Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Blech.

It's disgusting out - it has been peeing rain all.day.long. And it's cold. I know, I know ... I live in Vancouver. What did I think it would do mid-November? But it's a day off for the Food Lady. She wants to flop around the house in her pajamas, not going swimming in her galoshes at the dog park.

STOP STARING AT ME, DOGS!!

So, time to bust out the camera and amuse us all. I'm a masochist, so once again I attempt the Family Photo, and I get this:

Apparently nobody wants to sit next to anyone else.

"You suck Tweed."
"What? Why?"


Then I get Mr. Woo on my coffee table. He's pretty sure I put it there as a perch for Himself, since we never had one before and he can't imagine what else it could possibly be for.

Okay, scrapping group photo. Moving onto portraits.

Piper volunteers to be first.

Keener. Nerd.

And then Tweed, who cannot figure out the mechanics of footstool-on-sofa.

Best to just hunker down and hold on for the ride / gaze hopefully at Food Lady for a cookie.

However, before long everyone is *terribly* bored with the portrait taking.

Now I'm desperate. Time to break out the big guns.

"Does anyone want to play Bitey Face Smackdown on the forbidden land also known as the Food Lady's bed?"

"OOOOOH! Me! Memememememememe!"
Why are they all on my coffee table??


Okay then.

Ready ....

Set ....

SMACKDOWN!

Then Piper gets worried.

You'd be worried too, if your opponent could do this with his tongue:

I can hear you thinking "Where's Tweed? Why doesn't he get to play Bitey-Face Smackdown?"

Oh but he does! Piper invites him to play, but he's skeptical.

It's just that he knows he's going to get ganged up on by the Terror Twins, who are all too eager to kick his ass.

But in a surprise turn of events, Tweed shoves Wootie aside and takes on the Bitch Queen herself. He's going straight for the ringleader!

At first I think "Oh shit. Tweed's toast." Because Piper immediately gets angry.

But in another surprise twist, Wootie turns mutinous and joins forces with Tweed. Now it's Piper's turn to look worried.

Instead of defending her position, she gets in a snit and leaves. Woo (fickle boy) follows her and they leave Tweed sad and lonely on the bed :(

It seems wrestlemania has pooped out the puppers, leaving me free to toil for them some more by chopping and bagging two months of dinner for dogs.

If you ever wondered what $100.00 worth of turkey necks looked like, it's your lucky day! It looks something like this:
That's 150 turkeys. You might eat the rest of one at Christmas! (I won't, because I'll be in Cancun. Woot!)

In honour of Remembrance Day, the dogs salute those who have fallen for our country (although Tweed did feel in necessary to mention that he is American).

Except Woo, who is hopefully and carefully watching turkey necks.

Help me out, readers. Who are your favourite affordable artists? Where can I see their work? My last apartment had almost no walls, but this one has an abundance of rooms and walls and they are bare, because I have nothing to hang on them. What do you suggest?

25 comments:

Unknown said...

If I were you and I could take such wonderful photos of such lovely dogs, I would call myself an artist and hang nothing but wonderful pics of my pups (and kitty) EVERYWHERE! Besides, gotta be cheeper and a lot more personal :)

Haley Poulos said...

Oh thank Dog! I get awfully giddy and smily when I see you've written a new post!
Piper absolutely kills me. What a funny personality. Love her!
Oh, and I hear ya about this rain. Bleh. Could you please not send it to us down here in WA? Thanx.

Anonymous said...

Oooh that tongue, that tongue. Thank DoG for rainy days in Vancouver.

All my artwork comes as "thank you gifts" from organizations I donate money to, which doesn't exactly make it cheap. Matches my tastes pretty well though.

MaskedMan said...

Hmmm.
I'll trade you "swimming in galoshes" for "patching kennels in the rain." But Suka is boring, photography-wise. Or maybe I suck as a photog. Whatever - I'm always turning up here looking for my dose of 'cute.'

Sorry - I don't know any affordable artists.

pam said...

How'd you get Piper to sit on Mr. Woo's shoulders in the first photo ;)

Michelle said...

I agree with the first commentor; why would you want to look at anything besides your own work? If you get bored looking at your own crew (yeah, right!), you have plenty of photos of other people's dog to use.

Anonymous said...

Food lady, would you mind sharing your source for turkey necks? That seems like a bargain!

manymuddypaws said...

love the photo of the terror twins and poor tweed on the bed. awesome

Anonymous said...

It was pissing rain so hard yesterday that Rosalie(ta) refused to go out to pee. She had to be forced out to take a pee.
As for art: I've been taking advantage of the internets: every Tuesday and Wednesday www.20x200.com posts a pic/drawing for sale. US$20 for a small print + US$20 for shipping. (edition of 200 for the small prints, the price goes up for larger prints, and the editions are smaller).

Anonymous said...

Shag, Joe Sorren, Alex Grey, find a group that you like art wise and the find an up and coming artist and buy their work. I have had some of it x 10 value wise.

Good luck!

jessica.six said...

I second Jen Bekman's 20x200. They've got some great prints every once in a while and at accessible prices.

Dorthe Alstrup's Untitled (Max) has been my favorite thus far. I even bought myself a $20 print for my birthday. . .

Good things are happening over there. Check it out!

Anonymous said...

Have you tried Etsy.com?

Your dogs are cute!

Cedarfield (www.cedarfield.livejournal.com)

Rossie said...

OMG. lovely images and so funny!!!!

I like a lot of artists that sell for reasonable prices on etsy.com

Here's a link to my favorites:
http://www.etsy.com/favorite_listings_public.php?user_id=5292249

You'll notice that there are two tabs, favorite items and favorite sellers, I would flip through both. Also, some items show as sold, but there are often similar things in the seller's shop if you take a look.

Also, if you slog though the comments on this blog post, you may find some things you like.
http://cicadadaydream.blogspot.com/2008/09/giveaway-earthly-delights-fabric.html

: )

Dunedan said...

http://www.cynthia-roberts.com/

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who noticed the picture of Red Dog in the background? Nice touch for the family portrait!

I've decided Woo is French: he is flamboyant, flirty and fickle.

And of course coffee tables are for dogs. You didn't know that? (Gasps of shocked amazement.)

It was 73 and sunny here. Shoulda moved here. Told ya.

This is insanedogowner BTW - the darn computer thingy wouldn't work.

Anonymous said...

I would also like to know where you got your turkey necks. Always looking for a bargain!!

Tatyana said...

http://shellvergel.etsy.com *nodnod*

...okay that's just my own little paintings, they're nothing great.

Personally I'm a wegman fan in terms of photography. And a monet fan in terms of paintings :P

Anonymous said...

I didn't have time to comment this morning but I want to thank you for starting my day with a smile. Your dogs' expressions are wonderful and your commentary captures them. Love Woo's tongue picture.

You could have a never-ending ever-changing display of your critters and make your home your portfolio.

The Border Collies said...

http://shellvergel.etsy.com

Those are great!

I'm not necessarily looking for dog related art. I am surrounded by dogs, so I don't mind hanging a little something else on my wall ;-) I do have some of my own stuff up, but I look at my own stuff all the time, so I also would like to look at something else! You guys have some great suggestions - thanks!

I buy my turkey necks from Surrey Meats in Cloverdale. It's a long trek, so I buy as many as I can fit in my little doggie deep freeze in one go :) No big secret supplier, I'm afraid!

dreameyce said...

I soooooo feel you on the weather front. Here in Salem area, Oregon, it's been rain, rain, and MUD.

For affordable artists (Well, for wall art!) I really like the work by SilentNeko on deviantart.com. I've had her do portraits of 3 of my dogs, and plan on having her do one of my (new) 4th dog also. (Boy, I'll run out of wall space if I stay a dog person ;)

I also see shellvergel already commented here. I have two custom shells from her and LOVE them! I do dog art too, but they are ornaments, and wearable designs (I use some of my ornaments as wall hangings though). I don't have room for painting on canvas since kidlet stole my studio room ;) heh

Anonymous said...

Always brightens my day to see your pix and snicker at your commentary.

Shameless plug is my favorite artist is my DH: http://www.studioosterberg.com/ prices set out are 'gallery' prices; his wholesale work is much more affordable

Anonymous said...

My favorite artist is Deborah Strong, from Langley, where I live. I'm fortunate to have a commissioned portrait of my senior Sheltie "Crystal" done by Deb, and also an original silk painting called "Great Blue" (heron with Mt. Baker in the background) also done by Deb.

Here's the link to her website (where you can see both "Crystal" and "Great Blue":

http://www.catnmousedesigns.com/

I'm glad you can approve comments, you might not want to post this link to the public, but Deb is a wonderful gal (whose lovely Collie "Riley" is a rescue) ......but thought you might be interested in her work.

Sharon B.

Anonymous said...

I did a search on ETSY for Southwestern Art (I am from Taos, NM orginally) and was surprised and pleasantly shocked to find the number of affordable pieces that I liked! I would suggest just doing a search for the type/style of art YOU like and see what pops up.

And apparently, google doesn't recognize me as insanedogowner anymore.

Sigh...

I need orange said...

You know Kinkos will print reasonable quality copies of your images, big, for not all that much, right?

Anonymous said...

Some of the art - okay more than some - I believe I own more than 20 - - Jody Bergsma's - - she is a local artist out of Bellingham,WA - - she does some great animals - and she has some interesting landscapes of the San Juan Islands - I just won a new print of hers of Ravens - she had a name the print contest - - I really like her work - - my brother knows for Christmas and birthdays - all he has to do is go to her gallery and 'Jody me up'!!One of my favorites is her "Here birdie birdie" print of a cat and chickadees - - she is very affordable- -

www.bergsma.com

Maggie, Tess and Roz