The Pacifier

This handsome dude loves his favorite toy! Hershey first encountered his ball about a month after we adopted him. Its high- pitched squeak used to drive us crazy. We hid the ball for periods of time to save our sanity. Eventually, Hershey chewed his ball so much that the squeaker broke.

I've named this piece "The Pacifier", because my lab continues to chew on his favorite rubber ball. Whether he's resting our running through our home, there is always a hint of blue hanging from the corner of his mouth. The ball seems to soothe his spirit.

This drawing is rendered in soft pastels on smooth, white vellum. It is 11 x 14" in size and available for sale.

Chesterfield Library Exhibit

On July 20th, I am hanging a new art exhibit at the Chesterfield Library in Chesterfield, NH. I've named the exhibit, "It's Raining Cats, Dogs, and Frogs". This seems appropriate, considering the wet weather that we have been tolerating lately. I would much rather experience a shower of dogs than rain any day!

The exhibit will feature my charcoal and pastel drawings of cats, dogs, frogs, and other critters. I hope that you can find time to view the exhibit and purchase a drawing or two... or more. Each drawing in the exhibit is available for sale and a price sheet is included at the library if you are interested in buying a piece (yes, yes you are!).

The address of the Chesterfield Library is:

524 Rt. 63,
Chesterfield, New Hampshire 03443

What's New, Pussycat?

I love the Tom Jones song, "What's New Pussycat?" In fact, I love singing it to my own cat, who cringes when she hears my terrible singing voice. Enough of my babbling about my lack of singing ability. The purpose of this post is about what's new in my studio.

The blog has been stale lately. I apologize for that. I'm in the process of balancing my day job & drawing. It is an interesting challenge. I have been able to complete my custom portrait orders without a problem. I will be posting my latest work soon.

I'm also working on vintage-inspired jewelry, featuring my artwork. This probably sounds confusing, but I actually am making custom cabachons, featuring my drawings and mounting them on brooches and pendants. I found that I love vintage jewelry and would love some pieces that resemble cameos with animal artwork in them.

I've also decided to upgrade my custom magnets. Currently, I slide prints of my artwork into plastic photo-holding magnets that are already assembled. They are cute, but I would like to use better materials. I ordered some glass tiles on etsy.com and magnets. The plan is to glue my prints to the glass tiles & mount rare earth magnets on the back. The result will be a cleaner, upscale look and a better hold on your fridge!

I will also be using the same tiles and process to create keychains featuring my art. All in all, I'm working on expanding my options and ways of creating prints of my work. In doing so, I'm trying to think out of the box a bit, beyond your traditional matted art prints.

I also want to add more designs, because it's always good to freshen things up. I'm ready for some new portraits!

Introducing... Hershey (and other new news)!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted artwork or random musings on my blog. In the time that I've been away, life has sort of completed a 180 degree turn. A month ago, all was quiet on the art front. I was a bit unsure of which direction to follow in my downtime. I was offered a fantastic job at MoCo Arts in Keene, NH. MoCo is a performing and visual arts company that holds fun & inspiring classes. I am a Front Desk person part-time and absolutely love my day job.

I am still working on portraits and giftware. It is my passion and is not going anywhere. I will be printing a new design for spring in the coming weeks. My bunny portrait will appear on cards and magnets. It's the perfect time, with Easter on it's way!

Also... we have a new addition to our family. We adopted a 22 month old chocolate lab named Hershey! Hershey found us through a co-worker of my father's who was fostering him. He is absolutely sweet and gets along perfectly with Sasha. We are still working on introducing him to the cat slowly. He's absolutely polite and ignores her when we are holding her. However, once she is loose, he is very interested in placing the chase game. We've read up on how to introduce a new dog to the family cat and are taking our introduction slow and with patience. Molly, in the meantime, is enjoying her vacation on the top floor of the house and is spoiled with extra kisses and love.

I've posted some pictures of Hershey above. There will be more posted in the future (and of course lots of portraits)! Hershey is my first labrador retriever and I am loving every bit of his personality!

: )

Mia

Goofy

This adorable fellow is Goofy, a black and tan coonhound mix. Goofy's portrait was one of my Christmas commissions. This portrait was a delightful distraction from the December ice storms! I finished drawing Goofy just before power was restored to my studio in Jaffrey. I had taken my portrait commissions on the road with me to NY, which was a savvy decision. Had I left them to work on in NH, it would have been days before I could finish them (due to the power outage).

Goofy is drawn in soft pastels on smooth, white vellum. The finished portrait is 11x14" in size.

The Brightest Bulbs

I hope that everyone had relaxing holidays. I've been offline for a while, spending time with my hubby and family. Now that the holidays have passed, I can post some of my commissions that were presented as gifts!

I'll start with this pastel portrait that was given as a gift to my in-laws for Christmas. This particular piece has meaning to them, as they belong to a hunting and fishing club in Pennsylvania. The club has a few tame rabbits that wander the grounds and children are offered 5 dollars teasingly if they can catch one. The rabbits are released if they are caught, of course. I thought it would be fun if I captured three of the rabbits in a portrait. I think that the club owners owe my in-laws 15 dollars!

This drawing is 11x14" in size and drawn in soft pastels on smooth, white vellum.

Happy Holidays From The Checchi Retrievers!

The piece above is my latest drawing in pastels. My parents commissioned me to draw their two golden retrievers for the holidays and print custom holiday cards. These two fellas are Shadow (on the left) and Buddy (on the right). Both were rescued from Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue in Massachusetts. My family has raised rescue golden retrievers since I was in high school and it makes sense that these two boys are the family's holiday card mascots.

The pastel drawing is 8x10" in size and drawn in soft pastels on smooth, white vellum.