Happy Labour Day!

Happy September, dear reader!!

As I mentioned in my previous post I intended to be lazy. Quite lazy, in fact, since this is the last real ‘Hurrah’ of Summer before weeping children head back to school and the population in general in my neck of the woods starts getting ready for the on-set of cooler weather. (Must stack firewood, must stack firewood...)


I have spent my ‘laziness’ being rather productive, relatively speaking, in creating art and starting some new pieces, finishing off older ones and coming up with new ides for “works-to-be”. One piece was of a fox kit that I posted earlier in one of its beginning stages as you can see below:

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

And here is where that piece is now:

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

There’s still some work to be done on it yet, that’s for sure, but I feel pretty good about where it’s going and I suspect that I’ll be able to wrap it up this week.

Another piece I’ve started is this one:

Scottsdale Western rider
11x14, coloured pencil on Pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It’s (obviously) in a very rudimentary stage at this point and it’s featuring a rider and her horse from the Scottsdale Arabian Show that took place back in February this year. It was a really nice pose and I had to chuckle to myself because the Arab looked so Quarter horse-y in all the Western gear, the only thing that really gave him away was that he didn’t have that tell-tale QH rump on him. This piece is on pastelbord and since this post is long enough already I’d like to leave my next post to talk about the love/ hate relationship I’ve developed with this surface and make my plea to other artists that are using this surface.


So there you have it. Regular readers will know, Autumn is my favourite time of year, not just because of the colours, which tend to be just scrumptious I might add, but also because this time of year always seems to feel like a “New Year”. So stay tuned because I suspect that with a bit more free time on my hands and the prospect of me returning to my original intents with my art that some interesting things are sure to come.... :D

And we're off!!

Well, in the interest of not rushing through my van Gogh/ Vermeer postings I’ve decided instead to do a gardening post. The Masters took their time, I think it would be in my best interests to do the same in studying and posting on them.
Also, the Other Half managed to get home early because we're having/ had some severe thunder and lightning storms come through the area and operating heavy machinery in those kinds of conditions is a no-no.


This summer has been a bit different than we’ve had for the past 2-3 years. We’ve has lots of rain (which is a relief when you’re on a well) and the temps have been erring on the side of cool-ish. My kinda Summer.

With that in mind it’s fair to say that it's been super for the good ol’ veggie garden. This year I decided that despite the Other Half’s distaste for them that I would grow green beans because I sure do love them. I built myself 2 little tee-pees and planted my bean seeds and waited for them to grow.

They started out innocently enough. The little beans poked their way through the soil and their little tendrils started to climb and climb... and climb some more. Then they kept climbing and they didn't stop, in fact, they still haven't stopped. If you don't believe me, look below:

And the mighty bean sentinels tower over their garden keep...

Fortunately, mammoth, out of control bean plants also yield lots and lots of beans just like these ones:

Mmmm, bean-y goodness.

At this point the plants have twined around the eggplant, the zucchini and the sunflowers that surround them. I'm pretty sure if I had planted the tee-pees about 2ft closer to the house they'd have started growing up the walls and by the end of the Summer we would have been held captive in the house by bean plants gone wild.


So there you have it. Me, I'm off to pack up the cooler, finish loading the truck and off we go. Just in case you're hankering for some art though here's the fox kit WIP. I've gotten more done on it than this but I'd like to keep you in suspense, dear reader, until I return from the Bon Echo Art Show. :D

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I know... you're just dying to see how it turns out.

Only a few days left...

So today’s the week, Bon Echo is fast approaching and I basically have today, Monday and Tuesday to get myself organized. The Other Half figured we’ll have to pack most of the things up on Wednesday since we’re heading up on Thursday after he returns from work... and he’s even so excited about it he’s going to try and leave early from work (a thing unheard of during the busy Summer months!)

Fox kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I still have 1 piece I’d like to finish up (pictured above in all it’s WIP glory) and a few ACEO’s I’d like to bring as well. The ACEO’s aren’t a big deal since I can just bring them with me and finish them up at the show which makes for a super conversation starter with potential buyers. I’ve already spent a good portion of the day digging out my display racks, the covers for said racks and making sure that I have all the hardware I need for setting up the racks and securing my work. I’ve also been re-packaging my cards into the outdoor friendly packaging of plastic sleeves. That task in and of itself has proven to be interesting because the sleeves I ordered are a rather snug fit for the package of cards and more than a few expletives have been uttered in an attempt to get them in without giving myself multiple paper cuts.


Trials and tribulations aside I really have to say that I think outdoor art fairs are great because it always seems as though there’s a sense of camaraderie amongst the artists showing their work. If one person’s display topples over there’s always at least a few artists that will rush over and help them. If someone needs to attend to the call of nature their neighbours at the show will be more than happy to watch their booth (and if they’re really good they’ll make a few sales for them too!) Most importantly they can sympathize with you if you’re a newbie to the whole art fair thing and, as has been my experience, everyone is more than happy to share their experiences with you with some of those learning curve stories being very funny.


So with my busy schedule ahead of me (and the possibility of a trip to the store to buy some band-aids) I will have to go. I still have stacks of cards to package up and, of course, the piece above that needs to get done. Throw some housework into the mix and it’s a wonder if I'll even have time to eat or sleep before Thursday arrives and we’re off and running.
In anticipation of the hectic rush I’ve already started to prepare another post on Vermeer and van Gogh that I’m hoping to post on Wednesday evening or Thursday afternoon before we leave, so be sure to check back later in the week for that post and to see if I’ve completely lost my mind by then.

Toodles!