goosey goosey gander.......

brant goose
pale bellied
head study

i've started research on brant geese.....which are tiny little birds about the size of mallard ducks.
they are ocean/salt marsh birds and we get them down the coasts during migrations.
the one on the east coast is the pale bellied or atlantic brant
there are a few others.......
they eat eelgrass, seagrass, and forage in fields near the shore. (vegetarians)
anyway.....i have a ways to go with my studies as i've never seen these guys in person..... which sucks, as i don't 'know' a bird well unless it's in person. so i am trying by doing a few studies to get near to a credible rendering.


meanwhile in duck stamp news... a woman won it! she's only the third woman in 75 years!!!!!
her name is Jennifer Miller and i don't even know her but i am so proud of her...she won with a pair of ruddy ducks. ........

now a couple of years ago....someone said about my work 'why ever do you paint ducks'.......my answer then was 'that is what i have around me, what i see and love every day' and i do so love my ducks-- i never knew there were other people out there that loved and painted ducks....wow!

ok now, in other news, i put up a stewing chicken and did stock.... and it was perfect timing as our bake element in the oven blew up the other night. so i ordered a new one online and it'll be here monday or tuesday.    meanwhile we have 'stove top' meals and soups.

as to the fibromyalgia, i am trying to learn my way around it..... ok well it's been ongoing i suppose. i will say that the 50,000.units of vitamin D weekly helps a lot and i added b complex and extra b12. plus a D3
i really was terribly deficient with the D way way below the lowest on the scale thingie.... it does help me to take the D supplements-- now that being said i did something to my back... so while i am better that is giving me fits.... it almost feels like i twisted my pelvis again.. and dislocated it but yet it doesn't hurt as bad as when i did the dislocated pelvis...but it does hurt and it's hard to stand up and walk.

meanwhile summer is winding down..... fall is starting in..... and i am hoping for an easy winter
so we'll see about that

anyway let me know how you all like that goose
and better yet if you have seen them in person, let me know how i did ok?

painting and pain

i over did it this week....... i put by almost 50 pounds of chicken breast for the freezer
something i used to do in about 3 hours took me more like 10, spread out over two days
then i basically collapsed
i ended up in bed last night before bernie left for work
i could NOT sit up any longer-
i'm trying to calm down what appears to be a full blown fibro flare, brought on by over doing it AGAIN......
along with going up and down the stairs a zillion times to put the first batch of chicken in the freezer, then doing dishes and some other odds and ends
when will i ever learn? cause as soon as i feel a tiny bit better i go for it...
and then get sick
i am beginning to suspect my days of heavy work may possibly be over

today i am trying to paint
i'm working on a portrait of ducks, black bellied whistling ducks to be exact-- this is a detail part way through of one of the heads.
i like this species of duck very much, although i've never seen it in person, one of my friends took photos and sent them to me after i went nuts over a few photos she'd posted online
she went back and got me photos just for me.
now they have a wonderful red/yellow carmine colored bill, that just blew me away along with a sweet sweet expression in their eyes that reminds me so much of my beloved ducks-- and since i am trying to paint wild ducks right now (doesn't it always comeback to ducks with me?) i figured a good place to start would be with this species..
let me go on record as saying.... pond water sucks the big one to paint
oye
and note to self..... mask out everything and paint the damn pond water first...... then happily paint in the ducks

so that's why i'm quiet again
i'm sick
i'm painting as much as i can
and in between i am deep in thought

sunday with the ducks

happy sunday to everyone..
i am just in from the ducks, bernie had to go in 4 hours early tonight for some sort of safety class so i told him i would bring the ducks out and he should catch as much sleep as he can.
i filled the ponds with hot water as amelia was limping and i was wondering if she had a bit of binding, although there was a freshly laid egg in their inside pens this morning
everyone is in the molt too
including the quail
this week is very busy, between medical appointments (i lucked out and got the endo i preferred this WEEK, normally wait time for her is 6-8 months! so i have no doubt someone is looking over me)
i also have art supplies coming, the fixatives for the colored pencils-
AND i finally used a gift certificate i was given for christmas, i bought an led light box, ... i was going to make it but decided that this one beings it was only about 1/2'' high was probably a better idea, it also has a dimming function...and is eye safe so i figured that what i could build was not as good as this one, oh and it's light weight so it can go on my little work surface which is nothing more then a piece of painted plywood.
the studio is coming along slowly.....now if i could only get the flat files (20 drawers seems more practical now) and the desktop along with the drawing tablet ....i think mostly the hardscape is done- then i have just ongoing supplies to replace i believe
i've decided to restock anything that's getting low....so while there was a 25% off and i had an order going in i picked up a tube of paint that i am not only getting low on but that may not be available in the future as the pigment is not being made anymore

i also have the layout of the next in my second nest series.....i think this one is number 5, however i am having a terrible time transferring it to watercolor paper.. which is also ready to go, being taped down on my working board-- i would so feel better to have more then one painting going too right now- i like having a 'filler' series going as well as a demanding series, i'd done that with the gulls and then with the frogs and i realized how much fun that is.......

ok now i got fawn her meds, the ducks, chicken and quail taken care of...... budgies are watered and fed- i got my second coffee and i am about ready to get into the studio
(what i should do is pull it apart and add another work surface but maybe i'll do that tomorrow)
til next time
take good care

thursday thursday, doesn't quite have the ring of 'monday monday'

but there you go..it's thursday
blood work was done yesterday... results due monday, and i forgot AGAIN to call the endo for the appointment
meanwhile i realized i forgot to get white transfer paper, and a tube of cerulean blue-- so i'm going to have to fudge the blue
i did however receive the black paper-- and i asked the company about it as i've never used it before and didn't want to waste a ton of paper or time experimenting, nor did i find a water/mould mark on it
(below see quote from the company!! wow they were fast and very pleasant to deal with)

"Stonehenge Black is somewhat two-sided in color tone. The richer, darker black is the side to work on. The best way to tear the sheet is with the grain, which is easy to determine. Here's how: leave the sheet flat on any surface and just lift one side to the other - the grain direction will be in the direction that gives you less resistance. It is always advisable to fold any cover weight sheet with the grain to avoid an uneven fold or cracking. If you are working with the 22 x 30 sheet size the grain direction will be long, parallel with the deckle edges. It is also better in order to get a cleaner fold or to make it easier to tear try using a large paper clip (rounded side) and gently score (slightly crease) the line to be folded or torn - this will make it easier as well."

i am kicking around how exactly i am going to be doing this next series, and i think i figured it out, maybe..... i'll have to do some comps for this one, and makes some actual notes.......just like when i was working in the art departments

meanwhile i'm laying out the next in the nest 2 series, and i think it's going to be transferred tomorrow
that's if i don't do a full comp before i just get annoyed and say screw it...
if i do a full comp then i guess i'll be transferring over the weekend-
and i am seriously considering that light box...either buying or building

i need to get into town to see about plexi for the top and an led strip for the lighting... so it may end up cheaper to order a ready made one....

what else has been happening? well my knee is slowly (very very slowly) healing.... i also found that if i get a good solid 8-10 hours sleep my elbows etc stop hurting as bad.
i am starting to get back to cooking and some very light chores.... i tripped again yesterday so i backed off again.....i won't rush into full tilt boogie this time... that last fall was that bad.

in painting news, the frog series is over for now, i told bernie .....'really i don't have any more to say about frogs at the moment' and then laughed at how silly that sounded
but i realized its true!

however i am going to have a LOT to say when i start using that black paper..... (which i really wish was dark blue)
and with that paper i am considering pulling out my fabric cutting table to cut it on..... i ordered more archival paper storage boxes until we get flat files, so they will be here tuesday, and i'll cut paper after that
maybe i can get to town for the white saral paper and the cerulean blue paint too? (although i think all that i can find in town would be windsor newton and i'm not crazy about their cerulean blue-- i would prefer of course m graham or daniel smith)

the black paper series will have gouache and colored pencil.... so that should be pretty interesting to work with, and i am looking forward to it, i haven't used gouache since i was in art school, as in the art departments we used either pen/ink or photos....
i'm sure there will be a learning curve there as well.
ok i hear bernie waking up so i'm going to go start his supper (which i guess technically is his breakfast since he works graveyard)

take good care

studio musings

 so you all remember the proposed re-arrangement of the painting end of the studio? (there is a fast sketch >>>)
well i am trying to figure out how to set up again for the new way i'm working and for the adding of the gouache area...i also need a spray booth area for fixatives
that wasn't figure in ...and i would need an exhaust fan too
i am wondering if it really is time to either add to the studio or move?
we really seriously need just a huge open space with two bathrooms
because where ever i work is where we live, no matter where i set up (and i always try to get the best light for what i'm doing) ...... before i know it, bernie's workbench is in there.....the cats are there, the plants are there, the computer is there and when we had/have people over.....they hang out in there... when we lived in the apartment and i worked in the bedroom, i used to have to throw people off my bed just to go to sleep!

now i have a lot of supplies.... i have a lot of palettes also
i am trying to decide how to handle the gouache area, it's own brushes of course so that i don't ruin my good kolinsky brushes, it's own palettes goes without saying.. now i am considering what palette system for the gouache so i don't confuse it with the transparent watercolor...
i am looking at closed palettes with half and full pans, i am looking at open palettes for mixing...
i actually prefer open palettes but they do tend to get dusty and attract these stupid little beetles from heaven knows where...
 so far i am keeping all tube paints and some filled pans in the wooden three drawer box that rhonda gave me last year for my bd.
i also keep my drawing graphite pencils and some smaller tools in there- i really hate dusty supplies especially dusty from the woodstove.

i also need room for a computer over there, so i can work off reference photos in color on the screen
i would like to add a drawing tablet to the computer there as well....

and eventually (but sooner then later) i need a flat file, i would love wood, metal is probably safer, and i think 15 drawers or maybe 20?
and i want everything able to be on wheels to be moved for cleaning, the shakers sure has something there with their insistence on everything either hung or on wheels-- it makes things so much easier.

now i would dearly love running water there.... but probably not in this house
(and a bathroom as i am running through the house up the stairs to our bathroom all the time)

so some of what i need to come up with ideas for

1.  a second distinctly different palettes system for gouache, 
2. spray area
3. dust free system for palettes
4. computer area with drawing tablet
5. paper storage until the flat files (i use archival boxes but need them to go somewhere (low and cat pee proof)
6. more background lighting
7. light box area (set into a work surface would be best)

so this is my working list so far...... oye
add the other studio stuff to this....and the yarn, books, beads and fabric you got a seriously cluttered studio
so i want to take this opportunity to tell you that a 400+ square foot studio is way too small a space......... ahem
possibly i need 4X that..... just for studio space.... oh and skylights
i need me some skylights

any ideas?
and i need to stuff this all within the swivel of my paintings chair (the one bernie repaired as it is the only chair that fits in that area...... )

painting update

well this painting is sort of coming along. i went to the dentist today and as i walked in and out i was studying our rhodo.
what the dentist? new one, takes my insurance, i made him pinkie swear not to hurt me, which he swore and then did not hurt me
i like him.
the painting.... ahem right now.....not so much....it's torturously slow
and i have a very long way to go on it.
in other news, i put in a small order of art supplies, as everyone is having decent sales and some have free shipping. so i have some new brushes coming which i have been wanting.... a dagger brush in a different size then the one i have (it was the only brush that got me through those impatiens from hell) ...... a ream of tracing paper... some kneaded erasers, a new maskoid pickup........ and empty watercolor pans...oh and a second watercolor board so i can tape down a second painting... then i am going to be working two at a time (i may cut the second board into two pieces so i have three paintings going)

i am looking forward to working with those colored pencils as soon as i finish this series

i have a couple of ideas now.... as i dreamt a few so i may do one frog a few different ways

and in checking the frog pond, no eggs were detected yet.... but i did hear spring peepers out back, and saw snow drops (normally we see them in jan/feb......not march/april) ....
tomorrow i have lab work in the morning....fasting
friday is a doctors appointment to see if he is going to do something about this mass
although i have my doubts he's going to bother

so anyway that's our little world
oh and the new handicapped duckling is now misha
and she's learned to go in and out like the big ducks
i have hopes that she'll get into a pen with one of them maybe......
til next time

this and that and GREEN GREEN living things!

 this is the current painting in this second nest series... i am thinking of upping the contrast a bit as it is way too quiet a painting (that's what i get for listening to the pachelbel canon while painting)
however i think it works (cause of the maple leaves) with the first one in this series.....but we'll see

i've talked before here about the pigments i use, and why......(i want only lightfast for the durability)
now i am experimenting with darks again.... this painting has selective areas that are layered colors to make a dark dark..
and i think i need to do more of that here with this painting
i do like the nestling..... baby birds are so fragile and transparent looking, that it amazes me to watch them grow up.. they really do look like little aliens when they first hatch
and they are all MOUTH........
anyway, i am always researching pigments, and ways to mix pigments to make darker darks, sometimes even 'black' isn't dark enough. i would rather not use a straight black pigment, so mainly i'm working with blues, greens and reds.... layered as pure pigment as well as mixed first.
i will also tell you...i REALLY need to knuckle down and LOOK at flowers..... i'm just not good at them
anyway, i use 100% cotton acid free internal/external sized paper, and i use permanent lightfast pigments- as long as these paintings don't get wet or stored in a moist environment, they should last a few hundred years with minimal change- that doesn't mean you can throw them in the window facing south in new mexico for ten years- (and you need to frame them with uv glass too) but with reasonable care.... yup 200-400 or more years
eventually when the originals get sold i can feel good about that. (not that it matters but stranger things have happened)

this next photo is a close up of moss......from the deck, it finally thawed enough for me to pry some of it up
i am going to stick it in closed terrariums, i miss GREEN living things so much- that is an extreme close up of the moss.... the really cool thing about this particular moss is those little brown thingies on the upper right.... they are some sort of sensor or seed or something... and they MOVE when you spray them with water....or it rains and the drops hit them....they swing around!
it fascinates me endlessly...
and the moss itself is a spongy soft pillow... so i couldn't resist putting it in terrariums --- besides i had to get it out of the planter it took over.....no? that is the planter i like to grow lettuce in, so the moss had to sort of go......and i need it in the house to make me happy over the winter ..........i think it's a win win.... right now some of it is sitting on a plastic plate and i've spritz the moss with water, until i get the 5 gallon fish tank up to plant it in....... i may even put a few other odds and end plants in there with it

now this is my birthday month
i am still really hoping for my birthday list..... but i think right now if i can get a new chair i would be ok...... ok not really but it would be a good thing
i am going to start releasing prints soon
so maybe my new chair, and some of the other stuff i need to keep going with this will happen sooner rather then later?

anyway the mountains of snow are slowly S L O W L Y melting
and the iceberg that sunk the titanic is still outside the duckroom door..
i am still waking up in pain (agony really until the tylanol kicks in)....however last night i was able to stay in bed and get up once for the stove.....
i still woke up, i just didn't come down because i knew it was warm enough..... yup it was
at 9am this morning when bernie got home, it was 76 in the studio......so things are warming up slowly

how is it by you folks?
spring get to you yet?

happy halloween

this is my favorite time of year..it's also for me, the most magical time of year
seeing leaves change to brilliant colors.. the smells of the fall
warm sweaters, cozy fires, comfort foods

this year isn't quite as magical as years past have been-
i don't know if it's that bernie is working graveyard this year...
or is it an aftereffect of the past 18 months or what
but i'm not quite with it this year- and TODAY, at 7am asshole dickwad neighbors fired up duel chain saws and decided it was a great time to rip into a pile of logs!
i was up anyway but had planned on another 2 hours worth of sleep .......yeah that was not happening

i am however doing a lot of cooking ahead type stuff and started the teacup studies in watercolor
the first one for me proved extremely difficult
trying to get the teacup to look delicate, thin, shiny, without being a cliche......
i know a lot of folks like the study when i was finished but i'm not sure about it

ok updates (these really are more for me then i think yous all cause who really cares right about how i efficiently used my leftover pork loin? )

first off i did up a small pork loin roast, low and slow in the oven, which we had the first night, thinly sliced with baked potatoes and steamed veggies
then last night i slivered it all up, part made us enchiladas with mixed steamed veggies, and my 'fast down and dirty too lazy to do it up right' cheese sauce which is simple
some stock, last night was chicken stock
cream cheese and cheddar/jack cheese
first bring the stock to a simmer, cut the cream cheese into little cubes and add it to the simmering stock.... whisking very very often.... add whatever seasoning you want, i added freshly ground pepper, some tiny bit of basil, parsley, a 1/4 teaspoon of good sweet paprika, a bit of mixed citrus zests...
and finally when the cheese was all smooth and dissolved ...the cheddar/jack mix shredded and whisked to melt/combine
if it's too thick add either more stock or some water

i used all that sauce to make up more enchiladas for the freezer .....and i have leftover roast pork for fried rice or something else....(bernie wants me to make fried rice for him but i think not tonight)

i am so going to do this again.....the enchiladas were really good

now i was also supposed to go to town to the antique flea market for teacups, as i need 5 more.
at least 5 more, i figured 2 bucks a pop and then .......i went to look on ebay and etsy.......WTF?
teacups are like 25 bucks! for the ones that i found 'right'

oye
some of the ones i also found 'right' (actually i found perfect) were like 200 bucks!
so i need the muse to sprinkle tons of luck down on me for this series....
i am thinking that maybe after i should just resell the damn cups
what am i going to do with them after i paint them anyway?

in studio news..i think i've settled on a combination of caran and faber-castell artist grade colored pencils... it's a really PITA to sift through all the BS to find all the totally lightfast ones...
really if any of the pencil companies REALLY did a totally lightfast line with decent pencils and a good range (like the pastel lines are) they would CLEAN up.. i swear

so now i am waiting for a few good sales
dick blick never discounts the faber-castell polychromos .....but cheap joes does..
blick has a better price on the caran.... and they will discount them so i am going to get a combination of them-- this is going to take a while i think

in knitting..i am still working on that feather and fan....it's about 28'' long now..... i think it's going to end up about 7' long...... it's such a soothing knit i maybe want to do a second one... in another color....something maybe.... a glowing wine or something like that? for my gray wool winter coat
it's really that nice a knit...
no pattern, just 4 repeats across of the feather and fan variation, with 4 garter stitches on either side....
it's in the jaggerspun zepher and i like it! i got the lilac at rhinebeck on a whim as it was pretty cheap, i got 600 yards... i had planned on putting a collar on one side but i may not now...
it's just so pristine in it's laceyness.....

ok that's about it
i need to go and paint, do dishes, cook......
happy halloween to you all
it's raining here of course (why does it seem to rain a LOT on halloween)