SkyeDog Artworks

12/14/2022

Another Christmas ornament!

11/30/2022

New custom ornaments, delivered today to a friend in Fairhope.

08/05/2022

In addition to portraits, I’m also offering graphic design. I’m available for business cards, logos, website design, flyers, or whatever your needs may be. Let’s talk and I will create an aesthetic for you.

06/15/2022

Brand new portrait and my first cat. Acrylic on canvas.
Echo was adopted from The Haven ten years ago. She was fearless and stalwart, intelligent and calm. Great with kids. She ruled the roost and never took no for an answer. A true queen and I am proud to paint her portrait.

05/26/2022

Trigger was my heart horse and always will be. I did this portrait in memorariam. We spent many years together and he was my partner and my friend. I spent many hours as a young person, lying on his back reading while he grazed. With the exception of Major, I’ve never trusted an animal as much as I trusted him. We just knew each other on a spiritual level. I think I was more comfortable on his back than I’ve felt almost anywhere else.

04/27/2022

Duke was my grandpa’s heart horse. He bred him and had him all of his long life. Duke and I were born the same day, October 3rd, 1982. He was a flaxen chestnut Tennessee Walking Horse that could pull a carriage or go out on a trail ride. My grandpa doted on him for thirty years. Towards the end of Duke’s life, he suffered a traumatic event, Pap had to put him down himself. We talked about it once, late at night over coffee and ci******es, in one of our rare candid horse discussions. I think he’s always respected my knowledge on the subject matter. I told him that he did the best thing he could have for his old friend. It was the second time in my forty years I ever saw him tear up. So I made him a portrait. I drew the reflection of the farm in his eye like I think Duke always saw it. Peaceful and safe. I gave it to Pap a few years ago and I haven’t seen it since. I have no doubt that he’s got it in some safe place and I understand that he can’t look at it everyday because of that guilt he feels over not being able to save him on that last day. But I also know that he knows why I made it for him. I hope that sometimes he goes to whatever closet that green paper is rolled up in and uncurls it and remembers his friend and the peace in his eye on Duke’s last day and it brings peace to his soul as well.

04/18/2022

People are always asking if I will do portraits of animals that aren’t considered ‘pet animals.’ The answer is, yes. When I was a kid my grandparents had Hereford cattle and I remember bottle feeding more that one of those big white faces, head-butting the bottle I held, long white eyelashes fluttering, tail swishing back and forth. Those were the ones that had names. They were the ones that came when you called them. Kitty Cow, named after Miss Kitty. Tiger, because of her tiger stripe. Orphans that my grandfather and grandmother babied after a difficult birth. This is Heidi. Named after the movie Nana and I watched so many times. I drew it years after the cows were gone from the farm, replaced with pine trees. But I’ll never forget the little girls with the swishy tails and foamy mouths, who liked butt scratches and grew up to come when we called them.

04/11/2022

Rusty was a big waggily shelter dog owned by a couple in Fairhope who loved him dearly. The picture I was working with wasn’t super detailed, but sometimes miracles happen and we were all very happy with the outcome. He still watches over them and hangs in their bedroom. Colored pencil on paper.

04/11/2022

04/07/2022

Tito was the beloved pet of one of my dear friends from cosmetology school. He was the victim of a fatal car crash during our second quarter and I wanted her to have something to remember him by.

04/07/2022

I did this portrait for a fund raiser for a horse rescue in New England. This is their mascot, Petey. I didn’t get to take my own reference pictures for this portrait, so it was a mix of the two pictures you can see on the left side of my drawing board.