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

4am, isn't anyone ELSE up with a cranky woodstove?

cranky woodstove, dropping temps and wet wood
yup that's me

and here is a half done peek at my latest painting, which i think i messed up totally, as the cardinals are in their environment but not dominating it. they are so shy during nesting, but this is the rhodo out front with the cardinals that nest in it every year
now the deer ate most of the rhodo and almost all the yew bushes so we'll see if the cardinal come back this year
i am hoping to finish this series by mid april
there is one more painting in it and then i need to evaluate it
i know the last painting will have maple leaves...
then i need to decide..... do i do more with the maple leaves... and take the quail nest out of it
or set up a second series and continue with this on my drafting table and do the other series on the small easel...... i would like to have two series going at once, and maybe a blk/wht drawing going too
i just am feeling non-productive lately

i had to put my knitting down for a while, as i'd badly hurt both shoulders, elbows, wrists...... actually we suspect it may be a fibro flare brought on by cold, stress and lack of sleep (and heavy lifting of logs and chopping ice)
i was living on tylenol and what limited mobility i had there i was using for painting, which is another reason why this painting is going so slow....this and the rhodo leaves from hell
the pain is fading now so i can paint longer, and i am getting a bit more sleep.
bernie had me sleep in while he was off for his 'weekend', and that helped
actually he's been trying to make me sleep in during his week too
most often i am getting up at the crack of 11am!
cause the only real sleep i am getting is from 7am to whenever i get up- and as i type this, i am waiting for the wet wood in the stove to catch, there is a LOT of tree bark in there trying to help it.

i know i am not the only one that really hopes this winter is over soon
meanwhile i am continuing this series......planning the next couple of series
and basically waiting for real spring to come

i hope you all are ok out there
and i hope spring comes for you too as well

cinderella....... yup that's me

well first off.....remember this post HERE
so then.............. we got my chair AND surprise! the money to pay for it!
and....two little fairy godmothers decided that i needed colored pencils...
not just ANY colored pencils mind......
but the ones beyond my wildest dreams.....

 here is the opening of the pencils in photos
i'm still stunned
oh and btw, they are every bit as good as the reviews say they are
maybe better
the packaging is amazing......but the pencils are beyond belief
and the best part is...... they are LIGHT FAST
which is a huge thing for me, everything i do will eventually be sold, most likely in a gallery,...... so it's important to me that who ever does end up with the originals can pass them down as the supplies i use are archival and rated for at least 400 years...... i don't think any artist that is professional should use anything that isn't light fast or archival....now that doesn't mean you can hang work in the sun...NOOOOOO and you must keep it framed under UV glass and safe from moisture, excessive heat etc.... but with reasonable care...400 years easy!
now i've got a series of frogs planned.... (it's cooking in the back of my brain right now)

which brings me to my other thought, i got my chair......i got my pencils (gees i love them) i know i am getting a book about one of my favorite male illustrators (rackham) i am sort of seeing my list from the above link come to life in front of my very eyes....... like MAGIC! ...... then my brita pitcher finally shattered beyond repair today...so that is going to be replaced tomorrow..... (did i put 'win the lottery' on that list?)
anyway i really do feel like cinderella....... i'm looking around for a pumpkin and a coupla mice......

ducks and studio stuff

 first this is a terrible picture of the roughly finished brush holder, with plastic tool clips and paper clip hangie thingies.... i covered it with wrinkled brown paper and i'll wax it with a sienna wax but i've already got it hanging on my light and popped a brush in....yup it works
brushes need to have the hairs down when they dry, (and actually they should be stored hanging like that too, dust is another killer of brushes) yet there aren't too many options..... there is that coil thing but it isn't really secure so i made this for mine
i have a LOT of money in kolinsky brushes.... i'm going to try and keep them as long as i can in the best shape i can

next......is the handicapped baby duckling, she is so young she doesn't even have her caruncling in yet! (the red warty stuff around her eyes) anyway, she's doing very well...she can walk, and run..... she can climb in and out of the small black pond thingie.....although it's not as easy for her......she's eating well and pooping well and seems to be starting to catch on.
the others of course are giving her a bit of a hard time so she's sort of with them but protected. the photo you see is her in the bath in the A frame pen -- which i just was able to get open as enough ice melted.
the other pen is still iced in...i hope sometime next week i can get that one opened up-

and third is amelia and prudence in the chicken pen (falstaff is there too but you can't see him)
everyone has a touch of bumble foot from this past nightmare winter, however as much as i can get them out side i will and they will heal up..... we just couldn't keep up with them in the inside pens during this horrible nightmare winter... at one point it was so cold, that everyone was in the main basement and taken out of their crates three times a day to stretch, eat and drink because we had to try and keep everyone from freezing..... we're all enjoying being able to go out again- and once we get the temporary pen defrosted, and the far back pen de-iced.........everyone will go out....including the quail.

i was supposed to get a blue male parakeet to join the flock, however something came up and i can do it. i am very disappointed as i think we need another male in with the budgies... but it's not a good time right now

which brings me to health..... i am starting to get my medical appointments made, and is is none too soon as i am having issues swallowing now. i am also having edema in my arms and hands.....not in my legs (rarely do i have issues with my legs and edema- usually just a tiny bit in the humidity of summer if i've had to sit, like in a car for a long ride) so the edema in my arms is worrisome.
my right arm and shoulder is really bad again.....so that's going to be put on the list as well.

meanwhile i am working on the next layout and also planning a second series that i will work on during down time from my main work...the second will be botanicals.... which will do two things,...... 1) teach myself botanical art, and 2) enable me to hopefully double my output of work

so that's pretty much it for now......still waiting on this new storm but it looks like it's going to be south of us and we won't get much out of it .......YEAH!!! cause i really really am sick of the cold this winter, and being up all night with the woodstove

this whole 'waiting for a storm' thing is getting old

however the last storm ended up rain and then wind
and very cold
but NO SNOW
so we're making progress here towards spring

now i finished that last painting.... or let's just say...i've done all i could with the flowers from hell so i declared it finished and stashed it in the 'to be photographed' box

meanwhile i ordered more paper, on an amazing sale................now i need (desperately need) a new chair...this one is causing major pain in my shoulders and arms, as well as tearing up the floor.
things are so bad that i can't even knit right now which seriously sucks
so i am thinking..next week we're going to have to go and get a chair

in painting news, i am definitely going to have to set up a second paint station- i went through my box of cut water color paper and found all the 8x10 paper put aside for the botanical work
so i am going to start that in addition to my regular work, besides i need the practice ...... and the schooling. and maybe even the discipline of botanical illustration.
and if i am working on that as well as the other stuff.....maybe i can finally get those colored pencils i have been wanting for like........forever?
they were always intended to be gotten for botanical work

ok i'm off to the studio now
just a brief touch base with you all
and now i have to get back to work

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?

my view of painting

3/4 of painting...(at least for me) is thinking.....
how to lay down the color
WHAT colors to lay down
what is the point of the story of this illustration?
what is the overall color language of this painting..
how does it relate to the rest of the series... does it tell it's own story AND continue the story of the series?
i also like to work from on palette for each series mostly
each palette i have (and i have a LOT of them) has a different range of the same pigments, but mixed differently or different % of those colors
i was working on laying down the first washes for this next painting in this more involved nest series and i realize that this is what i think  about...
while i am laying it out... while i am transferring it
as i sit and look at my drawing ...... my first questions are

what do i want to emphasize with this painting? and how do i use my color now to do that.
i think my most successful paintings not only had a tight layout but a very particular color point of view
at least to my mind

this painting is third in the current series... i went from a very subdued palette with punches of my beloved berry reds
to a very earthy but bright palette
this one is going to be bright and spring like i believe....
with i hope very clear layered washes of pure pigments
i'm working with cobalt right now- and i like how it is working so far
laying in the basis for the darks with it


and listening to the canon......
one of these days i am going to do a video while i work...(it may be a few years or a few months or days....when i have time)
so i can share with all yous

in the middle of the night.............

it's a bit after midnight.....so it's monday morning actually
i'm still up due to the woodstove from hell!
now today.....ummm, ok yesterday.....
i was doing big poultry chores.... i couldn't clean pens as the iceberg out from the duck room door to the end of where the first pen is prevented me from safely getting anywhere
but i did do some housekeeping along with the buckets and pans,
i discovered prudence's secret nest, which i removed her from....she's cooling her heals in a crate next to her sister amelia ...also in a crate
tomorrow i am going to play musical duck pens
my chickens are laying..... i got three eggs, so since the egg carton is full, i ate today's offering

i have to say i'm really exhausted...... i was hoping for a warm up with snow but we are getting that 'polar vortex' thing without snow.
well it's really bernie's friday so tomorrow he'll sleep
tuesday we have wood coming
now while i was downstairs climbing over things to extract my broody duck from her infertile eggs, i found the older kero heaters....one was an aladdin radiant!
oh honey, i hit the lotto there
and the other one....... could possibly be a corona...... i could not see
so i went online and found out where to get parts for them
and they will be reconditioned and put back into service next winter
(if i have to repaint, i know there is stove/oven paint...... i wonder if i can paint them pink?--- or mix the red with the cream and make my own pink?)
the kero heater has really saved us this past winter
it was brutal here....and having that in the main house helped things a lot
i was inspired when i got that
normally i hem and haw, and research before i spend a dime..... that i jumped on
(and the generator before sandy)...... and it proved i think to be a very wise timely decision.

now in painting news, i am still working on registration files...
plus i started a layout which is not really working at the moment
i really so need that drawing tablet i think.... it will eliminate a lot of extra work
i need to get painting
i NEED IT
i watched a documentary on andrew wyeth while waiting on the woodstove....and at one point..... i heard someone say....'there is magic in a paintbrush'
oh boy don't i know that
and i need that magic
at the end wyeth said...... a painting has to build up... until it's ready
and i know that one well too.....
i know where i am going with this series...i just need to lay out the rest

i haven't been NOT working, i just have not been painting
i figured out even more ways to cut water color paper sizes
and drew the diagrams with the measurements..... so this way i don't have to think about it
i also made notes on the paper size that goes with what image size, to be able to have a taping border
(and it makes me miss etching soooooooooooo much as there was an impressed border from the depth of the plate that i loved)
if we do ever build that house i want.... i am going to put an etching press in the studio ....i loved the moodiness of etching and i want to do that again


okey dokey
i am going to put another log on the fire and see if maybe maybe i can get two hours sleep?
i'm running on about 3-4 hours sleep a night now and it's really not enough

OHOHOH it's my BIRTHDAY month!

now first off as a note to myself....(and anyone needing to know copyright)
this is a tutorial in plain english

THIS is a .gov tutorial 

ok now that is out of the way
on to my birthday month!
first on my birthday list is a few things i would really like from bernie for my birthday

• a drawing/graphic tablet
• a new office chair (i got it all picked out)
• a new desktop computer with duel monitors JUST to deal with the art prints/licensing
• muck boots
• the faber castell polychrome colored pencil set
• OR if he hits the lotto... the caran d'ache luminance colored pencils
• kitchen counter tops
• a green house 
• a cold frame
• a new brita pitcher (the big one with the spigot) cause bernie broke mine (edited to add this)
• and a flat file cabinet with at least 5 drawers....... 10 would be better- a vintage tower of them would be freeken amazing! (used is more then fine- especially wooden used ones)

actually with the exception of the desktop (maybe) everything else is pretty inexpensive

however right now if things are sort of tight, i'll settle for him making me a birthday cake!

and help me clean the inside pens

ok i have to wake him....oh MY look at the time!

see you tomorrow

spring fever

 we got new mugs! pretty huh? on sale too of course.....
we got them at pier one and we got two of the floral ones ......and four of the striped ones...i think we need to go back for two more floral ........
they are soooooooooooooo spring like
i was thrilled as we needed new mugs and i just love the colors.... then when we got home, we had to order more firewood.... will real spring ever arrive?

meanwhile i am plugging away with the copyright work. i've decided to split the files into their respective series, and then make each of those series a zip file to upload.
after this i am hoping to do copyright quarterly, and i am hoping to do at least 40 images at a time

so i am working on that.. it's starting to get a bit easier.
i am making the files slightly larger then thumbnails
and i am embedding information into the digital signatures of each image

and also today i am making approximately 4.5 pounds of cranberry orange sauce.
some i'm using for a pork loin, the rest is for table use.
i've got another bunch of pounds of berries in the freezer
along with parakeet seed we got today

i am also drinking a cup of tea in one of our new striped mugs. i like the mug, i think the handle is a bit light weight..... but then again maybe not
i do like it .......i think it's a 16oz mug
i'll measure it later
the floral ones made me want to replace our every day dishes....... we're still talking about that
i can't justify it as we still have ok dishes..... corelle
and these mugs are stonewear..........
we'll continue to think about it

well that is my current news..... oh and it snowed a bit today
ha.........summer will never ever come or so it feels like it now

how about by you?

copyright registration.......plugging along

so the work starts
with me of course kicking and screaming and whining...
why you ask? mainly because i've never done this before and i'm afraid i am going to miss something somehow and screw up the batch registration
 but here i am at 4am......doing a spread sheet with code numbers for the paintings so i can imbed that into their digital signatures when i also resize them and compress them for batch uploading
(say that three times fast)
i am also stoking the woodstove and trying not to procrastinate anymore
i really would like this and our taxes done and behind me
because i really want to just start sending packets out to licensing companies and agents again and then get on with my work
i think i am going to attempt to do the copyrights quarterly and i think i am going to try for 40 per batch copyright
that seems like a decent number- given my average output

meanwhile my poor journal, it's beginning to look like a mess
i have ideas, notes, sketches, designs, floor plans, business information, agents names, series outlines, pr blurbs, future project outlines.
paper cutting size guide lines for the different series
pigment notes and numbers
and general life information, it's more then a journal i suppose.... and it's got scraps of this and that tucked in...papers with notes stashed.... all in what is a drawing journal....(and it's got a few of them too)
not at all like the pretty creative artsy journals of most artists..... but it is my journal...and it, along with this blog is charting my journey

copyright registration

is not for the easily confused.

i'm sure once i do it a few times it will seem silly that i am so confused by it

but right now.....OMG

TIPS and file sizes  ok i been sort of trying to figure this out

i have 70 paintings to upload as a batch

this link tells you how to prepare your browser to start the process as the website is particular about how you do things

and i am trying to see how to do it...... i did find out that windows will zip a folder! i had to go on the net to discover that piece of information 

i found THAT information HERE- how to make a zip file

there there is FAQ 

and TYPES of files you can upload HERE

and a basic guide to online registration HERE

and i had to edit to add this link to a pdf file that step by step walks you through.....i must have read this file a dozen times already....

i am overwhelmed..... i THINK that if i put the files as jpegs on a dvd, then compress them ....that could work?

i'm not sure 

i keep wanting to make the files uniform in kb size but maybe that's getting too fussy?

also do i number each one? use a letter/number code on each painting?

what if i screw it up? can i fix it?

i did ask on the art licensing board but they just directed me back to the websites above...

maybe it really is easy and it just seems complicated to me?

meanwhile...it went up to 60 degrees outside so i let the fire go out, i cleaned the stove yesterday including the glass door ......what a treat to watch the fire dance last night.

i'll clean the ash out again today while i avoid this whole overwhelming copyright thing...

and that's just the tip of the muddle right now

with this i am also being brought up face to face with some deep seated beliefs and emotions connected to my work.

sounds nuts but there it is

i'm working on the files now....i hope i am doing them right

time will tell i suppose

til next time

vi

and now the rain?

i am so hoping that this wildly extreme weather is not the new norm
today it's raining...... hard
snow is melting
buildings in town are falling down
and my painting isn't going well
maybe i should just do the dishes today and forget about painting for today?
it's also very warm out but due to the falling snow/ice....i decided not to go out with the ducks
i figure it's safer to have us all inside
i also spend a day fighting with myself over starting a facebook page for my art.....
and i am still trying to get my sleep deprived brain around uploading files for the copyright office
i know i need to
meanwhile i am trying to think of how to again rearrange my studio
and what to do about the woodash dust that covers EVERYTHING in like three minutes


i really am considering going back to bed.....it's warm enough to leave the stove
everyone is sleeping anyway
i really could absolutely use some more sleep

oye

it's so deep out there even a shovel won't help!

with snow..
it's warmer out today so i took two ducks out to bath them
one pen is collapsed with over 30'' of snow on it covered in ice
the other big pen is ok but not easy to get to
the a frame is covered but still standing
and the big pen out back.....well i think some of the drifts have got to be 5' tall thanks to the slope, wind and snow blower....so that's out

however 2 ducks happily had a bath (together)

all buckets are scrubbed and filled
ditto grain pans
everyone is shifted around
falstaff accidentally got lucky with prudence- (she came out of hiding and i didn't realize it as i was outside attempting to dig out the collapsed pen)
the quail people got their new waterer put up on a brick as they managed to fill it with feed and poop
they have real talent those quail people
they are going to be getting a rabbit cage to live in soon

it's warm out
and stuff is dripping and melting
and we are to get a heavy rain storm... which means that the snow will absorb water.....making it even heavier
i am hoping that it loosens and starts to slide off the roofs out there before

and now when i recover i am going to again attempt to copyright register my paintings
oye
i really do need an assistant or something

i think i need a career coach

as the 7 or so folks that follow me know......
i've been painting
i went back to illustration a few years ago
taught myself watercolor (as i'd only worked in pen/ink, or oils before)
then started to find my mature style and master color work

meanwhile i am working on series and looking for a licensing contract

and i'm overwhelmed

i tried to do my normal step by step thing but my brain right now (maybe cause of the annual winter sleep deprivation?) is not working

and the more pressure i put on it ...or get put on it... the more it is shutting down on me
i think i need a career coach... but one that is used to commercial illustrators- a general career coach won't work and i think a fine art coach won't work either

i've tried to get a mentor through SCORE but they've been disappointing to say the least...
any marketing 101 book is better then what i've so far found through SCORE
commercial illustration is pretty specialized and i think some things that you should be able to find out for a normal business model ...........you just can't for illustration

and instinctively i know that trying to be a generic illustrator isn't going to work ...not for me, not for the field.... there are too many generic illustrators........ and besides i have no interest in working that way.... i would rather go with my strengths as i figure maybe that's a smaller pond but less populated

i will repeat.....i am so overwhelmed
i really need someone to bounce ideas off i think.... without that person trying to force me into what could possibly be something that may not work

the trick is, how do i know if that feeling in my gut is just fear of change or.....if it's the real thing warning me off that particular path.....cause sometimes they feel the same way!

i also know that with the yearly sleep deprivation due to heating with wood- i am so not on the top of my game that it's a struggle just to get through what i have to do...(such as taxes, bernie hasn't done his receipts from otr from LAST YEAR- which means i have to...... and i am not sure where to start- overwhelmed ..... and actually today, sick ... sinus headache and dizzy as hell)

i keep thinking, get an agent....but maybe i need a career coach instead?

i have no freeken idea!

any one have any ideas? please let me know cause i am at my wits end

oh and btw, most of the paintings have been test printed now...and i have an amazon merchant account, so i believe they are ready to sell.
for the 8x10 they are 22.00 each print.  plus 3.00 shipping for up to 3 prints (USA only right now)

now to figure out how to market them to people who would be interested .....
oye
til next time

Valentines day 2014 STORM! * photo heavy

a few of my favorite THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(ok so who else hears julie andrews singing now?)

i was thinking.. there are thing over and over that i am attracted to.... here is a partial list

• maple leaves, i love sugar maples! love them love the shape of the leaves and the trees
• nests with eggs
• birds
• cookies
• bird cages
• terrarium and aquariums
• knitting and yarn
• sewing and crafts
• books
• cooking
• laura ashley vintage prints
• transferware in reds and purples
• dishes and china
• autumn
• teapots especially vintage ones with violets or in pink or red
• wool tweed coats and jackets
• lace curtains
• carousel horses and some of the other animals
• good leather shoes and handbags (neat and tailored ones)
• small stand up collars and fine but simple details on clothing
• rice pudding
• art supplies
• minature teddy bears in blond colors
• hand made artisan jewelry
• lampworked glass
• antique diamond rings
• rose gold and copper
• hand made alternative houses 
• gypsy vardos and irish cob horses
• british thatched roof cottages and stone barns
• farm animals....( i adore farm animals)
• ice cream, cheese cake and cannolis ..... THE food of the gods

this is my partial list...i was thinking of it all today

as i am getting ready to lay out another painting and started to rummage through my reference maple leaves..... 

these are some of the things that i reach for time and time again..things that you can be sure i'm going to notice

so i was wondering what all you folks had for favorite things?

would you be so kind as to post lists here?

i am very interested in hearing

til then

vi

in the midst of the storm

bernie's phone needed to be replenished....
and i am hoping he's left to come home from work
meanwhile tuesday was our anniversary...37 years
it was mainly a day filled with chores....and preparing for this storm

now at the moment, i am sitting on pins and needles worried about him getting home during this
of course his phone needed replenishing... i am purposely keeping it on per call....as we're switching carriers and i don't want to lose a lot of money or of course...sign up for a plan
i wasn't paying attention though (i'm really that tired)

meanwhile
it's snowing out
ahem
i live in a brugel landscape now- and probably it's just as cold....i know it's just as white
in painting news.....
i finished the quail and hope they will forgive me soon
now i have a few paintings to photograph....something like 20 now
i am trying to decide which is next..... continue work on this more detailed nest series....
flesh out the other series?
move on to the teacup/teapot........
i think however it may be time to move on to something a bit more summery....as a LOT of the paintings in the past year or so have been so very cold.....arctic, winter.....
yeah maybe it's time for some sun and greens?
or maybe i need to do some peoples? i keep thinking of the inuit woman with her polar bear son...
she made me so happy while i was painting her
she almost painted herself
maybe i need to start a couple of series.....and set up multiple painting areas?

meanwhile stay warm and safe if you are within our bitter cold winter area
with this never ending snow and ice

more snow, more storms, more shore birds

i guess the ever growing snow mounds have inspired my flooding fears
as i dreamt that there was a HUGE wave/lake out back..... and that it came down the hill and across the front lawn into a lake that was dug right next to my driveway
however apparently i am dreaming in some sort of mirror ...through the looking glass way cause it came down the right side (as i watched through the front windows) and went over to the left......
in the dream THAT was downhill!

shorebird/gull 4

(and the back yard was UP hill in the dream.....)
but it goes to show..... how utterly pervasive this snow pack is for me
HEY you try getting up every few hours for the woodstove and see how your dreams hold up.

meanwhile we struggle with wet wood..... bored poultry
and quail tails
(still not done with that painting)
however i am doing a series of fast shore bird/gull paintings- some good......some not so good.... all
fast.
it takes less time to do the birds then it does to do the backgrounds which are just sort of random
with speckles added -it's to keep my hand/eye going while the quail resolve themselves-- they make me want to do a few 'big paintings'
i also came smack up against some of the limitations of this studio at the moment, no place to cut paper during the winter.
it's not easy during the summer either but i use the woodstove- i don't actually have that option in the winter..(not if i would rather not burn the house down)
so i was looking on craigslist and found flat files.... but right now there are a few marks against them
1) i don't have the money
2) i don't have a way to get them home (they are huge)
3) i don't have a place to put them
4) i don't have space to refinish them in

oye.....but they would solve a few problems.... like taking the bulk paper off the top of the bird cage and the big shelves (where i can't reach it) .....and the top would be the right height and size for cutting paper
(cause i was drooling over a 10 drawer unit)
if i put it on a rolling base...... i would have it made!
i could even mount a roll of water color paper on it and be able to cut that too!

now we are to be getting a few storms over the weekend and next week...with the already over burdened electrical grid... we may lose electric. although ppl has been reinforcing the grid here since sandy.
for me that means keeping cooked foods in the freezer that are easy to reheat and keeping stock pots etc filled with water for us
water for the poultry will be melted snow if the electric goes out
we really need to get the switch put into the circuit breaker box for the gen so we have water-
and i really need to get back to sleep even for an hour or  so
i think the woodstove is going to be ok for a while now

keep safe everyone

catching up

after the ice age.....

we've been just trying to hang in there and stay warm
our rescue duckling is doing well.... she lost a toe and some webbing but she is eating and had a warm bath today (it was warm enough out to take her out to bath)
she's got a very soft hay filled indoor pen
and i think she is getting used to being here
i am still struggling with the quail painting...
so i took a break and am doing shore birds- so far gulls, this is the second one... they are tiny tiny paintings (photographed against my palette and paint table)
i don't know why but i am

in knitting ......i had to stop my mindless lace knitting to make a cowl and hat for bernie and another hat for me...i have more cowl/hat sets to make for us....since it seems one is always drying ....lost..... got cat spit on it...
(don't ask)

i am looking forward to spring, how about you folks?
we had a very hard time staying warm this winter, even with the woodstove, back up kero heater, and plastic wrapping everything......
we moved the ducks into the main basement (talk about crowded) and i was up every 1.5 -2 hours with the woodstove around the clock

we kept the lights on in the basement 24/7 for extra heat and i put the ash bucket full of hot coal in the stone sink with the lid cracked to keep enough heat for everyone....and dripped the faucets
we did make it through but boy...
i don't care to repeat that any time soon