San Diego Art Veteran Watercolor Artist Sinclair Stratton raises $8,000 for the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter

A momentary bright spot while amidst these not-so-happy times for our nations economy, watercolor artist Sinclair Stratton’s renowned pet portraits are still a must have commodity in the animal art kingdom.   Sinclair is a self-taught watercolor artist going strong for 19 years now.  When I say strong, this native San Diegan has a body of work boasting over 180 paintings (See them all Here) and has exhibited all across the nation, most recently as a SOLO artist at the 2009 International Artexpo New York where she was sponsored by the San Diego Fine Arts Society.

“It’s different now” Sinclair says “I haven’t had to really market myself over the past 5 years, since the market collapse times are definitely different. I’m learning all sorts of new things about the Internet & branding and so on.  I just over hauled everything and am re-inventing myself again now that I’m turning 40.” You would never know it by looking at her, and her voice is soft enough to coax the shyest of kittens from under any bed.  Such a contrast from her work, which there is nothing shy about.

Just recently, on a quiet evening at the Del Mar Country Club, The Helen Woodward Animal Center threw their Shangri Paw patron event. A precursory event thrown several days prior to the large Annual Spring Fling gala. The live Auction at the event consisted of one lone prize. A custom commissioned painting by Sinclair. No pressure!!

At the last several art auctions I’ve attended since the market crash, zero paintings were sold. Sinclair seems to somehow transcend and rise above that at these events, her rapport with art and animal lovers alike is so authentic, full of honor, affection, and lots of purple. I’ve been to several events where her works are the only ones that sell.

Even with the auctioneer out sick and some slow bidding to start the sale, things began to reach fervor as the price kept inching its way up and up at a hundred dollars a bid. $2,900, $3,000, $3,1000… and the bidding war continued, up and up. Finally, at $4,000 the interim auctioneer  Mike Arms whispered something into Sinclair’s ear. After a smile and a nod he turned to the audience and asked the bidders if they would each be willing to pay $4,000 for one. As all parties agreed, the room filled with a joyous uproar celebrating the sale of 2 paintings.  The money raised will be put toward the amazing care for animals this facility provides.

Sinclair’s tireless dedication to those whom we share this planet with comes through in everything she does. Whether that’s donating art to shelters or promoting her Eco Friendly Unique Yoga Mat Designs to raise money for Polar Bears, Sinclair and her friends at Art Supporting Animals leave nothing to chance. Everything is done with intention. 10% of all of Sinclair’s sales go towards some arena of her philanthropy.

“I wish I could do more, I love donating anything I can to help out.”

Fierce Love 22×15 Watercolor

Ozzy 22×30 Watercolor

Ozzy is a dog that lives in New York but I’ve never met him. A friend of mine who’s a photographer took his picture. Everytime I looked at the haunting black and white photo of Ozzy, the picture called out to me, urging me to paint him. When I was able to have enough time to, I would paint Ozzy. I consider a painting particularly successful when I put colors combinations together that I never have previously. This was the case with Ozzy. My original painting of him sold before I ever had a chance to frame it or display it in a show. He’s is one of my best selling prints and one of my all time favorite dog paintings that I have ever created.

Byrnie 22×30 Watercolor

Champion Burn Baby Byrne is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. I had never met or seen one before Byrnie. He’s a tall and agile dog with a very big head and nose. After doing a photo shoot in his backyard, we were chillin inside the house. I saw Byrnie rest his head on his leg and I took the shot. It was almost an afterthought, but it ended up being the one calling me to paint! He has the most expressive and human like eyes on a dog I have ever seen. This painting remains one of my all time favorites and I’m still amazed at how fast I made it!! I could barely do anything but paint Byrnie for one week straight. All day, and throughout most of the night, I painted. The spectacular experience left me feeling drained. I have never created a painting this size in such a short time before then or afterwards. It also seems to remain a strong favorite among collectors.

Metro 22.5×25/27 Watercolor

I was at the Miami Metro Zoo in Florida, observing some majestic tigers on a grassy knoll. They were sitting about 100 yards away from a moat behind the fence. There I was with my not so high resolution digital camera when a particularly interesting tiger got up and strolled towards me, staring casually but intently. She then began passing by me, walking leisurely along the moat next to the path I was on. I quickly caught a shot of her as she passed me. For a moment, she was extremely close to me. I felt like she walked over just to say hello. When I painted my tiger series for a big cat fundraiser that I held, I wanted to visually convey her whole body as I had observed her. I chose to do it on two separate pieces of paper, making this tryptych. I had so much fun painting her in this format; stay tuned for more like this….

Carousel 29.5×35 Watercolor

These zebra stallions live in the wild and were photographed by friends of mine who were on a safari in Africa. I was told me that these were two males, guarding the herd. They were on alert for possible threats from other animals. I’ve been wanting to paint zebras for awhile. After all, I love horses and I love tigers and this was the absolute best of both worlds combined. This painting is one of my few over-sized variety.

All Ears 22×30 Watercolor

I love to paint the relationship between people and animals as well as animals and animals. These two elephants love one another. This apparent love and closeness moved me. Another aspect to this elephant piece, “All Ears”, is that it is one of the only paintings I have done that has a “pastel” feeling to it.

Zuri’s Awareness 30×22 Watercolor

I love animals. I really love cats. I particularly love big male cats, and that’s Zuri. He’s my favorite big cat at Forever Wild, an exotic cat sanctuary in Phelan, CA. I went back to see him after I had visited all the other rescues. He was peacefully sitting in the corner enclosure and I sat outside next to him. I decided to talk to him and he curled his feet underneath him. I cannot explain how simply amazing it is to spend time with a tiger.

Iggy 22×30 Watercolor

While I was attending the Miami Museum of Science in Florida one year, I was delighted to come across a beautifull green iguana (a breed of iguana). It was almost identical in size to one I had, which I raised from just that of a wee lizard. I took care of him over the course of 6 years. I gave up my wonderful reptile, Bill (named after the lizard in Alice in Wonderland), to a better home of fellow reptile lovers. I was forced to due to an unexpected move. I so enjoyed creating this piece. Each ridge and curve I painted was like getting to hold my Bill all over again.

Clementine 31×24 Watercolor

Zuri’s Tail 29.5×31 Watercolor

Here we have Zuri again. He’s the same tiger that I painted featured in Zuri’s Awareness and Zuri’s Step. When I took this photo, Zuri was being extremely playful and bouncing around his enclosure. He was doing it for his sole audience, me! He had a little shelter and he playfully leapt onto it. He then planted himself, faced me, and jumped down. He pranced about a bit before settling down in the corner where I was sitting and I spent some time with him. The moment I captured in this painting is Zuri on top of his shelter while he stared at me. After I painted Zuri, I realized I had unconsciously painted a little stripe on his back right flank. It was extremely similar to a little stripe that my cat Smudge had at the time. I found this accident fascinating, and often joked to my friends that this wasn’t solely a painting of Zuri, but also of Smudge as he saw himself. It’s just another reason this painting is particularly special to me and I’m not sure that I could ever part with it.

Gunny & Bogey 22×30 Watercolor

This is a favorite dog painting of mine. Gunny spent her days with her mama who worked at the San Diego Humane Society. She was just like her mama…full of fire and energy. Bogey came along as a homeless dog up for adoption at the center where they worked. He was Gunny’s opposite, more mellow, laid back, etc. Apparently, as Gunny’s vibe was more like her mom, Bogey’s vibe was more like Gunnys mom’s husband.  Gunny’s mom was drawn to him, he and Gunny together reminded her of her husband and she together. Bogey started spending more and more time with them, and eventually joined their family permanently.

Lacey 30×22 Watercolor

I met the oh –so-charming Lacey after her owners won a custom commission from me. Lacey’s owner’s doctor had recommended that they get a pet to reduce their stress and for their overall improved health. Lacey was a result of the doc’s order! She was a very sweet Airedale Terrier who became the apple of their eye. I donated Lacey’s painting as a grand prize for the San Diego Humane Society’s telethon a few years ago. I loved conveying her very gentle and sweet demeanor in soft blues and lavenders.

Mimi and Wolfie 22×30 Watercolor

I very much enjoyed these extremely talented pups, Mimi and Wolfie. They were very special. These charming creatures were a breed called Coton de Tulear. Coton means “cotton” in French, and the port of Tulear is in Madagascar off the coast of Africa. They were very endearing, well loved dogs. You know what I strongly remember about them? Believe it or not, I remember their singing and dancing. Yes, that’s right! They danced! They loved to stand on their hind legs, turning around and around.

Chongo 30×22 Watercolor

Chongo belonged to a very dear friend of mine. He was hands down the most well behaved and well trained dog I have ever met. I hung out with him and his lovely owner one chilly afternoon at Dog Beach. That’s out here in Ocean Beach, California. Chongo’s mom introduced me to my first Bikram yoga class. His painting always pleasantly reminds me of my talk with her that day, and of transitions. I enjoyed painting him with his tennis ball in this piece. It fits in well with the background. I think I should try to do more of that in my other pieces. Chongo is unfortunately no longer with us, but he was very much loved when he was here.

Roger 30×15 Watercolor

Belle 30 x 22 Watercolor

Conga 22×30 Watercolor

Conga is a leopard born into captivity. She now lives in Lions, Tigers & Bears which is a big cat rescue sanctuary just outside of San Diego. Lions, Tigers & Bears gives Conga a place to live out her natural life span. I get to visit her about twice a year. She is feisty and playful and loves to chase frisbees that are thrown along the outside of her enclosure.

Akela 25×21 Watercolor

I had the pleasure of meeting this amazing creature at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana. Born in captivity, this beautiful grey wolf is the alpha of a pack consisting of her and three other male wolves. She was as intense as she looks, and took her job seriously. I used metallic watercolor paints in this to describe the iciness of both her and the snowy conditions I met her in.

Olivia 29×41 Watercolor

Olivia lived with me for several years and was quite a little personality. This is one of my rare extra-large paintings measuring 29×41, it’s also one of my personal favorites. The amount of time it took to cover this size sheet of paper with watercolor paint to the level of saturation I prefer was… let’s say considerable. This painting was just sold January 25th and I miss having her above my couch already.