Shhhh.....

"Lily and Louie", 12" x 16" Acrylic on Canvas, by Natalie Hirshman, copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

Meet Lily and Louie, my first "official" commission, expressly in time for the holidays! These two precious Japanese Chins belong to our fellow animal lover and multiple award winning novelist, Charlie Valentine. She is the author of this amazing novel about four seemingly unrelated, yet fated families, "Better Days Ahead"....well, I won't give away too much, go visit her site at: www.charlievalentinebooks.com and see for yourself what an accomplished talent she is. Better yet, buy her book! I'm ashamed to admit, my schedule doesn't allow for a lot of personal reading time, besides my coveted monthly Martha Stewart subscription (don't judge me), but I made an exception and quickly found myself through her book in a couple of nights; I couldn't put it down. It is the first of a trilogy and has achieved many accolades. The second novel is close to publication, so be on the lookout for it in 2008. Charlie also happens to be the mom of my greatest and dearest fans, the Davidson's (see, "The Davidson Four"). If not for the persistance and loyalty of my beloved friends, The Exalted Pet would not be recognized today. This commission was a true honor. Of course, "Lily and Louie" is a surprise, so keep it on the down-low. At least, until the 25th. I only hope to meet her own standards of excellence as a fellow artist.

Not knowing these two darlings personally, I decided to go with my initial premonition and this was the result. Innocent, simple, and dangerous! Jeez, if there's anything that proves greater than cryptonite to me, it's a watercolor wash. Of course, I had to add my own personal style to it and "bulk it up" a bit, with hints of raised detail in the acrylic medium. It's in those eyes, I just can't resist, every Exalted Pet has them! A key to the soul....
The nameplate in red depicts their names and the gold script is in Chinese (I know, a bit of a contradiciton, but the characters were just so pretty) and it reads, "Sweethearts". Aren't they, tho? Even my own Exalted Pets didn't want to have them for lunch...too cute! They did try to lick the painting, tho....

Of course, since Tommy and Karri are our greyhound compadres, 25% of the sale will be donated towards GPA. GPA, you ask? Well, read the blog to find out! What are you waiting for? Better yet, click on the GPA post in this blog to learn more or visit www.fastfriends.org to find out about our "other purpose". What a fine holiday it will be for the hounds, thanks for assisting these fine angels!

Enjoy and thanks always for visiting and supporting our cause! Happy holidays to you and yours!