Monday, July 18, 2005

Chickadee and Blossoms 5



Almost finished. Maybe a little softening of the flowers that are furtherest away, and some work on the larger branches...have to look at it again in the morning.

Exciting news! My lemons and crystal painting (you can see a little pic of it on the side of the blog) was accepted into the NC Watercolor Society 2005 Exhibition. So, it will be on display this fall in Winston-Salem, NC.

Random thoughts:

My cat, Empress, is OCD. She over cleans herself until she is bald. She has been to the vet several times over this. All we can do is put oinment on the current spot, and one of those big plastic collars around her neck. Such a bizarre little creature.

I try to walk every morning. When I walk, I listen to books on tape. Yesterday, I was so into my book that I almost walked into a tree! Good thing I walk at the park and not on the roadside!

There are two rocks shows over the next two weekends. I am such a good wife ;)

Down the hall from my studio, there is a therapist, and she has a therapy dog named Jazz. She is the sweetest thing. Everytime she sees me she snorts and wiggles. Her owner says boy! she sure does get excited to see you! Her mama doesn't know that she is a dogcookie junkie, and am her dogcookie dealer. She gets a fix everytime she comes to visit me.

Still working on flash. Made a bouncing ball this week(yes, I am a flash genius!) and went through a few tutorials. What is it with graphic artists and insisting on mac platform? are they still in the stone age? or is it some kind of mac cult? Employment ads keep asking for mac platform..why do they care? It's the exactly same program on the pc as on the mac..I promise I can learn how to turn a mac off and on.


You can't depend on your eyes if your imagination is out of focus.

- Mark Twain

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Chickadee and Blossoms 4



Developing the branches and the center of the blossoms.

Random thoughts:

I can't for the life of me decide if having an agent is a good thing for an artist... or not.

The morning glories have survived three days..so far, so good.

My cat, Samurai, drools when he is happy. Last night he sat in my lap and drooled on my ice cream. Then, he was even happier.

My mom got a cell phone. She emailed me to tell me about it, because she doesn't know how to place a call..or how to answer one.

I think that I mentioned I am learning flash. Its a animation program for the web. I can't believe how much I am enjoying learning it. See..old dogs can learn new tricks!


The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.

- Mikhail Baryshnikov

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Chickadee and Blossoms 3



Starting to add shadows to the petals and working a bit on the chickadee.

Most of my time lately has been spent brushing up on my graphic design skills. I got the latest version of flash this week. Yesterday I made a dancing pumpkin!

Dev and I rented Hide and Seek yesterday. I am a big movie buff :) That little girl actor (Dakota Fanning?) is just amazing. She was in War of the Worlds too, and stole the show from Tom Cruise. She is has so much talent and will be a joy to watch her grow and expand her roles as she gets older. I hope her family is keeping her safe from "Hollywood."

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Chickadee and Blossoms - 2



Working on some of the darks today. The flowers and bird are back lite.. he's sitting inside the tree. Also started the shadows on the flowers, but didn't get a photo of that.

My prayers go out to those affected by the bombing in London this morning.

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Friday, July 01, 2005

Pear Blossoms and Chickadee - background



Taking a break from all the detail and eyestrain of reflections and crystal! This painting is based on several different photos. The pear blossoms are from the tree in my front yard, and the chickadee is based on reference photos from the web and my bird feeder.

July 4th - Done!



You can see a larger version and a close up here.

I'm pretty sure this one is done...I will hang it up in the studio and stare at it for a bit to be sure.

I added a few more layers and some white gouache highlights. I really prefer pure watercolor, but sometimes you just have to have a little gouache :)

I thought this was really interesting. 100 questions science hasn't answered yet!

Japanese beetles have become the bane of my exsistance. They are evil creatures that are eating my roses, day lilies, and other plants.



Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"
Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
Charlie Brown (Charles M. Schulz)