IT STARTED WITH DOGS

        My Art and Home blog is back. It's been a while!

    This past year has had some challenges. I've been taking time to let life settle and get back to normal, but now, thank goodness, things are much calmer and I'm  delighted to be writing my blog again.  You can look for it probably every second Tuesday, but don't worry, I'll remind you. :)      If you are following me on Face Book, you won't miss a post!!  Today I thought it would be fun to go back to the beginning, when dogs first stole my heart.

                                      Liberty Bell Black Gareth

It Started With Dogs

    It actually started with any dog, cat or horse that crossed my path.  I wanted to hug and pet every single one, but cautious parents quickly thwarted that desire.  So the moment I could read, I chose books about them, and eventually a lovely Fate introduced me to Albert Payson Terhune's books.  That was it, I was in  love for life, and I began to plague my parents for a dog, and not just any dog, it had to be a Collie, just like Lad and Grey Dawn.  A cat and horse also figured  in my  perceived needs, but first I WANTED a dog.  . . . .. .. ....I wanted a Collie.                           When my parents decided that a dog of my own was not going to happen until I was older, and a cat and a horse were just NOT going to happen, I threw myself into drawing and painting them, so I had lots of pets, but they were all on paper.                                                                                    Eventually, as I entered my Teens, they broke down and allowed me to have the Collie I had been saving for, and a beautiful, quirky, totally wonderful Tricolour Collie came into my life.  But now my desire to draw and paint them better became a constant challenge, and eventually, as an adult who had already embarked unenthusiastically on a  teaching career, it  led me to Art School and a longed for career as an animal artist.                                                             I think I have the best job in the world!   Each morning I walk down the hall to my studio, accompanied by our Shelties and cats and I spend the day painting lovely animals. And yes, I did finally get my horse, and he was with us until he passed away at age 33, after spending 19 wonderful years with us.       
   In ensuing blogs, I will talk about the sometimes perilous joys of painting, life in the country, and about the animals I've known, my own and others that have made an impression on my heart, and I will post photos of them, and paintings in which they have been my models.  Many of these painting images can be found as small prints or note cards in my ETSY shop, THE DOG ART GALLERY.  I hope you will drop by  soon and have a look.                                                                                                                                       Til then, Take care, and Be Happy!                                                                                               Heather

The Light of the Moon

Moonlight fascinates me.  I'm always trying to take a great photo or paint a lovely moonlight painting, but Moonlight is an elusive thing.  When I was a child, I would sit out on the back porch with my Grandmother while she told me stories about the faeries and we would watch the big old summer moon together.  Now every full moon that arrives finds me out watching, or at least watching from the sun room windows if the weather is way too cold to venture out.  Did you see the spectacular moon these past few days?  So bright and big!

Last Full moon, there was a dance at the other end of the village, and the music flowed up along the riverbank to our garden.   My Sweetie let the dogs out for their night time business, then came in and asked if I would like to go outside and dance, and that is just what we did.  We had a lovely time, just the two of us, while we danced by the light of the moon.  Romance is alive and well at Sheltie Hollow :)

I hope all of you enjoy the rest of the summer, and remember, there will be another full moon in September, so get out your dancing shoes!
Cheers,
Heather Anderson
www.sheltiehollowart.com

JOY

It's been a month of upheaval with no time or no computer to do my blog, but for today at least, I can post one.  Today, I thought I'd talk about JOY.

 

Joy comes in so many ways.  Doing something fun fills us with joy.  We laugh and smile and generally feel great.   Dogs are very good at expressing Joy - there's just no holding back.                                 Joy also comes with being with your best friends.  You can relax and laugh and be yourself.                                                             

This week, I was watching one of our dogs standing back and looking a his buddy playing fetch with a ball.  We had tried to teach him the game, but we hit a blank wall every time, so rather than keep stressing the little guy, we just let him watch while someone else played.      Something else distracted the ball player and he ran off, just as I threw the ball, and the dog watching, suddenly became lit from within, and with a huge sheltie smile thrown back over his shoulder to me, he took off after the ball, picked it up and did a flawless return.  I wish I could show you the overwhelming joy on his little face!   "I DID IT!!"   Now we are all happy - Darcy is in the game too.    It made me think of the joy we artists feel when we get something right, something that has up to that moment been elusive and difficult.   I also thought about the joy I get in learning.  When we  were all tender young artists, unsure of ourselves but not  wanting anyone to know, I think most of us were reluctant to           share what we knew about techniques and materials, and hesitant about learning from others or (gasp!) asking for help.     Happily, most of us now have gained the confidence in our own unique gift to share things with other artists when they ask  and sometimes even when they don't.  As this blog so often proves. :D    I Hope all of you will take joy in whatever it is you are doing today.  It costs nothing, spreads like wildfire, and makes your world a much more inviting place to be.                                                                               

    

Cheers,                                                                                         Heather Anderson              www.heatheranderson-animalart.com                        

Realizing a Dream

Today is Canada Day, and as I was enjoying a peaceful breakfast, looking out at our little haven, I thought again, as I have so many times, how lucky we are, those of us who live in a country where you can make a dream come true.  I'm talking about all the countries where this can happen, not just Canada, although I have to admit that I do love my homeland.

My big life dream arrived when I was about 12 years old, when I was given my first Albert Payson Terhune book about his Collies and Sunnybank.  He had passed on  years before I was born, but his books were still popular and easily available at the bookstore.  I became entranced, and as soon as I finished one book, I'd be off to the most wonderful bookstore (I'll tell you about it one day) and select another one.  Happily, I had a very indulgent Grandmother and Aunts who all wanted to encourage me to read!  About half way through those books, I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to live in the country, work at home, painting and writing, (even then I knew I had to paint), and have lots of dogs, cats and a horse.  And with lots of help from above, it happened.  

Granted, we have half an acre in a tiny village instead of 40 acres on a lake, and after my first couple of dearly loved Collies, we made the life long switch to Shelties, but making a dream into reality calls for a little compromise here and there.
And the odd thing is that over the years, I have come across many people who have had the same dream. Some have tailored the dream to suburban living, some have managed the whole acerage, but I know these people at once - the Clan of Terhune.  They have Collies or Shelties, their homes exude peace, there is a beautiful garden, and when we first meet, there is an instant friendly attraction. Some of them have become wonderful, loved friends.
So lets be sure to celebrate today and again on the 4th of July and give thanks for living in a country where dreams can come true.  And Thank You Bert Terhune, for giving a reachable dream, a wonderful way of life as a pattern for living, to all of us who have met you through your books.  

Cheers,
Heather Anderson         www.heatheranderson-animalart.com

Just For A Change

I guess everyone knows by now that I love working in watercolour. It's always been my favourite medium and it always will be.  But every so often, I think a change is good.  I used to work in pastel, but the dust really triggered an asthmatic response, so I had to let that go, and the same thing with oils.  I have to admit that I enjoyed both those mediums, but I'm not going to make myself ill for art.  Especially not when there are other medium choices.   For a long time, I would switch to Coloured Pencil for a little break, especially for animal portraits, and I loved using them.  But Coloured Pencil eventually gets very hard on the hands, so regretfully, I packed them away.  I have to say too, that the quality of the pencils I most often used, fell quite badly, and that had a little something to do with my decision.

       
                                    Cairn Terrier                Coloured Pencil


So now when I want a little break, I choose Acrylics or Graphite.   There is a lot about Acrylic that I don't like.  I find the paint stiff to work with, I hate the smell, minor as it is, and they do dry very fast! But the painting builds up quickly, mistakes are easily fixed, and the fast drying time adds to the speedy completion of a painting.  So I'm hanging in with this one, trying to understand it's secrets, and make my peace with it.

                                      Jack Russell Terrier       Acrylic

Sometimes I love the challenge of Graphite.  Black and white is so elegant.  But it is nearly impossible to recover from a mistake, and all too easy to make one.  Still, I enjoy the focus required, and the way I have to distill colour into Black, White, and Shades of Grey.  Even a small graphite piece can take a very long time.

                                      Border Collie             Graphite

But when all is said and done, I always love coming back to the watercolours, feeling refreshed from my 'busman's holiday'.

                                    Hasten On Home      Watercolour

Cheers,
Heather                   www.heatheranderson-animalart.ca

Splendour

It's nearly Midsummer.  You can feel that Midsummer magic all around you if you stop, look, and listen.  The birds sing their lovely chorus early in the morning and then a quieter version in the evening after their busy day of food gathering and chick watching is over until tomorrow.  The air is soft and sweet with the fragrance of flowers, both garden and wild, along with the unique scent of newly mown hay.  The little sheltie noses here at Sheltie Hollow never stop twitching, trying to take it all in.

Everywhere, wildflowers are springing up, almost as if everything has suddenly answered a Faery trumpet call.  Overnight there are huge drifts of wild phlox, billowing in the breeze, and frostings of daisies are appearing along the fence lines and road sides.  And don't forget to look for the Fire Flies flickering across the darkness of a mid June field or garden.  These little characters always thrill me.  I like to think they are on their way to light a Faery Ball.

This is a beautiful and bountiful time of year - think asparagus, new lettuce, and strawberries.  Take a moment to stand still in a quiet spot, look around you, listen carefully, and take a deep breath.  The rewards are great.  Oh, as to the name Mid Summer, when it is really the first day of  summer?    The ancient Celtic calendars had Spring arriving in February, so by June, it would have been mid summer by their calendar.   Some things are just too much fun to change.                                                           

Cheers,                                                                               

Heather Anderson                                        www.heatheranderson-animalart@sympatico.ca                                                                            

                                     

A Horse, A Horse!

The first thing I can remember asking for as a little girl, was a HORSE . . . .  I want a HORSE for Christmas, my Birthday, for Easter, PLEASE!  Although I don't how the Easter Bunny was supposed to carry a horse in his little basket of eggs.  Hey, I was only three - I had no idea.
I gave my family members grey hair by racing off to try and touch every horse we came across, and kept hearing, "They'll bite you, they'll kick you, they'll roll on you!", but fortunately I was selectively deaf on this subject.  In the end, I was an adult before I got my horse, and what an adventure he was.  We were together for 19 wonderful years, and I'll miss him until we are riding Heaven's trails together.  (Presumably, my Sweetie will be playing heavenly baseball while I'm riding.)

For years, my painting focus was Horses, and I had the MOST fun going to horse shows big and small,to Jumping, Dressage and Evening, to harness tracks, to county fairs where there was a horse draw, to the harness track and  the Polo matches.  I boldy contacted people who had different breeds of horses to ask if I could visit and take photos of their horses, and nearly all of them were generous enough to welcome me.  I had the joy of hanging out with Friesians, Morgans,  Canadians, Quarter Horses, Paints, Percherons, Connemara Ponies, Saddlebreds, Andalusians and Arabians, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.  Two major thrills from those days were two stallions, an Andalusian and an Arabian, because both of them were gentle and well mannered enough that I could stand with them and pet them.  Oh, Wow.  

I'm painting mainly dogs now, but every so often, I still need to take a trip down memory lane and paint a horse memory.  And every so often, I need to get to a horse show and find a horse who needs a soft nose rub.  These beautiful creatures have been part of  my life, one way or another, all my life, and that won't change.

Cheers,

Heather                        www.heatheranderson-animalart.com