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WILD - The Studio at Gulf and Pine

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WILD at the Studio at Gulf and Pine

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Wild things are coming to The Studio at Gulf and Pine. This amazing benefit exhibition for Wildlife, Inc. presents Florida’s indigenous creatures in paintings and sculptures, as you have never seen them before. Members of Wildlife, Inc. will be here providing information about what they do and will have animals here for the public to view on Thursday, March 8th from 12 pm-2 pm and at the Opening Reception, Thursday, March 15th from 6 pm-8 pm.

The show features the work of fourteen highly regarded area artists including: Susan Curry, Joanne Taylor Brown, Charlotte Mansur, Evelyn McCorristin Peters, Craig Rubadoux, Jean Blackburn, Linda Hunsaker, Joyce Ely Walker, Nancee Clark, Ines Norman, Tom Hawkaas, Penelope Bodry- Sanders, Tim Jaeger, Delores Coe and Nancy Matthews.

Exhibit benefits Wildlife, Inc. Education & Rehabilitation Center, the largest wildlife rehabilitation and rescue center in Manatee County.

Opening Reception Thursday March 16th, 6-8PM

The Studio at Gulf and Pine

10101 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria Island, FL 34216

 

She Paints The Pooch →

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Evelyn McCorristin Peters was recently featured in the East County Observer. The article focused on her pet portraits and how she helps pups in need of a helping paw. 

The Last Dessert by Evelyn McCorristin Peters

The Last Dessert by Evelyn McCorristin Peters

Myakka City’s Evelyn McCorristin Peters always has been an artist, but she never thought she would be a dog lover.

Then she met Frank.

Frank, a boxer, belonged to her husband, Philip Peters, when they were married 14 years ago.

“I completely fell in love with that dog,” Evelyn Peters said. “But it was like a good girl and a bad man type of thing — Frank was a horrible dog, but I just loved him so much.”

When Frank died in 2007, Peters was devastated.

She missed Frank so much that she contacted the Florida Boxer Rescue about getting another dog a week after he died. During an interview at her home, a rescue employee saw her portrait of Frank in the living room.

“They asked me to donate a painting to raise money for the rescue,” Peters said. “That is how my business was born.”

Evelyn and Abby.jpg

About Evelyn Peters

  • She joined the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus when she was 19 and sold cotton candy.
  • She met her husband, Philip Peters, while working in the circus. He is the owner of Haai Inc., which runs a traveling shark show.
  • She prefers to listen to podcasts while she paints. When she is listening to music, she tends to dance, which “is not good when you're painting,” Peters said.
  • Her art studio is located in a recreational vehicle in her back yard.

So Peters started her business, Barking Dog Creations Studio.

It wasn’t long until other organizations began noticing her work. Now, she is donating gift certificates for paintings to dog shelters across the country. She recently did a painting for a greyhound rescue in England.

She works from photographs, although she paints her own dogs through “mental images.”

Peters, 53, said some dogs are harder to paint than others.

“There was a woman a few years ago, and I painted her dog, Floyd,” Peters said. “The whole white dog thing is hard — people with white dogs are hard to please.”

Apparently, Peters is a lot better at the “white dog thing” than she thought. The same woman hired her again to paint her new dog, Stanley, who also is white.

Painting dogs for 10 years, she still isn't bored. When her customers comment on how much their dog portrait means to them, it still gives her goosebumps.

And she noted that people are more difficult to paint than dogs. “I normally don’t do people,” Peters said. “Dogs never tell you their nose looks too big in a painting. So I try to stick with dogs.”

Ted by Evelyn McCorristin Peters

Ted by Evelyn McCorristin Peters

Two years ago, Peters did a portrait of Ted, a small, white cocker spaniel with a “weird hairdo going on.”

“I finished the painting and I sent it to (the owners, a husband and wife),” Peters said. “Not only did the wife send me an email about how much the portrait meant to her, I got a separate email from her husband. It was clear in the email how much this man loved his funny looking cocker spaniel. It was so sweet, I cried.”

While Peters paints dogs of all ages, shapes and breeds, her heart lies with older dogs.

“Seniors really pull at my heart,” Peters said. “They are so wise, and you know that the time you have with them is short. Dogs are here much shorter because they have it all figured out. They already know how to love and just enjoy where they are right then — a good lesson for all of us.”

 

 

Besides painting dogs, Peters has adopted older rescue dogs.

“When you get involved in rescue, and you see what some of these dogs have been through, they start to mean more to you,” Peters said. “There is something in them. They teach you how to be in the moment and give you unconditional love.”

Her customers often comment on the dog’s eyes in portraits.

“I think you probably see that unconditional love and ability to live in the moment in the dog's eyes,” Peters said.

Opening Reception Old Dogs & New Tricks

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Old Dogs & New Tricks

Evelyn in the Marvelous Mystery Mutt Tour Bus

Evelyn in the Marvelous Mystery Mutt Tour Bus

What a fantastic time at the opening of my solo show Old Dogs & New Tricks! Thank you to everyone from the gallery who helped out! A special shout out to Kate Johnson from Boxer Rescue Angels of Florida for taking photos at the Marvelous Mystery Mutt Tour Bus, we raised $35 for the rescue! And also to my friend Jean Blackburn who manned the dessert table! 

I had a terrific time and was so surprised by the people who showed up. I saw fellow artist Michelle whom I met at last summer's Creative Capitol workshop and a old co-worker of mine and his wife from my days at Hagenbeck Wallace, the prop shop for Ringling Brother Circus. 

Lynette and Dawn of Boxer Rescue Angels of Florida with the artist.

Australian Ridgeback

Future Barking Dog Creations Studio Top Model!

visiting pups

The Last Dessert

The Last Dessert

and dessert buffet!

Paintings in the show

Marvelous Mystery Mutt Tour 

Look for my upcoming solo show at the Bird Key Yacht Club this September!

Art to Watch, Links You Need To See

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What's happening in the art world...

Lots is going on out there! Here's a few links you should see. From art and history in jeopardy, 99 days of art in St. Petersburg, a very awesome new artist residency coordinator for the national parks and a website just for dog photos...because let's face it those of us with dogs have a just a ton of images to share of our furry friends. 

Just click on the photos to "take you there..."

The Venice of the Sands in Peril

by G.W. Bowersock

Stringer/AFP/Getty ImagesThe ancient city of Palmyra, a day after ISIS began its siege, May 18, 2015

Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

The ancient city of Palmyra, a day after ISIS began its siege, May 18, 2015

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park

Packdog - Connecting the Dog Lovers of the World

Packdog - Connecting the Dog Lovers of the World

STAY IN TOUCH

Art For Barks Service Dog Fine Art Contest

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The Art for Barks Service Dog Fine Art Contest is Here!

Nationally prominent artists are helping Art for Barks create a Special Educational Project about Service Dogs and art.

Enjoy the variety of art styles.

Learn about how Hero Service Dogs help people with physical disabilities live a fuller,
more active life. Read a few stories of these extraoridinary canines, then pick and vote for your favorite. Notice that many of the Service Dogs are Rescue Animals.

By participating-you are supporting these altruistic animals and their generous work. Service Dogs are special! With a natural capacity to unconditionally love and care for people,

Service Dogs:

  • nurture traumatized children in court

  • decrease healing time for elderly hospital patients

  • assist mobility-impaired people in getting their medicine, opening the door, getting into and out of their car, moving a wheelchair, and finding their keys or phone.

There are dozens of other ways Service Dogs eagerly direct their warm, furry form of love to helping us humans. These include providing emotional comfort and/or seizure notice to wounded warriors with post-traumatic stress, enabling them to work and function productively; or lending support with physical balance and mobility to disabled college students preparing for a meaningful job. Service Dogs’ ability to calm autistic children makes educational and therapy sessions more productive, and allows these children to feel safer while out with their families.

I am very proud to be part of the Art for Barks organization! What they do resonates with many of the reasons I paint dogs. I created two paintings for this event. One of Belle from Vintage Paws Sanctuary in Sarasota Florida and Belle an alumni of Florida Boxer Rescue who has since passed onto the Rainbow Bridge. I am happy to support both of these wonderful organizations through donating my artwork and I've adopted two Boxers from FBR!

Here are my two paintings, please take a moment and vote, it supports me and the efforts of Art for Barks.

To see all the amazing images and vote please visit here:

Art for Barks Service Dog Fine Art Contest

 Belle of Vintage Paws Sanctuary

 

Belle of Vintage Paws Sanctuary

 Nori of Florida Boxer Rescue

 

Nori of Florida Boxer Rescue