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One day I came into the bedroom and found my dogs laying on the bed like this:

Cheek to Cheek, Acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

Of course they were just begging to become a portrait.  This is another of my earlier works, but it remains one of my favorites and hangs in my living room.

More recently, I painted a commissioned portrait that bears a similarity:

Tuffy & Trudi, acrylic on canvas, signed, 2005

This is another one of my favorite paintings.  I guess there’s just something about dogs snuggling together that gets to me.  And it’s all the better if it’s butt to butt.

My dog Kramer was the subject of the first painting I ever did:

Kramer Dreams of Bones, acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

Never one to want to be left out, my dog Stuart demanded that he was the subject of the second painting I did:

Stuart Dreams of Dancing, acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

At the time, I was volunteering for PAWS/LA, which was preparing for its major fundraiser of the year, Pet Art. I was surrounded by a lot of pet art and was inspired to try something myself. I donated the resulting paintings to the auction and was astonished when they sold for $250 each. This gave me the confidence to move forward with painting and inspired me to open Pooches Gracias, my online pet portrait gallery (which is in the process of merging with Hollywest.com). 

I make a lot of rings, large cocktail-type rings in particular.  Part of the reason is that when I buy gemstones I am always attracted to big stones with little regard to what I might be able to do with it later.  Cocktail rings are lots of fun to wear, however, so I don’t think that’s such a bad habit.  For design sake, though, I’ve been trying to buy only smaller stones lately.

Here is one of my first (and best) examples of a cocktail ring:

18k yellow gold, peridot

I made this ring fairly early on in my jewelry instruction.  It is entirely hand fabricated from 18k yellow gold and bezel set with an emerald cut peridot.  It is probably one of the best rendered rings I’ve ever done and I still wear it a lot.