This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Elise and her posse of critters. Her pups, Axel and Arcus, her fuzzy mare, Sierra, her 6 month old colt, Winston, and her cutting mare, Vixen.

Originally our photo session was scheduled for two weeks ago. A week before our session, the weather forecast was calling for rain and lots of it. I'd rather postpone a photo shoot than cancel it and this is a fantastic example of when it's worth the wait.

Elise had the perfect barn for some fantastic black background photos! Here she is with Axel (left) and Arcus (right). They are quite the goofballs, running around the farm and dragging around branches twice the size of them.

Have you ever wanted to have your pet on your Christmas tree? Maybe just their sweet or mischievous face? Well, I have some exciting news for you, I am now accepting orders for my very popular custom pet portrait shatterproof Christmas ornaments! They were so popular last year that I had to stop accepting orders.

All of the ornaments are a matte gold, 3.25" diameter shatterproof (plastic) ornament. I use your photos as reference for painting your pets likeness in acrylic.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. All the leaves are changing and covering the ground, the air is brisk, and it's time to pull out the sweaters, scarves, and plaid.

This weekend I captured many darling moments of a super cute family and am excited to share their sneak peek with you!

We ventured to Bush Pasture Park in Salem to take advantage of the amazing autumn colors before the Oregon rains came along, and we weren't disappointed.

Last weekend I did a lot of driving, and it was totally worth it! It has been my longest solo drive in a long time, from Salem all the way to Nine Mile Falls, Washington (which is above Spokane!).

In the higher elevations, the autumn color was in its peak and absolutely the perfect backdrop for Teresa and her gang of horses.

Meet Demo.
He's a go-getter type of gelding, always looking for a job to do which is perfect for his job as ranch horse. He's always thinking and itching to be working and has total trust in Teresa. We had two different sessions and I'm excited to share them with you!

Lately, I’ve been playing around with my iPad and Apple Pencil and an app called ProCreate. Usually I sketch out ideas in my sketchbook with pencil or pen. I’ve found that I have more liberty and freedom when I create digital sketches. Why? I can move and reposition my sketches, use the pressure of my Pencil to vary the lines, change the colors on a dime, and more.

These are a couple of my early sketches and if you’re interested in seeing some of my more recent sketches for painting ideas, keep scrolling.

One of the things I love to do is capture stories. And this story is truly special of this team of nearly 20 years.

Hillary was in a horse 4-H club and when she first met Prize. Prize was a green 4 year old and Hillary was the one (after riding horses for a couple years first) who trained her under saddle. They were a team for 6 years and with the permission from Prize's owner (the 4-H leader), Hillary took her with her to Oregon State University.

Once Hillary graduated from college, Prize was given to her. Now she had her very own horse for keeps. Prize is 23 years old now, and loves to go on trail rides and low key competitions. And during their peak show seasons, they were quite the team, even taking Grand Champion Showmanship out of 101 competitors.

​It was my pleasure to capture the bond that they share at a place they love to go trail riding at, McIver State Park. I was a gray Oregon day, but that didn't slow them down.