions we have had her out in our driveway with her leash she just sits there and wont budge no matter what we do so Tuesday could be interesting. One thing I am sure of though is that she will be well loved and the subject of many a drawing and painting for years to come.