Road Flower

Just a flower that we (hubby and I) found in a dense field of flowers on 10th Side Road in Milton. A gorgeous array of colours, types and sizes that I caught on film. This was a drawing experiment from the photo results in an impressionistic style, heavy coverage and layering with coloured pencil. 5"x7" on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.

Lunch

Chili and a white bun on a wet, cold, blustery, Ontario autumn day. Just what the doctor ordered ... well, actually I ordered it all by myself without his medical input. Tim Hortons chili makes me feel good. Tim Hortons coffee? Not so much.

Far too many JRT's in Russell Rescue

It saddens me to see the amount of Jack Russells in rescue at this time, so I've decided to feature a different rescue on this blog on a regular basis. The Jack Russell Rescue of Ontario is a fantastic organization run by dedicated volunteers who help re home unwanted and abused JRTs.
Please visit:
www.russellrescue.org
for more information on adoption and to see the other terriers that are listed.

Meet Ralphie!

Hiya, I'm Ralphie, a funny boy of only 1 year old. I was born on July 20th 2008 and have been with my mommy here since. I need a new home cause me and the older jrt in the home are not getting along now. There's another dog here too but he and I are cool, plus I LOVE other doggies to play with and wrestle with, so it's not that I don't dig other dogs, just him! I am happy and friendly and love to play tag and give kisses to other poochies and bounce around for new people! I am my mommy's little shadow, always under the desk when she is on the computer, or waiting nicely on the bath mat snoozing when the showers. I love to play with a ball, or chase water from the hose...sometimes I also just like to lay on the deck and soak up some rays! I like to be held, or flop across your lap while you watch tv too! I am fixed and UTD with all my shots! There simply just isn't anything bad to say about me! Wanna come be my friend and play???
Spayed/neutered, UTD with shots, house trained
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14492749

Dam!

"Northern Ontario Dam" - 2009

No one really knows what my dad does at work. It's been a mystery for as many years as I can remember. During my youth I told gullible friends that he worked for the F.B.I. Maybe I should have used the word stupid instead of gullible, seeing as how the organization resides in the US, and these friends were old enough to know better. New friends? I think so.

He does, at times, service Northern Ontario Dams, that's one thing I do know about his occupation. Some of the images he's taken over the years are quite inspiring. Which leads me to the image posted above. A 5"x7" coloured pencil piece of a remote Northern Ontario dam, photo reference courtesy of my father.

I finished this about a month ago, and haven't a clue why it never got posted earlier. At first, I was not pleased with what the coloured pencils were laying out for me, but after some tweaking and heavier coverage I actually came to like the result. So I think this piece will go to my dad, matted and framed, perhaps as a birthday or Christmas gift. So I'm hoping now that he pays no attention to this blog, and if he does, perhaps he can forget (which he is inclined to do) that he ever saw this post.

Hunting Dogs

I have no doubt in my mind about the hunt and prey drive that my little dog possesses. I have never really given her the chance to strut her stuff, but every now and then she finds something of interest in the surface of the earth below her, so I let her have at it.

No going down holes, mind you, as a typical hunting JRT would do (I am no terrierman) - I fear for her safety. But on the other hand, I love to see her natural instincts at work. So, we surface hunt, then we dig. I shouldn't say we, she's the only one who does the digging, and if it's not my property, I get the job of filling the hole back in. She's a great excavator, and can open up a foot wide hole in a matter of minutes.

I haven't a clue what interests her so much below the dirt, as she's yet to actually catch anything, but she seems to enjoy the process, and her concentration in the hole is quite something (I do know of a JRT that hunts worms, so perhaps this is what she's after - thank God she hasn't found any).

She is a highly visual little dog as well, so she takes pleasure in scouting out rabbits in the parks. I don't let her have at those because the roads are far too close for comfort and when we're out and about in the woods, there is just too many cliffs to topple over - so leash it is.

These are from the Lowville photo-shoot. Dug to roots, then pulled her off. It was too windy and cool for me to stand there and wait for her to finish.

Below is 4D Prickles. My friend out west, Colleen Hoffman, owns this little spit-fire who actually catches what she's hunting for. Photos courtesy of Sue Hawes. I have to add that I'm ecstatic that I don't live in Alberta right now. October and this much snow? No thanks!

Lowville

Lowville - A little village down Guelph Line between Campbellville and Burlington is one of my favorite places to go and get "photographic". Normally, at this time of year, the trees are in full fall foliage, instead I suppose, due to the rather odd weather we've been experiencing, there is still a lot of green growth especially through the underside of the forests.


A brisk Sunday, with a cold wind blowing and no salmon running yet (will this be the third year in a row that I miss them?!) turned out to be a great day for photos. The little dog played along, and I brought my personal photographer with me. Well, once again, she's not really mine but she does accompany me quite a bit on my photo excursions, so I figure I can say she's mine while I have her here - what else are little sisters for?

Some results of the day are posted below. And once again, HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING everyone!

I guess everywhere we go grass tastes good. She's not picky.

CPE Fun and More Site Updates...

Photo by Gabrielle Deans - Agility on a nice day, rare appearance at an outdoor trial, from a past JRTCC event 2009

The weather really hasn't been cooperating. I usually like fall, but fall is disappointing me this year. The cool dampness doesn't make for ideal outdoor days. Spending an hour in the pouring rain last night while the little dog and I soak it up like two sponges in a sink full of dishwater, sloshing around in the car on the way home, and having clothes not dry over night because of how wet we really were ... well, that's not my ideal fall fun. Class was good though, minus the rain.

This leads up to why I prefer indoor agility trials. Indoor heated agility trials. Indoor heated CPE agility trials on dirt with a Q rate of 100%. The little dog prefers it too. We had a couple of "opps" moments at the CPE trial on Sunday, but ended up with 4 out of 4 qualifying runs, and we remained dry and warm, something that has become more dear to me in my later years.

Photo by Gabrielle Deans - Again, agility on a nice day at another one of our rare appearances at an outdoor trial - Ontario Regionals 2008

My website is continually being updated at this time, with the new designs and drawings that I have available. The brand new site is up and active, and I much prefer it to the old design. I needed a change, something fresh and new, with a little more colour, and a bit more emphasis on my fine art as well. Not to worry, portraits are still available to anyone who interested, I've just added a gallery of Fine Art as well as some Photography.

Have a look, and visit often within the next week or so while I get all the designs uploaded and ready to go.

Here's hoping this weekend will bring out the best in fall, not the worst. Though I have heard that my hope may not be fulfilled this long weekend.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Everyone!

And it begins...

Boxer Note card, one of the many new designs available at www.juliesillustration.com

I am about to begin to start unveiling the new sites.

New products such as dog breed note cards, key/luggage chains and magnets will be available, as well as holiday cards, and other animal note cards. These will be featured on the "Boutique" page at:

www.juliesillustration.com

It will take a little time to upload all of the designs to their respective pages, so please be patient with me while I complete all the changes. The site has had a complete make-over, so I'd like to get it up and running asap, even if all the products are not loaded yet.

I am still offering pet and people portraits for those interested, and my pricing has remained the same as it was before. I am also showcasing some of my fine art and photography, trying to broadening my horizons in the art world.

My design site at:

www.julies-art-design.com

has also gone through some changes, so please see the rates page for more details. I am still focusing mainly on real estate design, so if you are an agent in need of feature sheets, please visit my site above.

JRTCC 2009 Nationals - Paris, ON

They were calling for rain the entire day, so I was skeptical about how things would go. As I drove in at 7:15 in the morning, the closer I got to Paris, the darker the skies got, bringing threats of an umbrella and rain-coat clad day. But low-and-behold, it held off and turned out to be a mainly cloudy, rather nice day to play at this national event.

I situated myself at the agility ring, and spent the entire day there. I got some nice shots shots of a few of the dogs running, but gave up after a while. It was too much to volunteer, run a dog, and photograph. Have I ever told anyone that I am uncoordinated?

And that uncoordination followed me into the ring, trailing behind me like a wet piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe without my knowledge.

Describing our runs as spastic, entertaining and crazy at most, is being generous. To be completely honest, they were flailing and erratic at best. The little dog was slightly nutty, cooler weather and grass will do that to Brandy, unfortunately. But I'm loosing my mind on course. I know it's my fault, I wish I could blame the little dog, but I can't, and she'd talk her way out of it some how anyway. Reviewing the runs in my head, all my turns were off, my signaling, well, picture a jelly fish trying to signal to someone to make a left turn. Chicken with it's head cut off comes to mind when describing these runs, and my timing was like that of a broken clock with no second hand.

That all being said, the little dog pulled up her shorts and managed to take the Small Dog Steeplechase Challenge, a new event added for this years nationals. A 1st place ribbon and wonderful gift basket was a great surprised after the less-than-perfect runs that we produced. I feel I say that phase far too much - I think it really needs to be removed from my vocabulary. Re-thinking my strategy and game plan for agility may be in order. Unfortunately, no pictures of Brandy running this time, as my "personal photographer" was not with me at this event...a shame it was her birthday.

I'm not in it for the fame and glory, I'm in it for fun, so even botched runs are ok with me, though Brandy may have a differing opinion.

Over all, the day was a blast, volunteering with the ladies that run the event was lots of fun, and entertaining in itself. The weather held out, I got to talk to people that I hadn't see in a while and I got to spend the day with my favorite little dog. What more could I ask?