Page 81 of The Wedding Ranch
Chapter Twenty-four
The next day, Lorri emailed Tinsley three design ideas and a wholesale contact for the shirts, hoping her price break might help. She printed out her favorite version and hung it on the tack strip next to the multiple sketches of the many faces of Mister in her studio.
Studio.
That sounded so official. Was it truly never too late to pursue a dream?
She went back downstairs and sat at her desk to check on her work projects and make sure they were all still on time. So much of her job these days didn’t even require artistic talent. They had databases loaded with stock images, cutting design time into a smidgen of what it used to be. There were times when the days dragged on. Especially when she got stuck on long conference calls where she really was supposed to do nothing but listen.
She found new joy in those long, torturous calls by sketching while listening in. Letting her mind’s eye go wild as she halfpaid attention, waiting for something pertinent to her part of the marketing package. At the end of the week, she had several sketches that she was actually proud of, just the way they were.
Inspired to spend more time creating, she ordered art supplies and spent her extra time rearranging and readying the space for their delivery.
A week later her studio was fully stocked. Canvas, mat board, paints, and all the little extras that a real artist would have already had on hand.
She also had the final approval from Tinsley on the artwork for the Animal Rescue Dog Walk shirts. The design was some of her best work. She’d started with a realistic painting, one with Mister as the subject with playful butterflies and bees.
This morning she awoke with an idea that had her excited. She left the original artwork unscathed, scanning it and then digitally coloring the image. It turned out bright and eye-catching and very pop-art-ish. The event lettering stood out against the colorful image in a fun way. She happily worked on the changes for a few hours, then emailed Tinsley to let her know it was done so she could take it over to her screen printer.
If it’s a success, I’ll offer to do an original shirt design for the fundraiser each year.Maybe she’d end up being their local artist of choice.Artist. That sounded so good.She didn’t mind doing it for free for such a good cause. She’d drop the idea to Tinsley when she saw her.
What could possibly make this day any better?
The doorbell rang. Mister bounced to his feet letting out two big woofs on his way to the front door.
Tinsley must be as excited as I am.
Lorri carried the original artwork and the thumb drive with the digital files to the door with her. Swinging the door open with a knowing hello, she was surprised to not see Tinsley standing there.
“Ryder?”This is the one thing that could make today even better.“It’s so good to see you.”
“Yeah?” He stood there holding the handles of a large brown sack. “Hope it’s okay I just dropped by.”
“Definitely. Please come in.”
He looked relieved. “What do you have there?”
She was wondering the same about what he was carrying. Lorri turned the drawing toward him. “I thought you were Tinsley coming to pick up the graphic I created for the Animal Rescue Dog Walk. Have you heard about it?”
“I have. Let me see.” He took the drawing, his face brightening. “You’re good.” He looked at her square on. “Really good.”
“I had a good model.”
“He is a good-looking dog.” His mouth twisted into a goofy grin. “Maybe I could be your model one day. Can you make me look that good?” He struck a pose, then laughed it off.
Little did he know that he’d already landed in several of her sketches, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.
“They wanted something they could use for T-shirts for one of the teams. They’re going to sell them early to build interest in the event, and then sell them for keepsakes after. Maybe give some away as raffle prizes.”
“These will sell like crazy. I’ll buy one.”
“Thank you.” She could picture his wide shoulders filling out the shirt.
“They’re holding that event over at the property behind The Wedding Ranch,” Ryder said.
“I didn’t know that. You know all about this event then.”
“Sure. The town has always done a silent auction to raise money for the animal rescue in the past, but it’s dwindled to barely breaking even so they’re trying something new. People are going to love those T-shirts. I knew you were a graphic artist, but I guess I hadn’t really thought about you painting and doing stuff like this. I had no idea we had such a great artist in our midst.”
