Brinkley complete!

I finally finished the winner of the last poll - Brinkley! His mom, Carol, also won the drawing for the free painting last week and so she'll get this painting for free. Thank you for donating Carol! If you'd like to donate to my at-risk kids and have a chance to win a free painting (new drawing each Friday), click donate in the upper right hand corner of the blog! For each $5 you donate, your name will be placed in the drawing one week. So if you donate $10, your name is in the drawing twice the first week after you give, once the second week, and none after that.

I've started my summer reading too - right now it's Jerry Saltz's "Seeing Out Louder" He's an art critic and was nominated twice for the Pulitzer. I'm about half way through and so far he's been a great advocate for women artists, at times very annoyed with the commercialism of the art fairs (ie Art Basel), and down right disgusted with art auctions like Christie's. ("Auctions are like stripteases: they rely on people being enticed by what's just out of reach"). But hey, he does like Jeff Koons. Sometimes.

Eiffel Tower Painting...Finished!

Here's a little painting I did of the Eiffel Tower - I got the picture off of Google Street View! Click here to see the original image. Just let it load when google comes up, it will take a minute to switch to the picture from the map.

For those of you interested, in French it's "La Tour Eiffel". How the heck do you pronounce that you may ask? Well, I was curious too and did a little search on yahoo answers. Here is what user 'la lah' has to say... tour- same as the word "tour" in English but the R should sound sort of like a gargling sound. Eiffel is pronounced like you are saying the letter F + the word "fell" but put the stress on the "fell" because French stresses the last syllable in the word.

I can never get that gurgling sound quite right.

Painting of a Chihuahua - Starla of "Million Dollar Listing"!

This is Starla, the chihuahua that always stole the show on Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing. I asked Chad Rogers permission on Twitter and he was kind enough to let me. Personally, I just couldn't resist those ears!!! (I mean Starla's ears) ; )



The drawing for a free painting is tomorrow night so everyone get their $5 in at www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com For every $5 you donate, your name goes into a drawing. Each $5 lasts a week, so if you donate $10 you'll be in the drawing two weeks (and so on). $ -> my at-risk students.

New Drawing for an orginal painting tonight!

The drawing for a free original will be tonight, so get your $5 in. For each $5 you donate, your name will be put in a drawing. Each $5 lasts a week. So if you donated $5 last week, you won't be in this week's drawing, but if you donated $10, this week will be your last week. Proceeds will benefit the at-risk children I work with as a school social worker! There's a donate button on the top right of this blog. Thank you SO much for helping!

Congratulations to Katii!!!

Katii won this week's drawing for an original painting. I'll be painting her adorable dog. This summer,there will be a weekly drawing for a FREE ORIGINAL!!! For every $5 you donate, your name will be entered in the drawing for a chance to win a free painting! There is a donate button at the top right hand corner of this blog. Thank you to all of you who have already been so generous : )

Foxhunt Watercolor Painting finished

I've been working on this one for a while now, and put the finishing touches on it tonight

"Before the Hunt"
(Thank you to Moxie Photo for the picture!)

Click on the image to inquire about purchasing a print or giclée

Congratulations Brinkley and Carol!

Your darlingness stole the show : )
You'll get a free print of a painting I do of this picture. For those of who want to try your hand at winning the photo contest, enter your picture on Facebook

Also, for every $5 you donate, your name gets placed in a drawing for a chance to win a free painting. The drawing is once a week. Click on the donate tab at the top right of this blog to donate!

New Original Painting of a Siamese Cat

I just finished this one tonight! View it in my online gallery.

Thank you for the donations!

Thank you for all the donations! The drawing will be Friday night to find out who won the original. Your photo does not have to be in the poll to win! I'll end the poll tomorrow night. For every $5 you or a referred friend donates, your name will be put in the drawing. So if you've donated, then you get another friend to donate, you'll get your name put in again for each $5 they donate! Or if you haven't donated, but you get a friend to, your name goes in. You can donate through paypal on www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com

Proceeds will benefit the at-risk students I serve as a school social worker. I'm trying to start a therapeutic horseback riding group for girls at risk of dropping out. So far I've raised $150! I'm hoping to raise over $1000. I'd love to get my certification in providing this kind of therapy so I can continue to provide it in the years to come!

Vote for Rachel's next painting!

What should rachelsstudio.com's next painting be?

• Blue Eyes

• 
  Kitten
  

• Lazy Dog
  

• Orange Tabby
  

• Sideways Kitty
  

• Kitty with Tulips
  

• White Kitty
  

• Panting Dog
  

• Horse
  

• Shepherd
  

• Tortie Kitty
  

• Rooster
  

• Sheep Dog
  

• Cuddling Kitty
  

• Sun Worshiping dog
  

• Blue Eyes Orange Nose
  
• 
  

View Results
Create a Blog Poll

Original Watercolor of Boxer Dog Finished

Congratulations to Stacy for winning the photo contest. Here is the completed painting!

If you would like to enter my photo contest, submit your pictures on my Facebook group. I'll be starting it next week!

Win Original watercolor art during my summer fundraiser

I'm going to be doing a fundraiser all summer with my art - for every $5 you donate, you get your name put in a drawing for a mini original painting of your choice - either one I've done or one of your picture. Once a week, I'll do a drawing. That's a lot of free originals going out! The more you donate, the better your chance of winning! So get your photos and $ in! If you donate over $100 you automatically will get a mini painting. If you choose not to donate, you still get a chance of winning a free print. To see examples of mini paintings, visit this blog post... http://rachelsstudio.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-landscape-and-horse-art.html

This is an example of one of my 'sweet little nothings' and I'll be painting these all summer for my fundraiser! They are 5" x 3"


The fundraiser will be for my at-risk students. I'm trying to raise money to start a therapeutic horseback riding group for girls at risk of dropping out and/or getting pregnant. It just happens too much and I think the horses can help! I've found a great equine specialist to work with who is willing to give me a discount. I just need to raise the funds to pay for basic costs of doing the group. If I don't raise enough I'll use the funds like I have been, helping students pay for field trips, clothes, extracurricular activities, etc, that they otherwise would not be able to have. I just had a mother contact me because she couldn't afford to send her elementary child on an $11 field trip. Isn't that sad? I refuse to let that happen on my watch!

Another 'sweet little nothing" weighing in at 5" x 3"

You can donate by signing up at www.paypal.com and sending me $ to r1achel@yahoo.com. If you'd rather send me a check, just let me know and we can arrange it! I appreciate all the contributions you've already made in these tight times. If you've contributed, you're already entered in the next drawing.

Little details...
The photo contest and the fundraiser will be somewhat separate. I'll continue the photo contest as is, so even if you don't donate you can get in the photo contest. If you happened to donate, you'll have a chance at not only a free print, but also an original. The winner of the photo contest will get a free print and a free painting IF they donated. They only get a free print if they didn't donate. I'll also do a drawing from the pool of donors for a winner of the free painting. So now you have two chances at winning some great art!

PS - Besides an artist, I'm a school social worker : )

Here's my newest original - I call these little paintings 'Sweet Little Nothings' It's 6x6 inches. This is a painting of a Welsh Pony I had the pleasure of meeting at the Aiken Steeplechase.

New toy - Photoshop Art Tutorials!

I just got this new software that helps me make Photoshop tutorials for my watercolor painting students! The video below shows how I use Photoshop as a visualization tool for how I want my final watercolor paintings to look.

Come see Rachel's Art!

Events in May that will include my art;

May 8 - Pupcakes spa day in Columbia from 11 am - 3 pm. Get pampered alongside your pooch the day before mother's day.
May 12th - Rebecca Howser Interiors art show in Columbia from 4 pm to 7 pm.
May 13 - Columbia Museum of Art's Contemporaries show. Starts at 7 pm
May 27 - Rhythm and Blooms from 6-9 pm at the Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Gardens

Pant Pant Pant - What a crazy month!!!

Camden, SC Foxhunt art Painting

This winter I went and took pictures of the foxhunt in Camden, SC. I've been working on this painting FOREVER, but it's finally done.

The original is available here, and prints are here.

New Landscape and Horse Art...

I recently went to the Aiken Steeplechase and took TONS of pictures - suffice it to say I was in hog heaven! Here's a little slice of life from that day - they do soundness checks to make sure the horses' legs and feet are sound - no gimpies allowed on the track! This is a small little painting, 6x6 inches and is available on my website

This is Lake Murray in Lexington, SC where I grew up. It's also home to what was once the world's longest earthen dam. You can see it in the painting in the background. I spent many happy summers on this lake! This is a 'sweet little nothings' painting weighing in at 3.5" x 5". The original is available on my website.

I almost forgot - the winners of the last photo contest are..


Congratulations Stacy and Christine! If you would like to enter the next contest, which will start in about two weeks, upload your photos to my facebook group.

New Landscape Forest Painting and story about Karin

Thank you to my friend Karin, who graciously lets me use her amazing pictures.

Thanks to Karin, I always have great things to paint, besides the gorgeous pics I get from my Facebook fans. I met Karin when I discovered her darling pictures of her kitties on webshots.com. I emailed her to ask permission to use her pictures, and we struck up a friendship. She lives in Switzerland and speaks five languages! I'm obsessed with travel, so of course, I was very impressed. Pluse, I've always wanted to see the Swiss Alps. When I told her I wanted to come visit her in Switzerland, she suggested we take a trip to Costa Rica instead. May be a little impulsive, but hey, I'm an artist! Two summers after that I finally got to meet her kitties in Zurich, Switzerland, that I've painted so many times. We also visited Rome and Florence. The kitties were still the highlight of the trip ; )


Here is a picture of her kitty holding me down...

I still can't believe I was there. But I was, here's proof...

and I WILL be back!

But, back to my painting...
I'm going to put this in McKissick Museum's annual gala fundraiser. I've been working on it for months, but I think it's finally done. Here's how it'll look framed...

Detail

Thank you, Karin, for adding so much to my life!

Your donations helped!

Thank you so much for donating to my students (I'm also a school social worker). Your donations helped buy a newly homeless family much needed necessities. If you would like to donate, click on the donate button in the upper right corner of this blog. For every $5 you donate, I'll enter your name in a drawing for a free painting. Once we get to $500, I'll complete the drawing and work with the winner on what they would like painted!

Photo Contest - Vote for Rachel's next painting!

Vote to determine what will be my next painting! If you would like to enter your photo in my photo contest, enter on my www.rachelsstudio.com group on Facebook . If your photo wins you'll get a free print of the finished painting and first dibs at the original. Please keep in mind I can't paint copywrighted material, and if you enter your photo, you are giving me permission to use your image to paint. This poll will end next weekend, so get your votes in!!

What should Rachel's next painting be?

• Three Dogs
  

• Kitty in Tree
  

• Two Appleheads
  

• Tabby
  

• Orange Eyes
  

• Sheep Dog
  

• Chihuahua
  

• Two Siamese
  

• Boxer
  

• Curious Dog
  

View Results
Create a Blog Poll

Paws for Charity

I'm participating in Paws for Charity again this year...


The Paws For Charity Art Book Project is a unique fundraiser that celebrates our love of pets, and raises funds for a human cause.

The 2010 Art Book is a compilation of artwork and photography of dogs and cats submitted by 65 artists and photographers in 7 countries.
All funds raised from the sale of these books are donated to The Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, a registered charity with programs in over 50 countries. This charity also carries the Humane Charity Seal of Approval.

Details about Paws For Charity are available on the blog: http://www.pawsforcharity.blogspot.com

Tshirts, greeting cards, and wall calendars are also for sale with all proceeds donated to breast cancer charity.