Soldier/Dogs

Soldier/Dogs

11"x 14"

Acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I finished a commission for a client who has a lot of veterans come work for him. He offers them jobs because they have a hard time finding them elsewhere. My client shared some amazing stories with me, and I was surprised and touched to learn about the importance of the relationship between dog and soldier:
   "One of the key themes my guys tell me coming home is that dogs helped get them through the war. These guys credit the dogs with saving their lives. I never would have guessed that to be the case, but it was. I never realized it until someone came into my office and commented that there were dogs with all of my boys in the pictures I had on my desk." 

Listening to while I paint:

Audio-books: "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Read by the author.

Podcasts:
              "Wait, Wait.... Don't Tell Me!" hosted by Peter Sagal
               Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin
               Social Media Examiner, by Michael Stelzner
               The Splendid Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper
               Artist Helping Artist by Leslie Saeta
Music: my iPod

                 

Mona Jones Cordell Studio Visit

Mona's studio has a lot of space and windows and light. She has some very big canvases and uses big brushes, bold colors, and expressive lines. The big yellow canvas is what she uses to experiment on.

Last week I blogged about the Mi Mancherai video of Josh Groban and Lucia Micarelli and how the beautiful song they performed had a deeper meaning after seeing them perform it. That same day, I had the extreme privilege of meeting Mona Jones Cordell and visiting her studio.
Mona goes to the Oregon Ballet Theatre rehearsals and sketches gestures of the dancers. She then takes her gestures back to her studio and creates beautiful works of art. What occurred to me after visiting her is that just as Josh Groban and Lucia Micarelli need each other to perform that beautiful song, Mona and the dancers need each other to produce these beautiful works of art. They are all artists who have spent years developing their skills and each brings their unique talent to contribute to the final, beautiful product.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Mona, talking about art and drawing and her technique and sharing how we approach drawing the figure. She is a very kind and gracious lady and a wonderfully talented artist.
I encourage you to take the link to her website to see her art and watch the video to see her at work.