watchdog

Dog, watch over us and protect us.

Happy New Year!

reclipse

I'm as much of a heathen as anyone,

so I regret not staying up to see

the totality of the eclipse on the solstice.

But I did see the moon rise that night.

O my Dog.

before the fall

I like these photos.

They were the last ones I took a couple of weeks ago

before crashing on the cattle guard.

Long tall Sally.

Yup.

This crutch supporting the mountain is actually

a raptor platform for nesting golden eagles.

In hindsight, I should've used it.

More's the pity.

christmas tree

The maple tree's Christmas lights

Every color we've got.

copasetic cosmos

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and fortunate

Solstice, Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse!

Credit: Jim Fakatselis, NASA

deck the halls

face plant

Last weekend, the weather at the ranch was beautiful,

cold and clear.

The dog and I took a walk up the mountain.

How blithe.

As part of my continuing education, called Life, on our way back down the ranch road, my shoelace lassoed a spike on the cattle guard, and I crashed and burned. Did a total face plant down onto the metal bars. Somehow, my Kryptonite sunglasses protected my face. Mostly. I sat for a bit, resumed breathing and took inventory; there was enough blood for good drama, but that was all.

When I got back down to the house, I put my feet up and iced my face. To pass the time, I got out my iPhone and went into the Pollock Zone. That app is a remarkable anesthetic; does wonders for pain and plane rides. I did this wry self-portrait. It's the only image you'll ever see. Take my word for it, it's a fair rendition of the wreckage.

Considering I should be dead, my fat lip was a miracle.

sundance

Nobody naps like a dog.

Sundance

This is dedicated to this proud old guy,

who at age 12 wasn't too old to go out on a toot today

in dogged pursuit of a girl.

Then we "rescued" him and called his mother.

I bet he's sleeping well tonight,

and I bet he's pissed at us.

some cats are okay

We're mostly not cat people,

but sometimes you gotta admire talent.

yo mama

I like the background, but the women are much too graphic.

Even so, I can't help liking them.

Even if they're, whoops, both missing digits.

cherry pie

I've painted a lot of black women.

There were no models, so I depended on my imagination.

As these women appeared, I grew to love them like sistahs.

They were very good company.

There are several more of them, but

Cherry Pie here pushed to the front of the line.

hard to imagine

The sun was this hot.

The shade was this cool.

Remember?

It was called summer.

praise be to Arby's

A flash mob of angels...

thanks be to dog

I'm thankful me and the dog did NOT go for a walk yesterday morning because there was a stoned mountain lion staggering up the alley where we walk. The po-leese and the DOW screwed up another bait n switch and had to dart him twice.

As always, I'm thankful I get to go get poked by my acuprincess and that she lets my dog come with me. I'm thankful for the GP/OB/GYN she recommended to me. Dr. OneSwellFoop.

I'm very thankful they both have a decent sense of humor.

pink things

On October 28th 2010, these pink things

appeared in the eastern sky at sunset.

If one were conspiracy-prone,

one might have had a little moment.

Naturally, I went straight to that

Great and All-Knowing Oracle,

Google.

Gadzooks!

Conspiracies R Us!

Lucky for you, I waded through the all the dreck;

I chose The Straight Dope.

Enjoy.

in the meantime

For the last few weeks, I've been re-acquainting myself with my acrylics. Pastels were beginning to make my mouth go dry; I longed for something more liquid. That good dog, Howl, welcomed me back with a fun and almost effortless painting. There actually is no such thing, is there... but it did seem to flow like a river. So to speak. I've been dipping my toes in the water ever since.

I forgot how maddening acrylics can be. Moan. I won't go into detail here. Suffice it to say, no medium is without its drawbacks. Complaining about them is nothing but bitchy when what is called for is more effort. So I've been busy climbing my learning curve. Whew! It's a real fourteener.

In the meantime, in order to maintain any semblance of arty satisfaction, I've been indulging in that addictive iPhone Pollock app. Brilliant color with no muss, no fuss. Best of all, just shake to erase.

Here are some of my recent faves:

I'm having entirely too damn much fun!

Just so you know,

I'm sweating bullets over a couple of actual canvases.

Coming soon...

one place or the other

Sometimes the choice is easy.

rock and scroll

Just to keep you fickle readers tuned in,

I'm posting a picture of some artful litter I came across.

I in no way altered it; this is exactly how I found it.

It was only after I saw the photo that it occurred to me that

someone had probably intended to make this rock and scroll.

Uh, duh...

It reminds me of myself, chasing my own tail.

Dogs do that with a vengeance,

but come to think of it, it mostly makes them dizzy.

I can relate.

My latest dither involves

sketching two complete drawings onto canvases

I forgot to underpaint first.

O, save me from myself.

artifacts

Good word, artifacts. Arty factoids.

Anyway, here are some arty Dia de los Meurtos 'oids.

Necklaces made of skulls and bones.

Love em!

My hibiscus went copasetic for the holiday.

If you come out of the salon with hair this yaller,

call your lawyer.

Mine is an artifact of wildfire smoke

filtering the sunlight.

Swear.

Wish I had made this frame.

SANITY!

If you happen to visit this blog today, don't miss this opportunity to attend...

THE RALLY FOR SANITY

Unfortunately, the picture isn't a live feed; it just looks that way, but...

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT CROWD!

However, this link gives you the live feed to the rally in DC, as well as other sane spots around the country. It's enough to give sane people hope!

here we go again

First, in a move which rivals Scarlett O'Hara's "I'll think about it tomorrow...", I'm reposting my painting of Howl (the joyous beagle) so he can maintain his fame...

In the meantime, another wildfire is burning west of Boulder. Unlike the last fire 10 miles west of town, this one is burning on the edge of the city. Slurry bombers (my heros!) are dropping retardant to knock the fire down, and backfires have been set which may cause power outages for the rest of the day, so most downtown businesses are closing. I assume we'll be cut off soon, so I'm posting this while I can.

What do I think? Like Old Man Truman of Mt. St. Helens, I ain't leavin'! For now...

A slurry bomber drops a load of fire retardant on the Dome Fire in Boulder on Friday afternoon.

Read more:Firefighting efforts may cause massive power outages in Boulder - Boulder Daily Camerahttp://www.dailycamera.com/boulderdomefire/ci_16463901#ixzz13mIHUZV8
DailyCamera.com

howl

I loved painting this.

Loved working in acrylic with a juicy brush again.

Dogs are us.

push pull

I diddle with the Pollock app on my iPhone a lot.

It quickly shifts me to my right brain,

where I lose track of time and space.

Early one morning, I found myself playing push pull.

Breakfast with Hans Hofman and Jackson Pollock.

Pretty heady company.

spook you!

Halloween is big here in Boulder.

When the downtown MallCrawl got too rowdy in 1989,

the city outlawed it.

Bummer.

So we took it home.

I took these next photos a week ago when people

had just begun to decorate.

I'm happy to say that it's getting out of hand...

Do NOT try this at home!

I stole this picture of Jazz from Jala.

I am amoral.

los muertos

Today, we started the holiday right by going to:

Sometimes, a cliche' fits... this exhibit was awesome.

It made us laugh; it made us cry.

Very beautiful and touching.

chocolate moose

miraculous

Tomorrow is my mother's 90th birthday.

I think anyone who survives 90 years on this planet is miraculous.

I also think posting a video is pretty miraculous,

but I think her miracle is more powerful.

I am not one bit surprised.

I shot the video on our trip to Maine last month.

My husband is driving.

My mother is riding shotgun with a roadmap in hand,

telling us where to go.

It was ever thus.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUM!

posting Pollock

As usual, I'm fighting technology and circling the drain.

Listening to Ziggy Stardust sing about spiders.

Better post something -- anything --

before going down for the 3 millionth time.

I've mentioned www.jacksonpollock.org before.

Then I discovered that it's also an iPhone app. Great!

Now I can auto-Pollock myself into oblivion.

A glass of wine on the flight to Maine

prompted the following painting.

My current techno-meltdown is with MySqueezebox.com (Internet radio).

Peter Gabriel is playing "Shock The Monkey".

How appropriate.

lost and found

My mother has been asking me to go upstairs to see the oil pastel I did for my parents back in the early 80s. On our visit to Maine last week, I finally went up and saw this next to the bath tub. It was wearing dirty glass in one of my telltale cruddy frame jobs, so I gave it a squirt of Windex and took a quick shot with my iPhone.

Not bad.

bear on the run

The bear cub is still at large. He apparently eluded the guys from the DOW when they tried to catch him the day before yesterday. I imagine seeing them brought back immediate memories of his mother being shot by them, so he did what his best instincts said and ran like a rabbit. The good news is that his mother schooled him in the fine art of fine dining a la garbage, so not only is he still alive but probably eating well. He's been seen a couple of times since, so we know he's still following his garbage route, which probably makes it possible to trap him. Anyway, he's still around. Considering what he's been through, including the fire, I'd say the little guy is very clever and very brave. Part of me wants to root for his escape, but reality tells me that being caught by people is much better than being cougar bait.

So RUN!, little guy. Just not too fast.

hot crossed buns

No doubt thanks to all your crossed things, there's some good news today.

First, the wind is down, the humidity is up (here in Colorado, that could mean a woo-hoo! whopping 30%), the Reservoir Road Fire up north of the ranch is 25% contained, and there's lots of firefighters on the ground as well as in the air. They all expect to make good progress today. That's critical because there's a red flag warning (lots of hot, dry wind) for tomorrow. Then it will ah-h-h cool down for the rest of the week.

Second, the bear cub was found this morning! Hallelujah!!! Though we didn't see him up in the tree where he was spotted, I think we walked right under him. Someone called the DOW. Hopefully, the cub was darted and successfully taken to the bear rehab, where he can spend the next 2 years safely learning how to take care of himself out in the wild world. Oh, I hope so.

Now, if everything will just chill out (including Hurricane Igor), our 10-day trip on Saturday to see my mother in Maine will actually include some R&R. Keep 'em crossed, everyone!

never say never

Today another 700+acre fire broke out, this time up north of the ranch. It's moving west/northwest and has burned some homes. The good news is that 8 miles of reservoir is in between the ranch and the fire. Also, because the Fourmile fire here in Boulder was a Type One wildfire, as is this one, all the bombers and hundreds of firefighters from around the country are already here and moved right in on this new fire. The wind isn't blowing as hard, but it remains very dry and the temps tomorrow will go up to 90. Oh jeez.

Fingers crossed...

burning woman

The fire's still burning, the wind's still blowing

and I'm still painting.

Like a crazy woman.

sleep tight, kiddies!

The slurry bombers are dumping in the 'hood.

Now it's getting personal...

Boulder residents who live west of Broadway and north of Spruce Street are being asked to prepare to evacuate their homes, in case the path of the Fourmile Fire shifts dramatically.

City officials on Thursday afternoon said that forecasted high winds overnight are leading to concerns that the fire could shift toward city limits.

"Based on the (wind) patterns that are being forecast, we do have concerns it could push the fire east to the western parts of the city," said Sarah Huntley, a city spokeswoman. "We don't know if evacuations are going to be necessary."

The forecast calls for wind gusts as high as 50 mph starting after about 6 p.m. today, and lasting into the early morning hours.

Read more:Fourmile Fire officials: Boulder residents west of Broadway, north of Spruce Street should prepare for possible evacuations - Boulder Daily Camerahttp://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_16032818#ixzz0z4y6rLIP
DailyCamera.com

help

Sometimes, help comes when you need it.

Or more likely, when you need help,

you knows it when you sees it.

Our species typically expects it to fall out of the sky.

One way or the other, it often does.

We were already pretty sure that slurry bombers are heros.

Now we think they're miracle workers.

This rain didn't stop the fire, but I'm sure it slowed it down.

It washed the air and gave everyone a break.

It felt so good.

how many is too many

Stand back. I am on a tear. A bear tear.

I started this post last week. It was supposed to be all about bears. At last count, six of them had been "euthanized" (go ahead; say SHOT) in this county this season. Why, you may ask. Well, if you ask the DOW (Department Of Wildlife), the damn critters got what they deserved. After all, they were caught raiding kitchens, cars and garbage cans. If you ask me, the problem is people, not bears. People who leave the kitchen window open, JuicyFruit gum in their cars, and a regular smorgasbord of goodies out in their smelly trash every single night. Can you say, bait? So which is worse? Bears in the bushes or the DOW? I won't go into the details of the latest encounter, but trust me, it's a horrific story. Here's the short version:

For weeks, this sow and her 4-month-old cub had been pilfering jelly donuts (garbage) in an alley a few blocks from my house. I dogwalk in the early morning and would see unending upended cans every single day. On the first of September, the dog and I heard a neighbor's quiet "watch out for the bear". I looked up and saw these two.

Here's the mug shot of the latest ursine culprits:

Hours later, the DOW decided the injured mother couldn't adequately care for her cub, shot her and the cub escaped. The best you could say is that they bungled the job. As far as I know, no one has found the poor little guy yet.

I hate helpless; I had to do something. So off I went to Kinko's to have flyers printed. Every morning, I shove one into the gaping maw of every stinking garbage can we come across. Of course, the same people who harbor reeking refuse have no problem trashing the flyers every night.

I generally tend to think that there's just too damn many people. Just like I hate being helpless, I sometimes also hate being right. Case in point: As I headed home from the store this morning, I thought I saw a small curl of smoke behind Mt. Sanitas, the same mountain which is on the western edge of Boulder and backs right up to our neighborhood. In the five minutes it took to get home, the I'm-sure-now-famous wildfire was filling the sky over our backyard with smoke.

Here's the roof of my studio.

I'm going to go ahead and hope the fire's not as close as it looks.

In another ten minutes, the bright sunny day was blanketed

by a thickening layer of acrid smoke,

and ash fell like light snow.

This fire is awful. We always knew it could happen, especially during a hot, dry season like this. Every house, every ranch and every mountain town in the 20 miles west of here has been evacuated. Every canyon road is closed, the wind is gusting up to 65 miles per hour, and the smoke cloud can be seen from Wyoming 200 miles down to Colorado Springs.

I feel truly sorry for everyone fleeing this monster. But while people are being told to take their animals to the County Fairgrounds, I can't help but wonder who told the wild things where to go. I can't help but worry about that little cub.