Monthly Archives: October 2007

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Deuce & Bylow’s Decopaw art was a huge hit!

October 24, 2007 – 4:48 am

These boys were one of the art commissions I mentioned I was working on for a birthday gift for my client’s boyfriend. I finished the art last week and it went off to be received by the birthday boy.

My client brought their dogs Deuce & Bylow to Seattle for a Decopaw sitting at Discovery Park in September, and we then designed the art to her specifications, keeping in mind what her beau would like best. She was going to be presenting him with the canvas in front of all of their friends at a big birthday party last week and I asked her to tell me how it went over.

Here is the art, and following it is her email to me the day after the party. This story is why I do this- I cried tears of joy when I received her email, and I think you will understand why when you read it.

Deuce & Bylow’s mom’s email to me, printed with her permission:

Of all of his gifts I had Jonte open the canvas last. As he was opening it he said “why is there a picture of a dog that looks like Bylow in here?” He then realized after opening the bubble wrap that it was Bylow! And Deucy! His first words were “wow”. Then he got teary eyed and asked me “are you trying to make me cry?” He just stood there and stared at it for like 10 mins! Everyone loved it! Jonte made a comment that this picture will be with him forever and that he can always remember his “boyz” no matter what by just looking at it and remembering their sweet faces. As soon as we got home he hung it on the wall, right in the entry way of our home. I wanted it in the living room, but he said he wants it right when you walk in, I guess to let people know whose house it really is! Then he got the camera out and took a picture of it! Then we spent the next 30 mins taking photos of us posing by it and including it in our background. We stayed up till 1:30am and Jonte kept telling me he had a great birthday, he even randomly yelled bursts of “I had an awesome birthday!” He was so happy!

Thanks Again Jamie!

AH- this made me cry again.

I am so incredibly fortunate that I get to do something that brings people so much joy, and keeps them connected to those special spirits that they love the most.

It makes me think of the special little things I have collected over the years- the handcarved Oaxacan antelope my dad surprised me with as a graduation gift after he saw me fawning over it in a shop in San Diego, the handprint plate from when I was 7, the beautiful hand-wrought flatware my best friend gave me. These are all things I have moved around with me and have treasured through the years, things that mean more to me than my fancy towels or shiny new computer. I like to think that the Decopaw art that I design for my clients becomes one of these ‘special treasured favorites’; little ‘treats’ that make life that much sweeter.

By doggirlseattle | Posted in Behind-the-Scenes, decopaw dog art | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Puccini

October 22, 2007 – 7:57 pm

I wanted to share a couple of shots of Puccini from the weekend of 10/13.

His shoot was a sitting to get shots for the Decopaw art. Whenever I do these sittings I have to switch tracks in my brain from ‘regular’ dog photography to ‘dog photos for art’, which aren’t necessarily the same.

I ended up with several shots of Puccini that would make pretty prints, but not work so well for the art process, so I wanted to share those here.

Puccini is 14 years old going on 14 months, and one of the most interesting looking little guys I had ever met.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puccini lives in the neatest little condo complex on the top of Queen Anne hill. It looks like something you would find in LA- a small grouping of early 20th century Spanish-style condos surrounding a pretty courtyard complete with fountain and palm trees. I fell in love with Puccini’s home and only wish I had taken more pictures of the complex. But alas, I was there for the pooch so my focus was on him (pun intended, ha ha ha).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puccini was positively MAD for his frisbee. We had an absolute blast tossing it around for him. I’ve never seen a 14 year old dog move so fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puccini was a former street doggie, and in the shot below he looks like a vagabond that just hopped off a train somewhere and landed on the doorstep of this home. He is so cool….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will try and remember to post Puccini’s art proofs here when I am done.

Hope you enjoyed this little guy and are having a fabulous Monday! It’s sunny in Seattle- whoopee! :-)

 

By doggirlseattle | Posted in Private client shoots, seattle dog photography | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Ollie & Gunther Decopaw proofs

October 18, 2007 – 7:39 pm

These sweet english bulldog boys are an art project I have been working on recently from a pre-existing photo.

We are at the point for the Ollie & Gunther’s dad to decide which one he likes best, but before that, we are all waiting to hear back from his family and friends to get their vote. Then their dad will have a pow-wow with his wife to make the final decision. Who would have thought that dog art could be so complicated, lol?

Actually, this will be a fairly large (24×36) canvas, so the decision has to be a good one, because it’s going to be a fairly prominent piece of art in their home, that will last a long, long time.

Below are the 2 best of the 4 proofs I designed, and if I had to guess I would say that they’ll go with the sunset + grass proof.

Which one do YOU think they’ll pick? And why?

I’ll post the final here once the decision has been made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one below is my favorite. I love the colors and the overall feel of the art, and for selfish reasons I would love to see what it would look like on a large canvas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

original image- supplied by my client. Because of the perspective I had a hard time determining what the difference in size (if any) was between the dogs, so I’m hoping I got it right in the proofs. If not I can shrink or enlarge either pooch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, my apologies for not posting more Decopaw art here recently. I have been working on quite a few projects that are gifts for people, and am paranoid about giving away surprises. Now, I know the chances of the recipients stumbling on my blog are slim to none, but given my luck, it would happen. It happened once before and once was enough!

I have a friend of a client who is actually on her way to my office right now to pick up a canvas gift for my client’s boyfriend’s birthday, which is today, and they are holding a party for him tonight. I can’t wait to hear his reaction and have promised to post the proof here after he receives it so stay tuned!

So hopefully in the coming weeks I can start posting proofs I did for clients, once those gifts have been received.

By doggirlseattle | Posted in decopaw dog art | Comments (0)

Gus, Grace & Pez + Primp Doggy

October 16, 2007 – 6:02 pm

These pawsitively poochalicious dogs have appeared in a couple of my recent posts, and here are more shots to really whet your whistle.

They are owned by the fabulous Donna Angevine. Now, normally I don’t mention my client’s names in my posts, but I am here because I am urging you to go and check out Donna’s amazing business, Primp Doggy http://www.primpdoggy.com/

Donna designs high-end fashions for canines. These are not your typical frilly low-quality frocks, these are super high-quality garments designed with every dog need in mind. They are made from the most stylish materials (my favorite is the Carnival Days) and use easy-on easy-off velcro instead of going over the head.

Donna is commissioning me to design a triptych canvas Decopaw art piece from her poochies’ pics, not unlike this one of Max: http://www.decopaw.com/complextri.html

(btw: I spelled triptych wrong on my website- duh)

The finished piece will be hung at the Primp Doggy booth at Seattle’s CRAVE show in November http://www.craveshow.com/index.html.

As if I am not excited enough about this project, Donna has asked Fergie to be a model at the Crave show. She is custom designing clothing for Fergie, including a faux leather coat! Normally I am not a big dog clothing lover, but Primp Doggy’s designs are so beautiful, and cool, and high-quality that I’m totally sold. I can’t wait till the show on the 3rd!

To make things even better, Donna has the most awesome dogs ever. You’d think that a gal who designs couture dog wear would have a bunch of little dogs- like papillons or chi-poms or maltipoos. But no- she has a great pyranees mix and a great dane mix and a Boston Terrier. Guess who is who. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donna designs the cutest dog collars and bowties, and she had the boys wear the collars for a few of our shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

normally I’m not wild about shots taken looking down on the dog, but Gus kept looking at me with this look on his face and I just had to capture it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

filming for the documentary. Gus was totally entranced with my stinky treats, and oblivious to the ‘big’ camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

shake shake shake, shake shake shake…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

there is nothing better on a beautiful day than rolling around in the grass. I felt so honored that Grace let me get this close to her and felt this comfortable with me. She was abused in her past life, so much so that she is very timid around newcomers, and usually won’t even get near them. I think she figured out pretty quickly that I was in love with her, so let her guard down and had some fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is funny. Grace looks like she would take your hand off if you reached for her glove she is chewing on, but she is just the sweetest, shyest dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

chewing on gloves is hard work. must rest now…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

how cute is Gus? LOVE his ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and yep- you guessed it- this last shot will be used for our Decopaw triptych. That’s Pez on the left, and Gus on the right, and grace in the middle with her glove in her mouth (we are using a different shot of her for the art). Too cute. Can’t wait till we are done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed these shots of Gus, Grace and Pez! And hope to see some of you at the Crave event on November 3rd!

By doggirlseattle | Posted in Cowbelly Family, decopaw dog art, Private client shoots | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)
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