This is "Golden Weave Poles" a preliminary painting Michael did in acrylics to learn how to
paint Diva (more formally known as One Ash Spotlight.) Diva lives on a beautiful farm in
Ohio with Elaine and Max Brent. She is in Agility Excellent and Elaine says that Diva is as fast
as greased lightning! 

Elaine sent Michael a CD with pictures of Diva on the agility course. They were really good
pictures taken with good lighting so he could really see the details. And they were even in
focus! (No mean feat for action shots.) One of the best things technically, the images were in
.tif format and Michael could adjust the size when he was looking at them on the computer
monitor. That was very helpful for him. Elaine sent downloaded prints of the pictures too so
Michael could have them for a reference when he was painting at his worktable. 

"Golden 1 2 3 Jump"

Michael was originally going to put this image of Diva between the tunnel and the
weave poles, but there wasnt room on the 18" x 24" canvas. Maybe someday he
can paint a whole agility course! Using acrylics Michael did 4 preliminary paintings
of Diva on his 11" x 15" watercolor block. We reduced them and made the
images into notecards. The image of the agility course is available as a laminated
poster. 

This is "Golden Tunnel". Michael has come a long way since
he painted the agility course for Miki Shannon. He is doing a much better job with
the details, but the happiness and the energy still show through. 

This is a really good picture. It really helped Michael to do a good job on the commission. 
Michael painted pro bono. It was the biggest project that he has attempted so far and he painted
entirely from the heart. 


The prestige of painting for the 2003 Golden Retriever National Specialty led to some other
(paying) jobs. Michael has been commissioned to paint a watercolor for the 2004 Bernese
Mountain Dog National Specialty in Texas next March. It will be raffled to benefit the health fund. 
http://bernese.biz/michaelart.htm He did an illustration that is being printed on things for sale at a
dog show in Brazil. And one of his paintings is being used as the award for Best Of Breed. 

Michael just loves to paint every day. He loves goldens and he is excited to watch them play at
the Dog Beach and swimming in LakeMichigan. Beautiful dogs.

This was an article that appeared in one of the golden newsletters about the commission.

Elaine Brent who owns One Ash Goldens and Clumber Spaniels in Ohio, met Michael in 2000
when she bought his book "A Boy Who Liked Color" for her grandson for
Christmas. http://www.oneash.com/ Elaine purchased the first golden painting that Michael
made. She originally bought the little painting to give as a present, but then somehow she could
not bear to part with it! 

Elaine Brent sent Michael many pictures of her dogs and puppies so he could learn how to draw
goldens. We kept emailing back and forth regularly, exchanging news and jpgs. Her farm is SO
beautiful! The dogs get to play in the fields and swim in the lake. Every year they have a big
reunion with all of the dogs and puppies that have gone on to good homes. Their families picnic
and barbeque and swim in the lake. 

When Miki Shannon, the well known dog trainer in California, commissioned Michael to paint 7
of her dogs on an agility course, Elaine was very happy that Michael could have the
opportunity. Elaine said that her dogs look just as happy as the dogs in the painting when they
are doing agility! http://users.psln.com/sharing/Michael/originalagility.html

In September the National Golden Retriever Specialty will be in northern Ohio. It will last an
entire week, and about 1200 Goldens will be there. Elaine Brent is in charge of the Parade of
Title-holders (125 of them are all that are allowed to "parade") and they are presenting each
champion with a handmade Amish basket and a huge ribbon. They begin with the youngest and
go to the oldest champion. That will be on Tuesday night. The Agility trials last only one day.
The Hunting tests will be early in the week and the festivities will end with the Conformation
show, which will last 4 days. The golden folks in Ohio are assembling lovely baskets of goodies
to raffle and there will be large items like Michael/s painting, a hand made child/s rocker, a
golden quilt and other handmade treasures offered in the auction to raise money for the good of
the breed.

Elaine Brent commissioned Michael to do an agility painting of her dogs for the National. She
sent a CD with great pictures for him to work from. The action shots are well lit, in focus and
taken from different angles. The dogs are beautiful! Michael is having a great time painting for
the dog show. 

Michael has also been commissioned to do a watercolor portrait of a puppy named Cabot for the
Bernese Mountain Dog National in April. You can see his animal paintings at
www.sharingds.org/Michael . His golden retriever art is featured at
http://michaelsart.landofpuregold.com . 

http://www.psln.com/sharingds/Michael

New paintings are added every week.  Many people bookmark the site and check back often just to look at Michael's peaceful and friendly world.

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