Yax-Belle Minear of Austin Texas

"Yax-Belle Delicate Falling Leaves"

"This piece was created for Yax's mom, who describes Yax as being 'tenacious', yet 'well-behaved and loves everyone'. Yax has been with her family for 12 years and goes everywhere with them so they really wanted to honor her in a special art piece. I was delighted to be the person to give that to them.

Yax's mom sent me some images to work from, several of which were of Yax camping with them, two of which where she had her head on a log. I am always up for trying something new, and the log images were such high-resolution they were just begging to be worked with. So we agreed to a design that would include the log and incorporate grass and trees and natural elements.

I knew I wanted to use greens and warm tones, but didn't want to stray too far from the subdued tones in Yax's fur. The key to a piece like this is not to go too light or too dark with the colors and risk losing the highlights and shadows in the dog's fur. I also wanted something that might be reminiscent of the area around Austin, so that Yax might look like she was out in the wilderness camping.

This was my favorite of the 4 proofs I designed, and I was thrilled when Yax's mom picked it as her favorite as well. Here was her response:

"Wow- The proofs are fantastic! I was a bit choked up when I saw them. I do agree with you on the 'delicate leaves' I want to go with that one. I like the colors so there is no need for any changes. They look fantastic!"

It's responses like this that make me love my job that much more."

-Jamie