To Honor Taffy's Life, We Rescued Kiah

Our little gift from God. . .meet Kiah: (youtube video)

A Gift from God. . .

It's truly amazing how God works in our lives. Just last week I started to think of what breeds would be similar to our beloved Taffy who was a New Zealand Huntaway/Kelpie & I thought of an Australian Cattle Dog. Well within the hour, out of the blue! a facebook friend posted on my wall asking if I would be interested in an Australian Cattle Dog puppy! I had not mentioned to ANYONE that I had been even thinking about getting another dog, much less a Cattle Dog! As it turns out, the puppy was due to go to a family in Portland, but the plans fell through. We weren't planning on getting another dog for some time, but felt this was really meant to be, and then looking at the photo above we were certain. The little puppy, who we have already named Kiah (an Aboriginal name meaning 'the beautiful place') has a rainbow leash in the photo, to us a sure sign from God & Taffy who is waiting at the 'Rainbow Bridge' for us, that this pup is meant to be ours. We are still grieving for Taffy, but before he passed away I told him in honor of his life we would rescue another dog, just like how we rescued him...and now Kiah is on her way to us this Tuesday! We will never, ever forget Taffy & have several photos and the painting I did of him all hanging up in our living room, but we know Kiah will help to mend our broken hearts and provide companionship for Jedha as well. So grateful to God for his compassion & love...we don't always understand why our loved ones are taken from us, but we have to believe there is a reason for everything and one day we will know.

"Bailey," Australian Cattle Dog Painting in Oil by Lara Harris

"Bailey," 5"x7" oil on canvas panel
10% will go to Heeling Hearts ACD Rescue

(SOLD, thank you!)

This is a gorgeous Australian Cattle Dog named Bailey...I absolutely LOVE the colors in a Cattle Dog's fur...it's one of God's masterpieces for sure!

Here is a little bit about Bailey:

We got Bailey 12 years ago from East Texas. She had been under a house that caught on fire. The mama dog pulled her out along with the rest of the pups too. She is well behaved, playful and makes us smile as she always has a smile on her face. She loves to cool her paws in the pool on hot Texas days. She is also the peacekeeper among our dogs (we have 3). She is very loyal and keeps a constant eye on our 9 year old twins whenever they play outside.
She is our Bailey aka Bay Bay and we love her very much!

If you are interested in having your dog's portrait done, feel free to contact me!
(*Photo used with permission, flickr id garzaville)

"Dusty, the Australian Cattle Dog" Painting in Oil...& GRREAT News!

"Dusty," 5"x7", oil on canvas panel,

(SOLD,thank you!)
10% will go to Heeling Hearts ACD Rescue

This is a portrait of an adorable Australian Cattle Dog named "Dusty." I just loved this shot of her as it is so typical of so many dogs...to not only have a ball in the mouth, but one close by just in case! Our Taffy has 6 Ultra-Chuck It balls laying around the house and yard as he never can be without one of his precious balls. This is a little bit about "Dusty,":

Dusty turned 7 years old in May 2009, and she is just as much as stinker as when she was a puppy! She loves her sister Cheyenne, her mommy and daddy, going to the the park for walks, and stretching out on her back for a tummy rub. But her favorite thing is her tennis ball! She has one (or several!) with her almost all the time. Dusty is a tomboy - she's athletic, agile, and she puts on an amazing show jumping and twisting high in the air to catch her tennis ball. But she's also incredibly sweet, rubbing up against you and giving kisses when you least expect it. We love her very much and our little family just wouldn't be the same without her! (check out Dusty's parents' blog here :o)

If you would like to have your dog's portrait done feel free to contact me!
(*Photo used with permission, flickr id mollywoo)

**I thought I'd also let you in on an exciting secret!...well not all of it or I would be giving it away, but I am currently working on a special piece for an amazing designer/stylist! I won't be able to reveal who it is, or exactly what I am working on until after July 25th, but I am pretty excited to have been given such a wonderful opportunity to share my art with this person :o) So, stay tuned!

**ALSO! I didn't want to ever have to sell on ebay again, but I needed to clear some space in the studio so I have listed a few pieces on SALE here take a peek and see if something catches your fancy or feel free to pass the news along to friends and family! And thank you for supporting self-representing artists!

"Rainey", the Australian Cattle Dog

I wanted to share a portion of an email from Rainey's owner, Shelley Lampman, a very touching story of how Rainey became a member of their pack :o)

"Rainey is our fourth Australian Cattle Dog - we're a little crazy about them We adopted her from Heeling Hearts Australian Cattle Dog Rescue. She was surrendered by some people who used her just for breeding then after she'd had 3 litters in her brief 2 years of age (one every heat cycle) they were tired of her and thankfully did one right thing and gave her to the wonderful people at the rescue. The very first thing they did was get her spayed so that she could be the puppy instead of having them. We had just lost our very beloved Rocky and my husband Les had told me that it hurt so bad he didn't think he could do it again and that Rocky's buddy Dusty would be our only dog. My heart really wanted to give another dog a chance at a good life but I was trying to understand his wishes and accept it. Then one morning he said "come and look at this" pointing at his computer. So I looked over his shoulder and there was a picture of beautiful Rainey - Les said "I just wanted to show you our newest family member"! Then he told me Rainey's story and how he had been talking to Brook Hicks who runs Heeling Hearts and felt that Rainey would be a perfect addition to our family. That was almost exactly a year ago and he was so right - she is keeping Dusty (and us) young with her energetic spirit. We are just crazy about her!"
I thought it only fitting to donate a portion of the sale of Rainey's portrait to Heeling Hearts ACD Rescue.

Painting 2, "Rainey" Australian Cattle Dog Oil Painting

Painting 2,"Rainey," 8"x10"x 3/4",

oil on stretched canvas (sides painted black)

private commission (sold)

photo reference: Shelley Lampman

10% of the proceeds will go directly to

Heeling Hearts Australian Cattle Dog Rescue

This is the 2nd painting completed for my Painting a Pup a Day project and I am really pleased with how it turned out! It was a bit of a challenge as Rainey's coloring is pretty unique, I found myself going back and forth with the black and white paint...a little black here, a little white there. I originally was going to make the background a reddish color as she was laying on a reddish blanket, but then decided to go with a golden background to accentuate her eyes. I loved the little splash of color her heart shaped dog tag added to the overall composition. Rainey is owned by fellow Art 4 Critters member, Shelley Lampman. I thought it fitting to do an Australian Cattle Dog for my 2nd painting as my husband is also an Aussie and we actually just returned from living in Australia last year! Our dog, Jedha, is actually part Stumpy-Tailed Red Heeler which is a Cattle Dog breed.