Season's Greetings!

I do not have a new Christmas card this year...I surely need to do one for next year. So am sending you all my old one...but still a good one!

May you all have a  MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!  And may the new year bring you many blessings, love and joy!

Monday's Wash

Not sure that is the title but so far Monday's Wash is what I am calling it...any further suggestions? It is full sheet watercolor. The decision on the background was made to be simple like a stucco wall of old...as I was afraid too much would distract...however always after I am done I see a shelf with a spool of twine handing down...in the shadows...but too late for that!
I have thought of having it scanned for giclees but right now with all the mail being so crazy I am not sure I want this going out there...so will wait on that I think.
I have the drawing done for the next one...might not start that until tomorrow...I like to clean the studio in between paintings so will straighten it up a little and make it right again...plus have a blue poinsettia waiting to be photographed! Will we have a Blue Christmas next year??? I guess that all depends on the photos! Ha!

This painting is a very limited palette so it was very important to have a number of values going on to make it read properly...I hope I got that part right!~

The Rescue of the Loon

This will become my new Christmas tale to tell grandchildren if I am ever blessed to have any. On Sunday evening my son noticed an otter under out bridge so he went to investigate and thought he saw a loon scoot under the ice. We thought there was no way that was possible...and we had been having -20 degrees at night. Well the next morning I had to go look and sure enough there was an immature loon. He could swim and get under the ice so was not catchable but I knew at some point he would become weak...as they winter in the Gulf. He could not take this cold. He would not be able to fly out as they have to have I believe over 100 feet of open water to do that. I asked for help from the DNR and everyone I could think of but everyone said it was dangerous and let nature take it's course...well no way was I going to do that. I had seen one loon die two days before unnecessarily because no one would rescue it so this one I would save. Yesterday I was surprised he was still alive.at 8 in the morning after the 3rd night of -20 and more degrees...he was still swimming at 10 and at noon he was froze in...so I called my husband and said I was going in...I knew hypotherma was going to be a problem so my local police officer stood guard...I was ready to go in when my husband appeared with waders and he went in...with a hammer he broke him lose and we got him up on the ice and into a net. At 5 he was flown to Minneapolis and at 7 he was seen by a loon rescue vet. He had xrays this morning and I will hear the complete results this afternoon but it appears he is quite healthy. He might be flown then to the Gulf where he should be. That is where they remain for a year until they aquire their beautiful black and white plummage. I will show you the picture of him frozen and one of my husband as he entered the water...then the camera had to be in my pocket so I could help...wish we could have had a video! So needless to say I did not paint! I will get to it...I am getting close to done and the painting I did for a friend will be posted after   Christmas when she opens it...and I have a drawing ready to go so hopefully things will go more smoothly here soon!!!

Time Is Not On My SIde!

It has been a crazy whirlwind around here and I am still dizzy and sleeping [not much] in the recliner...is that a month now? Not sure! But I am better so that is good. I recently lost my dearest friend to cancer. Her funeral is next week. Her had is in my book several times holding the brush when I had to take pictures. She was my greatest encourager. I shall miss her greatly. This will also put me behind some but I will still get things done.
 I have just finished a painting for a Christmas exchange with some artist friends and I will have to wait to post that until after Christmas when she opens it. Would not want to ruin the surprise!
I am singing in the Christmas choir and also wed night services so that is also time consuming but gives me alot of joy at this season.

I will not try to bring the clothespin painting to completion over the next week if possible. There might be large interruptions as I have no idea what this next week will bring but I will try. I have had some nice suggestions as to the title but perhaps you can be thinking for me and add some more to the list. I believe this one will be shipped off to be scanned for prints. That is a little scarey at this time of year with so many packages going around...I would hate for it to be damaged. We will see what I decide. In the meantime I am posting a friendly squirrel who enjoys peanuts in the shell I buy for him and the bluejays. I have found a good source for unsalted ones and they really "squirrel" them away! Ha! I hope to be posting better here soon!

I Am Working!

I have done some painting in all the Thanksgiving rush. I was filmed for a couple of hours by PBS locally on Tuesday morning. So that took time and then the prep for Thanksgiving. I have begun a new small painting that is a Christmas gift so I can not show the steps until I send it off! But then I will post them. I hope to get to paint through the weekend../we will see how it goes with company in the house sometimes it is not easy. Everyone thinks I am the cook and only cook...thus I get little else done...Oh to have the joy of maid service! Ha! 
I actually have a new painting nearly drawn so as things wrap up I will be able to jump right into the new piece! Yipee!

In the meantime, here is one of the trees outside by the lake...I have now done 3 so if the weather is nice I will take a new picture. This helps to lift the spirits in these long northern nights!

Moving Closer!

Ok...I could write a book about why this is taking so long. I have been sick since Pasadena...but am improving daily now. Also I was asked to do 3 paintings for a book from Quarto Press in London which I began and was ready for the first photo shoots when my son rolled his truck and totalled it and things just had to be cancelled. He is ok...but it was a crazy few days there and the deadlines were right then...impossible for me to do. So that took time as I had 4 paintings going of the step by steps...now they are useless! ARGH!

I finally dared to just do something with the background. Yes, I considered the wash outside the window but this is such a complex piece I feared too much was going to distract from the point of interest...so this is what I have decided on...just the appearance of a shadow across the wall behind and sun coming in...Hopefully this will be enough to support the subject and not detract. I would keep painting on this but on Tuesday our local PBS station is coming to do some filming and so thought I might leave some of this now to do when they get here...but I will need to get it done quickly then and photographed as I already missed AWS submissions because of the book painting...that really got me off track along with being sick. Thanks for your patience!

Finally A New Update!

Alot has been going on and I am sorry to not be here as much as I wanted. I have had vertigo problems that are now somewhat better and then got a terrible cold which I am still battling. I also had begun work on a six step painting demo for Quarto Press out of London and had completed 3 of the steps when my son was in a roll over trying to avoid a deer and I just knew I did not have the strength to do anymore of it...my attention has to be here at home for now. Luke will be fine, the truck is totally a goner and we hope that something very good will come out of all of this.

I did get to work more on the clothespin painting...It is getting closer to the end but the background is still evading me. I thought I knew what it should be but that changed as the lighting changed in the painting... and so that has been keeping me at a much slower pace! I will think of something however...hopefully soon! Ha! This is a little crooked but hopefully you can see it well enough. The sun was finally shining this afternoon so grabed the chance to shoot it.