Finished the commissioned Collie Painting!

This one took me a while to do.

The client said to do whatever I wanted.

She just wanted her Collie painted.

She thought maybe just the head and shoulders.

She emailed me a lot of photos and this one was marked her favorite:

She said, maybe a pastel color for a background?

and the "starfish" story written on it.

and maybe a starfish painted on it too.

She knows her dog very well, all of her distinct markings.

So I knew I had to get it right.

Her Collie, Kelly is a rescue. My "client" actually works with me at the vet clinic.

Kelly was brought into the clinic from the Humane Society. Someone had left her there and it soon became very obvious that she had some major medical issues.

She was having a lot of nose bleeding and the blood wouldn't clot.

She's had some other medical problems too.

It's a very long story but Lisa (my client) adopted her and has taken her to the State University for various tests and she's been in contact with several vets all over the country.

She has actually spent several thousands of dollars on Kelly and...

she doesn't care. All she cares about is getting Kelly well.

And Kelly is doing better.

She's on meds and her nosebleeds are not as frequent.

Some people have shaken their heads over the fact that Lisa took this all on and

Lisa doesn't care. All she cares about is Kelly and that's why she loves the starfish story.

SO... I didn't show her any progress on the painting.

It was a complete surprise.

I took it to work and she covered her eyes and when she saw it,

she started crying.

Yep, she loved it.

 I was so happy and relieved.

But she was very happy.

and so I am too!