Welcome to Melanie’s January & February News. Our Happy New Year 2023 blog post is long overdue this year. So much has happened in the last couple of months which is partly why I didn’t get time to do a January News. Both Nicholas and I… along with many people in the UK, came down with the flu that has been going around. I had it over Christmas and beyond with a nasty cough. Nicholas caught it a little after and it affected him pretty badly and ended up with a cough for 5 weeks.
February came along and we some kind of catastrophe every week. My father was taken seriously ill while on holiday in Spain. He is recovering after a major op and thank goodness for the excellent health care out there. Life won’t quite be the same for him, but he is doing very well and will be home soon. We were then shocked to hear that our accountant passed away very suddenly. He had only retired a couple of months prior. Then our beautiful car had an unfortunate mishap (another car backed into it) in a car park. It has been a huge hassle to sort out and we have had to do all of the leg work ourselves. I am definitely changing insurance companies next year! It’s going to take a while to get fixed and we wont be going far from home for a while. They say things come in three’s, but I believe we have had more than our fair share of ‘threes’ in the last couple of months.
We are getting back to work slowly and the paintings and drawings below are mostly from before Christmas. We hope you enjoy viewing them.
Oil Painting of Moose
The oil painting of Moose was commissioned in November 2022. Our clients wanted a 30 x 24 inche oil painting. It’s not easy to see the scale of the painting below, but it was absolutely stunning here in the studio. Nicholas thoroughly enjoyed painting Moose and our clients were thrilled.
Perfection! You have definitely captured Moose.
Christie Johnson
Thank you so very much!
I took the photo below to try to show scale! I’m not sure that I achieved it, but it was a really big painting.
7 Dog Pencil Portrait
The next portrait on my desk was the 7 dog drawing. The mission was to fit 7 dogs on an 18 x 14 size and we ended up fine tuning the shape with a number of mockups and designs, so that they all fitted well together. As you can see they were all such happy little faces and a joy to draw.
Melanie,
Your work is outstanding!!!!! But, I knew when I first started researching an artist that you were second to none. You did an absolutely beautiful job with each of the dogs and I couldn’t be happier. I will definitely reach out to you again probably in spring to get another project done. I thank you with all my heart for bringing the dogs to life in each one. I’m so very, very pleased.
You are not only an outstanding artist but I can tell a very special individual. How lucky I was to have found you.
Happy Holidays Melanie and the very best to you in 2023.
Big hug,
Georgia
Your masterpiece arrived and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with your work Melanie. Your work is second to NONE!!! You captured each of the dogs beautifully and I just know my friend is going to be left speechless. Melanie, you are a very gifted artist and I must also compliment your packing and your presentation box.
Have a wonderfully happy holiday season Melanie and again thank you so very much. Your website is beautiful and draws the viewer in by the stunning work you display in it. It caught my eye right away and I knew YOU were the artist I wanted to do my work. One of the wisest decisions I’ve ever made.
I’m sending you a huge hug of thanks and good will.
Georgia
Xoxo
Melanie’s January & February News – Loki Oil Painting
The oil painting of Loki was for a returning client who requested a 16 x 12 oil painting to give to their family for Christmas. Such a beautiful dog with gorgeous eyes! Again Nicholas really enjoyed painting Loki, with the natural garden background.
The photo below is a close up showing Nicholas’ hand and brush. The camera has whitened the fur out a little so you are unable to see the fine variations in tone on the top of Lokis head, however hopefully it will give you an idea of what the portrait was like.
It looks amazing, thank you so much!! They will be thrilled 🙂
Jennifer Moallemi
Sasha Pencil Drawing
The portrait of Sasha was completed by myself for a client who commissioned he drawing just prior to Christmas. I was unable to complete the portrait for that date as I was busy drawing away on the 7 dog portrait which you see above. However I completed it in January and Sarah and her family were thrilled.
We got the drawing and absolutely love it! Thank you so much for capturing our girl Sasha so perfectly.
Sarah Stinneford Equestrian
Sarah posted the review below on Facebook and there were some amazing comments left about the drawing too.
Melanie’s January & February News – Happy Pancake Day!
I have still been doing a bit of running, but not as regular as before Christmas, with things happening and the bad weather. But! One thing my running buddy and I planned was to go to our usual cafe where all the running gang meet after running on a Saturday and have Shrove Tuesday Pancakes. They had advertised them earlier in January and we were really looking forward to it. These pancakes were only available on Shrove Tuesday day though… so we had to go there and make it a special day! We ran 5k prior to work up an appetite and had the pancake called Mars Attack. Absolutely scrummy.
And finally..
A silly moment when I was cuddling Lily at my desk… and decided to put my glasses on her. I think they look way better on her than me!!! I hope this makes you smile!
Hopefully next month we will have a much more cheery blog post with lots of new artwork to show. The weather should be a bit better so fingers crossed for some spring flower photos from the garden too. We hope that you all had an amazing Christmas and New year, and if you would like to read our Christmas blog post, why not head over to my December Monthly News and take a look at our cottage all decorated. See you in March!
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