Susie Caron
Pet Art Blog
Twee' Art LLC, Vermont
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 How To Flow For Events Graphic by Susie Caron (2022) Artists' Flow Chart For Events Susie Caron (c) 2022 As 2022 winds down, I prepare for next year's art exhibits. What will I create? In which events do I want to participate? How do I know what I plan won't be a waste of my time and energies? Colorful, pictural, or graphic charts help me focus on the business side of my creative endeavors. If you are like me, an artist, crafter, or creative in any sense, and you participate in live exhibits, a graphic may help you as well. Creating - Business I admit, I struggled for a while to keep track of the business elements. I couldn't easily visualize how to flow through multiple tasks involved while exhibiting my paintings. Painting was fun. The 'business side' - marketing, blogging, email, posts, keeping track and evaluating results was not as much fun. I wanted to make it easier to market and keep track of the art events, my contributions, costs and results. I needed a visible way to handle this process because during the busy art exhibit seasons I simply didn't have the time to fuss over each element. The chart above (downloadable below) resulted from my deliberations and I offer it as a starting point for you. Each color block could be discussed further in depth, (perhaps I will do that at another time.) For now, I'll explain a bit more about each major element. Let me know if this helps you and if you have comments or suggestions. Title: " How to Flow for Events " You may be asking "Why do you need this? How does it help?" If you are a mainly visual artist, you may need to see the whole picture in order to attend more readily to the details. To me this is much like painting an abstract or expressionistic background before I add a detailed, realistic pet portrait. This diagram can keep you focused and on track. To use it you can simply work through the elements to attend to the business side of your art more easily. New Dated Excel for Event: This is just what is says. I created an excel sheet, listing by date, all the exhibits and events I participate in for the year. This includes contact persons, important deadlines, the art submitted, and any awards or sales. (I created an excel template for this purpose. See Below) The template is e important to keep track of which art you exhibit at each event. That way you don't make the mistake of presenting the same works over again in any particular exhibit and risk it being rejected. Plus you have an easily available document with important dates. I provide a link below to access this template. Painting Theme: Exhibits often sponsor art on a particular theme. Sometimes artists get to choose a theme to present. Focusing on a theme can help advance business goals and purposes for each event. For example, are you interested in selling paintings, or do you want to use an exhibit to advertise and connect with potential commission customers? Knowing the theme can determine whether or not you want to participate now or even in the future. If the theme suggested doesn't fit what you like to create, you may choose not to participate. Alternately, if an exhibit allows contributions on a subject - in any style or medium, the artist may want to engage. Choosing a theme also helps you more easily create, store and access blog & post ideas and photos. Blog Purpose: Will you write articles about the event, the sponsors, or about the art you plan to display? What is your purpose for writing and what will you ask your reader to do? Email Purpose: My email list is full of special people who love what I do. If you don't have an email list, you really need one. If you do email your fans, ask yourself these questions. "How will I approach my list and what will I offer them?" For example, you may want to provide them with a limited time coupon. Posting Goals: Where will you post on social media? What are your goals? Who are your target audiences? What are the CTA's (calls to action). What do you want readers to see or do? Evaluate Results: After each event or exhibit, how might you evaluate the results? Will you base your personal value on number of people attending, quality of vendors participating, how much money you made, or number of potential customer sign ups received? Did the exhibit match your business beliefs and help meet any goals? finally, how do you decide if an event is worth doing again? Send A Thank You Note To The Event Contact Person, Organizer, and/or Organization Sponsor. I include this one because even though you may have paid for a space, most of the time volunteers set up and run art events. Even if this isn't true, these event take a lot of thought, planning and work to run. It's important to thank people who've helped you. Adjust Notes for Next Year Your notes about the event, your feelings, successes or failures written now will help you to decide whether or not to participate again. If you plan to participate, your notes will help you plan what you create, what business goals you'll focus on, and what you want to accomplish. This information and the available downloads below, can help you plan and record your events, exhibits and memberships for the coming year. Obviously, the 'how tos' involved for each block in the chart involve research and work on your part. However, this chart may go a long way to visually showing you a path to follow as you attend and record events potentially, year after year. Thank you for reading. As always you questions, thoughts and comments are welcome. If you think the chart above could be helpful to you, feel free to download a free copy right now. Just click on the file link below 
(For a free template - 2 Easy Excel Templates To Organize Artist's Memberships & Events, Click HERE .)
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 Just a stinky skunk photo. SKUNKED AGAIN SUSIE CARON © 3/28/2021 It Happened Again It was March in Vermont. Before I even opened the door, I knew we were in trouble. Our Boxer, Josie burst into the house, flew up onto the couch and began to rub herself all over. Adrenalin overtook me, both for her and to protect our home. At 72 years I lifted all 53 pounds, carried her across our ranch home to the shower, and yelled for my husband to “Get the ‘stuff.’ Josie has been skunked!” Problems With Skunk Smell Most folks know the smell of skunk, and no one wants it in their home, furniture, clothing, or on their dog. Did you know, not only is the smell very long lasting but can be toxic? If your dog gets a big dose of spray directly in his or her mouth and eyes it can cause nausea, vomiting, eye tearing and possibly a trip to the vet.  Josie, not long after getting skunked. Poor Josie Josie took a direct hit. I deposited Josie in the shower stall, and began to rinse out her eyes and mouth, including the roof, cheek pouches, tongue and teeth with my hands and a washcloth. I prayed for my husband to appear quickly with the needed compound. Josie didn’t resist my efforts, but she seemed to plaintively accept my help. March Skunks In NW Vermont, March is a time when the stinky beasties emerge from their smelly dens and forage for food like leaves, roots, fungi, grass and insects. They often come near homes where snow has melted early. This happens just about every March in our area, and over 5 decades affected most of our dogs. We now know what to do quickly when this happens. Usually, it is best if the dog can be treated for skunk outdoors, but this was March in Vermont, and it was still cold and getting dark.  Product we used on our dogs for skunk smell removal. (Not an affiliate. Use at your own risk.) How We Tackle Skunk Smell We’d tried several home remedies with little or no success. Who has time or ability, while you are hyper and holding your dog in the shower, to mix up tomato juice, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and liquid dishwashing soap, or vinegar and water? It’s messy and if not mixed in the correct portions you can hurt the dog and your own skin. My husband arrived in a few minutes, with Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover for Dogs (not an affiliate) and I doused Josie with it carefully rubbing it into her short coat not missing her head, while keeping it out of her eyes and mouth. The bathroom, now closed, reeked of skunk. I knew it stuck to my clothes, the towels, toilet paper, and more. Opening a window offered little relief. After the 5 minutes I rinsed her thoroughly then bathed her in doggy shampoo. Poor Josie’s breath smelled of skunk, so I needed to watch her over the next day or so for any problems breathing or eating. Where To Find This Product.
We found Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover for Dogs in our local hardware store, but if you wish to try, you may be able to find it online as well. The instructions say you use it directly on the dog, wait 5 minutes, rinse thoroughly then wash your pet with a dog shampoo. Apparently it can be used on fabrics but I use Oxi Clean on furniture, carpets, and in my wash for affected clothing and towels. Josie Recovered I am happy to report Josie was ok a day later and didn’t need to see our Vet. It took many weeks for her breath and passed gas to smell more like her and less like skunk. We love our Josie, did the best we could for her and our home, and even though we remained a bit smelly for a while, we wouldn’t trade her in for anything, certainly not because of getting skunked! Share Your Good Ideas with Me I love to share my experiences as a pet lover and owner. What about you? Would you have any dog care items or products you’ve found helpful. If so, would you share it with me in the comments? I’d love to hear from you. 2 easy EXCEL TEMPLATES to ORGANIZE ARTIST’S MEMBERSHIPS & EVENTS by Susie Caron 2/12/202212/3/2021  The Problem with being a busy artist. When I began my art career I joined whatever events - whenever I became aware. This past year things got really busy, so I wrote my activities on a WORD DOC. However, I realized this was not a good long-term solution. It would become difficult in time to quickly or easily ‘find’ information on a Word Doc. I needed easy access to contact names, numbers, URLs, etc. I needed something better to keep track. How Could A Better Way Help Me & Other Artists? This past year’s art business found me scrambling through a variety of lap top folder categories to find, contact names, emails, phone numbers, submissions dates, fees charged, themes, and the exact art I submitted to each! This was frustrating and time consuming. I knew there had to be a better way to save me time, reduce frustration and give me easy access to those pesky URL’s so I could enter events, create posts and advertise. These 2 Excel Templates Solved My Problem and Maybe Yours. First I created an Alphabetical, Fully Updateable Master List of My Memberships, Galleries, Events and URLs. This meant if I wanted to add any new events, I could just insert the information wherever it fit alphabetically. Hence a Master List was formed that would not ‘grow’ too much, but give me quick access to the information I needed by name. Wonderful as this was, I realized it wasn’t going to be enough. I needed to keep track of events I participated in by date, which art pieces I submitted, dates due, specific URLs, charges, awards, sales, etc. So I created a second one titled - Dated by Order of Participation in Memberships, Galleries and Events. This would keep that track of exactly those in which I participated throughout the year. Then beginning each new year, I could just add events by starting a new list at the bottom, or copy the column headings and start a new page. I made this free downloadable for you. Just click the "Download File" below. Let me know what you think by commenting below. Thank you! 
 6 Songbird paintings by Susie Caron, displayed together. These Sweet Songbird Paintings Go Anywhere Susie Caron © 5/7/21 During Covid-19 lock down, I distracted myself by creating a lot of smaller paintings for interesting categories: holidays, sunflowers, baby animals, pets, winter animals and songbirds to name a few. As incidents of Covid-19 slowed and vaccinations increased I began to wonder how to brighten your lives, and help my favorite gallery too. I partnered with my local Village Frame Shoppe and Gallery to display 6 of these 5x7 paintings on each of 2 boards in the two display windows. They are for sale, and also function as lively enticements for customers to see, to come in and shop as well as advertising for my custom pet art. (The second board holds 6 pet art paintings as little examples of the many sizes of commission, custom pet art I create for customers.) Now You Can Bring A Little Bit of 'Life' into Your Home. These framed songbirds can hang anywhere in a home where you might want a spark of life to brighten your day.
And These Painting Make Great Gifts! Use this special offer to buy and cheer your loved ones.  3 Pretty Songbird paintings by Susie Caron displayed above a kitchen counter. Just For My Readers and Fans A Limited Time Special Offer. May 6, 2021 until June 1, 2021
You can buy one or more of my 5x7 framed ready to hang Songbird Painting in the following ways. Buy 1- 5x7 framed painting for only $85. OR Buy 2 to 3, 5x7 framed paintings, your choice, for 10% off the total. OR Buy all 6 at once for 15% off. HOW? Call the Village Frame Shoppe today, or from 10-4pm EST Monday -Saturday, between 5/6/21 & 6/1/21 and tell Dan you read my Songbird blog article. * 1-802-524-3699 How's that for something special to brighten your day and perhaps add some cheer to your loved ones life? *This offer is limited based on time, date and availability of paintings. You understand that when you call one, more or all of the paintings my have already sold and you may miss your chance to buy. Thanks for Reading As always please leave a comment. Susie  Susie Caron wins Best In Show for painting Maple Horses Watch, 16 x 20 acrylic in the Sappy Art Show, St. Albans, VT A Big Thank You. Susie Caron (c) 4/28/21 As you can see from this photo, I am happy and grateful. You helped make the re-opened Vermont Maple Festival and the Sappy Art Show a success and me too! Here's the good news. Success of the Vermont Maple Festival The Vermont Maple Festival and The Maple Themed Sappy Art Show and Photo Contest successfully re-opened this year, 2021. Whew! After such a looooong year it was fun to get back to even a mini resemblance to life pre-Covid. Because of good weather, masks on and social distancing St. Albans restaurants opened for sidewalk dining. Maple Donuts and take out menus abounded. And there was more. Success of the Sappy Art Show. The Village Frame Shoppe, St. Albans Vermont, once again hosted two contest categories of Maple Themed Art: Paintings and Photographs. These exhibited in the giant front window of the store for all to see. Professional judging for awards and voting by customers and those attending the festival, were completed by 4/25/21 and the results are in. I am so excited, and grateful for your part.  Maple Horses Watch, far left, 16x20 acrylic by Susie Caron. Winner of Best of Show, Winner of Peoples Choice. Maple Rain, far right,12x16 acrylic by Susie Caron. Winner of Honorable Mention. Sappy Art Show Success Two of my paintings received awards. Maple Rain (above right) received an Honorable Mention. My painting, Maple Horses Watch (above left) received the ‘Best In Show’ award. In addition, it received the most customer and fan votes to win the “People’s Choice” Award! What a wonderful endorsement from you! Thank you! I treasure your support, encouragement and I could not have done this without you. Here is a list of the Maple Themed paintings and winners for the Sappy Art Show: Best of Show: Maple Horses Watch, Susie Caron 1st Place: Sugarhouse Road - Charlotte Parot 2nd Place: Spring Fever - Fred Johnson 3rd Place: Sugaring - Nicole Gadouas People Honorable Mention: Sugarmakers - Charlotte Parot Scenic Honorable Mention: Maple Rain - Susie Caron Process Honorable Mention: A Good Year's Work - Claire Payne Peoples Choice: Maple Horses Watch, Susie Caron Here is the viewable and clickable list of Maple themed Paintings and Artists. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BWIPfZpj39421d6-5jsuBsVIUqRlEmE-?usp=sharing  Thank you for reading and for being part of making this re-opening successful. I enjoy the awards, but you made it special.
Many Blessings, Susie PS Here is a list of winners for the Maple Themed Amateur Photo Contest: Best of Show: Every Drop Counts - Jessica Sweeney 1st Place: A Leaf Waffle with Vermont Maple - Michelle McNall 2nd Place: Who Needs a Bucket - Jessica Sweeney 3rd Place: Contemporary Spout - Barbara Tenney Scenic Honorable Mention: Waiting - Carolyn Lewis People Honorable Mention: Not Ready Yet - Tammy Menard Process Honorable Mention: Sweet Success - Tammy Menard Process Using Maple: Maple Meringues - Barbara Tenney Peoples Choice: Vermont Babies - Gene Ann Kinney If you'd like to see the Maple Themed photographs click here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BWIPfZpj39421d6-5jsuBsVIUqRlEmE- To learn more about the Vermont Maple Festival and the Sappy Art Show, or perhaps how to enter or participate? Click on these links: https://vtframeshop.com/blog/2021-sappy-art-show https://www.vtmaplefestival.org  Maple Horses Watch, 16x20 Acrylic Painting by Susie Caron Fun for You in the 2021 Vermont Maple Festival & ‘Sappy Art Show’. Susie Caron © 4/21/21 It didn’t happen last year, but it’s back up for 2021 and you’re invited! First A Little History In 2011 The Village Frame Shoppe began hosting the Sappy Art Show for artists and photographers, in conjunction with events in the Vermont Maple Festival, St. Albans,VT. Like many Vermont venues and activities in the year 2020 both were cancelled, due to Covid-19, for the health and safety of all. And Now Good News! This year, 2021 the Maple Festival is open again and The Village Frame Shoppe scheduled the Sappy Art Show to begin April 21, 2021 – May 6, 2021. This delights photographers and fine artists, like me, because once again we enjoy the opportunity to display Maple Themed Art for customers and art lovers. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to participate and entered 2 of my Maple Themed Paintings. You can see them here- Maple Horses Watch above and Maple Rain just below. I included three others near the bottom of this article which I'd entered in previous years, before Covid.  Maple Rain, 12x16 acrylic painting by Susie Caron Here’s Some Fun for You! Now you have an opportunity, no matter where you live, to participate. Beginning this year, you can vote online for your favorite in each of three Maple Themed Categories: 1. Fine Art Paintings, 2. Photographs, 3. St. Albans Window Displays. The winner in each category will be awarded a “People’s Choice Award.” Voting is fun and besides you can see some great Maple Themed art, photography and window displays. Vote Today because Voting Closes Saturday, April 24,2021 at Midnight. These 3 links take you to each individual category.
If you prefer to vote for one in each of three categories, here’s the link for that. PEOPLES CHOICE | VT Maple Festival
Do You Want To Know More About These and 2021 April 21-May 6, 2021 Schedule of Events.
Maple Festival events: https://www.vtmaplefestival.org About The Sappy Art Show: https://vtframeshop.com/blog/2021-sappy-art-show/ Thank you for reading and for helping to make the re-opening of the Vermont Maple Festival and The Sappy Art Show a success. I'd Love to hear from you. Comment by clicking 'comments' up near the title, or Sign Up (top right of this page) for my email and download your copy of 'Quick and Easy Tips to Better Pet Photos.' Hugs and Blessings Susie  Launched to Bring Inspiration Susie Caron (c) 2021 I’ve been absent for a bit and excited to share something for you. Following our Jan-Feb. 2021 Launch, I took some time off to attend an artists' conference online, to ponder and to paint. Now I want to share what’s coming up for you on Susie Caron’s Pet & Wildlife Inspiration.  Inspiration Mondays Lyrics from a Carpenter’s song tells us “Rainy days and Mondays always gets me down.” I don’t want this to be true for you anymore. Beginning 3/15/21 I will share Inspiration Mondays with you and seek inspiration from you. Every Monday, I’ll invite you to engage in discussions and share all things that inspire you, including our pets and other animals.  What is Inspiration? You know inspiration as an idea. Here's one definition: A sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea. (Oxford Dictionary online, #1.) But that’s only the first part. Let's add this: After noticing an inspiring idea, we need to bring it in to our heart and mind. Merriam-Webster online dictionary adds Inspire came from the Latin inspiratus, meaning to breathe into or inspire. Later, in the 16th century the word changed in English to mean draw air into the lungs. There's a third part to recognize. Consider this definition from the Oxford Dictionary online. The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. (Oxford Dictionary online, #2) In other words, for an inspiration to be of any use to improve our lives and the lives of others, we need to do something with it. Whether inspired by a person, place, pet, or thing, we need to recognize it, bring it into our system, allow it to grow in us then use it to help ourselves and others.  Where Can You Find Inspiration?
Think about these questions and briefly write down your answers. Where do you look for inspiration? Why do you want to be inspired? Who inspires you? What inspires you? How do your pets, or perhaps wildlife stories inspire you? When you feel inspired, what do you do? How to Get Ready To Share and Be Inspired by Others Start by watching for and collect things you want to share. Make a special place to stick ideas, news clips, you tube links and more. Start a folder, word doc, or in notes on your computer or phone, Each Monday morning be ready to contribute and reap benefits from others. Want more Motivation? When we feel inspired, we also inspire others. When we share our stories we discover new ideas and encouragement which can help us to engage in life more fully. Come and share with us. Thank you for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment. Just click on the word “comments” at the top, next to the Title.  Inspiring Quilter Phoebe with her cat Velma Inspiration for Quilting Includes Pets & Animals Susie E Caron (c) 2/6/21 My Interview With Phoebe Sunflower Pickles. Introduction: I met Phoebe soon after moving to Southern Vermont with our two toddler aged children. She lived not far from us and we hired her to babysit our young children from time to time. Phoebe was great with our kids. I was not surprised when she took her first amazing job. As you will soon discover Phoebe was a blessing in her first career choice and continues to bless others in her current passion. Susie: Briefly tell us a little bit about you, your family, and your occupation. Phoebe: I grew up in Vermont, then as a young adult I moved to Pennsylvania to be a nanny. I stayed with the family for 23 years. They treated me as family, and to me they are my family. I moved back to Vermont when the youngest child when off to college. I found a part time job at a contemporary quilt shop. It’s the best job ever! I love working there, being surrounded by so much color all day.  Velma relaxing on one of Phoebe's quilts. Susie: Wow. Quite a career change. Do you or have you had any interesting pets or animals? Tell us a bit about your pet & animal interests and any stories you may want to share. Phoebe: I’ve always loved animals, especially cats. The cat I had before my current one was rather special. His name was Snicklefritz, he was found in a parking lot as a kitten with head trauma. A friend that is a vet, fixed him up and then gave him to me. The head trauma left him blind in one eye. He was very docile and loved being around people. He was my best friend for 17 years. After I lost him I didn’t think I would get another cat. Six months later I started looking for a kitten. My requirements were that it had to be the opposite of Snicklefritz. My current cat, Velma couldn’t be more different! She used to be rather a wild child but has calmed down a lot. While Snicklefritz was my friend, Velma is my baby. She’s a rather spoiled kitty that brings me so much joy.  Snicklefritz, Phoebe's First Cat Buddy. Susie: It's wonderful you've enjoyed two cat buddies who are very different. Do you do anything in your current occupation or hobby that includes pets or wildlife? Phoebe: I’ve made a few art quilts that have featured animals and would love to do more. There are just so many projects I want to make and not enough time to make them all. I love modern quilts although I can appreciate all types.
 Cat Quilt & "Time With A Cat Is Never Wasted." by Phoebe Susie: Do you have any interesting products, featuring pets or animal themes for sale? Phoebe: I don’t make things to sell, I’m open to selling some quilts that I have made, but would rather gift or donate them. Susie: Where can my customers find these? Do you have a website, or etsy store? How can they contact you? Phoebe: I don’t have any of those, although I have considered opening an Etsy shop. People are welcome to follow me on Instagram as Sunflowerpickles Susie: Thank you Phoebe for sharing this interview with us. I love your passion for cats and quilts. Please keep us posted when you open your Etsy shop. I believe we will see people ordering from you. Your work is beautiful and inspired. Thank you all for reading. Below you'll find a few more of Phoebe's fantastic quilts. Please leave us a little Love by telling us what you think about this, or even about using your own passion with pets & animals in a hobby or vocation. You can do this by clicking on "Comments" up near the title and write! Thank you.
 Unusual Pets & Wonderful Inspiration (c) 2021 Susie Caron My Interview with Vonnee Lee (Y I Lee) Introduction: Vonnee Lee, and I met through Facebook posts a few years ago. We began messaging and I discovered, except for our physical distance – one in the UK and the other in the USA - we had much in common. We had each worked with and enjoyed horses, engaged in multiple career endeavors, plus authored and published books. To my surprise Vonnee Lee revealed she’d also experienced joy with something others may think of as unusual pets. As you will soon see, in my interview with Vonnee Lee, she combined this love into something to share. I hope you’ll find her and her story interesting and inspiring. Susie: Welcome Vonnee Lee. I am so happy you want to share your story. Please begin by briefly telling us a little bit about you, your family, and your occupation. Vonnee Lee: I was born in the UK in the county of Wiltshire. I had a younger brother and sister, sadly both have passed away. My father was a Doctor and my mother worked as his receptionist. When I eventually left home, I worked for a few years in various equestrian centers, as I had and still have a great love for horses. However, in the sixties I decided to go to London. It was an exciting time. I trained to be a singer. My career continued for fifteen happy years. But it was the 1980s and I found work was becoming more and more difficult. Live music was being phased out as clubs and music venues struggled to pay artists. Not only that, I found myself at a crossroads struggling to find any real meaning to my life. Thank God in November 1981, I had a profound spiritual experience that changed my life. I gave my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the best day of my life.  Susie: Yes, your story touched me deeply. Tell everyone how you first got into writing. Vonnee Lee: My autobiography Mother, Me and Mantel is something I have wanted and needed to write for some time. For me, it proved to be a cathartic experience. Allowing me to face and banish any remaining demons from my past. I want the book to be a testimony to God's goodness, love and grace. I hope it will encourage whoever reads it. Susie: I believe it does and will continue to help others heal. Thank you for sharing this. As you know I am posting this interview during my annual Susie Caron’s Pets & Wildlife Inspirations Group on Facebook hoping to share how people use their love of pets and animals to inspire others. “Do you or did you have any interesting pets and stories you may want to share?”  This is "Mask", One of Vonnee Lee's wonderful Rat Buddies. Vonnee Lee: I have had some great pets in my life, but I have to say, fancy rats have been my favorites. I wasn't sure about them at first, I was scared. However, that quickly changed when a friend asked me to look after her rats while she went on holiday. At first, I was terrified of them, but that soon changed. They were so friendly and such fun, I hadn't laughed so much in years. Needless to say, when she took them home, I missed them so much I had to have some of my own. Then began my foray into breeding and showing, them which I loved and made many new friends. Susie: I enjoy how excited you get when you talk about your Pet Rat Friends. How delightful to discover this about you. Will you share what you did with your experience and love of these pets? Vonnee Lee: I began writing books, two of which were inspired by my rats. It was great to be able to write from experience. The first was called, A Rat and a Ransom the second was called Rat Run. Both are popular with children. My other books are more for Y/A.  Click Cover Photo for Instant Access Rat Run is a children’s fantasy, similar to Aesops Fables and Watership Down. It takes the reader on a fast paced, dangerous quest with Timere, as he searches for the answer to the hostility between two groups of rats.  Click Cover Photo for Instant Access A Rat and a Ransom, written for children, is the story about how helping someone weaker than ourselves, brings benefits for both. A lesson young Tom soon found to be true. Susie: Thank you Vonnee Lee so much for sharing this love of pets and how you combined your experiences to share these lovely books with others. I want our readers to also know that you are actually the author of several more books also for adults as well These are titled: 1. The Door. 2. The Gathering Storm and 3. A Shadowed Valley.
PS All Vonnee Lee's books can be found on her author page: Y I Lee: Click Here: Vonnee Lee: Thank you so much for inviting me. Comment Below! My thanks to everyone who is reading this. I hope to continue, after our annual launch, publishing one interview every month for you. If you know anyone who works with animals in special ways, or is inspired by pets and animals (Including horses, farm animals and wildlife), please let me. You can give me their contact information in the comments below. Tell me what you think about my interviews so far too. You can also join my mailing list, by signing up and contact me that way.  Cover of 2021 Guide Post's Daily Devotionals featuring pet and animal stories: All God's Creatures. Can Pets & Animals Help Us? Susie Caron (c) 2021 Introduction As a pet owner I’ve enjoyed many pets. I especially treasure the unconditional love they so freely share. Preserving this love and memories alive for myself and others motivates me to paint pet portraits for people who love their pets. This isn’t the only way people use pet experience to keep the memories alive and recall the lessons and inspiration pets offer. I’ve asked several wonderful people who use their personal pet experiences to share these with us. Today I am pleased to interview Tracy Crump, an accomplished author, editor & instructor who contributes articles in numerous magazines and books. Tracy offers writing workshops, webinars and her course “How to Write for Chicken Soup for the Soul”, is a Serious Writer Academy’s Top Seller. I met Tracy on Facebook when I read she contributed to the 2021 Daily Devotional for Animal Lovers, All God’s Creatures. I bought the hardcover book from Guideposts and after reading I knew I wanted to share more about Tracy and her work with you.  Tracy Crump Author, editor, instructor and contributor to 2021 All God's Creatures, Guide Posts *An Interview with Tracy Crump, author, editor and contributor to All God's Creatures, Guide Posts Daily Devotionals for 2021 Susie: Tracy, tell us a little bit about you, your family, faith and occupation. Tracy: My husband, Stan, and I were high school sweethearts and have been married 44 years. We live in north Mississippi and homeschooled our two sons, who are grown now, and each has two children of his own. Years ago, I worked as an intensive care nurse and now enjoy writing articles, devotions, and short stories. We’re both active in our church-(except during Covid-19 restrictions)-and my 99-year-old mother-in-law lives with us. Susie: Tell us a bit about your pets or pet/animal interests and any stories you may want to share. Tracy: Except for grandchildren, we are currently pet-less, but we’ve shared our home with a variety of cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, finches, and parakeets, some of which have taken center stage in my writing. Our Siberian husky became ecstatic whenever it snowed (which it seldom does in the Mid-South). He would jump into my husband’s lap and sled downhill with him. We also had a golden retriever who had two sets of nine puppies. That’s when we learned there’s nothing sweeter than puppy breath. Susie: What do you do, or have you done because of your interest in pets and wildlife? Tracy: When we homeschooled, I jumped right into whatever my children were interested in. One son considered becoming either a veterinarian or a park ranger, and the other wanted to keep bees. Both boys volunteered at wildlife rehabilitation centers and the Memphis Zoo. I’ve taught school children about wildlife, put on puppet shows, worked at a butterfly exhibit, and sloshed through ditches at night hunting frogs for an amphibian monitoring program. In one of my more daring moments, I allowed my son to keep a rehabber’s pet kingsnake in our home for use in a school program. Unfortunately, the weather turned bad, and the streets became too icy to do the program or take the snake back to her owner. I had failed to add frozen mice to my grocery list that week, so we were left with a hungry snake. She latched onto my son at one point, but thank goodness, she was too small to swallow him!  Susie: Do you have any interesting products featuring pets or animal themes for sale?
Tracy: I’ve published stories about dogs in two Chicken Soup for the Soul books and one about a cat in another anthology. A story about our husky will release in The Dog Who Came to Christmas later this year. I wrote about my favorite wildlife rehabber and a hawk she taught to hunt in The Ultimate Bird Book (no longer in print). And of course, Susie, you first saw my name in Guideposts’s All God’s Creatures: Daily Devotions for Animal Lovers 2021. I had six devotions in that book and will have ten in the 2022 edition. [Photo attached.] Susie: Yes! I found and read your contributions as soon as I received the book. I was personally moved by one about how a dog helped your Mother recover from an illness. Can you tell us where my customers can find these? Do you have a website, or how can they contact you? Tracy: All the books can be found on Amazon or in bookstores, except the Guideposts book, which can only be purchased on their website at https://www.shopguideposts.org/bibles-devotionals/all-god-s-creatures-2021.html. Additional formats available may be found here: https://www.shopguideposts.org/bibles-devotionals/all-gods-creatures-daily-devotions-favorite-formats.html Your customers can connect with me at https://www.tracycrump.com/ or any of the sites listed at https://linktr.ee/tracycrump. Thank you for having me as a guest on your website, Susie. Your artwork does justice to the animals you paint, and I think that’s the highest praise a portrait artist could receive. Susie: Thank you for your compliment and for taking the time for this interview. It was my pleasure to share you, your appreciation for pets and animals and how you inspire us through your work. I feel motivated now to write up some of my pet stories. Do pets and animals teach, inspire, or bring you comfort? Comment below about this or ask questions. |
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About SusieSusie Caron, acrylic artist, creates realistic paintings of pets, animals, and selected scenes. Her love of and experience with many pets and farm animals throughout her life, enables her to capture the unique feeling and expression of each subject. In her commission pet and livestock portraits, Susie also works with each customer to discover and then reveal the personality and special bond between pet and human. Categories
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