What's that smell?

Hello dear reader. We'll get to the art first...the story later.
So as you can see I have posted here my landscape WIP. It's going to be another sunrise picture much like the other ones from that series that can be found on my website.
Like every piece of art there are ugly stages. This is the very rudimentary and exceptionally ugly stage. My landscapes, as a rule, always start out like this and are ugly enough that I always question what the heck it is I'm doing. Dive in head first, I say.
I've marked off certain areas where there will be branches and significant enough changes in colour and value and a little scribbly spot in the bottom right corner for my signature. That's my note to myself to not colour that spot really dark as I found out with a previous piece that signing on dark colours can be a messy business indeed.
I like doing landscapes because I don't have to be so slavish to reference material and can generally fudge around quite bit which lets me be creative and still (hopefully) come up with an appealing work. So right now it's not looking particularly appealing but by Wednesday there will be more completed and, although it may still look ugly, it'll be well on it's way.

So just what is that smell? For those of you that live in the country and don't have the benefit of city water you will understand the importance of maintaining a healthy septic tank/ system. For those that don't know what the bejeezus I'm talking about a septic tank is where your shower water, dishwasher water, laundry water and *ahem* toilet water goes when it makes it's hasty retreat down the drain. It also needs to be pumped out from time to time depending on how many people are using it and the size of the tank itself. This week-end the other half and I found out that our septic tank was ill...and throwing up.
I had done laundry on Friday night and the following morning, while getting ready for the banquet, the other half came upstairs and said that the laundry room was partially flooded. Gadzooks! Upon examination of the scene I deduced it had overflowed out of the drain pipe for the washer. It's just a blockage, we assumed, and snaked the drain. "Stuff" came out on the snake and we thought all was (maybe??) well. Alas, it was not and the septic tank threw up again in the laundry room...and brought stuff with it. I have a very strong stomach and my other half does not and at this point he was fed up, and feeling ill himself. I cleaned up what I could without tossing my cookies and then promptly cleaned up and changed my clothes.
We decided to go to the banquet and worry about it on sunday. Well, on sunday the laundry room had acquired an odour similar to that of an outhouse. The septic tank was full, very full. We also discovered that it costs substantially more to have someone come out on a sunday to clean up such a mess. I will, in the interest of it being polite, spare you the details of said cleaning but it wasn't pretty.
The lesson learned is that a septic system is a tempermental beast and that you must always obey the septic system. If it says it's full, don't feed it more. Just don't.

It's....tomorrow.

Well, the week-end is here and the banquet is tomorrow. I don't know why, but social functions with large groups of people always make me anxious. I don't have a fear of people or anything like that it's just an odd quirk I have, one that I'm sure other people have as well. Despite my impending anxiety attack I am looking forward to someone else preparing dinner for me and the potential to make new horsey contacts.
So what, dear reader, do I have to show you? Well I have another ACEO, this one is titled "Collected Drama". It's a variation on a larger piece I did which is currently available on my website. For those of you that may have been waiting for me to list the previous horsey ACEO I do apologize as I missed my preferred listing time yesterday because I was dropping off the cowboy. It will be listed next week for sure since I plan to open an eBay store. The ribbon cutting, as it were, should be taking place on wednesday. There will be imaginary wine and cheese for all. Oh, and a dancing poodle.

So next week I will be posting the beginnings of a WIP. This one will be somewhat different from my previous WIP's since the work will be a landscape. I'll be doing another one of my sunset/ sunrise pieces so if you like that sort of thing or are just curious to see what sort of things go through my head with the creation of a landscape (yes, even my babbling is different with a landscape) then by all means feel free to tune in on Monday when the madness will begin.

So that's the schedule for next week, kinda. I also have to set up for my display at Serendipity Gifts where I am the esteemed Guest Artist for November. Well, maybe I'm not esteemed but I'm certainly interesting...and modest. Have a peachy week-end!

Pumpkin Power!

Hello dear reader. Today I've got some ACEO's to show you in the spirit of Halloween and they're of, you guessed it, pumpkins. Two of my wee pumpkins have already sold so I'm just showing you the ones that are still available and can be bid on at my eBay auctions.
I have to admit that I just love the autumn season simply for the colours. The yellows are brighter, the reds and oranges more vivid and the brown, well, it's more tolerable because it compliments the other colours nicely. I like brown, chocolate is brown, what's not to like? There's also the anticipation of a new season and the seasons ahead.
So today's entry is just a brief one as I get myself ready for upcoming art events and get going on my other artwork. I anticipate doing more wintery scenes now that the cooler weather is setting in and it will be time to break out the paintbrushes and turps to get some paintings underway. We'll have to wait and see what friday holds in store...off to work!

Git Along Liddle Dawggy...er, Cow

So, dear reader, for all intensive purposes the cowboy has penned his cow (translate: this piece is done). It's now in it's "resting" period, as I call it, and I'll probably go back to it on wednesday and do the final tweaking.
I think the cow's belly will need to be darkened and there might be some more fiddly bits on the horse's face that I may do but there's already a ton of layers on the paper and I'm not too sure how much more abuse it can take.

This certainly isn't the most detailed piece I've done but I got to use some wacky colouring in this one and so I was happy. I don't generally view commissioned pieces as blissful and delightful but more as exercises in honing my skills and for that reason alone they're quite valuable. That and, let's be honest, they help pay the bills.

Again, I re-iterate that I hope they don't ask me to talk about this at the banquet on saturday because when it comes to me talking about my art one of two things happen. I either 1- become very long- winded, philisophical and interpretive or 2- I turn in Gomer Pyle. More often than not it's the second phenomenon that occurs. I've really got to work on that...

Now it's on to other commissions and getting more work done for my shows and making more ACEO's. I must confess that I am hopelessly addicted to doing these little cards now. When I first heard about this ACEO business it sounded cute but I don't like cute when it comes to art. It makes me think of those Precious Moments figurines and something about them is too cute to the point of being creepy. ACEO's are not like Precious Moments at all. ACEO's are like the instant gratification you get from licking the beaters after making cake batter. They're fast, small, affordable and don't make you gain weight. Unless, of course, you eat them and then you have another problem altogether. I can't help you with that.
On that note I will leave you wondering and waiting, waiting and wondering just what I'll do next. Heck, I'd like to know that as well!

What's my sign?

My apologies dear reader. So what happened to me yesterday? Well, it seems that my computer and Blogger just weren't meshing and as such I was unable to post. It also lead me to decide that I'm not going to post the cowboy until he's done which should be, well, Monday. In the place of my intriguing WIP I have decided to post this little horsey diddy (is that infringing upon P.Diddy? or Puff Daddy? or Sean Coombs? or whatever the Hell he's calling himself these days? Puffy P. Diddy Coombs Daddy Diddly Do- da- day...)

Ahem. Anyway, this piece is another ACEO and look, just look at that detail. Pretty impressive, eh? I thought so, especially since it's taken me about a day and a half to recover proper eyesight after staring intently at this one to get it done. What I'm even more pleased with is the background. I'm fanatically in love with doing fuzzy backgrounds. After all, if you've done a nit-picky background peoeple will look at that instead of the main subject which really isn't the point of the art at all. This piece will be going up on my eBay probably this coming week, I'm thinking Monday but maybe not until Thursday.

On a completely unrelated art note I'm currently listening to an 80's music only program on the radio. I love the 80's and all the decadence and excessive use of synthesizers. I have qualms about women wearing shoulder pads and leg warmers, especially at the same time, but I have fond memories of shows like Cheers and Family Ties and, yes, even Golden Girls. Occasionally the host of this show shares interesting, yet completely useless, information. The most recent little gem of info was that the latest trend in pick-up lines in Korea is not "What's your sign?" but instead "What's your blood-type?" He then proceeded to ask if "Above the legal limit" was an appropriate answer. Alas, I have no smart alecky answer to that one because it's already just so strange. See you on Monday...after I find out what my blood-type is.

Losing track of time...

So as promised, dear reader, I have posted the next update to the penning picture. Clearly somewhere between the last update and this one I forgot to take out my camera and snap another photo of this WIP. Speaking of which, I should go do that after I finish here lest I make another gigantic leap in the progress of this picture.

This picture is going to be presented in about a week and a half and while I'm not nervous right now I must confess that the evening that it is presented I suspect I'll be just about ready to toss my cookies. I don't know what it is about giving my art to other people or having other people give my art to someone (while I'm there) that makes my stomach re-create some sort of high-diving event at the Olympics gone wrong. I guess it's just anticipation, fear and excitement mixed into one. Hopefully they don't ask me to talk about it or anything either because that's when the real goober in me comes out. It's a handicap I'm working on correcting.

Anyway, the work is currently on the brink of completion and I have directed my attention to other projects such as a few other commissions I have to complete and my ACEO explosion. That and the two shows I have in Novemeber which should really be my first priority right now. On that note I will sign off and start the work that I should've taken care of about two days ago.

Git that cow!

No, it's not a typo. Indeed, the redder one's neck gets the more disregard one has for proper annunciation and spelling. I shouldn't say that, but I did and I will not take it back.
So here is another update on the penning picture now with cow. Doesn't it make much more sense with a cow? I think so, that and it wouldn't look very "Western" with some fellow just turning his horse...unless there was a reason to turn the horse. Corraling cattle? Chasing bandits? Practicing to me a member of the Pony Express? Okay, maybe that last one wasn't very cowboy-ish but I'm sure you get the idea. In this case he's penning cattle.

There's common misconception shared that cows are a stupid animal. I don't think they're stupid and for anyone that has watched penning you might be inclined to agree. You see, the cow has only one desire once it has been seperated from its herd and that is to get back with the herd. They're not loner animals by nature that's for sure. Yet it seems that once they're been seperated that's when the brain cells really kick in and the cow becomes a crafty little bugger. They're fast and they have out-maneuvered a good number of riders that I've seen. Every time I see the cows do this I can't help but think to myself that they've somehow redeemed themselves and proven, once again, that two-legged animals are just so darn predictable.
That said, this fellow in the picture seems to always "git his cow". Perhaps that's because, well, they're cows from his ranch and I suspect he's been doing this since he was old enough to get on a horse. So this is where I'm leaving you until wednesday when the next update will actually show quite a bit of progress. I got carried away and forgot to take pictures as I was going. You'll just have to wait and see what I mean.

It's all about quality

Hello dear reader. Today I think I'm going to wax poetic a bit about some of my art experiences thus far into my art "career".
There's much I have yet to learn and yet there are some things that I've learnt, forgotten and then learned again. First and most prominent in my mind is that clearly I don't have a popular taste in art. Why? Because all of the pieces I do that I like, nay love, aren't the most popular pieces. For this information I rely on my better half. You see, it seems that every piece that has spoken to him or triggered something in him has sold...making my opinion a moot point. And here I thought I was finally figuring something out...
Second is that I like to do things my way. Not a big surprise to anyone that knows me. Far be it from me to "fit in" or "be conventional". That's kind of boring, don't you think? This also translates well into my own personal life and how I conduct myself. One day my better half caught me talking to the horses...this is not unusual for anyone that loves animals. After all, they're just four-legged, excessively hairy people trapped in a body that is physically incapable of communicating in a hominid way. Or we're the ones who are unfortunately trapped in two-legged bodies with the inability to bark coherently. That and one woman I did a commissioned piece for said this of artists: "The crazier, the better." Don't worry, I'm nuttier than a fruitcake.
Third, and most important for any artist, quality is key. People can tell when you've only used half your ass instead of your whole ass. There are pieces I've almost gone virtually blind over in the simple act of "getting it right" and these are the pieces everyone, including myself, are most impressed with. It's striving for quality that makes me happy and it's achieving that quality that makes other people say "Wow". I love that word. I love seeing people's expression when they appreciate my work. Artists say they do art for themselves, but really we do it for ourselves and other people that appreciate quality.

On another, completely off-base note, I must profess that I love winter with a passion. Truly Canadian I must be. It snowed today, hence the above picture taken from my back porch to the barn. Yup, October 13th...Friday the 13th. We get the joke Mother Nature. What a screwy sense of humour she has...

Let it go, just let it go...

Hello dear reader. Y'know when you have something all planned out? It's all supposed to go perfectly, without a hitch and then...something happens that makes you want to stick a dull pencil in your eye?
Perhaps you'll recall my grand scheme of spending my rainy day indoors, clutching my coloured pencils and just drawing like the wind, the smell of pencil and eraser shavings wafting gently through the house. It didn't happen.

Wednesday is my grocery shopping day (yes, I really am that anal and organized) and this morning I knew I had stuff to get done before I could enjoy my drawing day. There were groceries to purchase, artwork to mail out, a trip to the bank and a trip to the art supply store to browse. Okay, to buy stuff from the art store, but that's not relevant to my tale.
It was 9:30 and time was fading fast as I had planned on being out by 9:00, 9:15 at the latest (did I mention I'm anal about stuff like this?). 9:38 rolled around and I was beside myself with anguish, I was falling behind schedule and that never sits well with me. I gathered my things together, told the dogs to behave themselves and the cat not to break anything, locked the house and plunked myself in the truck. Off we go!
Oh... wait... no. What was that noise?
The truck made a noise I have never had the displeasure of hearing and then the battery light came on and it rolled to a stop just past my neighbour's driveway. Did I mention that it was pouring rain today? No? Well, it was.
I tried turning the key to get the truck to turn over. Nope. Again? Nope. Please feel free to use your imagination as to what choice words I happened to utter at this point. For anyone that knows me, and how much things like this irritate me, they know that I can make a trucker blush so you can imagine what came out of my mouth. Nothing very lady-like, I assure you.
Anyhoo, after much kafuffling I called the dealership and had them tow the poor truck away and have it fixed up. Thankfully the dealership found the source of my anguish and fixed it post haste. By 12:45 I was on my way again and managed to complete my tasks, albeit just over 3 hours behind schedule. I left the dealership and as I drove into town it dawned on me, there are times when I'm so fortunate that I think I must have a horse-shoe up my hiney. Then there are times when I realize it's still attached to the horse. Today was one of the latter times. How's that for graphic?

Anyway, let's return to our regularly scheduled program, shall we? You'll be so kind to notice the update on the penning picture. The colours in this piece are mind boggling. I'm not really sure if that's a result of the actual picture and the light and all that other good stuff or if there's something wonky with my printer. Either way, it's working for me. I'm adding a cow to the picture but I still want to work more of the colour into the horse and rider so I can give myself a better idea of the values in this piece. The reference picture I'm using isn't the best quality and is actually quite dark in some spots so I'd like to improve that.
So that's where I am with that piece. I have gotten some more ACEO's done and while I know you're dying to see them here I cannot show you. You will have to go visit my eBay auctions and, for goodness sakes, bid dear reader, bid!

Happy Thanksgiving

*This is a day late due to technical difficulties, my humblest apologies.*

Hello dear reader and for those of you that are Canucks, Happy Thanksgiving!
You'll notice that I've only posted one update for my penning WIP. Thanksgiving can be exhausting, especially when you eat too much and wind up suffering from "Turkey Syndrome". Then you have to clean the oven and because someone spills turkey fat into the bottom of the oven and then there's a small inferno blazing away and...well, you get the idea. On the plus side my fledgling turkey cooking endeavours were successful by all accounts and the turkey was tasty.

Holiday mishaps aside, I am hoping to accomplish much more art over the next few weeks. I have put this on my plate 1- because Christmas is coming and the shows I have lined up are closing in fast and 2- as the other half and I get more sorted out after moving I'm finding that my day has more time in it that doesn't involve cleaning or unpacking boxes. Not much more time...but a bit.

So this is where everything is at. The weather looks to be crappy this week so there won't be much I can do outside so relegating myself to getting some art done should prove to be a good and productive activity to get me through the day. On that note, I must get back to work...there's a greasy oven that is calling me to be cleaned.

Yee Haw!

Well, here we have another WIP. This particular one is a commissioned piece for the Eastern Ontario Team Penning Association (try saying that 5 times fast). The pic is of the fellow (and his horse) that hosts the events at his cattle ranch and kindly donates his cows for use at the event. He's a very good rider and very amusing to watch when he pens as he frequently talks to the cows telling them to "Get over there," and "You don't belong here," (wrong number heading for the pen) and "Just get in there cow."
What I've done so far is just get the outline I need for the piece and mark in a few of the colours and that's about it...because I like to tease you. I'm also planning on adding a cow to the picture so there's actually some sort of context to the piece. It's an 8x10 so there's a lot of action happening in a small format, something that I don't usually do as you may recall my penchant for living by the motto "Bigger is Better".
I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that on Monday I'll have 2 more updates to post for you to show more of the progress on this piece.

That said, I'm not sure about how much artistic progress I'll make this week-end because for us Canucks it's Turkey Day week-end. That means 1- I'm going to be busy making food (it's our first holiday in the house and guess who gets to viscerate a turkey) and 2- I plan on eating a good amount of that turkey so I imagine I'll be tired. All hail tryptophan! Oh, and throw some pumpkin pie and wine into the mix and I'll be done for the day...and evening.
Anyway, that's the plan for this week-end and the weather looks promising so perhaps I'll get to do some riding of my own. Happy Thanksgiving!

A little art...

...never hurt anyone. Unless you happen to be me and super-glue pencils to your finger. Yup, it happened. Please don't ask how, or even why for that matter. Some things are just better left alone.

Anyway, the purple horse is sitting and I'm contemplating a background but so far nothing has come to me. In the interim I'm offering up this little diddy, my latest ACEO entitled "A Little Collection". I could've called it "On the Bit", but it just looks like this horse is doing his darndest to get collected. It's a Thoroughbred and for those that have seen TB's in person you know they have a neck that goes on for miles...to match their legs I assume. I'd be hard pressed to get myself collected if I had all that neck to work with. Of course if I had a neck that long I suspect I'd resemble one of those silly bobbly head things that people stick on their dashboards. I digress...

Other than that there's not much else to report. Just plugging away with commissions and trying to get more artwork done for my solo in November and the Christmas show. I'm hoping I can add another Christmas event (maybe 2??) before the actual holidays but we'll just have to see what pops up between now and then.
Enjoy your Wednesday!

Purple, then black... then more purple

So finally, dear reader, an update on my little purple horse of wonder. Nothing major, some more tweaking and more darkening.

I have to confess that I am just giddy with excitement over now having an actual studio space to work in with...wait for it now...sunlight! The purple horse, unlike in the other pictures is actually true to colour as I took this pic this morning right on my drawing table. How's that for convenience?
The bad news? I've hit another background block. What is it with me, horses and backgrounds? I'm thinking I might go a bit abstract with this one since the horse itself is looking a bit wildly coloured. I think the purple horse may sit for awhile.

On more art related news I have several commissions I now have to hustle to get done. In my usual procrastinating nature I have throw caution (and apparently common sense) to the wind and decided to leave them until now. Why is this sheer madness? Because next month I also have my guest artist spot and I have a Christmas gift/ art show that I am scheduled to attend. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "I work best under pressure." The only caveat is that I sacrifice my sanity in the process...minor detail.

On the eBay front all is still going well. I am going to be listing my lioness ACEO tonight, for anyone that's interested, and I'll be listing another ACEO tomorrow as well. I've almost completed another one of a horse and I think I may do a few more horse ACEO's. This isn't because they're selling per se (I haven't even listed any of mine so I really can't say) but because I find I'm having a bugger of a time trying to do a horse on such a small scale. Since the gauntlet has been thrown down, by myself no less, I must rise to the challenge and hone my teeny-weeny horse drawing skills. Can you guess what my update for wednesday will be...