Illustration for InSide Cox Magazine

InSide Cox Illustration Assignment

Just as I’m nearing max panic mode starting my final week of painting for the “Dog Show” exhibit, my friend (and site designer for melanieeberhardt.com) Cristin asked if I had time to work on  an illustration. I immediately said “yes”. Its flattering to get a call for illustrations, but doubly so from a friend!

Friends Cristin and Loraine team with the folks at Cox Enterprises, Inc (CEI) to publish their quarterly employee magazine, InSide Cox. Cristin is an awesome designer and Loraine is one of the cleverest wordsmiths I’ve ever met. So not only do I have a chance to illustrate guided by Cristin’s art direction, I get to illustrate for Loraine’s article!

The article is about starting the New Year with a perspective towards good health and active living. I pieced together five brightly colored activities – dude lifting weights, two friends canoeing, a morning walk with coffee and the family dog, good foods and sound sleeping (dog at side).  My sketch was approved and I stayed up late one night to complete the painting.

I was so excited to have this fun opportunity to collaborate with friends and I still finished all my paintings for the “Dog Show”exhibit! Hopefully the illustration will be well received by CEI’s employees! Once I receive payment, I’ll resupply my medicine cabinet with more No-Doze. I’ll be set for my next rush illustration job.

Check out designer, Cristin Bowman’s and writer, Loraine Fick websites!

“Dog Show” Opening Night at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery – A Blast!

It’s so much fun attending an art opening. Each opening is a milestone at the end of a long road of joyful work. Each painting looks completely different when framed and hanging under good lighting.  Sometimes I barely recognize my own work on display. After all, I’m used to it pinned to my wall or on my table with a cat lying on the corner tapping at my brush.

I have six pieces in the show that include “Alex”, the portrait of my wonderful, black Lab painted about six years ago just before he died.  The other pieces are a couple sleeping in bed with their dogs, two pieces about fox hunting with packs of hounds (and horses), behind the scenes at a dog show and gratuitous puppies.

I enjoy openings. It’s interesting to speak with people and hear their input. All of these positive points accentuated for this particular opening by the location – the beautiful Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in Asheville. The Gallery is an old, 3 story brick building with wonderfully squeaky wood floors and open ceilings with exposed duct work. They do a great job of marketing artists and openings so no surprise by the huge crowds in attendance.

Several family friends were able to make the opening including; Pat and Bob Stanford (friends and collectors of my work), Dick and Jackie Krupp (family friends) and Shirley Saxton and Jay (nursing school friends of mom’s).  I had a chance to speak with several other artists. So many of us work in isolation, it’s wonderful to meet and greet at an event and learn about other’s work, inspirations and techniques.

There were actually 3 shows opening simultaneously – “Dog Show” on the first floor. What an incredible array of work! A metal artist created life size dogs from horseshoes and metal strips. Other artist’s created dog silhouettes from found objects. An amazing quilter pieced together patterned fabrics into amazing colorful scenes incorporating dogs.

On the ground floor, the “New Year, New Artists, New Works” exhibit. This was the show in which I previously participated five years ago. One artist made gigantic bugs that cast frightful shadows (and were creepy in a wonderful way), there were about a dozen beautiful abstract paintings that were stunning.

Finally in the new gallery wing an exhibit of vessels – cups and pots. I love pottery and am amazed by the colors and textures created by glazes. I bought a small cup from an Athens, GA potter and I can’t take my eyes off the beautiful glaze colors.

So thank you Jordan Ahlers and the folks of Blue Spiral 1 Gallery for an opportunity to participate in “Dog Show”. The exhibit runs through Feb 25. Hope you have a chance to see it!

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If I Ask You to Stop, You Better Stop

I was digging through my messy flat file and came across an old painting that made me laugh aloud. It doesn’t have a title because it’s a personal piece that I never intended to sell. But it has a good story, a story that I’ve shared at speaking engagements as a little insight into my private life.

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This painting is a portrait of sorts. It’s a time capsule of a summer spent living with my boyfriend in an old shotgun house north of Atlanta. It must have been 1989. My boyfriend was a cute, Cajun from Louisiana. We’ll call him Chris. The rental house was at a four way stop where Hopewell, Cogburn and Francis Roads intersect. (It has since been relocated down the street but my cat Spensor is buried under the magnolia tree at that corner, hit by a car). The house was over 100 years old in the shotgun style – four equal sized rooms with a wide hall in the center with doors at each end for circulation. Its called a shotgun house because you can shoot a gun standing at any doorway or window and it will go straight through the house without hitting a thing, exiting out the opposite side.

Our landlord lived next door. A good church fella and gardener. We had to lie and say we were getting married because he disapproved of us living together and wouldn’t rent to us otherwise. He was a nice man. He would leave tomatoes at the kitchen door. We were sure he was insulting us because they were always bruised and misshaped, as though he was giving us the crap fruit that fell to the ground. Probably a punishment for living in sin?

Chris was a fun guy. He was different – I had never dated a dyed in the wool red neck. I had to live with camoflague clothing, rifles, duck decoys, stuffed deer heads, fishing paraphernalia, pick up trucks and lots of dirt. Red neck boys get down and dirty! We lived together for years and seldom fought except over a particular issue – my cats.

He hated them and did everything imaginable to make their lives miserable. His favorite trick was to stomp his feet and watch them bolt. Each episode was even funnier to him when I screamed and threatened and even tried crying to get him to stop (ass).

One early morning he really pissed me off stomping at the cats. But in my moment of rage I was also inspired. I created this painting to commemorate the moment. I am washing dishes (no dish washer in 100 year old rentals) in the kitchen (yes the walls were tourquoise and the floor fake brick linoleum) with my sweet cats Ted and Vinnie. Then the little devil Chris invades our quiet moment to torment Vinnie who cries out in horror.

I showed the finished piece to Chris. He was never a fan of my art and often suggested I paint ducks because “duck paintings sell, no one wants those weird paintings!”. He wondered why he was naked. I suggested he was missing a more important detail. Yes, he naked but he was naked with a teeny tiny weeny. This portrait would be his penalty for tormenting my cats. A portrait that would outlast both of us and might one day hang in a museum (in my wildest dreams!). I informed him that for the rest of my life I would take every possible opportunity to relay the story of my boyfriend with the tiny weeny who tortured my cats.

I’ve been telling this story for 23 years. Don’t mess with my cats!

p.s. “Chris” and I remain friends and I wouldn’t post this if he didn’t have a great sense of humor – for an ass!

Celebrating Deadlines!

Sometimes I need to take a little break from painting. I’ve been super busy with several portrait commissions, a magazine illustration and preparing for “The Dog Show” exhibit at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in Asheville. I finally finished all my work and delivered everything to the frame shop. So I took a few days over the New Years weekend to catch up on paperwork, clean my house and pay attention to my neglected critters.

I may fret about making a deadline, but I always meet them. If I didn’t have deadlines I’d probably unnecessarily fuss with paintings and make them much more complicated than is needed.

Making the deadline for “The Dog Show” was hard and fun. And now that the work is delivered my own dog, Lucky, can stop shooting me those sad dog looks!

 

I'm trying to spend the day painting and every time I turn around to check on Lucky - this is what I get - sad little dog stares! Breaks my heart!

Only a Few Weeks until “Dog Show” Opens!

I’m so excited about the pieces I’m working on for the Dog Show opening January 5 at the Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in Asheville. This weekend, I took the first two paintings to the frame shop while I continue working on three more. The announcements will be mailed soon and I was thrilled that one of my pieces “Sleepers” is included as a featured image. You may wish to read older blog posts that document the development of “Sleepers”.

Hope some of you can attend the opening. The show includes about 20 artists and a vast array of mediums and techniques. It will be a lot of fun! Hope to see you there but if you can’t make it, I’ll post a ton of pictures afterward.

Nickerdoodle – Running Water in the Barn

A new cartoon inspired by the antics of the horses at Bits & Bytes Farm. Recently, Andy, got out of his stall during the night. Somehow he managed to turn on the water faucet. All the water ran into Romeo’s stall flooding it. Romeo was discovered in the morning on a small dry spot in the back of his stall. There were nearly 3″ of water inside and he was doing his best to not get his feet wet.

 

FLAT FILE SALE!

It’s once again time for a Flat File Sale! When I can’t walk through my office without tripping over frames and paintings, I offer pieces at super discounted prices for friends and fans. I stubbed my toe on a piece of chip board last weekend – it’s time for a sale!

Check out my shopping cart for available pieces. Sale ends December 4. You must order through the store to be fair to others – its first come, first serve. I hope you see something you like!

UPDATE 12-12:
Thanks everyone for your purchases. This was certainly another successful Flat File Sale with half the pieces available SOLD! I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy your purchases. And I’m grateful for any help making room for new paper and supplies in my messy office and in particular, my over-stuffed, infamous flat file! I’ll certainly do this again someday!

Nickerdoodles – Introducing a New Feature

My horse, Bubba, lives at Bits & Bytes Farm. Our friends, Elizabeth and Barry, take great care of him and he’s very happy living there with other OTTB’s (Off the Track Thoroughbreds). I also enjoy going to the barn and hanging with horse friends. We encourage each other riding in the ring, we have fun going on trail rides, we chit chat while brushing the horses in the wash rack. We pick and tease one another and crack a lot of jokes. My smart ass friends at the farm crack me up and their endless stories inspired me to create visual images – cartoons – to relay all the horse antics.

This is the first posting of a new cartoon horse series, “Nickerdoodles”. Some cartoons will be single panel but I’m developing others that are simple animations. For years I’ve wanted to do animations or sequential pieces and “Nickerdoodles” will be my forum for experimenting.

I hope you enjoy this series and this first single panel post! We often take the horses on trail rides – a fun outing that both horses and riders always enjoy!

Flame and Chili – Portrait of Canine Pals

I just completed a commission for friend and super-collector (someone who has purchased five or more paintings), DVM Rebecca Kestle. Rebecca’s daughter, Jenny, is getting married and this portrait of Jenny’s dogs, Flame and Chili, is a wedding gift.

Flame and Chili were devoted dog pals. They both achieved great success during their dog show careers. This portrait was composed to feature them standing at attention at a dog show.

And I forgot to take a photo of the finished piece! So I’ve included a post of the line drawing which is the first step of every commission. I always create a line drawing to show to my customers before I start painting. It allows me to make adjustments before I start painting. In this case, Rebecca asked me to shorten the Akita’s face a little and extend the tail length so the pose was more proportionately correct for a show setting.

Sketch for Flame and Chili's canine portrait

Taking Orders for Holiday Cards!

The 2011 Holiday Card Illustration by Melanie Eberhardt

I’m excited to print custom holiday cards this year! The design is inspired by my nephew, Nathan, as well as my own childhood recollections of mall visits to see Santa. List in hand, a young boy reviews his holiday wishes with Santa. I call this piece “May Your Holiday Wishes Come True”.

$36.20
per pack of 10 cards and envelopes including shipping!
($31 cards & envelopse plus $5.20 shipping & handling)

The folded card is 5 x 7”, printed on heavy cover stock. The inside is blank allowing ample room for writing your own holiday greeting. The price includes 10 cards and 10 white envelopes (A7 size).

Order NOW (by 11-8)!
Pay LATER (by 11-18)!

To order, simply send an email stating how many packs you wish to purchase. Then mail your payment by November 18. Orders will ship upon receipt of payment.

If ordering more than 5 packs, please email to confirm price as I can offer a discount for bulk orders!

Email your order by November 8
Sorry, after the 8th I can not accept additional orders allowing for production time.
Email: melanieeberhardt1@comcast.net

Mail your payment by November 18
Only checks are accepted. Please make your check payable to: Melanie Eberhardt.
Mail payment to; Melanie Eberhardt, 740 Charles Cox Dr., Canton, GA 30115
With payment include a note with your full shipping address and email.
I will email to confirm receipt of your payment.

Orders ship beginning November 28
… or upon receipt of your payment in full.
Orders ship via USPS, allow 7-10 days for delivery.
I will email to confirm the day your order was shipped.

Please email if you have any questions!