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

and it looks like....RAIN

this is how a painting starts out...i try to not draw it out too much, but.......
something like this i got no choice.... there is way too much going on in this to wing it so to speak
(and yes i know that bird looks like shit)
meanwhile i am painting in the corn field in the background... and DREADING when i have to go back in with the sky....which is gray..... and stormy.....
however once i do that, i can finish the shadows on the other stuff and correct the colors etc
and make that damn bird look a lot better...he does look pretty iffy
i don't know if i am going to like this yet when i'm done...i do like that corn in the background......i love how it sort of looks down on the crow (sorta like it's going to get that crow for eating it's babies)
and of course i love the pumpkin....i LOVE pumpkins!
now this is also much larger then i have been working lately... (not as big as my black and whites but bigger then the color work i've been doing)
there is a reason....
i didn't want to crowd this too much and i did want to get a LOT of background corn stalks in there
so i went bigger
not quite as large as i wanted to
but big enough that i can put in detail and still scan it here
WHAT?
doesn't everyone do halloween in june/july?

still raining

and i am painting nests ...........and birds...AGAIN
this is one of the middle photo's...it's not finished in this one.....however in real life it's done and in the box for the printer
believe me it's MUCH better then what you see here..... light years better.

tomorrow i will most likely start another painting, if i don't start one tonight.
i am thinking of another small furry mammal as i have to finish that series

i need to do a few portraits of kids.....
i would like someone around 5 years old or younger....
3-5 is probably perfect
normally i would do girls as i was so used to looking at my nieces but i would like to do some boy's portraits instead
anyone want to volunteer their kids?
i'm not that good an artist so they probably won't be recognizable
hahahahahaha
oye
meanwhile, even though i am not posting, i AM still working my assets off.......still researching wide bed printers.....still trying to find a good way to digitize these paintings so i can print them and then sell the originals- it's a lot of work
and my acute bronchitis is going away- i am coughing up stuff here and there.... but i haven't had to use the inhaler for two days now....
today i didn't use the allergy meds either and i can breath!
i helped bernie bring the ducks in (in the POURING monsoon rains) and was ok to breath!
so i am getting better it would seem
but i am out of stuff to read......(yes me, in a house made of books, i have nothing to read.....nothing NEW to read)

ok then, back to the drawing board

didja miss me?

life goes on....budgie life that is

mrs fezziwig is fine it looks like
she is out from under the heat lamp..
meanwhile stella and emma are laying now
so we are having eggie days here

i can't believe that mrs fezziwig made it.....what are the odds?
but i am so glad
what a plucky little girl

meanwhile, i will be wondering if we are going to have baby budgies here or what?

mrs fezziwig the budgie

 a lot of stuff has been going around here
one bad thing was that mrs fezziwig was egg bound
we soaked her yesterday and put the heat lamp on her
today she passed two eggs
then took a HUGE poop ( you could SEE the relief on her little face)
we think she is going to make it
we hope she will
she's still under the heat lamp as she hasn't moved out from it
but she's eating so we count this as a miracle
we also hope that it's the sign of better things to come......

half done oven bird

woman's right matter

so  for the first time every i voted.................

for the rights of woman must be upheld....
and stupidity needs to be squished

work continues

this is a crop of a house finch......... he wasn't quite finished here but that's ok....there is enough to see where he's going.
meanwhile the weather has changed again.....and i am continuing work on these small paintings.
i need to pick another watercolor paper for the next project which is botanical illustration.
i am torn between sanders, canson 100, and just going for twinrocker.
meanwhile the rest of the chickens and ducks are ok......we were so worried about them
and if you don't hear from me....rest assured, i am working

chipping sparrow

chipping sparrow.... midway through painting..
i did finally finish her (see the egg bulge? that's a girl! we know all about egg bulges around here with 11 female birds)
she is actually finished, and in my box waiting to be scanned for note cards
and i will go on record as saying
i like her

oh and i fixed her beak


now in very sad news
malcom passed away the other day..... i do miss him very much.
we think he was poisoned by a neighbor using rodent bait
we have to believe it was an accident