Sweet Summer
Latest News:
There are two new original watercolors for the month of June.
One is an elegant hound, in muted tones, just taking in the surroundings, a quiet moment, alert and curious. The subtle color shifts of the watercolor are contrasted with line work in India ink.
The second is Freedom, a Galgo in full gallop. It calls to mind that exhilarating and joyful feeling we get when we watch our dogs run like this. Knowing that they feel happy and safe, and can be playful and silly, to just be a dog. That’s freedom.
These are not in the store just yet, but will be soon! I need to mount them to board and varnish them first, to help protect them when they head off to their new homes.
In The Studio:
This past month has been marked with a lot of soul-searching. This soul-searching has been more about the “business” than the art.
I like how the art aspect is going. I’m not super focused on a style or medium, but I get lots of ideas and inspiration and I plan to just keep making the art and see where it leads me. My only complaint is having the feeling that I don’t have nearly as much time to work on it as I would like, that pesky day job that pays the bills is really time-consuming!
The main shift in focus this month has been away from feeling an importance for the constant push for growth on social media (and all its frustrations) and toward trying to think more of the business aspect.
Social media plays an important role, of course. I enjoy using it, posting, and interacting with other people/accounts. But I learned something this month, and maybe this should have been obvious but it wasn’t to me: it is very possible to have a successful business without a gigantic social media following, and it’s possible to have a gigantic following and not have a thriving business. Neither is completely dependent on the other. Social media can be very helpful, but it isn’t the be-all and end-all that determines success.
This realization is helping me to not stress so much over all the platform changes. I am going to keep doing what I’m doing, but stress about it a lot less, and shift some of that mental energy into learning how to do better in other areas.
Next up, I am getting started on a new digital painting, an idea that’s been floating around in my head for several weeks. The goal will be to have it feel like summer.
At Home:
*Sigh* The saga of my Podenco with protein losing enteropathy (PLE) continues. He just had a recheck and, unfortunately, the super-safe for long-term use medication is not working for him. His protein levels dropped, not terribly low, but low enough that we know it’s not working. We switched him back to the other medication, which he will need to be on long-term. He actually does really well on it, it manages his condition well (along with a steroid), and he seems to feel great. But there is some risk of neurological side effects with long-term use, which is why we wanted to give it a go with a safer medication. Fingers crossed that we will never have to deal with those side effects.
The little guy is doing great, I love his spunky, sassy energy. He’s always been my little wild man, but he’s an expert level cuddler as well. When I get stressed or upset he comes up and lays across my collarbone onto one shoulder. He just lays there, it feels like he’s hugging me. It’s very comforting. I can just hold him there for a few minutes, close my eyes, breathe deep, and it really helps to melt the stress away.
I hope that all of you are lucky enough to have one of these expert stress relievers in your family!
Last but not least, I need to mention a great big Happy Birthday in Heaven to my sweetest little angel. You are always in my heart.
Thank all of you so much for being here, a part of this soul-searching journey with dogs and art! Wishing you all the joy of a Galgo running free in the weeks ahead!
God bless!
Jennifer