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