Another painting commissioned as a holiday gift, this one from parents to daughter. Meet Marley, the Portuguese water dog who doesn't like the water. She will wade out up to her ankles, then prance back to shore, seemingly a bit confused. Here she is at her window seat overlooking the lake in which she'd prefer not to swim. Sweet Marley, named after the extremely talented musician- (but she's a she- not that it matters).
Gentle Giant Mastiff, Seattle, WA
Daisy as card or T shirt image
Working with more greeting card and T shirt ideas, taking the image from the original painting and simplifying it. This is Daisy, the sweetest, most gentle giant you'd ever hope to meet.
Original painting by Seattle dog artist.
Beloved Springer Spaniel, painting created twenty years ago- Seattle, WA
Quoting a fb post by clients whose dog, Emma, I painted 20 years ago. Today is Emma's birthday."Today was the 25th anniversary of our dear EmmaDog's birth. We will always adore this painting of her you did for us, Nancy Schutt! You titled it "The Chosen One". And she was. A shout-out to ALL of you who helped take care of our paralyzed Springer Spaniel back in the day. It certainly took a village. Thank you ESPECIALLY to the 10 people who allowed us to go on vacation from time to time: we will never forget your dedication." Stephanie
Happy Birthday Emma!
Original painting by Seattle dog artist Nancy Schutt
Dog art greeting cards
I'm considering producing a line of greeting cards, all in the same style of flat color backgrounds, and using images from earlier paintings for the dogs combined with a sketch depicting a setting. Not sure if they should be captioned or just images, themed or not. Caption ideas?
Big dog relaxing in front of her portrait- Snohomish, WA
Allie, lucky rescue dog, at home with her family portrait.
Pasado Safe Haven, an animal sanctuary
I visited Pasado Safe Haven yesterday as I have become a community sponsor of this wonderful animal refuge that harbors a wide variety of animals- chickens, pigs, horses, cows, donkeys, geese, sheep, goats, and of course, dogs and cats. Pasado rehabilitates the animals, provides vet care and training, and places rescued animals in new homes. They adopted out hundreds of animals this past year to homes that were thoroughly checked out to ensure good placement. Pasado also does anti-cruelty work by investigating cruelty reports and working with law enforcement to remove the animals, and by promoting harsher cruelty penalties; and they've been successful in prosecuting cruelty cases. Pasado is doing remarkable work for animal welfare, and I am so happy to team up with them and support the work they do. "Love Bash", a fundraiser for Pasado, is coming up mid August, so go have a nice dinner and bid on some of the many items that have been donated to help keep Pasado going! Visit www.pasadosafehaven.org
Painted portrait arrives and is on the wall! (Jack Russell terrier and kitty cat)
From the happy family who lives with Casey Jones and Mr. Poppers and received the painting that I shipped to them last week."Dear Nancy We unpacked the picture and hung it in our kitchen. We truly love it. You have captured our special pets perfectly. It is a true treasure. We cannot thank you enough for this marvelous tribute to our furry friends. Again many thanks!"
Two rescues in one painting (Jack Russell terrier and a cat), plus one bunny. New York City.
Casey Jones, Mr. Poppers, and the neighborhood bunny as an actual painting, alongside the digital painting which preceded the final painting on canvas. I work out most of the composition and colors in the digital painting, but an actual painting has it's own life and dictates, so it never looks quite like the digital version- as it should be. Casey and Mr. Poppers are standing at the front porch entryway to their home just outside New York City, where they, the family, and the painting all live. The neighborhood bunny likes to taunt them. They give chase, but never catch up.
Two Golden Retrievers, digital sketch created on the iPad
Meet Jodi and Moose, sisters for brothers. The family got Jodi and Moose as pups so each son could have their own dog. They would like a studio painting of the, now quite large, sister dogs. I start a studio painting with an iPad sketch of the proposed painting. It's not meant to be a finished painting for printing on canvas, but rather a mock up for a studio painting created with brushes and paint on canvas. I do create digital paintings for printing on canvas, but they have more detail and a more finished look to them. With this painting, that will happen in the studio.
Back home in Seattle
Good to be back home in Seattle!This is Audrey contemplating the classic Seattle scene.
Foxy, big ole' sweetheart loves her hedgehog- Portland, Ore
This is Foxy and her favorite toy. Her person's favorite toy is there too. 
Bay Area Pet Fair Adoptathon and dog art tote bags, San Rafael, CA
Art saves dogs! Bay Area Pet Fair was October 11 and 12 in San Rafael CA. I donated an image for tote bags which were given to each family that adopted a pet, full of goodies. Over 625 animals were adopted (and 625 bags given away) with 100 more adoptions expected. The remaining tote bags were sold for $5 each, and raised $6500 for rescue organizations. Some happy adoptees, with their bags. Lucky dogs! and cats too.
Dog Rescue News article about dog art paintings by . . . me!
Thank you Dog Rescue News! What a nice surprise. "Only a genuine dog lover could portray dogs the way Nancy Schutt does. Colorful, playful and humorous, her paintings convey so much of the uniqueness and personality of each dog featured. I love color and I love expressionist style paintings that are not exact replicas. Nancy’s work makes me smile and connect with each dog . . . (more)
Dog Dreams of Summer- Doxie, bunnies, and squirrels
A painting that's been revised a zillion times, I think it finally found it's home.
Tribute to Phil
I painted this portrait of Phil, Celia, Izzy, and Justus the cat, in 2010. Phil passed last Saturday. I like to use the present tense when someone passes, as I think they are still with us even though they are no longer in physical form. Phil is one of those people who brings to mind words that describe the best qualities of humans- he spills over with compassion, kindness, gentleness, generosity. He spent most of his life advocating for the most vulnerable in our society, in our world. He came to dog-love late in life, with Izzy being his first. He was smitten! and continues to have dogs as a central part of his life.
Izzy and Justus crossed the bridge ahead of Phil, and I'm pretty sure, they were there on Saturday greeting him as he joined them. Celia is doing ok.
A funny little story about this painting: Phil and Celia brought the painting back to my studio a few weeks after taking it home. They noticed a problem which they wanted corrected, and which I remedied. However, I had already had the painting photographed so Celia is still missing her sock in this version.
Steps in the development of a painting- dog art, Seattle, WA
There are many steps in the creation of a painting, beginning with the initial on-site interview with the dogs and people (if at all possible, it's the best first step! to actually meet the dogs on their home turf and have a face to face with all parties). I sketch and photograph the dogs in their environment, and take notes during the interview about the particular personalities of the animals in order to better know how to portray them being most themselves. Then I create a digital painting in order to determine the basic composition. I email images of the digital painting to the client, who then makes suggestions and requests for changes. This process repeats itself until both the client and I are satisfied with the digital painting, which then becomes the model for the actual physical painting.
Then I start painting in the studio. It usually takes several email reviews of the work in progress by the client before we arrive at a final piece. Here are the many versions of Sucia and Ivy.
T shirt for lovers of Pit Bull dogs
Front and back of a T shirt design I created for those who love the bully dogs, or any dogs really, or dog drawings, or shirts. Available at Dog Lover Art
Jack Russell Terrier T shirt- Dog Lover Art!
Back to the blog after a few weeks absence- with some T shirt designs. I've created about 20 images for T shirts, starting with a Jack, of course, always first in line!
Laid back weekend at home of dog artist- Seattle, WA
Rainy lazy days with my niece, Taylor, who spent Saturday lovin' up with the Chihuahua.
If there's a dog in it, is it still art? Presentation on "kitsch", Seattle, WA
I finally edited the video of a presentation I did last year as a "Pecha Kucha", a style of presentation where each presenter is given 6 minutes to show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. The presenter has no control of the slideshow. It was tricky! The topic was "Kitsch- Bad Art Gone Good", link below to youtube vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=557plP37R24
