Twigs and leaves . . .

Why oh why does this remind me of the phrase:

Eats shoots and leaves?

These are quick little studies done after a trip to the yard to see 

what's dropped overnight.

Actually, lots.

I hate to see the leaves go but excited to see what they reveal.

It's hard to see through all of that greenery sometimes

and I'm one who enjoys grey days and leafless trees.

Not always. Only in the late fall.

The droppings for today:

Mulberry Tree

Pin Oak 

Sumac

Elm Tree

Day 24 : An Oil a Day 30 Day Challenge . . .

Day 24 : Salt Marsh Evening

Okay, so this challenge has turned into 30 paintings without

regard for the 30 days.

Still.

24 paintings and well on my way to 30!

This is from a photo reference that I've taken some liberties with.

I am trying to improve my grass technique and my trees seem to be improving.

I'd give anything to be able to take a class with Carol Marine.

I so envy her brushstrokes and try to copy them in my own work.

Someday.

When I've been painting for as long as she has.

Maybe there are people who say that about my metalwork.

Get 15 years under your belt and come see me then.

=-)

Detail : Oil on canvas

12"x12"

Day 23 : An Oil a Day 30 Day Challenge . . .

Day 23 : Platte River

Just south of Columbus, Nebraska, August 2015.

Shallow enough to wade across in most places.

And wide.

This painting took less than 30 minutes to complete.

Quick and impressionistic.

Dark blue ground with is what you see in the scumbled background

and in the vegetation here and there.

I just let it show through for a little depth.

Details : Oil on canvas

6"x6"

Day 17 : An Oil a Day 30 Day Challenge . . .

 Day 17 : Fort Robinson Bluffs

Getting back into the 'one a day' swing again and feeling the burn.

Spring a year ago, Ed and I took a driving trip west from Lincoln into the Sandhills of Nebraska and on into the Black Hills of South Dakota, through the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and Custer Parks and a few others.

I'm okay with people calling Kansas and Nebraska 'flyover states' and it seems to keep the riffraff out of the way while you enjoy the unbelievable scenery.

No mountains to get in the way of the view.

No people, no crowds, nothing but sky and grassland.

In west central Nebraska is an old US Army fort - Fort Robinson.

Here is where Sioux Chief Crazy Horse surrendered and died.
The Fort Robinson Massacre was here.

Here is the site of a German Prisoner of War camp during World War II.
Local farmers would come to the camp for field workers.

The place is infinitely fascinating with history and lately I can't get enough of it.

Something in my center makes me feel at ease in the grassland and prairies.

It is hard to imagine the prairies treeless but you can read My Antonia
 and get a wonderful description of Nebraska through Willa Cather's eyes. 
Trees were brought in by settlers and people walking their way to the West, 
hoping to make homes.
Buffalo Soldiers were stationed here.
There are good things about this area and bad things - all concerning the Red Cloud Agency, Sioux, Lakota, and Cheyenne - and most definitely there can be sadness felt here.

I'm deeply moved when I'm out here and can't drink it in fast enough.

Details : 12"x12"

Oil on canvas

New Year : New Direction . . .

2015

New Year : New Direction

I've been thumped on the head too many times this year to not pay attention.

My interests change, my favorite gallery closes, I want to paint more but resist over and over again.

Now it is becoming clearer that it's time to step away from the metalwork. 
I love it but I've done it. 
I know I can do it. I can always do more later.

But for now - paint.

My goal is to paint every day if even just a little. I have a tiny travel palette and a Moleskine so I have no excuses not to paint.
I have a stack of 6x6 canvases. A box load of oils.

Quit reading about it and just do.

Goodbye etsy - hello BigCartel!

Yep.  Slowly moving my work off etsy and onto a cleaner, more modern site.

I'll admit that I finally got tired of seeing the same things on the landing page day after day, week after week, year after year, in spite of all of the complaints and ideas proposed to make etsy more sleek.  What began as a site for handmade and unique has finally turned into a site where everything is welcome to the point where anything handmade can mean truly artisan work created from start to finish by a single artist to cheap charms hung on a cheap chain.  Don't get me started on the dishes from the garage sale next door.  I just can't compete.  Worse, I can't be found.

So I find BigCartel.  Sleek, modern, easy to use.  Gone are the teens and tweens and any mention of Hello Kitty.  If these people were craft and art show people, I would be proud to have my tent parked next to theirs.

Not sure my rant is over but do take a look and cruise through the BigCartel site - even my own shop site, if you have a few minutes to spare.  Tell me what you think.  I think it's a good fit.

And this . . .

#3

From a picture I took last winter when we actually had snow on the ground.  
Eddie giving rides off the farm strip in the Cub. 

Watercolor #3 and having a ball

Old dog - new tricks

Trial and error. 

Trying hard not to complain . . .

The depths of the drought are worse for the farmers than they are for me but, like most people here in the rural Midwest, we've given up on beautiful grass and lush plantings for 2012.  Unless, of course, you are willing to risk a dry well and most would rather sacrifice the green for the ability to take a shower or a drink once in a while.  Easy trade.

The possibility of sounding depressed is imminent but I must share some photos of the Bowes Farmette from this 4th week of temps over 100 and no rain since mid-June.  Bear with me, please.

with rain in May

without rain - August

with rain earlier in the summer

When you hear of the drought being hard on farmers, believe it.  It's bad.  Corn is damaged beyond even silage with low to no moisture content so this doesn't just affect your plump cob of sweet corn.  It means that cattle will have little to feed on, produce fewer calves which, in turn, affects milk production.  The list goes on.  Soybeans - same.

without rain - August

Sometimes blogging is for no reason than to chronicle everyday life and this is one of those times.  We can't be pink sunshine and happy rainbow thoughts day in and day out as life has a way of intruding.  Rain.  Pray for rain.

Loading up the shop . . .

It's an experiment.  I am sending out six gift certificates over six consecutive weekends in giveaway bags.  These bags are going out as prizes at a local racetrack and as a 'thank you' to fans and supporters and will, of course, contain more than just my gift certificates.  In fact, people will be encouraged to pass along what they don't intend to use and I'm hoping these certificates will eventually get into the right hands.  So today was spent taking new pictures and listing listing after listing on etsy.  Fingers crossed.  We'll see what happens next. 

Snow day . . .

 This winter just never got off the ground here in Davey, Nebraska so we really got what we deserved today.  Yep, temps hit 70 earlier in the week and now we have wet, heavy snow with the threat of 8" additional.

At least I won't have to water.

 Finches sing my praises.

Today I am their Queen.

Their seed bearing Queen.

Stinking Water Plume Agate . . .

Weird name

And a new leaf is turned - I'm finally getting my etsy shop back up and running.  I've ignored it for a long time and now that Summer is drawing down, I am bound and determined to get my new work listed.  

Gorgeous stone

I also will be listing the stones I've cut and polished and generally just thinning the herd.  Why?  Well, I attended the auction for my friend, Roger Pabian, who passed away this Spring.  A world-class published author and authority on agates, Captain Agate's house was full to the brim with agates in all shapes and sizes, in slabs, rough and polished stones.  

Roger taught me lapidary and I believe that's why I'm so picky about my cabs and how they are finished.  One scratch and it's all the way back to the beginning wheels for me.

His auction showed me just how much a person can accumulate - and I mean that in a nice way - and how little a person can actually use on their own no matter their intent.  Now that I've polished and loved on these little stones, it's time for someone to create something of beauty with each one.  I'll never get to them all.

I'll look at them this way : I don't own any of these stones.  I'm only the caretaker and when I've enjoyed them and taken pride in their beauty, it will be time for them to move on to the next caretaker.  Just promise me that if you buy one, you'll send me pictures of your finished product.  And then you'll be the new caretaker.

Back to the bench . . .

I dusted the cobwebs off the Genie and the trim saw yesterday and became inspired all over again - reminded of how much fun it is to take a little nugget of red rock and coax a lovely little polished cabochon out of it.  It is indescribably rewarding to make a piece of jewelry that I have taken from rough rock through to the finished product, set it and admire it.  Better yet, have others admire it.

This time, my friend Lisa sent me two little nuggets of Lake Superior Agate that her niece had found on her visit to Lisa's home in Minnesota this summer.  She wanted them set as a keepsake to remind her of her trip.

I sliced, polished and set the first one completely in copper and I must say - I really like the way this bracelet turned out.  From beginning to end, completely handmade.  I made the bezel strip from 26ga sheet copper flashing and the raised edge from copper wire left from an electrical project in my drafting room and a length of copper wire chain.  A little carnelian dangles from the end where the hook holds it all together.

I am well pleased with myself.

Before they're gone for another year . .

Bright Sunset

Abstract Art

Bertie Ferris

Calypso Coral

Cimarron Knight

Fairy Tale Pink

Lavender Greeting

Baby Talk

Sugar Candy

Tillamook