Oil Paintings

I have decided to get back into my oil paints after a long absence. The last time I worked in oils
was back in my art school days and I stopped using them because I didn't like the smell and fumes of the turpentine . I also didn't like waiting so long for the paint to dry, thats when I started using watercolor and acrylic as I could work fast in these mediums. Now I have discovered fast drying oils called Alkyds, you can buy them at a reasonable price at art stores online. I use dickblick.com....goofy name but good art supplies. The oils are easy to work with and are reasonably dry overnight, I also discovered Turpenoid which is an orderless turpentine substitute, all my past beefs with oil have been resolved so I have dived right back into the oils. I think painting in oils gives the artist satisfaction too, at least it does with me knowing all the old masters that have painted in the medium.

I have also added a new ebay id, norton-fine-art, I feel when I do paintings that are a different subject matter then the dog and animal art I have been doing under Cleverpup that they will be listed under the new fine art id. I don't have anything going yet as I want to get 3 or 4 paintings finished before I list them under the new id. But I will let you know!

In the meantime, I just finished a little Yorkshire terrier dog on 5 x 7 inch canvas painted in the fast drying oils, she turned out pretty cute, although I know I am still getting my sea legs back in oil panting!





















Pretty in Pink Yorkie on ebay!













Sides of the gallery wrapped canvas (no staples) are painted so no need to frame!

Enjoy !

Don't eat the Brown Snow!

Storm drops dark brown snow in Colo.

FRISCO, Colo. (AP) — Snow that some residents described as dark as chocolate brown was reported across parts of Colorado Thursday, a result of a wind storm in northern Arizona that kicked up dust that fell with the snow overnight, officials said.

"It's pretty much statewide," said Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. "We've had reports from the San Juans, Winter Park ... all over."

Greene said it's not unusual to see plumes of reddish dust from the desert Southwest drop on the Rocky Mountains in the spring.

Exceptionally dry conditions in northern Arizona contributed to the dust, Greene said.

Don Knotts RIP

Don Knotts Dead at 81

UPDATED: 3:44 pm PST February 25, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," has died. He was 81.Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs "The Andy Griffith Show," and another Knotts hit, "Three's Company."Unspecified health problems had forced him to cancel an appearance in his native Morgantown in August 2005.The West Virginia-born actor's half-century career included seven TV series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him TV immortality and five Emmies.The show ran from 1960-68, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season, including a No. 1 ranking its final year. It is one of only three series in TV history to bow out at the top: The others are "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld." The 249 episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.As the bug-eyed deputy to Griffith, Knotts carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.Knotts, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the Fife character and doesn't mind being remembered that way.His favorite episodes, he said, were "The Pickle Story," where Aunt Bea makes pickles no one can eat, and "Barney and the Choir," where no one can stop him from singing."I can't sing. It makes me sad that I can't sing or dance well enough to be in a musical, but I'm just not talented in that way," he lamented. "It's one of my weaknesses."

New Easter ACEOs

Just in time for Easter fun, new colorful ACEOs (trading card size)
click here to visit Cleverpup on ebay!










































Easter Basket and Cocker Spaniel!

Spring is on its way!

Just listed on Ebay, this original 5 x 7 oil painting on high quality gallery wrapped (no staples on the sides)
of a clever white standard poodle enjoying the first spring flowers of the year!

click here to buy now

Spring Poodle!

Below is a side view to show the painted sides of the canvas.
Thanks for looking and visit Cleverpup on ebay!

Record Breaking Snow Storm hits NYC

I don't think this guy is going to find a hydrant to pee on!

New Horse art on Ebay

Just listed on ebay, appaloosa horse ACEOs ( Art trading Cards) just in time for spring..(tell that to the Northeast!)

click here to visit the Cleverpup Ebay store!

Super Sunday

Here to root for their favorite teams are 2 clever labs...may the best Pup win!
to view the art on ebay, please click HERE! and HERE

Yikes!

Rain, heavy mountain snow, a windstorm due for Saturday and now an earthquake!

I really need to move!

Six more weeks of winter?

Punxsutawney Groundhog Sees His Shadow

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) - Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but it was hard to find a complainer in the crowd on Gobbler's Knob, where the morning temperature was well above freezing and Thursday's high was expected to hit 48 degrees.

There were a few boos at the groundhog's prediction of six more weeks of winter, but most of the hundreds of revelers instead turned the event into an impromptu Pittsburgh Steelers rally.

Fans in football jerseys sang "Here we go Steelers," and members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle - the top-hat- and tuxedo-wearing businessmen responsible for carrying on the groundhog tradition each year - threw black and gold Steelers "Terrible Towels" as they waited to rouse Phil from his burrow.

The furry forecaster may be popular, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday...................

AND THE SEAHAWKS WILL WIN! hee hee