Finishing Touches on Poetry Book and on Pika Portrait

My first version of my poetry book, Measure of Man, has been fully assembled. This is actually the prototype and it has a few minor flaws, but it looks great. I plan on making a few others to distribute to members of my family and when I do, I will make some changes and improvements. I decided to add a short biography on each member of my family whose poetry is included in this book.

This past week I was able to meet with a client who commissioned me to do a portrait of her dog, Pika. I was glad to be able to get together with her because there have been so many interruptions and postponements that I was afraid I would never get this thing done! And this portrait had a lot of visual elements to it that made it rather complicated. To add to the complications, this dog (Pika) died last Thanksgiving while I was working on his portrait. Anyway, when my client saw what I had done so far, she loved it and I was very happy and relieved. (I can't post a photo of this portrait on this blog because the artwork is 16 X 20 and won't fit on my scanner.) It is always a tense moment when you reveal your work to a client because if they don't like it--things become very awkward very fast! I am finishing up on the little details that were still to be completed. The other really nice thing is my client paid for half the total cost of the portrait. And being that this is that financially fragile time right after Christmas, the money is very much appreciated and needed! Doing this portrait has been a very rewarding experience to me. Not only have I learned a lot and grown as an artist by doing this, but I was also able to do something special to commemorate a much-loved, recently departed pet. I think it will help to give my client some closure too. Rest in peace, Pika!