the last 24 hours on my project

 we're down to the wire on this one. so if you want to help spread the word click on the photos and that will take you to the project page for out of the nest. --- i do realize that this project was only a two week project, not the month it should have been but that was the only way that we could make sure these cards if printed got to the backers in time for the holidays

now in other news.
the next series (the crows) is very close to being completed.
it's a toss up now between the halloween project and the botanical project
i may throw a poll up on FB to see what my friends all say..... although doing the botanical during the winter would be pretty difficult. as specimens would be hard or impossible to get. i would like to do some popular flowers but also some obscure ones as well.
orchids would be easier to get during the winter..... and a trip to longwood gardens would let me look at orchids to my heart's content
so after the crows, maybe it would be better to do the halloween project?
of course the holiday work continues, i just got my ink so i can get back to drawing paisleys

in knitting
i just finished one new hat, one felted hat, and i have a test shawl cast on for PINKHAIRGIRL (from ravelry)
my new knitted hat is purple and red..... !

ok i need to get going as i forgot some errands that needed running
so take good care

i updated the card project rewards list

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/87722640/out-of-the-nest-a-card-project

go have a look!
please share the link if you like my work, there is one week left on this project.

now in studio/painting news. i am continuing to paint the crow series, right now, 8 is on the board. (i did 10 already- i am slightly out of sequence)
as usual i am at the stage where i figure it's a total mess...and i wonder if i am ever going to get it to look close to what i see in my head. everyone tells me i always do, but sometimes i do have my doubts.
i am starting to also think about the next project, after i finish the crows, and the holiday images.
i think i am going to do the halloween project after.
that should be a lot of fun as well.
then i may do a second song bird project.
i still want to do the botanical illustrations, i am keeping that in the back of my mind on what plants i want to paint.
i love iris, lilies, violets, lilacs, impatiens, petunias, four o'clocks, hollyhocks, mini roses, scented geraniums....etc the list does go on and on
i want to paint them from life not photos.
so that may take a bit of doing
i normally can finish a painting in a few days..... so maybe the live plant is doable next year.
or some stuff over late winter if i start the seeds now and grow them under lights, maybe the impatiens-
or even if i force some stuff.
too bad i live too far from longwood gardens or i could take their botanical classes and have a ready supply of plants to paint

anyway, today is cool and breezy, i have crows to paint
so i'll be getting back to it now

take good care

it LOOKS like fall but feels like august

it's been warm and humid out there during the day, and raining a LOT
i had a lot of trouble breathing, and had forgotten my inhaler.
we went to the valley yesterday for potatoes, - the annual stock up of the potatoes for the year.
this year we got 50# of yukon golds and 100# of lehigh golds.
i prefer the older original strain lehighs though. we had them baked last night

bernie cleaned our gutters while i was making yogurt and laying out another crow painting.
today i'll transfer my layout to watercolor paper and start painting
i'll also put the yogurt up in the fridge.
i am trying to get around to making that no-knead bread everyone's been talking about, where you make the dough and put it in the fridge for a very cold long rise.
i don't know what has been keeping me from doing that!
i have every thing i need to do it but i am not doing it!

i still have to add more rewards to my 'Out of the Nest' kickstarter  project
the higher ones for the folks who've told me they want holiday card quantities.
If you like the project and the paintings, please share that link for this project. there are only 9 more days i believe on this. i realize that this is not a long time, but it is the only way i can get them printed in time for the folks to use for holiday cards, oh and if you are one of the people that wanted holiday card quantities, let me know about how many you'd need. i plan on shipping those in the one price 'if it fits it ships' box
so the shipping is reasonable.

in knitting, i am waiting for a wonderful new designer Pink Hair Girl this was her first shawl that is going commercial, and i was lucky enough to be a test knitter....... wow ....and i've seen a sneak peak of her next one - which i am hoping to also test knit..
meanwhile i knit and felted a victorian mob bonnet for me...... in leftover gray wool. (seriously like 6 different part balls of leftover wool)
i am going to do a color knit hat for rhinebeck as well.
i am hoping i get to go to rhinebeck, a lot depends on bernie's schedule in october.
rhinebeck is mecca for knitters and i look forward to it all year..... just the rhinebeck glow is worth the trip.
last year we watched people of all ages dancing to the peruvian band..... (i bought their cd and listen to it occasionally while i paint)

one or two other small things.......shhhhh don't tell bernie but i sort of started to whitewash the paneling in the corner where i paint, so far you can't see it as it's behind the storage units
but i intend on working my way around the entire studio..
it is easy to lightly sand it off if he really gets upset but i can't take the wood anymore, it's gotten so dark over the years.
i would also like to replace all these (16)  windows with two big ones....... on each wall...
oye
we've gone back and forth and around on that one-
we are going to have to do something about the windows i think.....pretty soon too

ok, i've got to get back to work now, it's starting to get late and the ducks need to be put outside
etc.
have a wonderful weekend

goals

first off let me remind anyone who may be interested
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/87722640/out-of-the-nest-a-card-project
that is my card project at kickstarter....all the birdies and their nests

please spread the word about it if you wouldn't mind


now this post is about goals

 and here are some of mine
1) finish the crow series, as a book, calender and possibly... tees or maybe cards.. some prints
2) start the halloween black and white drawings
3) botanical illustrations
4) paisley holiday collection
5) find either a licensing company or an licensing agent
6) AGAIN redo the studio
7) i desperately need a plan file (flat architect's files- i would like 7 draws in wood) for paper and finished paintings
8) knit me a sweater that fits
9) sew a few things- i could use some tops for town, and stuff for curtains and such
10) get the house paid off fully * and a bigger studio * -  with a kitchen...... ha

and next year.....maybe another kickstarter project? i would like to do the halloween project - that too is a fun fun project for me..and if i go kickstarter with it....the top reward would be a set of black and 'white' prints that i hand colored.....

see fun!

today? well i am still working on rewards for the current project, plus working on layouts for more of the crow series
also i am contemplating a couple of hats that i need to knit
maybe a few more felted ones and a couple of color knit hats
i also want to make some no-knead bread ( the one you stick in the fridge and take out what you need over the week)
bernie is going to clean the woodstove this weekend as nights are getting chilly enough to light it
he also plans on cleaning the studio for me and reorganizing it......
i have one 7' workbench i am going to need total access to soon i think
i really do need a bigger studio......(put that on the goal list maybe?ok i just did -  with a kitchen?)

what are your goals ?

i know if i write them down i tend to work towards them
how about you guys?

i also do daily goal lists when i am under a deadline...

so anyway back to my layout now.....
i hope everyone is enjoying the fall

my card project just went LIVE

Please wish me luck
Out of the Nest a card project

this link sends you to the kickstarter project page, this was a huge amount of work (like giving birth without the drugs)

in knitting and other homey sort of news

i just finished a test knit on a shawl for a wonderful young designer in south africa.
then i finished off the shawl i put aside while i test knitted that one.
right now i am knitting a hat out of some gray wool to be felted as a test run for a pair of hats for me and a sister friend who promised that me knitting for her won't change anything
since every SINGLE person i have even knit for is out of my life (shortly after i knit for them)

we will be sharing a reproduction 1909 hat .......
we will each decorated it for ourselves but i am going to knit the 'blank'
mine i think will have huge decadent ribbon roses- possible in velvet......
and a place for a shawl pin from Inna at Ingo

ok in other news, kickstarter is about to go live so look over on the right for the link to the blog and sign up for email or rss feeds and you'll know when it does and the link to the project

in pet news, little calpurria had a terrible day yesterday
hair ball hell and a bit of allergies
poor little thing
she's fine today though
actually she was fine about an hour later
ate a little and cleaned herself up

the weather here in nepa is getting chilly overnight, heavy fog is over the hills in the morning
i can feel it in the studio as well
soon we'll be using the woodstove at night
it may be a while before we use it during the day

that's pretty much my news right now....i am working hard on the kickstarter project and paintings for the next project
and getting ready for winter

til next time

vi

no, i didn't forget

i don't think anyone in america or even other parts of the world can forget what day it is today

i do remember
it's private for me
one of my cousins made it out of the WTC buildings......she was pregnant, she lost her shoes
and she walked......and walked, ........and walked

but for me, i can't do public displays for this,
i do hope, wish, pray that the world learns that what is done to one is done to all
that cooperation and peacefulness is the only way to be

i don't think i will see that in my lifetime on this earth
or possibly ever

the earth is too amazing a classroom, where young souls can come and learn the lessons of
'what you do to the least of you, you do to me'
we are all interconnected
no matter how far apart we seem

to my cousin rockie, who on this day......walked out of the WTC and became her own miracle

i finally fixed the copyright information sooooooo

i am reopening this blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah

let's see..... really quick, the out of the nest card project is coming along well in spite of a few setbacks-which included writer's block and the plague.......i'm STILL coughing!

the crow paintings are progressing, i finally ordered ink to finish the paisley drawings, and we found the HOLE in the foundation that was letting water POUR into the basement
seriously it looked like a faucet

what all else?
oh the out of the nest card project blog is got so much traffic i can't begin to tell you folks.....
and i have been getting a lot of wonderful feedback from people who don't know me and think i am  cute as a bugs butt....

complete strangers that found that link from friends reposting it are telling folks they love my work....
that makes me so very happy.

what all else?
today it rained so hard, that while i was getting the ducks and chickens in.......i flipped lilli upside down and put her on my head....... she wasn't too thrilled about being a  duck umbrella, and she wasn't too thrilled about her tummy getting soaking wet.
it didn't help though, i ended up so soaked by the time i got everyone in that i had to take my clothes off FAST.... yup soaked through to my undies.....

ok it's like midnight here
i can't sleep cause i ate coffee icecream and my nose is also wheezing from the rain/mold spores

meanwhile
happy fall everyone

LOOK a project AND

here is the new blog to go along with it

http://outofthenestcardproject.blogspot.com/

a woodshed!

bernie built us a woodshed!

i can't believe it.....he built a woodshed!
so far it holds about 3 cords at the moment
however when it's finished it should hold about 6
and it's all from scrap wood

i been wanting a woodshed for a while... it makes it easier to stack, and i don't worry about stacks falling
as one did a few winters back, when we had a ton of rain.

i also figure this way i can stack more often
and not leave a lot of it for bernie

next up we have to split the logs from the big maple
which is still got me so upset about it's dying

but we'll be warm this winter

saying goodbye to an old

and cherished friend.....

it's never easy
today our beloved, adored, and respected 300 year old sugar maple was taken down
it's broken my heart
it died sometimes over the winter
we waited for it to bud out this past spring, but instead......it's bark started to fall off and it's limbs started to come down

today we had it taken down
the base of the trunk was over 60'' across
it ate a few of the tree guys chain saws
he didn't want to finish the job!
they cut it into 18'' pieces and he told me that they are too heavy for HIM and HIS CREW to pick up
so they left them there
we'll move them and split them and stack them
the maple will be with us all winter possibly two winters......
but the hold in our hearts not to mention the huge hole in the landscape.......

that is going to be there a very long time

we fought a lawsuit to protect that tree, but we think that jackass did something to it before he left as it's been slowly dying ever since ...... dropping it's leaves in july each year instead of october like it used to
few leaves every year

anyway, it's a very sad day in the herron household
while it stood, even dead.......i could sort of pretend it was just taking a breather .....

not anymore

now here is a grayscale of my newest.....(its also flipped) i am considering redoing it....there are a few areas that i am not happy with.
now it is actually in color but i wanted to check values and composition without the distraction of color.
if i redo this....i am also going to change the composition a bit

so this is where i'm at right now.....
my little snowperson that i painted bernie last year as a dummy board has been translated into paintings as i had always hoped he would be

good morning blog!

my poor neglected blog.....waiting patiently for me to return

snowman partly finished

first let me tell you
duck egg salad sandwitches are great (don't put a huge amount of mayo in them though)
second..drawing with a fountain pen and some good ink is an incredible experience

brought up short by running OUT of black in and only (in a moment of extreme stupidity-when will i ever learn) having brown inks in the house

in painting news..... i am part way through the first christmas set of paintings
and began to work on the border and field of the second set
some of the watercolor paper has arrived, i still need more but right now i have no where to store it all safely so i have part of what i need.
next order i SWEAR is going to be HP twinrocker 300...... i am going to get i think 20 of the 22X30 sheets- that is about 80 paintings
but when i am done with the reproductions of the painting.... and they go up for sale, i KNOW that the person who buys them will not only have them for a lifetime (baring major acts of god) but so will their descendants as the archival lifespan of the paper and the pigments is 400+ years
that i can sell...... without feeling bad

in duck/chicken news....... i don't see them a lot and i miss them terribly, the doctor said bernie has to deal with them until i am totally well
i am almost there
Dr Sedani is a saint (he was my dad's doctor) and he was totally RIGHT, i am almost WELL!
i love that man

so there you go

i have to run now as another wood guy is coming to give us an estimate for taking down my most beloved 300 year old sugar maple.....that died over the winter- while i am totally heartbroken
it won't go to waste as it will keep us warm

til next time

midweek update!

mainly because i have a few minutes.
tomorrow my grand duckling is coming to stay for a few days.
i am excited.
i wonder if he/she will remember me?

in other news, i am stuck on a layout for the next in the crows series.....oye
but then again i was busy doing a lot of stuff for bernie online
and good thing i ordered paper, as i looked in my cut paper box and discovered i was really at the bitter end for the paper for this series.
in the meantime i needed paper for the christmas series which is next so it's a good thing
and i haven't loaded any more images to zazzle so i really need to get on top of that, since i still don't have access to a pigment ink printer. Now that just bites me though, cause zazzle and cafe press are print on demand but i think it's just a way to get their products sold without paying for true licensed art....
but what do i know? maybe it is ok that way too.....although it does place the burden of advertising on the artist, which takes even more time away from painting

i am sort of feeling better, i can breath again as long as i don't push it too far and it doesn't rain for a couple of days.
i have assorted other things going on (i did something to my shoulder, and my foot.....maybe the layout is stuck cause i hurt?)
but i think i will survive it
i also have acquired a painful lump on the back of my head! we think it's a spider bite, but nothing like a brown recluse or anything nasty like that...just a tiny one
probably when i was out in the duck pens

well that's about it for now......
hope everyone is having a good summer....mine is extremely packed so far
oh and a bunny is flopping in the center of my garden daily.......
good thing i was too ill to plant this year
cause we'd have to have peter rabbit soup

and 7crows is half way done

today dickblick.com saved my sorry ass...... i ordered paper to finish this series... only i ordered the wrong one, first i ordered the cp not the hp
then i also ordered the regular one not the extra white......
oye
bless them as customer service fixed it right away........
and the crows can go on
in the meantime i am working on 7crows....and it's coming along fine
there are areas i am not happy with, and areas i love..... so the trick is to try and keep what i love and bring what i hate up to snuff
so to speak

in other news it's been brutally hot.... horribly brutally hot. i am feeling better however, as dr sedani was right and it IS allergies.......so with his regiment i am not only better but actually a LOT better....(also no rain so not too many mold spores)

what else?
i am so behind on everything except painting right now, and i am really wishing that i was able to paint even faster
i need to get so much more done
bernie just asked me if i ordered more paint..... no, as i really don't need it (although i wanted french ultramarine from MGraham...... and a couple of other colors)

if i do another crow series...... i swear i am going to get maroon perylene and green perylene to mix the blacks...... oye.....
anyway, i am at the moment in a painting that it actually starts to get fun to do again....
i like the first washes i lay down...... those are pretty cool
but then the middle painting sometimes is boring....
not always...
but then i get to a certain part and it becomes really interesting....
i think i am at that part now

in other news i have a bad blister on my foot....actually the second one in the SAME spot.... in less then a week. so i suppose i need new shoes for inside
damn
oye
ok so that's my news....
next big sale with free shipping ........ 25 more sheets of watercolor paper

summer flys on

it's july already, more then halfway through a seriously eventful year around here
and i am due to finish scanning  a lot of paintings
i fight and struggle with the scanning

i want the images perfect when i get them digitalized as they are going to be fine art prints and they should be as good as they can be
i've opened a zazzle store and also a cafe press store, and i am still working on uploading stuff
i have to scan and correct the images then upload them.....the correct part takes a LONG time
so if you are waiting for prints to be available..... please be patient
we're getting there
i am laying out number 7 in the crow series
bernie is singing me the 12 crows of christmas...... (so is jen)
and in between the grand duck was here.. we had a wonderful time..... that baby knows it's gramma loves it dearly and i cried when it left. but we can't raise a baby this year as we have no pen space for winter.

ok in READING NEWS....i am reading ebooks now..... i got a blio download and get them out of the library.....for books i want to read but don't really want to own.... right now i am reading the book thief
and so far it's good


it's hot here and dry..... i think we are majorly hot and dry over a lot of the country right now
and due to my spring/early summer illness i didn't put in as good a garden as i normally do but i DO have stuffing going to seed for seed saving..... big crop of leeks!
and i did just harvest garlic
ok i just got a call so i need to go
ttyl

as time goes by............

still painting...... you may want to ignore that or take it as a given for the next.....hmmteen months/years
 i loaded up some photo's of my goof off session saturday........ i was not feeling well so i sat on the deck and made earring charms, for my interchangeable earrings-- i actually made 8 sets but these were the only good photos i got of them...there are pink and blue ones, and sort of tawny/amber/beige ones...black and white....etc..... i had a lot of fun while i was relaxing

 over night we got rain.... it's cleared up now and the sun is out
i am lingering over coffee yet.....( i KNOW lazy bitch that i am) i didn't sleep at all last night
the allergy meds that are supposed to make you sleepy..........yeah right, well they don't do that to me

ok so over the weekend i packaged up something like 50 pounds of lambchops for the freezer and ran out of vacuum sealer bags doing it....so today i ordered 200 more bags, as i am waiting on my yearly 120# boneless skinless chicken order
(which actually lasts me about 18 months) i wait until they are down to like 1.59 a pound and then get the 120#
the lamb was 1.99 a pound so i ended up with like 80 pounds
in two batches........... *maybe 90*

my ginger is doing well, that root i threw in a pot in january is now over a foot tall and needs repotting..ditto on the plants we got for my birthday! my meyers lemon, my patchouli and the lemon verbena are all doing very well and the rosemary that i thought i had lost is still hanging in

oh and i put paper bags over my blueberries and so far (as of yesterday) the birds haven't eaten them because they haven't SEEN them

in knitting news, i have cast on 'sweet dreams' from booknits, and kalina both pretty little crescent shaped shawlettes....both in variations of fuchsia or hot pink which i plan to dip in blue or in burgundy respectively after i finish them but before i block them
we'll see

i know i need to start a sweater out of that tweed i stashed and i am planning on it..... but probably not until later this summer
meanwhile the painting continues

my printing problems haven't been solved yet either
but i am working on it

til next time

another week went by!

i am still painting crows...up to five now
my allergies/chronic bronchitis asthma or whatever the hell this is is sort of getting better

a netipot is my new best friend......and i can't tell you how gross it is but damn if it doesn't work GREAT

i'll be opening a cafe press and a zazzle store soon, as right now i can't find a good printer! but they are print on demand so that will work for now
i still have to call that bookstore about the cards as well

some paintings are spoken for it seems, once i finish the series, get them digital etc.....then the originals go on the block...... i've been getting a lot of emails about different ones
i was actually surprised at how much interest these generated

in cat news, fawn's been hurling every night at 2am.....all over the clean sheets
so at 2am i am in the shower while bernie is changing sheets (thank goodness for waterproof mattress protectors)
i think she's getting the last of her mats off from balancing her thyroid meds out

meanwhile i am painting for all i'm worth
and getting together an art supply order to choke a horse it would seem, as i am going to be needing paper soon- so i'll add more brushes and pigments as well.......
oh and a few clam shell boxes to store work (write that down so i remember)
as i am running out of space!

ok i have to run as my wash has now dried so i can paint over it
take good care

just a painting fool

i am painting about 8 hours or so a day now....
i am trying for almost every day
the new 'body of work' is making me happy
right now i am doing a few in a series of crows

now in my health news....i am afraid that i am still coughing.......still having trouble breathing at times
i think it's extreme allergies
i do know that the allergy meds help more then the inhaler
so i suspect that whole chronic bronchitis diagnosis... although it could be
i also know i can't care for the ducks and chickens at the moment
i can't expend the energy
thankfully bernie is doing that for me
he's made the pens easier too

personally i think it's the rainy weather
but what do i know

meanwhile i am painting

mid way through the painting

now in reality this painting is long finished.....and two more put to bed as well... but here is a mid point of the crow......
i always thought it so interesting to watch something happen...... to see the energy that goes into it....
so i am showing you folks the energy that goes into what i do

now also lately, i am having a LOT of trouble with the asthma and bronchitis- none of the meds are really working well
it's the rain i think.
the more it rains (and it's freeken raining every SINGLE day) the worse i get

talking to me is like being in a TB ward...i can't stop coughing.
i am having help with the ducks and chickens, and actually for the past three days i can't go out to them at all
it really is that bad........
AND i got a weird persistent fungus on my one toe!- it's not athletes foot, we don't know WHAT it is..... i got a cream for it.....not working real well though

meanwhile the poultry is enjoying their time outside.....they are protected from the rains, they are having a blast eating bugs and slugs...... and generally doing their duck and chicken thing....i watch from the windows and miss my guys.

also due to the rain, the budgies are doing the wild thang.................... bernie caught captain cuttle on emma's back..... no babies........ no more eggs......
so i guess we're safe
and mrs. fezziwig is got her thing going on with her mirror..... so she is as happy i guess as she can be without an actual budgie in there with her..... i can't put her in the flock as her and emma fight to the almost death

meanwhile i have to get back to work.... so i hope you folks all stay dry