Dog Art Today

Category: Uncategorized

  • Everyone OK?

    Man-with-dog-red-hook-brooklyn-hurricane-sandy-2012

    A man walks along a flooded street as the beginning effects of Hurricane Sandy are felt in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, October 29, 2012. Photo credit: EPA

    Stay home. Stay safe.

    Via Vos Iz Neias?

  • Find Your Masterpiece at Adopt-a-Pet.com

    Thank you Katya Friedman of Adopt-a-Pet.com for featuring my video “Dogs in Art” and my thoughts about dog art on Adopt-a-Pet.com’s blog.

    Here is a screen grab of the guest post I contributed to:

    Adopt-a-pet-dogs-in-art-moira-mclaughlin

    Find your masterpiece today (or just start looking)…

    Thank you, Katya, and everyone on the front lines of animal rescue for saving the lives of dogs and the people who love them.

  • Diane Arbus Photograph of Woman with Dog

    Diane_arbus_woman_with_dog

    Photograph by Diane Arbus (1923 – 1971)

    I found this photograph on the “Artsy” Pinterest board of Ginger Freckles.  She pinned it from The Last Doll Standing, a fashion blog I think you’ll like.

  • Destitute Family and Dog by Dorothea Lange

     

    Dorothea_lange_destitute_family_great_depression_1936

     

    American River camp, Sacramento, California. Destitute family. Five children, aged two to seventeen years. Dorothea Lange, November, 1936

    An interesting male complement to Dorothea Lange's iconic Migrant Mother.  Via Shorpy by way of Carolyn Gann's Pinterest board.

    Dogs of the Great Depression.

    AP reports US Poverty Rate Hits Highest Since 1960s.

  • Dawn After The Wreck by JMW Turner

     

    Dawn_after_the_wreck_JMW_Turner

     

    Dawn After the Wreck by Joseph Mallord William Turner, circa 1841

    We woke to tragic news of another mass murder in our country.  An appropriate day for a heartbroken dog.

    Via Tate, courtesy of reader Peter Halston.

  • Get Noticed on Dog Art Today

     

    Family_dog_magazine

     

    Suzanne Leonard and Susan Ritz in The American Kennel Club's  Family Dog Magazine

     
    Now is a great time to advertise on Dog Art Today.

    Several artists have had terrific responses to their ads.

    Suzanne Leonard and Susan Ritz were discovered on Dog Art Today and then featured in The American Kennel Club's July/August issue of Family Dog Magazine (above).

    And Kathryn Wronksi was commissioned by a client to paint a portrait after discovering her on Dog Art Today.

    Kathryn_wronski_3

     

    Kathryn Wronksi's Dog Art Today ad

    Advertising on Dog Art Today is easy.

    You can try it for as little as $35 for one month (but $90 for three months is a better value).

    To get started email me. Or visit my Advertise Here Page for more information.

  • Darby Calendar: August

     

    Longhaired_dachshund_art_august

     

    Butterfly Darby by Moira McLaughlin, 2012

    For August's image of my Longhaired Dachshund Calendar tribute to Darby I wanted to experiment with:

    1.) a limited palette
    2.) drawing
    3.) my Darby stamp from Lush Prints

    Here's where I started…

    Longhaired_dachshund_calendar_august_2

    I made several Darby images.  Here are a few…

     

    Longhaired_dachshund_drawings_3

    I kept looking at Matisse's work…

    Henri-Matisse-art-painting-Harmony-in-Red

     

    Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse, 1908

    But it had too many colors.  So I moved on to Mark Rothko's Orange and Yellow…

     

    Mark-rothko-orange-and-yellow

     

    Orange and Yellow by Mark Rothko, 1956

    Drawing Darby hurt.  He felt more elusive than ever.   I am having trouble pushing through.  Maybe I don't want to finish this project.  Maybe that's why I like the unfinished quality to Butterfly Darby.  I'll leave it at that…

    Longhaired_dachshund_art_august

     

    Butterfly Darby

    See previous images of my Darby Calendar here. It is a tribute to my 17-year-old Longhaired Dachshund who passed away in December of 2011.

  • Full Circle Press

     

    Full_circle_press_house

     

    The Berliner House by Sheila Cameron, 2012

    Full Circle Press is a Nevada County, California institution and one of the premier letterpresses in the country.  The first iteration of the company was founded over 60 years ago by the late Harold Berliner, who was also Nevada City's district attorney for a time.  In 1991 the company was christened Full Circle Press by his daughter, Judith Berliner, when she returned home from her time honing her skills in Sacramento and took over running her father's presses full time.

    Housed next door to the house Judith grew up in with her seven siblings, Full Circle Press is a treasure trove of vintage presses, typefaces, broadsheets, invitations, menus, and out-of-print books.  It is also a font of inspiration for anyone interested in seeing what the best graphic designers in the world are working on today. 

    There are fields of daffodils, old-tyme mine shacks, and two dogs, Alfie and Pepper, who will escort you around the grounds.  I don't know why it took my sister Sheila and I so long to accept Liz Thiem's invitation to "Come on up and see the presses."    I'm glad Sheila took photos because I felt like I was in a dream — a dream about typography, the history of America, and cutting-edge graphic design.  

     

    Full_circle_press_alfie

     

    Alfie by Sheila Cameron, 2012

    Full_circle_press_typefoundry

     

    Harold Berliner's Typefoundry by Sheila Cameron, 2012

     

    Full_circle_press_moira

     

    Is It Rude for Moira to Look in Every Drawer? by Sheila Cameron, 2012

    Full_circle_press

     

    Heidelberg Cylinder Press by Sheila Cameron, 2012

    Full_circle_press_judith_berliner

     

    Judith Berliner Runs the Heidelberg Windmill Press by Sheila Cameron, 2012

    Full_circle_press_samples

     

    Yay! Letterpress Goodies by Moira McLaughlin, 2012

     

      Full_circle_press_pepper

    Pepper by Sheila Cameron, 2012

     

    Thank you, Judith Berliner, for letting us poke around while you worked.  And thank you, Liz Thiem, for the awesome tour and for showering us letterpress goodies
    Visit Full Circle Press for all your letterpress needs.  They work with clients from around the world. 

    Visit their etsy store in collaboration with A Day in May to pick up a set of groovy orange coasters seen in the photo above.   I love mine almost as much as my "Yay!" sign.

  • Dog Art Today Bumper Sticker Drive

     

    DAT_bumper_sticker

     

    DAT Euro-style Bumper Sticker for $7

    Three times a year our local radio station does a membership drive, and I always say to myself, "I should do that for Dog Art Today."  Then I don't.   Because:

    – Fundraising makes me uncomfortable.
    – It always seems like a bad time; graduation, Father's Day, etc.

    I finally decided if it's ok for KVMR, PBS, NPR, it's ok for DAT.   

    And I made these bumper stickers.  To me they are a big deal, because growing up my parents were so repulsed by bumper stickers, the thought of putting one on your car would be like tattooing your face.

    DAT_bumper_sticker_dog_art_today_2

     

    My First Bumper Sticker

    Want to try it?

    You're totally allowed to put a bumper sticker on your car. 

    And you will be showing your support for the dog art content and artists' community you've come to know and trust at Dog Art Today.  

     

    Buy your DAT Euro-style Bumper Sticker
    $7 + free shipping

     

    Dat_bumper_sticker_dog_art_today_1

     

    Tyler says, "Support Dog Art Today."

     

    If funds are low, but you want to put a DAT bumper sticker on your car, email me and I will send you one.

    If you just want to make a donation, that would be awesome too.

    Thank you — Moira McLaughlin

  • Layla as Nana by Sheila Cameron

    Layla_nana

     

    Layla as Nana in "Peter Pan" by Sheila Cameron, 2012

    I am attending my niece's Stepping Up Ceremony this morning.  She will go from being a dragonfly to a griffon.  Naturally.

    So proud of her.