Little Lulu

Katherine Van Schoonhoven 

has posted a good Roadrunner cartoon

 and asked what cartoons we liked as kids.

"Little Lulu" always appealed to my own bad self. 

 Now I'm amazed at the quality of the animation,

especially the background matte painting.

What was your favorite?

barn dance

Dance 'til the cows come home.

little sistah

Here's the youngest sistah.

Not the best photograph, but hey...

Yes, I am stalling here.

I've been in the back room 

trying to make my pastels behave.

Or at least look like they haven't looked before.

It's a tussle.

follow the leader

This was the first in my series of black woman.

She's always been a hard act to follow.

Really hard.

never say die

A few weeks ago, a door opened

and five good old dogs went through.

One of them was my dog Garrett's girlfriend, Sammy.

Here's the iPhone portrait I did of her.

    

He's not worried;

he's pretty sure they all went someplace good.

sketches

Some things happen in my sketchbook

that can't happen anywhere else.

It's full of big ideas.

Not every one will get out alive.

Two of my own dog's very best old dog friends

died within a couple of days of each other. 

It was a tough week for us all.

 I wondered if he knew... if he misses them.

Poor guy.

When I got home after saying goodbye and thanks 

to Jala's Jazzy,
I did the drawing at the top left (click twice).
I tried to do a 9x12 pastel from it,
but it was clear no painting could ever say it
better than this little thumbnail. 

Like I said,
not every one will get out alive.

wonderland

I admire Bob LaFond's pond paintings,

so I went out to Wonderland Lake

early one morning last week.

It was glorious.

little birds

I'll miss the hummingbirds. 

I'm afraid they're getting ready to leave. 

Though it didn't get below freezing this morning,

 it was cold enough to ice the dew. 

It was only 39 degrees when the dog and I walked at 6:30.

 Brave little hummers were at the feeder when we got back, 

so I filled it with a fresh batch of sugar water, 

hoping it will entice them to stay a little longer. 

Tomorrow, September 23rd, is the Fall Equinox, 

and the chickadees are already down from the mountains.

photo credit: talljim@growsonyou.com

credit

Credit where it's due...
Lately, my photographs have been taken with my iPhone 4. The app I use is Camera+. So far, upgrades have been developed as soon as I can wish for them and continue to make my phone the camera of my dreams. My next wish is to be able to use it to take archival photos of my art. For all I know, it already can, and I just haven't figured out how to. Most likely. 

With the advent of digital cameras, I suspect everyone has a favorite these days. Formerly, I used my Sony DSLR exclusively, but the iPhone is always with me, and I don't have to change lenses. Well, to each her own. Amazing times we live in, eh? Now if we can just survive our own foolishness. Not likely. 

This is not a paid advertisement. They can't afford me. Heh.


P.S. I'm so smart, I thought I'd illustrate this post with a photo of my iPhone. Um... duh. Well, though this isn't the best shot of this sun-struck bush, what the heck, I'll post it instead.

divine

heaven

and earth

discombobulated

Contrary to the hollow echo, I'm still here.

  I've been back in Maine visiting my family.  

Two days into it, my sister had a stroke.  

She's okay now, but it was a reality check for us all.  

If lobster counts, we did a lot of self-medicating.  

The weather was as beautiful as only Maine 

can serve up in August.

 Then that bad girl, Irene, 

 delayed our flight back to Boulder.

  I'm being as stoic as us down-easterners are supposed to be 

when I say,

 it was a hell of a vacation. 

I found this large acrylic hanging 

in my dad's workshop in the basement.  

 I painted it in my parents' guest room the summer of 1969.  

The world was in upheaval.  

Five months later, I dropped out of college

 and moved to Colorado.  

   

As you can tell, breathing was important.  

Still is.

basta pesto

Garrett the Great basks in the sun, 

while the basil and tomato plants behind him 

photosynthesize yumminess.

Sorry, but when the basil is ready,

pesto production takes precedence over posting.

I must have processed at least a dozen batches

in the last week.

The pesto is stacked like cordwood 

in the freezer. 

Now it's time for us to go home to Maine

to visit my mom

and eat our weight in lobster rolls.

Ahhh... fattening up for winter.

hydrohypnotherapy

Oh, ARGH!

 The video won't upload.

Too bad.
You really shoulda seen it.

It's like totally hypnotizing.

Then you gotta pee.

stir it up

Take one part flower

with the iPhone camera.

Add the iPhone Pollock app. 

Stir it up.

Ta da!

rainfall

I could spend another forever on this, 

but I've wrung this one dry.

Found out what I wanted to know.

Rain falls and moves on.

So should I.

be cool

Hot?

Pull down the shade.

Be cool.

anything for a laugh

last light

First, let me say how good it feels to be
back into the sticks again.

I don't know why I always post on Fridays,

but it's Friday, so here I am 

with my first painting done out of the new pastel box.

An organized palette helps me see what I'm doing.

Even if it's the last light.

blonde self

This is in honor of

that blonde hair in my self-portrait.

http://youtu.be/eFAkuFSziSs

This heat kills brain cells.

summer self

Much of the country is locked under 

The Heat Dome. 

Triple digits anywhere sounds horrendous.

We're on the edge of it here, and it's in the high 90s, 

enough to make me, uh, irritable.

At the end of this day, I'm still liking the pastel I'm doing,
so I'm taking my sweaty hands off of it for now.

I clutch my iPhone in the cool of the night

and do these Pollock app things.

Here's a self portrait.

hue and cry

Is there such a thing as color constipation?

Value vapor-lock?

Pigmentation saturation?

Chroma chelation? 

Tone deafness?

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.  

The other pastel sticks lurking in this studio 

(and they are... rolling around with the dust devils 

under the furniture, 

stashed in cigar boxes, even lost in my drawers), 

sticks which didn’t make the cut 

into the box in this round, 

well, it’s too damn bad.  I’ve hit my limit.  

At this point, I am hueless and clueless.  

Can’t see the forest greens for the tree greens.  

Can’t see the sea blues.  

I still have neutrals and grays to do, 

but they’re merely ghosts.  

I need more boxes, but the thought makes me sweat.

It's all getting blurry... 

Hard to believe, but this color junkie 

has finally overdosed.  

Which is not to say I won’t be back for another hit.  

Because... sigh... that’s the nature of the beast.    

summer froot toot

I bought one of Dakota's new pastel boxes.

Impressive quality.

But for a born sorter, loading it will take some time.

And a half.

In the meantime, 

thank goodness for the iPhone Pollock app.

gypsy wagon

Two men were busy unloading I don't know what 

from their truck early one morning

as I walked by.
They were both wearing strange shoes

and were as swarthy as Romas,

but it was their truck that stopped me in my tracks.

independence

First, Happy Fourth!

 I painted a snappy picture for this day,
which I'll post at the end of this experiment...
First, I'll bait the hook with this:

I'm fishing for the so-and-so who's been
offering my photos, paintings and Pollock app pieces
as wallpaper.
Without attribution.

In the interest of fair trade,

 defined on Wikipedia as
 a trading partnership, based on dialogue,
 transparency and respect,
I have a Creative Commons license
which allows the use of my art posted on this blog, 
but WITH attribution.


So I'm hereby declaring my independence
with a purposely fudged print.

May your bottles all be rockets!

the ranch ate my homework

I know I've been tardy about blogging,

but I've been torn

between the ranch, the studio and the garden.

Lately, the beautiful ranch has been winning.

Even the wisteria on the porch bloomed.

Oh my.