The End of the World as We Know It...

Well daughter #4 thought this redecorating project signified the end of the world when she came back from college and found her big sister's room repainted and purged of all the crapola. Her comment,"It's as if you erased her.." Not quite but we have a very calming guest room now. Open to all visitors.I wished I had a before shot of daughter #2's bedroom. The difference is significant.

Next project-those dirty stairs. You try scrubbing and soaking and you still have dirty risers. Not anymore I don't! How about some lovely blackboard paint?  And I can write stuff on them too...

Since the end of the world is tomorrow, the husband and I celebrated at lunch with this beer. 9% alcohol. I had to counteract the alcoholic effect with my first real caffeine in about 4 yrs. I don't know which is worst-taking a long nap in the middle of the day or having your heart race like a jackhammer.

And finally I have been doing some painting in the studio. Made this little painting the other day. Wishful thinking I guess. There is no real snow here yet.

A Little Detroit Inspiration...

In between working on various pieces, I stop for 1/2 hr breaks and wander the web, stopping at various blogs, getting stuck on Pinterest, Stumbling and Tumblring. Today, I was on James Gurney's blog and he had this video on how artists and young people are revitalizing Detroit. It is not all doom and gloom. Pretty inspirational. Almost makes me wish I was in my 20's again. Almost.

Other Projects....

Here's how the terrarium turned out.  A shot of the outside,

and a peek on the inside....

Then a head on shot of my shopping breakdown purchase.  If you look closely, you can see me in the mirror with the camera.

And then off to the side for the full effect.

Mission: Moss

Actually ventured outside today. I did have a mission in mind. Not anything I was supposed to do, of course.  I was forest bound to collect moss for a terrarium I want to create. I've been reading a book  called"Tiny World Terrariums" by Michelle Inciarrano & Katy Maslow and have been scouting the studio for bits and pieces I want to add to it. Daughter #3 received a kit to make a small terrarium from daughter #1 last Christmas and I've been jealous.  So I grabbed a ziploc, gloves, and my Japanese gardening knife and headed out back.  Stopped by the chicken girls to throw them some scratch and a few late raspberries.  Looks like the husband had been there first as they were wallowing in mounds of leaves.

 Commenced to make my circuit of the woods and collected two bags of moss which I left in the garage for the night with the hopes that any nasty creepy crawlies will be dead by the time I actually get around to adding the moss to the terrarium. 

Went back outside and decided to tidy up the potting shed for the winter. An hour later, feeling very worthy, I retired to the warmth of my studio.

Last rose of the season... 

Dripping paint and spraying water does not always work!

I do like this. Very Ghostly. Will stare at it for several weeks to determine what to do next. 

 I have been experimenting with several different projects since it helps me avoid the ones I am supposed to be finishing. Also brainstormed in the sketchbook about several other new projects.  Woo hoo! Queen of procrastination!

Painting Practice

 What am I doing now that they have granted me less hours at work? Practicing. Practicing skin and hair so I can put it on the naked one down below. Although now that I look at the one above...I should've at least given the poor girl some eyelashes. Or at least make up some background story of a rare vitamin deficiency that made her eyelashes fall out.

 Working on the background for this lady and in doing so, I realized that my dark background is going to swallow up her rusty halo.  What to do, what to do? A nimbus of light surrounding her? Isn't there a proper term for the glow of light that accompanies saints and angels and such? Also I just made a sketch of her. I never considered what color her gown and eyes should be....

And my least favorite thing to do-trying to get the proportions right in another drawing.  And then my favorite thing to do-searching the internet for references for the beginning of another project.

Crazy Flowers.

Still working on this one. I come downstairs and try to catch it by surprise to see if it's finished. It keeps telling me "No, not yet."

Works in Progress...Or Not

Here are a few items that I've been working on and now that I've asked for less hours at work for my birthday, maybe I'll actually get some more work done.  I think she is done but I will stare at her a while longer until I am sure.

This one has been around for a while and has gone through many incarnations driving me crazy. Now I like the colors but the blue flower has gotten too big. Oh well another layer of paint will cover it up.

I don't know where the heck she came from but she came out one day...

And this is just the base painting of something I've been playing with and a piece of metal from the road. We'll see what happens to her.

A Walk In The Woods

 On our way we met the Husband who was constructing a replacement arch for the garden. I asked if he was expecting any giants to visit. He mentioned his brother whom he referred to as "Ginormo Boy" would appreciate it. Onward we went to the woods to take some reference shots for future paintings.

 Daughter #3 I convinced to dress as a sword maiden.  Luckily Daughter #4 left a portion of her wardrobe.

 Unfortunately #3 was sadly lacking in killer instinct with the sword. Here I am trying to show her how to be angry enough to cut someones head off.  Not hard for me to channel-I just think of work...

On our way back, we stopped and visited the girls who were eager to talk to us.  No eggs yet and excuse the foul/fowl language.

Garden and Chicken Tales

Well I thought I'd just put a whole lot of pictures in this post to show how the garden is doing so far this summer. The peonies have come and gone and the roses are on the downswing. There are still quite a few blooms and the garden is very fragrant but not as floriferous as last week. We have side let the chicken girls out to wander the garden as I weed. They are good weeding companions but yesterday they made a jailbreak and wandered into the husband's blueberries as we were talking to a neighbor. They decided that they liked them. We also have discovered during the last couple of weeks that one of the chickens is not-a chicken. We have a rooster in our midst. He likes to crow. Unfortunately I like him. Fortunately our immediate neighbor doesn't care and the neighbor on the other side can not and better not complain because his dogs are much more obnoxious then my rooster. So we will see how it goes. If it goes badly-hello coq au vin....

Super Dorothy rose covering the arbor

My lone foxglove cuddling next to a peach rose.

Cleo the curious.

Buffy the insect slayer

Rooster?!!

Checking out the potting shed

Binx on guard

Garden entry

Patio minus libations

A winding path

Another path

Barfing kitty fountain

Can't remember why...

More roses...

Etc...

Etc...

More places to rest...

Fourth of July rose at potting shed

More chickens on the go...

Chick, Chick, Hen

Well no hen yet, but I do have 6 cuter than cute chicks. Daughters # 2 and 3 picked them up on Friday from the local Agway while I was at work. We are now the proud owners/ wranglers? of 3 Araucana chicks and 3 Buff Orpingtons. The Araucanas will look like this



and the Buff Orpingtons will look like this...

In the meantime, The precious little babies look like this....Now hopefully I will survive until they make pullet hood and are moved to the garage.
Am trying to make corrections but the formatting is not working. Oh well...