Mar 29, 2013
I had a bit of surprise this year when I was invited to Brampton to speak to a group of students who were learning to cartoon. My friend, Daniela Easter is an award winning artist as well as a personal friend of mine. Apart from her private commissions, she founded and, for the past 9 years has run, Progressive Art for Progressive Kids in Brampton, an art school that helps young people develop their skills and exposes them to the various mediums and forms of art. For the past few months, they were learning how to cartoon!
Given that I provide some of the images of the animals that are used as a basis for the cartoon, Daniela asked me to come and speak to her students. I have to be honest – it is kind of intimidating to walk into a class room of 8-12 year olds who can draw. Really draw. Especially, if you are someone like me who cannot draw anything recognizable. However, photography is just a different medium and Daniela thought it would be beneficial for the kids to meet another working professional in the arts.
They were such a great group of students who were eager to know my process to create beautiful photographs of animals. Equally intriguing to them was the work I do with shelters and rescues. But, I think the highlight for everyone was when I taught them how to howl like a dog! (Yes, making a fool of oneself is an occupational hazard.)
So, it is my complete pleasure to showcase some of the artwork that was produced by this group of young artists!
We’ll start with the photo. This is the original image of an oh-so-cute puppy! (There were lots of awwwwwws when this little face popped up on the screen.)
And the cartoon renditions by Nicholas…
…Grace (who signed her artwork – good girl!)…
…and Avi (who also signed his name).
They then moved onto a playful, little kitten! (This image received an equal amount of awwwwws.)
And the cartoon renditions by Nicholas…
…Prerna…
…and Jessica!
I told you these kids are good!
Should you have a budding artist in your life, please go and check out the curriculum for Progressive Art for Progressive Kids. It changes regularly and covers a lot of ground, so you can nurture that creative spirit!
And, for recent updates and other cute images of furry faces, come on over to the Posh Pets Blog and see what we are up to!
Mar 27, 2012
It feels good to be home! The Posh Pets family just returned from visiting Jordan (yes, the country in amongst Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran in case you were wondering…) and while travelling is a lot of fun, there is nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed. One of the highlights was the opportunity to walk through the famed Petra, now a “Wonder of the World”. It was truly incredible!
However, as a pet photographer, I am always drawn to photographing the animals I meet in my travels. Some are working animals owned by their employer, some are pets, and some are strays, but the place animals hold within a people does give you insight into a country and its culture. I believe it was Gandhi who said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”, and in my personal experience that is true.
I am happy to say that Jordan does not have nearly as many strays as other countries I have had the pleasure to visit. Those that were, were generally cats who did not look thin and emaciated like so many other animals who live on the street. So, kudos to Jordan!
There is a funny thing about the cats that live in Petra and, for the most part, the rest of Jordan – they are all orange tabbies! In Petra, you can see that they could potentially all be related, but everywhere in the country? We did meet the occasional brown tabby (3, I think), but the rest were all orange. Even stranger is that I have heard that orange tabbies are predominantly male, so who is the busy mom of this brood? I don’t think we will ever know…
The good thing is that in Petra, I believe they are all taken care of by the tourists. They are friendly, used to strangers and have come to learn that these visiting humans cannot resist a cute face and give them food. One orange guy we met walking around a castle ruin in the middle of the wilderness is fed by the staff who work there. So, it seems that the Jordanian kitties have found their place in the tourism industry.
We did meet these two adorable puppies in Petra. I nearly took this little guy home – he literally sat in my arms like this for 10 minutes and looked into my eyes as I talked to him. It was soooo hard to put him down and walk away.
I was somewhat comforted by the fact that he had this little friend to spend his days with. And the fact that the Bedouin who work there seemed to know them and petted them nicely when they approached.
Well, that is it for this instalment! Stay tuned as I will post some images of working animals in Part 2.
