Painting Akitas to raise money!

There are some very special people in my life, those who are there for us through thick and thin. The employees and our friends at Small Animal Hospital are those people. They have been there for us and Jennifer for years. They are always more than happy to help us with Jennifers dogs and anything she needs. Jennifer once worked there and formed lifetime friendships as they all worked together at saving animals daily.  I was giving the wonderful opportunity to pay it back when they needed a painting to auction off to raise money for the Akita Foundation.

Here are a few in process pictures. This is a pastel on suede mat board. I love the freedom and looseness I feel when using this substrate! I acheive a totally different feel. Layers of color, it does not blend with your finger so the color stays as applied. You end up with wonderful colors and textures. Enjoy

I am hoping that this will bring a nice price at auction to save more beautiful Akitas.

To see more of my fine art and fiber art visit my website at www.desireehabicht.com

to inquire about a pet portrait feel free to email me at desiree@desireehabicht.com

The Pastel Journals Top 100 Competition, I made it!

My painting, Cara Cara, was chosen as one of the top 100 Paintings in the Pastel Journals magazine! I never dreamed my painting would ever make it into this prestigious competition! Who would have known that the 25lb bag of oranges that Randy bought last year to share with the plein aire painters, and inspired this painting, would have gone so far! These beautiful oranges are grown locally and are delicious. One morning as I was cutting one up to eat I was compelled to paint it instead. The ruby colors were on fire from the morning sun illuminating them on the cutting board. The challenge for me was to capture the intense colors, the wet juicy inside as well as the textured skin. This may be my 15 minutes of fame and I wanted to share it with all of my friends! The magazine will hit the shelves on March 12 and is available for preorder here! 

Marta Gonzales came out to photograph my painting again as they were considering it for the cover and needed a higher resolution, thanks Marta!