Pencil Drawing of "Ben" - Pet Memorial Portrait

My latest pet portrait is a pencil drawing of a dog known as "Ben." Big Ben crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this year, and his owner's kind friend decided that a pencil portrait would make a lovely memorial. Ben was a delightful subject, and I can tell he will surely be greatly missed.

New Clydesdale Horse Drawing - Inspired by You-Know-Who!

My latest pencil drawing, titled “Crowd Pleasers,” was inspired by a recent visit of the Budweiser Draft Horse Hitch. It seemed much of the town of Canton turned out to see these gentle giants! Getting photographs was a real challenge, as people surrounded the horses from the moment the critters came off their trailers. I was fortunate to have a wonderful art patron who agreed to let me use some of her shots to create this drawing. Thanks Mary!

I now have Limited Edition Prints ready for sale. The prints are available in black & white, or hand-tinted with color highlights. If you would like to purchase one of these prints, just click here or a direct link to the web page: Clydesdale Horses art print.

New Website for Kelli Swan

Well, I supposed I could now officially be called an "Internet Junkie!" Last week I attended the Tuscawaras County Mac User Group and saw a wonderful presentation on iWeb. Inspired by what I saw, and having had too much coffee, I proceeded to order my upgrade to iLife '09 that day! And boy, has this software ever been fun! (Like I needed more software toys after getting the hang of Dreamweaver and Adobe CS4!)

To test out this '09 package, I created a new website as an introduction to my fine art Pencil Drawings of Horses and Dogs: www.kelliswan.com.

iWeb has some nifty features, such as the ability to make Albums for portfolio images. In my case, I utilized two albums to separate out my horse and dog artwork samples.


And with the new iPhoto capabilities I was able to create a short slide show - with music! All it took was a few minutes of photo-prep, create the slide show in iPhoto, export and drag into iWeb. Lots of fun and not much time at all! My little slide show can be found under the "Latest Pencil Drawings" tab.

While iWeb is lots of fun, and a great Sunday project, I found through trial and error that SEO is a bit of a challenge. After a quick Google search, I found a blog post on SEO for iWeb, which helped a great deal. Setting up html navigation to replace iWeb's default navigation should help. I'll also be refining text content as time goes on.

See Kelli's Pencil Drawings at Woofstock!

This year I will have my original pencil drawings and limited edition prints on display at Woofstock, which is hosted by PBS Animal Health in Massillon, Ohio. Woofstock will be held on Saturday, June 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Stop by to see my latest work or just to talk about a custom pet portrait!

There will be several exhibitors and pet products galore! The highlight of the day is the Dog Wash, with proceeds going to benefit the Stark County Dog Pound. Michael Nicolette, DVM, will also be on hand with mini-seminars on pet care. Topics to be covered include:

10:30-10:45: Heartworm Prevention
11:00-11:15: Senior Dog Care
11:30-11:45: Pet Nutrition/Healthy Weight
12:00-12:15: Puppy Care
1:00-1:15: Heartworm Prevention
1:30-2:45: Dog Vaccines and Deworming

AND, with any PBS store purchase you will receive a ticket to enter the Raffle Basket Contest! PBS Animal Health is located at 2780 Richville Drive SE, Massillon, OH 44646. (330) 834-9252.

Please note that all visiting dogs and dogs taking part in the Dog Wash must be up-to-date on shots and on a leash. Owners are responsible for their dogs.

The Budweiser Clydesdale are coming to Canton, Ohio!

THE WORLD-FAMOUS BUDWEISER CLYDESDALES MAKE A STOP IN CANTON, OHIO

The Clydesdales are coming to Canton, Ohio. They’re bringing their state-of-the art trailers, their expertly trained handlers, their 1903 Studebaker beer wagon and their unmistakable beauty and charm to the downtown arts celebration known as First Friday, on Friday, June 5 from 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. in the downtown Canton Arts District.

Rock stars of the equestrian world; the Budweiser Clydesdales are transported in style and cause a sensation of delight wherever they travel. This is more than 100,000 miles a year, throughout the United States and away from their home in St. Louis, Missouri. Their June 5 stop in Canton, Ohio is made possible through the Downtown Special Improvement District and ArtsinStark, the county arts council.  

With origins in Scotland, it was the breed’s hauling power and confident style that attracted North Americans to the Clydesdale. In fact, in the early days of brewing, it was said that a brewer’s success was directly related to how far his draft horses could pull a load in one day. Thus, the Clydesdales became the natural icon for the “king of beers.”
But not every Clydesdale can make the cut.

To qualify for the world-famous, eight-horse hitch, a Budweiser Clydesdale must stand 18 hands high (about 6 feet) at the shoulder when fully mature, and weight approximately 2,000 pounds. They must be geldings, bay in color, have four white stockings and a blaze of white on the face, as well as a black mane and tail. A gentle temperament also is important, as hitch horses meet millions of people each year. And, they often have a short name, like Duke, Captain, Mark. And of course, Bud.

The Budweiser Clydesdales and their own mascot Dalmatian will be travel through the Arts District delivering kegs to downtown restaurants beginning at 5:30 p.m. Following that from 6:30-8:00 p.m., they will be hitched to their wagon in the Kresge green space, at the corner of Market Avenue North and Fourth Street N for photos with the public and posing for a live painting demonstration by Sue Steiner of White Horse Studio (www.suesteiner.com). Steiner’s studio at Second April Galerie (324 Cleveland Ave NW) will feature equine art this month. Artist Kelli Swan, whose work was featured as a limited edition print in the official 2009 Kentucky Derby celebration, will show her graphite equine artworks at the Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild (338 4th St. NW, Canton). See more www.pencilplace.com.

First Friday is a celebration of live music, local art, downtown dining and more -- sponsored by the Downtown Canton Special Improvement District in cooperation with ArtsinStark, the County Arts Council. For more information, please visit www.cantonfirstfriday.com

Kelli's Horse Pencil Drawing to be Featured in the 2009 Kentucky Derby Celebration

My equine artwork will soon be part of Kentucky Derby history! This year the Louisville Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kentucky contacted me to order an exclusive line of 350 Derby-theme, limited edition prints. Each print has been personally signed, numbered and titled. The prints will become special commemorative gifts – to be given to guests of the Hyatt Regency on Derby weekend 2009.

I created the artwork, titled “Derby Dreams,” as a pencil drawing in my signature montage style. This layered drawing technique, combined with the classic look of black & white pencil drawing, makes my approach to horse artwork truly unique in the world of Equine Art. The original drawing has been framed by the Hyatt and will be on display in the lobby throughout the week of Derby events. The artwork will then become part of the Hyatt’s permanent collection.

I am so very grateful to Karen Patsfield, Executive Administrative Assistant of the Hyatt Regency, for being so wonderful to work with. Karen's organizational skills and management abilities made this large project a joyful process from start to finish. Guests of the Hyatt no doubt enjoy all of the attention to detail from such a fine staff!


I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Deb Simon Photography. Deb kindly allowed me to use some of her horse photography as partial reference material for this project. Thank you once again Deb!

New website design is now live - Psychologist Dr. Delphi Toth

I have another new website design that is now active. This site was designed for Clinical Psychologist Dr. Delphi Toth, serving Cleveland, Akron and Canton Ohio. Dr. Delphi Toth - Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist offers psychotherapy, life coaching and other counseling services.

If you would like to see more websites that I have designed, as well as samples of my other Graphic Design Services, please visit: Websites for Psychologists and Natural Health Alternatives..