I love carrying a notebook with me in my bag, useful for notes, sketching phone numbers, all sorts. So when I found out you could make your own notebooks through blurb I was keen to try it.

The first one had to be a Bengal notebook! Well it has arrived and I’m very pleased with the result.

I’ve never tried anything like this before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The paper for the notebook is white uncoated paper and light weight, 90gsm, so I did wonder how well the images would print. Would they be too flat on uncoated paper or bleed through the pages?

But no! They’ve printed surprisingly well. :-) Maybe a bit lighter than you’d expect on a fine art print but they look pretty good and they don’t come through the thin paper either.

Here’s a photo of Cassie with her painting ‘The Boss’ in the book.

I’ve added some photos to flickr to show some of the pages in the notebook.

Or have a look or have a look at the notebook on blurb you can preview the book and even buy one.

The Bengal Notebook by Denise Laurent | Make Your Own Book

On Thursday 27 October, Cats Protection will be holding a Black Cat Awareness Day. They say….

It seems that black cats get over looked when people are choosing cats! How sad is that? Cats Protection say that around 20 per cent of cats in their care are black cats and, for whatever reason, often take longer to find new homes while their would-be adopters plump for torties, tabbies and gingers.

Cats Protection  will be running a social media campaign on that day, but need our help to make it a success. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter – to keep in touch with what they’re doing.

I certainly will, our most recent cat is a black cat and a rescue. The fabulous Harry. Huge, soppy and a great cuddle. I can highly recommend black cats! :-)

I’ve been working hard to finish the paintings and prints for the American Bullmastiff Association art auction next month. Dax, Rocky and CJ at Bijoux Falls are on their way and hopefully they’ll help to raise much needed funds for bullmastiff rescue and health.

Here they are…

Rocky

CJ at The Bijoux Falls

Dax

Harry is really becoming a muse! Here he is crammed into a box. What is it with cats and boxes? They certainly have a thing for them and it seems, the smaller the better. A good box should be a tight fit or it’s not comfortable.

Harry likes the boxes my printer paper comes in. Sadly my paper is still in it! But I thought I’d paint him rather than turf him out as he just looked so good. I loved the paw just peaking over the edge. :-)

This painting is available, just follow the link or email me if you’d like it. It is a 10×8 inch oil painting on board of Harry in his favourite squashed box!

Here’s a close up of the painting.

Here is the first of the paintings for the winners of the Bullmastiff Competition I ran earlier this year.

Urbandream Honky Tonk Women for Jaarmoel aka Dax owned by Carol Wilson. Isn’t she a cutie? :-)

I love the colour contrasts between the lilacs, blues and greens and the warm ochre tones in her coat. She also has the sweetest expression with her paw firmly on her toy. She’s clearly a girl who knows her own mind.

This is an 8×8 inch acrylic painting on board. A giclée print of the painting will be going to the American Bullmastiff Association Nationals for the art auction.

Thank you Dax for being a lovely model!

In this little painting I wanted to capture those gorgeous blue eyes as this pretty cat gazes out of the window.

Blue Eyed Girl
8×6 inch acrylic on board.
SOLD

The annual Exhibition for The Society of Feline Artists is now on at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in London (opposite The Old Vic, Waterloo). The show runs until the 16th of September.

And here are my paintings…

Photos of the hang and of the private view can seen on the SOFA blog. There’s a slideshow with plenty of photos so you can get a good look around the show. Almost as good as being there.

Isn’t he gorgeous? This is Punapippuri, a beautiful ginger and white cat and, more importantly, Kitty King of Finland! I had the privilege of painting him recently.

Punapippuri
10×8 inch acrylic on board
SOLD

I fell for that expression, lying in the sun with his eyes half closed, paws tucked up. He looks so sweet. :-) And he has his own blog too. Take a look at Pikku Punapippuri and see what he and his subjects get up to.

I’m on a roll with landscapes at the moment it seems. Here’s one of Scotland. A glorious red stag with a backdrop of Scotland’s wonderful Glen Etive. I adore the Scottish landscape, it’s so breath taking!

What a fabulous excuse for luscious colour! Those reds and purples contrast so deliciously with the greens and yellows. Can you tell how much I enjoyed doing this one? :-)

This is a 16×12 inch acrylic painting on board.

Do contact me if you’d like it to hang on your wall.

OK, I admit there are no animals in this one! But this is one of my favourite trees, I just love the way it looks and the beauty of it’s flowers when it’s in bloom in the spring. It really brightens up my day.

I’ve been wanting to do some paintings of London for a while now. Something that shows the beauty of city living, and this tree in Gordon Square is the first (and hopefully not the last) of that series. In fact, you might recognise this tree, it also appears in my Siamese cat painting, In The Pink, it’s the tree behind the stretching cat!

It was a beautiful sunny spring day and the light coming through the tree was full of hot colours. I used lots of small marks to capture the sparkle of the light and the warmth of those colours.

City Park Sunshine
10×8 inch acrylic on board
SOLD

Another painting in the series of dogs on the beach, one of my favourite subjects! This is Rusty, a Labradoodle. He’s racing away across the sand and through the waves with his ball in his mouth. It makes me think of happy summer days, full of fun and laughter.

This was a great excuse for some luscious colour combinations. The wonderful turquoise sea looks wonderful against the reds and golds of his coat. The colours add to the feeling of a happy, sunny day.

Here are some close up details of the painting.

Green Ball
16×12 inches acrylic on canvas board
SOLD

This beautiful horse is Tudor Star, cantering across the sands. He is a good looker and his coat is full of warmth and light. This painting is a 16×12 inch oil on canvas.

Tudor Star
sold