Tomorrow it begins!

Tomorrow begins Crazy Cat Lady Month! 


April  1st ~ Jenna / Cali
April  3rd ~ Leigh / Jonathan
April  5th ~ Drew / Gandi
April  7th ~ Zenka / Queen Mab
April  9th ~ Charlotte / Phoenix
April 11th ~Charlotte/ Arwen
April 13th ~ Tanya / Jupiter
April 15th ~ Dan / Jasmine
April 17th ~ Rachel / Eddie

Each finished painting will have it's own post.
Please understand that I will be using a photo and the finished portrait for future advertisements of my art.  As well as offering prints of some of the portraits.

Instead of sending an invoice out I will be placing a PayPal button like the one below.  You fill in your name / cat name. Shipping address is requested after click.  You can pre-purchase or wait to see the portrait.   If you choose not to purchase the portrait I will place it in my Etsy Store. Portraits will be shipped out May 12th
 As you can see I still have room for 5  more cats.  Come join the fun!
Email your photo or photos to donna.triska@yahoo.com 

Name of Portrait

Hurry up Already and Spring!

There are only 11 days left in March and I still have piles of snow in my yard.  I don't know about you, but I am ready for the tulips to push up though the dirt and the lilacs to bloom.  I am ready to put the winter coat away.   And just between you and I, I am ready  to lose that winter weight I that I have gained!

I am also looking forward to my Crazy Cat Lady Month.  April 22, is my birthday.  I will not tell you how old I am but I will give you a clue.  I saw Joan Jett and the blackhearts when they were the opening act for The Police. 

In celebration of my birth month I am painting 15 cats.  The paintings will all be 8 x 8 inches on professional grade watercolor paper.  Just under half of the spots have been claimed at the celebration price of $60.00. I normally charge $120.00 for this size. 

To claim a spot just shoot me an email with:

 your name and address
 a good photo of your favorite kuddle kitty
 I only have room for 7 more


www.donna.triska@yahoo.com

Crazy Cat Lady For April.

I will be the Crazy Cat Lady in April.  I will be painting 15 cats.  If you would like me to paint your cat send me a photo.  All Paintings will be 8x8 and will be for sale for $60.00 each.  You do not have to buy one to submit your cat but those that do will be given first priority. 

Email me at donna.triska@Yahoo.com
To the side are two paintings and the photos that inspired them.


 Follow this page to keep up with the progress.  I will be posting  updates in the blog. Do me a favor and leave a comment.  I love comments!

If you intend to purchase I need:

The photo,
Your Name and Shipping address
I will send an invoice for $60.00 for each one that you order.

                                               Edit.  I am using a PayPal button for  your convenience

Art Fairs and Credit Cards

 I do not normally carry more than $10.00 with me.  This weekend was no exception.  My husband and I went to a local art fair.  There were many artists and crafts people and lots of lovely things to look at.  I like my own art and a lot of it hangs in our home.  I also have a small much loved collection painted by other artists.  I found a piece that I really fell in love with.  I was going to buy it, but I couldn't, you see the artist did not have a way to accept credit cards.  There were many others who also did not take credit cards.  I wonder how much more they would have sold if only had a way. 

I personally  can scan credit cards on my smart phone.  I went though PayPal which I already use with eBay.  If PayPal is not for you there are other services.  It really doesn't make financial sense to not take credit cards.  Most people do not carry cash anymore.

I have only participated in one art fair but I have had people approach me as I painted,  I also have had people buy my note cards while showing them to friends or family. I say be prepared.

By the way, thanks to my husband and him having a bit of cash in his wallet I was able to at least by a print. 

This blog can be a lonesome place at times.  If you have any thoughts or just want to let me know you stopped by please leave a comment.  

Feeding time

Have I ever mentioned how relaxing it is to just watch fish swim?  I find it so easy to unwind.

I almost forgot to take photos as I went so I do not have a photo of the initial drawing.  Here is the start of the underpainting.  I used colored pencils this time. 

I started laying on the dark Oil pastels

Once again I forgot to take a photo before I started putting on the highlights.  (Sorry I am just not used to stopping. As it is  I usually lose track of time, I  think it has been 10 minutes when in reality it has been an hour or more)  I had added accents and  signed it with India ink.   I needed to strengthen the water line and do a bit more in the back ground.  I made the mistake of starting on that before the ink was dry!  

Lucky for me all turned out OK. This piece is up for auction on eBay now. 

Feeding Time 6 x 6 Oil Pastel on Card Stock


Just a friendly reminder... copyright held by the artist Donna Triska.
That said, if you have printed this image on your home printer for your own enjoyment in your home please consider donating $1.00

 To purchase a 6 x 6 or  12 x 12 giclee print or a mounted & Laminated (self framed) giclee print,  Contact me at donna.triska@yahoo.com I will have buttons for this on my website donnatriska.com very soon.

It has been a while!

It is not hard to see that I have neglected  this blog.  I will attempt to correct that.

One of my wonderful clients who has purchased several small paintings through my eBay auctions, asked me to tell the story of a piece she had purchased.  This gave to the idea to have you follow along with me while I paint.  I will take you, in the form of photographs, from the initial sketch to the finished painting. I will also tell you the inspiration for making the painting in the first place.

I know in the past I have shown you steps to finished spread across several posts,  I will be showing you this process all in one post. 
 

I have one in mind for tomorrow, see you then.   I can't wait to get started!
 

Alexander City Mural

In a previous post I told you about the mural I was doing for Alex. Thank you Nikki and Alex for the privilege of painting on your walls.

The finished mural is 10 ft by 4.5 feet. I wanted some 3-D aspects to it so I used model train tracks for the bridge rails and picture wire for the bridge wires.

Here is the finished piece.

If you would like me to do a mural in your home or place of business contact me donna.triska@yahoo.com