Goats

Waddles and Baddles- born 7/08. Weird names I know, Waddles because he has little wattles hanging on his neck and his brother is Baddles because .... well... it rhymes. yeah... ok. They are about 24 inches tall. Both very sweet and will come to people to be scratched and petted. They are both wethers, part boer/nubian. Neither have been aggressive or "ram- like" to people. They will butt each other.

Wow... awesome new painting by Linda. This is a pastel painting of her friend's dog, Aggie. Linda had been at their house taking several photos and sketches to capture Aggie's color, movement and personality. The grand old lady was very cooperative. Oddly, later that evening, she passed over rainbow bridge. This painting is a last testament to a fabulous old german shepherd with a heart of gold. From what I'm the told, the recipient of the painting cried and cried after receiving it for Christmas...

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

This is so cool -- an artist saw birds sitting on wires...as musical notes and thought "I wonder how they sound?"

"Fall Raven"

So many things are happening.

I had been hoping to go to the FPG, but personal circumstances have dictated otherwise.... That's ok, another year... Here is my latest painting. "Fall Raven". I am little disappointed that the depth of the colors and the textures cannot be seen in a photo, but perhaps that is the nature of glazing fine layers of paint over paint. My only complaint of this piece is that, once again, I did not stick to a "standard size", so framing may be a little more expensive ~Mixed media acrylic 11.25"x12.5" #140 watercolor paper.

SO long since the last post! I know! But it couldn't be helped- my main computer's hard drive crashed and I have been limping along with an ancient Dell- just scraping by checking email - bummer. But here is a photo with my puppy "Mouse"... I am looking for opinions about her ears... are they proper for conformation showing ?

Manatee

Here is my manatee painting- yes I know, how original- a manatee painting from Florida. Tuff toodles, I like this painting. It is the first one where I have felt... "ok it's done." It's been sitting on my table for a couple of weeks being picked at a teeny bit each day. Last night was the last... it's done.

It is slightly iridescent with blues, grays, greens, and yellow ochre. It funny how the yellow line is around the manatee. I did not draw it on there... it is a result of the technique I used.

La Chic chick

A new chic chick photo- wow, what a wild little chick! She is really cute but also sort of friendly. She will sit in my hand for as long as I will let her -- Can't wait to see how she develops!

lost painted pears

I have several paintings going on right now, as well as some mixed media collages. Can't seem to get them finished for some reason- even when the children are at friends houses. The one I have been working on the most lately is of the lightly glazed style and texture. It is of a seaturtle. It will eventually get finished.... but for now take a look at this one . Some type of style- but of pears with a gold leaf accents. The painting is about 7x7 inches. I *think* have two or three of these, all similar but just a little different because the original intent was to frame them together as a set. Can't seem to find either of them - all I have is this lonely little photo I took several months ago... I hope I can find the paintings!

Another photo of my chic chick- I did not realize when I bought her that she is a "frizzle".

I have chickens. I have a rooster and several hens. The hens do not set on eggs, so I borrowed an incubator to incubate some eggs to make new chickens. Out of 20 eggs only one hatched. A single chick does not do well in flocks, chickens are mean to each other( pecking order is a literal term.) They do much better if they have a friend - so I went and bought 2 chicks for my singleton chick. Somehow I ended up with the chic chick- Look at her feathers! weird!

I have not sat down to play with art in quite a while - not sure why - just don't feel motivated. Lack of will , coupled with trying to find a job and settling other problems, leads to a lack of personal exploration. I was playing with polymer clay a bit and doing a little with beads.... but I really miss the paint and texture. So this past week I picked up a brush and began a new painting. I'll let you know how it gets on ---- Meanwhile here is a chick.... is she not the cutest little chick? She is chic chick with ruffled feathers...

Oh, I just realized it May 20- it was the birthday of someone special to me --- I lost contact with him long ago but I really hope he is doing well...Chris, Happy Birthday. Wow, just did a search on him and found him- He is part of a band called "Fuzzy Logic"-- coool!

We all have a story...

Have you ever heard Story Corps?

It is a nationwide project to record the oral histories of Americans. It is fascinating to hear the stories of "average" Americans and realize there no average people- everyone has a story to tell...

Ostara Bunny

Here is the Ostara bunny... Oh... I wish my camera worked -- I would sneak over and get a short video, you know, for posterity or blackmail.

I have to go to work today - but here is a quick basic watercolor ( actually thinned acrylic paint) I like it. I don't paint many realistic type subjects. But this was kind of fun. It needs a bit more on the water reflections -

blue eggs and no ham

Maybe I am getting used to this blogging stuff- mostly writing about useless things which pop into my head. Here is one from last week which is only now making it's debut....

I was hungry and decided to make an egg salad sandwich - I start to boil up a few eggs- blue eggs as I have Easter egg chickens. Oh, I do have a few brown egg layers but for some reason the blue eggs are on my counter so I start boiling them. As I start to peel them I notice that they do indeed look bluish . Normally they get mixed in with the brown eggs so I don't really notice a big difference but today they are by themselves they are blue. huh... so I take photos ( because I have no art ready ) so here is my lunch . Now once they are all mixed up they do not look blue... which is good 'cause if I think about eggs too much I get grossed out. Tiny chicken embryos. ewww......

morning full moon

This photo was taken last week of the morning full moon - same tree as in the sunset. I love that tree, but I think it is dying. I don't have any art to show yet - I've been waaay to busy with work. It is good to work, but at the same time, it really cuts into play time...

I am still shopping for beading supplies and I am still waiting for my boro beads for the cool necklace I will make as I get them!

Ice shroud

I went to turn off the sprinklers this morning and found these ice sculptures. How cool is this ?

What have I been doing lately? Several things-

I have been working. Unfortunately, I have not yet won a lotto drawing so I have to go to work. Just three days a week. Sounds as if it is part time, right? No, I work 12+ hour days so it is full time. I like to work fewer days, more hours, but sometimes it is difficult. My work day is just that ... a work day. The whole day is consumed by work, thinking of work, running around taking care of patients, from waking until bedtime. I wish I could just stay there in the hospital for those days - it would save a bit of time and gas from having to drive home -sleep, change clothes and go back. I am not whining... not exactly... I am grateful I am able to work and grateful my phone is ringing off the hook with people begging me to go to work, but there are reasons there is a nursing shortage..... whoops, different blog.

I also have been shopping.... no, not normal going to the mall and shops shopping. But good ol' agoraphobic shopping from my computer. I am trying to find beads to make a necklace. I like to look at jewelry and collecting things to make jewelry. NOTE: repeat .... collecting stuff to make jewelry. I haven't really made anything yet . It is kind of odd too... I don't even wear a lot of jewelry. Right now I am wearing none... most days I wear none. But I am attracted to it - to little shiny, pretty objects, but I don't actually wear it. Ok, rarely wear it. I will wear this necklace though, once it is made. For now I am still collecting all of the supplies. I am now waiting for the boro beads to made...I will post a photo when done. Maybe, not a promise, even of me wearing it.. ohhhhh.

I have been working on a painting. Well, three paintings. One horse painting on canvas and two other smaller abstracts. A small altered-art metal box, mixed media thing is floating in my head. Maybe it will come out soon. It involves dog tags and color... not sure where it will go, but... .ahhh....that is the journey. Tomorrow is my last free day - then on to three days of intense patient care. pfft-

Stay warm because even in Florida it is supposed to be very cold tonight

In my profile I had mentioned that it took a trip to the local art festival AND an image to spark my foray into expressing myself with paint. I have tried to find the online image of that painting. I have found others by that artist but not that painting. Duh- it finally occurred to me I have the poster hanging on the wall - so down it came and I took a photo of it - please excuse the reflection! The artist is a Florida artist named Trish Thompson. The painting is named "Riverside Park Palms" I believe it is referring to a small park on the north shore of Lake Monroe.

Well, off to try a slightly different technique -I am going to try to paint on a big canvas- I have tried to paint on other canvases, but it is such a different feel - it is springy- as well as the cost issue - my problem of overcoming my feeling that I am "wasting"- HAH! I say to the universe! I am wasting and I don't care- maw-ha-ha. Ok, I do care a little bit.

This is a photo of half of this painting. It doesn't quite show the depth of color variations, especially since the original is about 12x22 inches. I may try to get a better photo tomorrow. This photo was taken just as it was getting dark outside. I cannot take a flash photo as the light causes a funky reflection.

This is the painting I am trying to get an objective opinion of... would you mind taking the poll? Or if you prefer, please leave a comment -

What do you think? This is what I have been experimenting with lately....

Wild Sunset

Here is a sunset from last week- What colors! I love this pine tree and have used it for a model in some artwork.

I am beginning to develop a more focused idea as to the purpose of this blog. I will try to take photos of some of my art work and hopefully Linda's as well. She is such a techno-phobe... it will be difficult to convince her to participate... but I'll work on her to soften her up. She has many beautiful ideas to spread around. She loves to talk - I can't imagine why it is so difficult to get her to post a blog.

For better or worse, I begin a new job on Monday so I may have a bit less time to be creative. I have also found it is more difficult for my brain to make the "shift" from left brained work to right brain creativity. Another challenge!