Thursday, August 21, 2008
One More Day
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Where I Stand Sunday
no countertops or electricity for the coffeepot,
no sink for the dirty dishes we make,
items in boxes scattered hither and yon.
Sore muscles, painful backs,
more to engineer
with every turn.
The do-it-yourselfer's creed.
One more item, as we were demo-ing the old cabinets, we found, a fairly recent or at least very well preserved small snake carcass between the wall and the cabinets. Makes for interesting thoughts at bedtime.
Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on.
The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A Bug's Life
and I know some of you are, don't read this!!
Yesterday alone, there were "bug" anomalies everywhere.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Arte y Pico Award
I am passing this award, according to the "rules", to 5 artists that I feel also deserve the recognition. Some of them I have emailed with or met in person and some I haven't, but never the less, they are an inspiration to me, as I am sure others.
Melody Johnson
Karen Margulis
Lorrie Drennan
Sue Bleiweiss
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Funny You Should Wonder
Last November I was taking my second class with master painter, Kaye Franklin, who told us about the painting trip. After the class was over, I thought, wow, that could be a real experience for an artist and I have learned alot from Kaye, especially about oil painting. This is right out of the brochure:
Join this prolific artist and International Workshop Instructor on the trip of a lifetime to beautiful Guatemala. Kaye Franklin will take you the most scenic and colorful venues throughout Guatemala. The hotels, excursions, special events, and cuisine will be luxury, unique, and five star all the way. The painting and instruction will be most incredible.
Be inspired in the Spanish colonial town of Antigua where you’ll wake up in a 16th century Monastery to the sounds of macaws and running water in the fountains and colorful bougainvillea everywhere. With its romantic surroundings, this town is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Central America. The venues here are endless. We’ll paint in ruins left by the 30 Monastic orders that called Antigua home and built stunning monasteries, convents, and cathedrals in the town. The local markets, quiet courtyards with ornate gardens and the sights and sounds of colonial Spain permeate the atmosphere.
Travel through the magical highlands of Guatemala and paint on sight with Kaye, overlooking Lake Atitlán (Aldous Huxley, famed English author called it “the most beautiful; lake in the world”) with its three towering volcanoes and twelve Maya villages. Painters at all levels are invited to join in on this experience of a lifetime; the Maya markets, the villages, and the people will steal your heart forever. You will never want to leave.
So I have been busy studying up on what to pack, what to do, what to expect, getting my US passport (which is a whole 'nother story in itself), and making plans to get to KC on the 23rd, stay at Mom and Dad's and fly off on the 24th, returning on the 3rd of Sept. The only concern I have is there are "coffee flies" (Simulium ochraceum) and I have been warned about them twice now. Can you picture it, little flies drinking espresso ? Maybe we can sit down and chat over a latte! (And other advise - from bloggers who have been - besides the always and everpresent.."Don't drink the water"? You never want to drink from a straw, unless you take the package off yourself, they recycle them, and other advise that I won't mention, until I find out it's true.) Think of me on Day 2, sitting high atop a Mayan temple above the rain forest in Tikal listening to the monkeys howl and the macaws calling. I can hear them now! Should be fun and very interesting.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Technology and Artists
It was a learning experience watching her paint her cat last week. Yesterday, she was 'at it' again! The girl has lots of energy! I thought perhaps I would paint along with her, from the same photo, as a learning tool for myself. This week she painted a dog. There were many other artists joining in - watching and learning. I have a little more to do on mine..always helps when you photograph your work and intend to publish it on your blog, you start seeing places to rework in the neck, the body and the nose....other than that...
When you register at Ustream, and I highly encourage you to do so, you get an ID to log in with so you can be a part of realtime video and chat. The chatting is important! It's like being in an art class, or it is good to talk to the artist if you are just a visitor who is curious about the process. If you have time, check it out next Sunday. See her blog for the time. She gives it her all...and then some. Thanks, Susan! You can see the source photo and her painting at Susan's weblog! Just think, she was down there in Texas and I was up here in Kansas...and we were painting together! Artists - ya gotta love today's technology!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Where I Stand Sunday
Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on.
The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Raven
Friday, August 8, 2008
A Painting for Today
Thursday, August 7, 2008
And the Rain Came...
SO, now...welcome to our lake. When the weather comes from the north, we tend to flood - as the water runs downhill.
It's 6:15 PM and the water is still touching the bottom of the bridge. It rained between about 9 and noon. And ya, it's been really sweltering, but did we deserve this much moisture? Can you say 'muggy'?
We usually go survey the damage - to see if there is any. What we found were lots of mosquitoes. They bring welts where they bite, for me.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Bounty
We seem to have a grasshopper problem right now, they are devouring sunflowers and bean plants. We finally have a few small jalapenos growing on the mass of plants we planted...it's taken a long time for them to get going.
We've eaten so much sweet corn that it's now time to pick and freeze.
Peek-a-boo! Can't wait...there are at least 30 - 40 of them right now!
In addition, we have an apple tree that has really delicious red fruit on it! This is all pretty exciting as last growing season was a dud, due to the early hailstorms that almost took out the trees, but they have made a fair comeback! Applesauce this weekend, along with painting!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Chaco - and not the canyon
Supposed to be cooler here today, hope it is where you are.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Where I Stand Sunday
he's a member of the family.
Dog baths, nail clipping,
tick treatments, shots,
dog food, exercise,
but with it comes
miles and miles of
love.
From Wikipedia:
The phrase Dog Days or "the dog days of summer", refers to the hottest, most sultry days of summer. They are a phenomenon of the northern hemisphere that usually falls between early July and early September but the actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress.
Well folks, that's us!
Today at noon I will be taking a break from kitchen remodel and watch Susan Carlin paint via real-time video at Ustream. The actual URL is www.ustream.tv/channel/SusanCarlin. You can try to click on this link, however, you may have to type it in as I do. I think that maybe unless she is actually an open link at the time, it doesn't connect. (I am a hacker - at best.)
Just an FYI, here is a photo of our RV 2-alarm system. It had just been activated by the 'yard guys' at Menard's in Nebraska last Wednesday.
Friday, August 1, 2008
A Painting for Tomorrow
Sorry for the glare of the flash, I had to go to the studio after dark, dodging the big toads (they are the poisonous kind) on my way (look out Herman), and steal a flash photo or two. It's so nice now in the studio, we were thinking of sleeping out there. It has enough space in it, and we set up the futon last week, and the AC doesn't blast you out of bed. It's a nice cool, not obnoxiously so, like our itsy bitsy bedroom is. Thought we would sit out awhile at dusk, there weren't mosq, then they showed up. DRAT! Working on the kitchen tomorrow. Meant to today, but didn't get to it. So hope I can get back to this before my palette starts to dry out.
Yeah, That's Done!
Opened this email this
morning from my daughter who lives far away
in Brooklyn,and sent this out to everyone
she knows. She lives on 6th Ave.
They live on the third floor....
"Before I start I want everyone to know that not a single
person was hurt. At about 9pm this evening I was playing
with Scarlett on our bedroom floor and
I hear a loud boom and the house shake,
also the air conditioner stopped squeaking???
I'm thinking to myself that was not a large
truck going by that was an explosion or
something. I look out the window and see a
guy running toward our stoop!
I go to get a better view out of our center
window and look down to see a
CAR that has crashed into our HOUSE!
Basically the girl who was driving
swerved to miss an oncoming car and ran
into our stoop. She actually
missed the house by about an inch. A kid
passing by after the car had been
removed and our mangled stoop fence was
sitting on the ground, kicked the fence
and said "Yeah, that's done!" "
This is not art related, but just had to blog about it. When your kids are far away, you tend to worry - just a little. Supposed to be in the 100's today, oh boy! Check out my sketch blog.
Art Still GOING On
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"Mad Cat" 6" x 8" oil on canvasboard This one and Day 4's were painted with a very limited palette. I de...
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"Venus" 6" x 6" oil on pine veneer To know someone, you have never met, on Facebook since 2009 makes my...