Squirrels Are For Chasing

Out On A Limb
c. 2012 Claudia Ballard
5 x 7 acrylic on canvas panel

Apologies for having been missing in action so long.  I had a serious skin infection that landed me in the hospital for a bit.  But I am on the mend and loaded up with antibiotics for quite some time to come. Hurray!  It is good to be back home and back in my studio.

Of all the dogs I have known, only a couple of small poodles were not inclined to chase squirrels.  Sam, our “granddog” golden retriever, spent hours slowly stalking them...like they could not see his 96-pound frame approaching.  They would taunt him by waiting until the last second to scamper up a tree.  Sam would try to follow them up the tree, jumping wildly in a futile effort to get them to come back down.  He gave a few of the squirrels a near heart attack as his tactics improved.  ;-) 

On the farm we had a beagle named Barney…scrappy and fearless.  His hunting partner, Shelly, was a shaggy, white female, a wild dog who was adopted as a puppy and tamed (sort of).  She had good instincts for hunting.  They would each chase the same squirrel, working together, one straight on and one sneaking around the house to come up behind it.  The squirrels still usually won.    I think the real fun for them was in the chase.  Goodness knows it provided lots of entertainment for us watching them.

 

 

 

Playtime For Bored Cats

Bright Eyes
c. Claudia Ballard 2012
5 x 7 acrylic on canvas

Like people, cats get bored with their old toys.  But they don't have to lose interest.  Cat behaviorist Marva Marrow has suggestions on how to make every play day fresh and fun for you and your feline companion:

1. Limit the Options

Have just a few toys around.   Cats aren't great decision makers. When they have too many options, they become unable to focus and can’t choose.

2. Rotate the Toys

If you own more than a few cat toys, you don't need to get rid of them all.  Then next week hide those away and pull out three more. The three you choose should be dissimilar.

3. Know Your Cat's Turn-Ons (and Turn-Offs)

Most prefer texture to sound, making a furry stuffed mouse more enticing than a rubber one that squeaks. Cats are also smart, and not easily fooled by mechanical prey.  What will remain appealing to most cats is any toy they can bat around.

4. Know Your Cat's Nature

Cat play is practice for hunting prey.  They don’t make a quick kill. They toss it up in the air, force it to move.   That is why they can spend hours batting a ball of tinfoil.

5. Keep It Real

Most cats are unable to follow quick movement. Drag a pole toy or string toy along the ground slowly, just out of your cat's reach.  You can also attempt to mimic the movement of their natural prey by holding it still so your cat can focus, and then wiggle it a little, stop, and then wiggle again.

6. Use What You Have

A cat’s favorite plaything may turn out to be the plastic ring from a carton of milk, or a ball of cellophane.  Socks filled with catnip, small balls of yarn, or ping-pong balls let loose in a dry bathtub may also bring your cat more hours of pleasure than the most expensive store-bought toy.

What does YOUR cat love to play with the most? 

Excerpted from petpeoplesplace.com (here)

Sam's Story...The Beginning



Golden Smile
c. 2012 Claudia Ballard
12 x 16 acrylic on masonite panel

Well, this is not really him, but sure does resemble him.  I will do another painting one day of the real thing.  He was an awkward and lanky golden retriever pup that arrived at our neighbors´ home and quickly tried to climb their picnic table, but his wobbly legs would not cooperate with the rest of his fast-growing body.  He discovered we were home a lot more than his owners and spent the day camped out on our porch or following us around the yard.  Sam was quickly adopted as our “granddog”.  He grew up to be a strapping 96-pound lapdog!   He was exceptionally smart and talented (as any grandmother would tell you) and was always into something that made us laugh. 

Watch for more stories about Sam and the other dogs we have known coming soon.

 

As you will see, I am retooling my blog to reflect my new focus on animal art…specifically pet portraits.  Please see my pet portrait page here, if you would like more information on a custom portrait as a gift for a loved one or yourself. 

Marjorie's Washer
@2012, Claudia Ballard
8 x 10 acrylic on panel

Please ignore the bars of light across the top of this painting...I shot this on the road and not in my usual studio setting.  This is one of the paintings I finished during my “retreat”.  It was based on a photo reference I took at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home in Cross Creek, Florida.  Growing up I remember my grandmother washing clothes in these big galvanized tubs.  When we were really little, we would turn them into wading pools on hot summer days.  I might be able to get both feet in one these days.  :->  It is a beautiful historic state park and there are tours of the house, which is just as she left it.  Have more photos of this site which I hope to develop into paintings someday.  Click here for more information on the park.

For now it is good to be back home in the Florida sand.  South Carolina was beautiful...still some spring rhodedendrons and azaleas hanging on.  My sis-in-law has beds of irises just opening into huge blooms.  They have a bird feeder just off the dining area in front of a bank of windows.  Lots of cardinals, gold finches, wrens, house finches, and a stray woodpecker or two stopped by while we ate breakfast.  I went to sleep one night to sounds of an owl in the woods across from their property.  Stay tuned for more animal paintings coming soon!

Homespun Artist's Retreat

I am traveling this week to visit my 87-year-old mother in SC while my brother and his wife are away.  I decided to steal, ummm borrow,  ;-> an idea from one of my fellow artists in the mentor program, Terri West, of Orlando.  Being short on funds to attend a formal workshop, she decided to create her own art retreat at home for a week.  So, I have packed up my essential gear and canvases and paint, and have made the most of my week away from the distractions at home.  After recuperating from the 9-hour drive, I have managed to finish three paintings that needed fine tuning and prepared the background on several canvases and worked out my sketches for those.  I hope to at least get a number of starts done to take home to finish up.

Bright Eyes
@2012 Claudia Ballard
5 x 7 acrylic on canvas panel

I am working on a portfolio of animal portraits to hone my skills for doing pet portraits.  Will put together some flyers to leave at the veternarian offices and other pet friendly outlets to see if I can generate some commission work.  If you know any animal lovers, please help me grow my business.  Just ask me for referral postcards; they are stamped and ready for you to address and send to your friends and have a photo of one of my paintings.  (I even left room at the bottom for you to scribble a note if you like.)

Spring is for the Birds

Jay
@2012 Claudia Ballard
5 x 7 acrylic on canvas panel

Long after the bulbs have died back and the azalea blooms have dropped, there is the happy sound of chirping in the trees around our home. First the robins pop in on their migration, which of course makes the resident mockingbird crazy trying to protect his territory. Then the cardinals and jays and wrens add to the chorus. And the pine siskin which is so tiny it is hard to see.  But the final sure sign of spring for us is the evening we hear the first whippoorwill call.  We are always longing to hear that sound…kind of haunting but so beautiful.  In the next few weeks, as they seek mates, there will be long evenings of calls back and forth until the chorus becomes so loud, we have to close a few windows to be able to hear.  Now we have to scurry to get the feeders out for the hummingbirds who will land next.

Walk In the Woods

It was really foggy this morning when I took Bonnie out for her walk.  The mist had settled on all the cobwebs leaving little white tufts of webs decorating the shrubs and undergrowth in the woods behind our house.  It would be lovely to paint, but I don't think it is possible (for me) to capture the delicacy of those little webs on canvas. 

Bonnie is my two-year-old Cocker spaniel.  She is a rescue dog we adopted last fall from the Florida Little Dog Rescue out of St. Cloud, FL.  Bonnie gives us lots of reasons to laugh as she discovers her new world--squirrels, birds, even a baby gopher tortoise.  The gopher has long since vacated his chambers for safer housing and we had laid bricks over its entrance to discourage the dog from digging under the steps.  But this afternoon the scent must have wafted up from somewhere and 20-pound Bonnie would not rest until she had dug up the pile of bricks and had her front half under the steps and down the hole.  She eventually realized nobody was "home" and gave up, but not until she had dirt stuffed in her ears and nose and her pink tongue was hanging out sideways.

We named this pup for another Bonnie--an amazing maternal black lab--who helped me overcome my fears and feel truly at ease with animals.  More about that to come.