Brief Introduction

In honor of my cat's memory, I opened a special store on Zazzle.com, selected three rescued cats, and began to (digitally) paint them. My artist royalties (usually between 10 & 20% of the purchase price) will be donated to the shelters housing these animals. Know a great shelter or rescue? Nominate them here.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Harlow: Beverly Hills, CA


Rescue Dog: Harlow
Shelter: Mutt Match LA
Harlow's Profile











The Painting:

February 17, 2011
Harlow's painting is the fifth in the Shelter Painter series!  Hers is one of two paintings planned in honor of Pal/Mr. Chick.  Her profile describes her as a sweet and affectionate two-year-old chow/golden retriever mix--just like Pal.  I can see a lot of similar features between the two, and she's roughly the same age as Pal was when we adopted him...so I think he would approve.

I started painting this on Valentine's Day, so I decided to go with a red color scheme this time. Definitely made her fur more the color of Pal's, but I like the result. 

I'll check on her periodically and update this post when she's adopted.

Products Available (or coming soon) in Harlow's Shop
  1. Poster
  2. Bag
  3. Mousepad
  4. MINI Print (Postcard with my banner & her info on the back)
  5. Magnet
  6. Keychain
  7. Postage Stamps
  8. Christmas Ornament
More to come! If you would like something that isn't available, just let me know :) 

Remember, a percentage of artist royalties will be donated to her shelter (Mutt Match LA)! 80% of artist royalties will be donated from prints and posters, and 100% of royalties from all products will be donated.  

Monday, February 14, 2011

Zazzle Necklaces: Quality Check

If you've browsed through the Shelter Painter Zazzle shop, you've probably noticed that printed sterling silver necklaces are available. When I created these products, I wasn't sure about the quality of the printed image.  The colors on the preview created by Zazzle looked dull, with very low contrast and color saturation.  So when Zazzle offered 50% off all necklaces, I jumped at the opportunity to check the quality for myself and bought one.  If the print job was not up to my standards, I could simply remove these products from the store.

The necklace arrived on Friday.  So, the verdict?  I was pleasantly surprised!  Take a look at the Zazzle preview and my photo below:

Bolder, truer colors!
As you can see, the colors are beautiful in person.  The Zazzle preview does not do them justice.  I'm so pleased with these results.  They'll definitely stay in the shop!  I'll try to purchase a few more of these later so I can post photos with more accurate colors.

So now I have a question for you...  What sorts of images would you like to see on a necklace?  I'm thinking about doing small paintings for  necklaces and other small products (like keychains).  These could be animal-themed or not.  Any ideas?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

We love you, Pal

My family adopted a golden retriever / chow chow mix named Pal when I was a kid, and he filled our lives with chaos, mischief, humor, love, loyalty, and safety.  We lost him yesterday at age 16.  He was a wonderful dog and companion, always ready with a big goofy grin or a hug when you needed it.  I miss him terribly, we all do.

Our Pal :x
I had a painting in the works for this month already--but that's going to be put on hold for now.  I'm not sure how, but I would like to honor Pal in a painting this month.

In his honor, for the rest of February 100% of artist royalties from all products will be donated to shelters (prints/posters are usually 80%).