Here's this year's Zoe and Santa picture. This was taken at Bass Pro Shop. We waited for at least an hour, after giving up on the 2 1/2 hour wait the day before.

The taxidermy reindeer are a nice touch, if a tad morbid. And if you look closely, it seems Santa should have been more careful with the band saw in the toy factory.

A (small but important) Lesson Learned

Don't buy off-brand packing tape. Buy the good stuff. Otherwise, once you let it stick to itself, you'll spend the next hour sounding like a bad-tempered pirate while attempting to get it going again.

Trust me, it's worth the extra dollar.

Chaos Begets Blogging?

I haven't blogged since May. So why now, when everything is chaos, am I suddenly moved to blog? (Note that during that sentence I had to get up twice - once to get my daughter a new spoon, and the next moment to clean lime yogurt off her feet.)

I think everyone suffers chaos in December. There's too much to do, too little money, too little time. And seven unexpected things that go wrong. Expensive car repairs. Relatives coming in from the same city on two different flights that land hours apart on the same day. Two colds in a row. Worry about the norovirus shutting down schools. Doctor's appointments. Cats attacking the Christmas tree. Artic weather.

And yet I'm painting every day. I finally joined the local artists group, and will volunteer with their auction in the new year. I'm hopeful that I'll meet some artists, as I don't know any here yet. (Though that will be about when D gets a new job in Seattle or San Fran, most likely. His current contract ends in May, and that seems to be where the offers are coming from.)

It's funny - we look forward to Christmas all year, and then - some of us, at least - look forward to New Year's and the chance to relax, at least a little.

Well, That's Over

The idea of completing a small painting everyday ended almost before it began. Why? Because a series of really large paintings has taken up residence in my brain, and they're clamoring to get out. (Let's hope that don't hire that angry gnome that occasionally hides behind one or the other of my eyeballs, doing something annoying with a jackhammer.)

But, just to prove that I am still painting every day, I'll be posting studies and sketches along the way. And it's going to rain most of the week, so I'll have no good reason to be outside playing instead of inside, painting.

What to expect? Something in between fantasy and surrealism (Magritte surrealism, not Dali surrealism.) Stay tuned - I'll try and post a sketch or a study today.

Beak Envy

Beak Envy

4.5"x7"

watercolor on archival paper

Bid for this painting on eBay.

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

5"x6". Watercolor on archival paper

The actual colors on this one are a bit deeper, but got washed out in the scan. Can't figure out how to fix it in Photoshop without blurring the detail.

Click here to bid on eBay.

WIP

I tried to do a daily painting today - instead, we have the beginning of a painting.

While the day started well, the afternoon went to hell, and that carried over into evening. It was 9 o'clock before I actually got started.

I'm learning that, while I envy the people who can enjoy painting a flower or a piece of fruit, I get bored easily. I enjoy work that is a little more narrative. This WIP is actually not a drawing - I painted the details with a tiny brush in black acrylic. Tomorrow I'll add some color, and then let you see how it goes.

I'm also going to try listing these on ebay, as I'm not sure anyone is actually reading this blog at the moment, after my long hiatus.

The Mechanics of Flight

"Believing too much in engineers, some bumblebees consulted dwarven craftsment for mechanical assistance."


Watercolor on archival paper.
6.75" x 7"
$50

Toys

This one's not my favorite, but I learned a lot from it. Am already looking forward to tomorrow's project.

And judging by the weather forecast - thunderstorms, more storms, and some severe storms - it's a good thing I'm looking forward to being indoors!

Acrylic on paper
5"x6"

Not So Good

Today's painting was an utter failure. It shall be chalked up to a learning experience, and shall not see the light of day.

Tomorrow - dare I attempt two to make up for it?

Wildlife Drama

Zoe and I were walking back from the playground today, when I happened to glance up into a tree. An injured squirrel was sitting on a branch, close to the trunk, about 12 feet off the ground. Some sort of injury to his leg - he didn't look good at all. And large red-tailed hawk had noticed, and was sitting on the same branch, trying to decide whether or not this was easy prey.

Every few minutes, the hawk would lunge at the squirrel, and the squirrel would scoot around the tree trunk. The hawk followed, hopping from branch to branch. And every once in a while, another bird would harrass the hawk. A blue jay kept swiping at the hawks head. The hawk ignored it. A robin and a cardinal sat on some outer branches, squawking their opinions.

Once the hawk got close enough to the squirrel to knock it off the branch. Poor thing fell to the ground, then climbed right back up to the tree and climbed back on the same branch with the hawk.

This went on for about 20 minutes, when the hawk finally decided the whole thing was too much like work and flew off.

I felt bad for the squirrel, but I think his days are numbered anyway. And the whole drama was fascinating. I only wish I'd had a video camera with me - that's just not something you see every day.

Helium Goldfish, Dry and Scanned

Got up this morning (way TOO early, thanks to reality in the form of my daughter and my cats) and scanned in the goldfish as balloons. The scanned quality is much better than the photo quality, thankfully.

These are both done in acrylic, and are approximately 4" x 5". Note the knot of the balloon on the belly of the second goldfish.

(Later today, check back for bumblebees and the mechanics of flight.)

Helium Goldfish, Still Wet

This is not a neat post, but because I'm trying to do a painting every day, I wanted proof that I finished these two tonight!

The paint is still wet in this picture - I grabbed the camera right after cleaning my brushes. Tomorrow I'll post them individually, neatly cropped and categorized.

Tiger Eye

Miniature watercolor, now for sale.

2.5"x3"

Original watercolor on archival paper.

Tiny, and highly detailed.

$65

Complementary Pear

Complementary Pear

4"x4"

Acrylic on cradled board

$50

Autumn Birch

Autumn Birch

8"x5.25"

watercolor on archival quality paper

$40

Change of Direction, Daily Paintings

It's time. I will be painting, and posting, a painting a day. (Well, okay. Let's be honest. Most days. Life can get in the way, after all.) It will be mostly small paintings, and I'll post them for sale.

I'm going to start with that here, but am considering listing them on Ebay, as well. Has anyone, other than Carole Marine, had success with that?

Today I'll be listing several, since I have a bit of a backlog.

And this will be more than just an art blog - I'll also post bits of life, and occasional photos.

But to start with, here's a painting.

Harvest Moon

acrylic on cradled board

5x5

$55