Monday, December 31, 2012

tree #11


It's going down to 2 degrees tonight.
I've put out millet and pumpkins
 for the birds and squirrels.
No small wonder we have a squirrel 
the size of a large meatloaf;
I call him "The Gubbner", 
in honor of the big man in New Jersey.

Stay warm, everyone.
Happy New Year!


tree #11

Sunday, December 30, 2012

tree #10


Two nights ago, 
the air was crystalline,
and the full moon silvered the snow-covered trees.

Nice planet.
I think we ought to keep it.


tree #10 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

tree #9


Aaahhhhh...
I have found the magic elixir!
Guaranteed to boost me through these dark days.
There's a place downtown
 that sells 2 oz. shots of straight
cacao.
WOW!
Pure, unsweetened, unadulterated, unprocessed,
and never heated over warm.
The deepest taste of chocolate.
Xocoatl.


tree #9

Friday, December 28, 2012

tree #8


Ice covers our little river out there.
When I asked the rancher next door
why he calls it Hell's Crik, he said he only does when
it freezes over.

Usually, he's funnier than that.


tree #8

Thursday, December 27, 2012

tree #7


What could be colder and darker than here?
Maine.
In Maine, they're having a blizzard.
They sent home the help at the assisted-living place
and are passing out picnic boxes to the inmates. 
My mother's comment:
"Yup, we call it winter."
At 92, she's got those New England understatements
 down cold. 


tree #7

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

tree #6


It snowed on Christmas (yay!) and got bitterly cold.
Neither fact is a reasonable excuse 
for today's tree being so late in the day,
but I'm using both.
Today didn't top 20 degrees,
the sun was brilliant,
 and the sky was as blue as could be.


tree #6

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

tree #5


To everyone who reads this blog,
thanks for checking in now and then.
As for those of you who actually leave comments,
you are sublime.

To all of you,
be merry.


tree #5

Monday, December 24, 2012

tree #4

When I was a little kid, 
I'd lie underneath the tree on Christmas Eve
and look up through the branches at the lights.
It was a magical kaleidoscope. 


tree #4

Sunday, December 23, 2012

tree #3



tree #3

It's quite yellow.
Hmmm...
Apparently, the dogs got to it.

You knew it was going to happen.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

tree #2


The warm-up.


tree #2

Friday, December 21, 2012

solstice trees


I think about trees a lot.
The lungs of the planet.
The Druid in me likes to think of today as their day.


tree #1

I've painted a series of Christmas trees
 with my iPhone Pollock app.
I'll add them to the following posts.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

freud at forty


I sketched this portrait of Lucien Freud at forty
from a photo in VF.


What a guy.

Monday, December 10, 2012

who?


Have you seen this guy?
Do you know who he is?


Me neither.
Never saw him before in my life.
Not until he appeared at the end of my pencil.

He looks real enough
to actually be out there somewhere.

So, I'm curious;
who is he?

Friday, November 30, 2012

becoming van gogh


If there is any way
 you can get yourself to Denver,
 do it now.

Becoming Van Gogh
This extraordinary exhibit is at
the Denver Art Museum
October 21, 2012 - January 20, 2013.

This link is Ted Loos' NYTimes review of the show, and
this one will tell you everything you need to know 
to plan your visit.

How exciting!
You're going to see Van Gogh like never before!
This exhibit is a world exclusive
and will never be shown again.

Plus, global warming has left us high and dry.
Snowless and 60.
Not funny.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

annie's hat


Today's quick draw.



Tuesday, November 27, 2012

big blue


PDG photo 

While I've got you here,
you know how some artists have blogs
 but don't accept comments?
Duane Keiser is one of them.
Just as well.
It's generous enough that he takes the time to post.

Oh, and his paintings 
consistently blow me away.

Treat yourself and visit his link.
I'm just sayin'.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

who moved my cheese?


Someone thought my life would be better
 with a new computer.
It wasn't.


Now I'm hopelessly trying to restore
 the innards of my old one.
Hey, the good news is that
 I can finally read your posts again,
and for what it's worth,
 you can read mine.

I've missed you all.
Sorry to have lost so much time;
Life is short.

Friday, November 9, 2012

F.A.C.


A note from today's meeting of the 
Friday Afternoon Club.


Friday, November 2, 2012

companion planting


I planted three datura 
next to the barberry bush this summer.

Now the barberry is, as they say,
 totally tripped out.







These photos were taken today with my old iPhone 4
and shown as they are.
Yes, the camera really is that good,
and the bush really is this, well...




   psychedelic. 


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

last call


Last Sunday dawned warm and golden
up at the ranch.



We grabbed our cameras
and went out into the first light.
It was spectacular.








By the end of the day,
the leaves had all blown away.

Tonight, snow will cover it all.


Sunday, September 30, 2012

big red




The garage was painted in May.
I smile every time I get the car out.
What's the biggest thing 
you've ever painted
 red?


Thursday, September 27, 2012

we're outnumbered




Super Sweet 100s and SunGolds
4 quarts a day

Monday, September 17, 2012

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

dream come true


Today is my birthday,
and I woke up early to my dream coming true.
Rainreal live rain!
Lots of it.
Bayou-busting, swamp-flushing, frog-strangling
rain,
the stuff that made man build boats.
It's a beautiful thing.
Because a cool and rainy day is just what I'd wished for,
I'm choosing to take it personally.
You're welcome.

For openers, we went to Lucile's for breakfast.
Smoked eggs, trout Pontchartrain and grits.
Laissez les bontemps rouler, etc.



Happy birthday, everyone...
whenever it is.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

butcherman


I considered stuffing this into the meat locker, 
but what the heck.

At least the butcherman
 is no longer a lollipop,
but he's definitely still a fathead.


Hey!
Give the poor dog a bone!


And because this is my painting,
I get to do stuff like this...


which I like as well as the original.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

upland


I used the drawcast app on my iPhone 
to build this upland in three parts.




 Which do you prefer?  

Friday, September 7, 2012

lollipop


It all started with a fresh white sheet of Rives BFK.
I used a rag, a big brush and my elbow
to spread color everywhere.
Looked at it for a while from every direction.
Kept looking.
Eventually, an image appeared.
Once it did, I knew it was there for good. 

I did an idle sketch of what I saw.


Then I drew it on the BFK.


I liked everything about it,
 except, egads! 
This guy has a head like a lollipop!
And just look at that poor dog... 
no doubt checking for exits.

Me, too.

The guy in the sketch is moderately funny-looking,
in a goofy character-y kind-of-way,
but that fathead in the painting is a total sucker.

So far, I think there might be enough to this painting
to make it worth saving.
 But the outline was a mistake;
I should've worked with masses.

I sometimes wish there were such a thing as
 someone who'd swoop in with
  some good advice, maybe a nice glass of wine
and another fresh sheet of Rives.
Put me and The Sucker out of our misery.
The dog can stay.

Wish, wish, wish.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

dogscape


Celeste says she wants more puptraits.
We aim to please.

Think of this as sort of a dogscape.
With a lighthouse.
Sort of.




Friday, August 31, 2012

puptrait


Sometimes I paint a puptrait
of my dog.



No, really...





Thursday, August 30, 2012

joe


Our good friend Joe Kennedy,
 archeologist extraordinaire of all things Polynesian,
especially all things Hawaiian,
died in his sleep a month ago.

Considering Joe's larger-than-lifestyle,
 my portrait is not exactly a likeness.
But it's close enough to remind me of him.


Besides, he'd be glad to see the pounds gone.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

scarecrows


My neighbor has scarecrows
in her garden,


so crows come from all over
 to feast their beady eyes on them.


The crows scare them,
 and they run for cover.


That's why we call them scarecrows.

Friday, August 24, 2012

in the key of blue


Yesterday in his blog, Casey Klahn published 
an "Ode To Blue". 

I thought I would, too.
Performed on my iPhone 
"In The Key Of Blue"




Wednesday, August 22, 2012

chair


I put a chair out in the garden.
So far, no one has sat in it.


I will paint whomever does first.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

red dawn


Now that the Olympics are over,
 the media has remembered that the West is burning.
Giant wildfires rage in
California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Idaho. 
Even here, the air is thick with smog, 
and the moon is orange. 
At dawn, the red sun rises
in a rare puddle. 


 Cool picture.
I love the abstraction.
Hmmm... what if I flip it?


Or, how about?... 


Just fiddlin' around over here 
in Nero-Nero-Land!