Hooves & Frogs Story 

Dee has drawn since being very young and often had dreams of being either an author, an illustrator or an artist. As she's grew life took over and eventually took over her dreams, the reality of working, paying bills and raising a family moved to the forefront of life. Dee hung up her pencils and paints along with her artistic dreams and decided she would draw again one day once she'd done building a stable home and life. 

 When Dee did draw, it was always drawn cartoon characters that she would attempt in the past and felt realism wouldn't be something she could manage, and she never felt brave enough to try.. 

I won't go into reasons here as Dee will tell you the full story on, but after a very long and challenging illness Dee was left disabled, she was no longer able to go to work and just about about every hobby she loved to do was now out of reach either because she was unable due to the physical requirements or due to cost also. Dee sat for a number of years in her home not sure what to do anymore and whatife held for her and the future, until one day after watching a quick film on someone drawing she decided that was the time to dig out her pencils and paints and start enjoying art once again. 

Dee didn't want to draw cartoon characters this time and wanted to do something that was more challenging and rewarding, and that's when she decided to start drawing horses and other animals. After approximately a year of drawing, starting with just pencil and moving through different mediums to find what she felt worked best for her, Dee settled on soft paste ls and pastel pencils as her favourite medium. Dee had also gone from drawing just simple outline drawings and moved on to much more detailed drawings, this is when she started getting requests from friends and family to draw a family pet or a favourite animal of theirs and wanting to look professional so people would have confidence in her work and DeeDackelsaArt was born. She chose this name using her name, her favourite breed of dog and art which explains itself really. 

Once up and running, Dee did a number of commissions for people either via request directly to her or through word of mouth and she loved her time doing these. However drawing commissions takes up days and weeks of time along with the cost if materials that are used to create the portraits. Dee felt a huge amount of pressure when creating her commissions and after drawing a piece for a friend which was delayed due to health problems Dee was having at the time, she decided to step away from her art table for a few weeks and see how she felt. A few weeks went on to last approximately a year and in that time Dee did a lot of reflecting of herself and her artwork and decided one day she wanted to draw a frog! 

That was the move forward Dee needed and from then on she drew consistently drew amphibians of different sizes, shapes and species and realised she hadn't had so much fun drawing in years! 

After months of drawing frogs and fish etc. Dee decided it was time for a total face-lift of DeeDackelsArt. She removed her website first to ensure no more commission requests and started the task of thinking of a new name which described her art more accurately. She hadn't given up on drawing horses and other animals so didn't just want to name it after one species, her love of horses was so important to her she wanted to find a way to incorporate both furry and slippery and after some thinking the idea of Hooves and Frogs came to mind. They not only have a link to each other, the hoof having a centre area called the frog, but also a link to each of her favourite animal to draw. She put this name to one side and made sure there was nothing else she liked, but something about this name really clicked with Dee so that was what she decided on.  

Hooves and Frogs was born. Dee first started on building her new websites where she could share not only her art but also her model building and diorama building which she has also grown a great passion for. Dee finds building the little homes and adding things like flower boxes on the windowsills of the house, climbing plants up the side of the odd house, Little greenhouses with boxes of plants on the shelves and floor, making it looked real and used. Even things like painting the animals she does with such detail to make them relatable to her past, she's painted 3 horses from her childhood that meant the world to her but she has 5 other horses 3 of which she rescued herself and two that belonged to a very good friend that she rode. She's also got a flock of sheep and a small herd of cows to put on her farm which she is yet to build. 

Dee will put a page on her website explain more about the diorama, model building and trains that she's building and will share her progress with what she is building at the time. 

There will also be a page that will contain her artwork of all the amphibians and other furry animals she'll be drawing in the future opening a portrait page for her own portfolio. These pieces will be photographed with a high quality digital camera and once Dee has got herself settled and is drawing again, she will keep copies of all her images and once she has built a good size collection, she will take those images and have a collection of each piece printed by a specialist and then placed in a protective sleeve along with a Thankyou card and business card and they will be boxed and sent out to each customer. 

All Dee's portraits are lovingly hand drawn using photographs supplied to her by either photograph's Dee has taken or by using reference photographs that she has been given permission to use via reference photograph Website that she uses. 

Dee is currently concentrating on her portfolio, so she can manage her growth and make changes where she might need too, however she isn't going to give up drawing commissions of people's pets and once her artroom is up in our garden, decorated and filled with her pastels and art table etc. she will be happy to continue taking commission's of your pets whether it be a horse, or dog, your cut little frog, your reptile or other type of amphibian, please do message Dee, she's always happy to try and help where she can. It makes Dee very happy if she feels she's brought someone else a little bit of happiness.

Dee uses the best products that she is able to purchase to get the best results, however these products she uses are expensive but it's her love of art, Drawing and animals, plus the reaction she gets from her clients that keeps her creating her art possible. 

Dee's portraits make wonderful gifts and special keepsakes to loved ones and friends, something they can cherish themselves or give as a gift that special someone.

If you would like a commissioned portrait, feel free to ask Dee any questions that you might have, please don't hesitate. You can either message Dee through Facebook messenger, there is a button on her Facebook page, or you can send an email via the email address on the Contacts page. You can also text message via her Business WhatsApp number on the contacts page, leaving your details so someone is able to contact you back.

We're always happy to help you with your enquiries.