Life reduced to 4 numbers

I figured I'd do a little post here since I have some time to kill before I get back to work, that and I need to let my lunch digest.
I feel the need to share this since it's a reflection of where the youth of today (at least in America) are headed which, in my oh so humble opinion, seems to be right down the crapper. Again, I make reference to my local radio station's Impossible Trivia since this is where this little tid-bit of info came from. The question was (roughly): "In a survey of teens from the United States, where did 60% (again, roughly) believe the Great Lakes were located?" China? Nope. Russia? Nope. Hawaii? (good answer!) Nope. The Mid-west? Nope. The answer: The Moon. Yup, the Moon.
While I think that technology education and advancement is important I don't think we should rely on GPS navigation systems to be our sole source of geography education. We've memorized the PIN's to our bank accounts, our credit card numbers, our gym membership expiry date and how much the car payment is but do we know where the Rockies are located or what the newest territory in Canada is? Do these poor kids even know the capital of their state? Methinks that the education system is in trouble, and not just South of the border. My guess is that the kids here in Canada aren't in a much better position although I'm assuming they do know where the great lakes are and that they're not an interstellar phenomenon.
My lunch has digested and it's time to get back to work.

I'm not a summer person

So the heat is here, and here to stay for a few months I suspect. I say this every year and I'll say it again: "I'm not a summer person." Warm weather makes me want to crawl into the freezer and stay there until, oh, let's say mid-October. I know, I know, all winter us Canadians complain about it being too cold, too much snow, not enough snow, too windy, too slushy, too icy, too damn Canadian.
I remember last winter I was out at the barn puttering away and Morris, the fellow that delivers the horse feed, showed up with of all things horse feed. We got to talking about the weather and naturally the aforementioned complaints came up. Me being the eternally naieve optimist finally just shrugged my shoulders, grinned and said "Well, what can you do about it." Morris said: "We can bitch." Well, that's right, we can! So I'm going to...
It's too hot, there's not enough of a breeze, the air is thick, I'm sweating, I stink aaaaand the pool isn't open yet. Why? Because on the May long week-end we had hail! It was cold enough for hail! Why it must be spring in Ontario. Mother Nature has a quirky sense of humour to say the least.

So I'm trying to get some more art done (hmmm, have I said that before?) and I think I may be on the verge of hitting a block. I may need to switch papers again to let myself rest from the fantabulous Colourfix paper. On another art related note I may have shot myself in the foot in one of my art fair entries. I had missed the deadline (depending on which source you consult) and they said that I could still enter since there were still some spaces left in certain categories. Send in your application they say and with 5 pictures of your artwork. So what did I do? I sent in the 5 pictures...of 3 different mediums I work in. Duh Rita. Consistency, consistency, consistency! Nothing consistent about my submission. Oh well. They don't do the second jurying until June 7th so we'll see if I can utterly confuse them... "Exactly what medium does this girl work in?"
I'm going to try to do a larger work in cp and a landscape to boot. We'll see what happens...

Do you ever wonder...

...why the sky is blue? Why we're told to always wear clean underwear? What do dogs dream about? What the real purpose of ice cream is? Who decided to milk a cow? What that smell is coming from the other side of the room?
I do.
Those are questions left for others to answer though. Right now I'm going to concern myself with my music selections as of late while doodling away at my art. Lately I find myself listening to Paul Simon's "Graceland" album as well as the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?". Interspersed with this already colourful music combo are various Ramones albums, but most often the Joey Ramone album "Don't Worry About Me". I don't recall any other time I've decided to mix the likes of Baptist country and blues, with African influenced pop with early foundation Punk. Do you ever wonder why we do the things we do or why we choose the things we choose. I sure do. That said, it's time to make a selection for lunch before returning to vegetable gardening. Perhaps I'll have some Bok Choi with samosas and Poutine. Yum!

I love this paper!

Okay, so here it is, my first real attempt on Colourfix. Pretty good, but I've almost completed another horsey work that I like even more. Yes, the paper is really that good. And, joy of joys, about 5 minutes ago the large sheets I ordered arrived! See? It is true love, the paper and I were meant to be together.
Hopefully I'll get around to finishing up the other work I have but today is a busy day, gotta go buy more coloured pencils and other sundries. It's the Victoria Day long week-end here in Canuck land (or May 2-4 week-end as it is affectionately called). That means planting of flowers and vegetables and afterwards sitting on the deck with Mexican dip and some form of alcoholic beverage. It's a hard life but someone's gotta do it.
So, that said I will be off to take care of business. I may do another update tomorrow but if not I'll be back next week with some form of update and perhaps more completed works to show for it. I can't wait to use this paper again...I've really got stop obsessing....

I'm in love...

...with a paper. Yesterday in a fit of creativity I decided to loosen up and try out some new paper I had sitting around. Artsy people may know it, it's called "Colourfix" and it's made by an Australian company...which means it has a fancy price to match. This was the reason I had held off on using it, I figure at about $2-$3 per 9x12 sheet I'd better do something worthwhile and do it well. It's fabulous paper!
The piece I decided to experiment with was a pic of an Andalusian stallion who looks remarkably like my horse Al, or Bubbaloo as I like to call him, in his younger days. Al being half-Andalusian it's not really a big stretch of the imagination but I digress...The picture itself was one I had admired for awhile but didn't feel right in attempting to tackle it in the way I would normally approach a piece. So, after much ho-humming I thought I had better just dive right in before I have one of my trademark decision changes.
The work isn't done but should be today and I'll post the finished product tomorrow. I love this paper, so much so that I ordered a large quantity of it so I can do landscapes and all sorts of pictures on a larger scale (I ordered the big sheets, like 20x28 kinda big!) It eats my pencils like it's nobody's business but I love it, I love the paper. There, I've said it. I love it and I'll use it again.
I think only art people can understand the love of a good paper...them and perhaps accountants. Food for thought.

Hello reader.
Today I find myself in an unusual place artistically, one that I don't visit often. I feel comfortable with my art and don't care much to create the things that others view as aesthetically pleasing, or even as "art" for that matter. That said, I know that there are many people that are interested in my artwork but I'm trying to let go of the commercial need as it were.
The past few months I've been pondering ways to make money off of art. "What do people like?", "What mediums are popular?", "What size is popular?" and the ever puzzling "To frame or not to frame?" I've decided that I'll just do what I like with a concious awareness of what is popular and what isn't but make an effort to not let it dictate what I choose to do artistically. Fads in art change as often as people change their underwear and besides which, the art buying public is a finicky group indeed.
Oddly, enough I'm enjoying doing commissions right now. Many artists say that commissions kill them creatively. I can understand this but to that I say they're either doing too many without taking the time to do a personal piece or they're not seeing the value of doing commissions. The value of commissions (aside from monetary) is that it offers up a chance to hone skills or explore subject matter that perhaps, normally, the artist wouldn't do. Right now I'm up for doing just about any subject matter so I'm really concentrating on sharpening my skills as well as exploring different techniques and really establishing a style that is more specific to me.
I think I've pondered out loud long enough. Time to get back to doing art, for myself and others...whether they like it or not.

Say it ain't so...

Okay, having designated this as a venue for me to share my art and artistic endeavours I have to stray for a moment...
I wouldn't even normally comment on matter such as this but what the hell happened on American Idol last night? Chris got kicked off...over Catherine!? I'm sorry, but he has way more talent than her and he genuinely seems to deserve and want it.
My only consolation is that he's good enough that if someone in the music industry has an eye for talent (and my hopes are reserved with the likes of Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson wandering around) they'll pick him up and sign him...today. I don't normally get too involved into shows like this except that he actually has talent, him and Elliot. I have to admit that I'm not hopeful for Elliot either because he doesn't dance around on the stage like he's suffering from a severe nervous twitch nor does he have boobs. It feels cool...hell must be freezing over.

More Projects

Y'know, relaxing is highly over-rated. Why, just this morning I woke up and thought to myself "Now what do I have to do today? This week? This month? This year?" Guess I should be doing something more productive than diddling around on the computer, but I digress...
Well, for starters I have a commissioned piece I have to finish by this friday. I have a piece I'm doing to donate to the MACH 1 charity in the good 'ol US of A. I have at least 4 other commissions on the horizon. I have a show I'd like to participate in at the beginning of July. I have a big outdoor art fair at the end of July. I have several horsey events I'd like to attend this summer to collect photographs and (hopefully) sell at. I will also have a sale/ show in November that I'd like to be a part of (they're just taking applications now). In the interim of these events? Hopefully more work. I'm doing art, so, in most instances it's not really work in the drudging, mind-numbing, soul-killing sense of the word. That said, it is still work since it helps pay the bills and keeps my mind razor sharp. Wait, no, coffee takes care of the latter part...but art helps pay for the coffee so it all works out in the cosmic scheme of things.
Anyway, clearly I've wasted some time now and I obviously have work to do. So thanks for listening to me ramble. We'll do it again sometime.

A silver lining

So I didn't get into the local show but it seems that even when you're feeling sorry for yourself there's always something better around the corner. On monday I had to go pick up my artwork from the store I was in as guest artist for April and lo and behold, one of my works had sold! I actually wasn't expecting anything to sell there (I was just figuring it would be a good way to get my name out) so I was pleasantly surprised. Also, imagine how much my ego inflated when I showed up and some woman was looking at my work and gushing over it without knowing that I was standing right behind her! Good karma...
I think I'm ready for the Pet Wellness show I'm attending this saturday. Just a few little tweaking things but nothing major. I'll have to get a checklist ready to make sure I bring everything I need like business cards, etc.
So I'm getting more art projects off my plate so I can concentrate on the outdoor art exhibit I have at the end of July. I'm really looking forward to it since I've never done one before and, as I was told, there will be a lot of good artists there...so I guess I'd better step up my game. I really want to make an impression and show off the coloured pencil and graphite work. I do need to do more oil paintings but there will be lots of painters there, I'm sure, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

Other than that there's not much else that's exciting to speak of. The weather is warmer, the bugs are coming out and I'm wearing sunscreen a lot more. I'm also trying to get a lot of gardening done as well so I guess I should stop typing and get back to work. Toodles!