New Frontiers

Sun Conure

As promised, here's the sun conure painting (gouache.)

The scan doesn't quite do it justice, but I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.

What do you think?

Abyssinian Kitten drawing

My attempt with acrylic didn't work so well. It just ended up looking too... hard. I'm not gooding at getting soft detail with the acrylic paint.

I'm working on a parrot in gouache, and it's almost complete. I hope to post it tomorrow morning. In the meantime, here's a pen and ink drawing of an Abyssinian kitten.

When you've stayed up late watching a very disturbing horror movie, and can't get to sleep, there's nothing better than a purring cat sleeping on your chest.

Sugar Glider

Here's a portrait of a sugar glider (on a ball) that I completed tonight.

I'm loving these when it's just the pen and ink, but am not so happy with them after I've added color. So tomorrow I may play with acrylic on paper, and see if I can come with something I'm truly happy with.

Sigh.

Watercolor Cat Portrait

 

New Stuff on Etsy

Because I haven't flipped around enough, I've started making jewelry. I've got a few pieces on Etsy. Some more will go up tonight.

And next month I take a class in PMC, so things should get even more interesting.

New Work, Lights Out

I've actually been managing to get quite a bit of work done lately.

Here's a picture I finished last week. I was trying out a new style, and while the end result is fine, it's so "not me". I adore the looser, more impressionistic style other artists have. (Like Tracy Helgeson, one of my favorites.) But it may be time to admit that my style is very, very detailed.

What do you think of this style? Yay, or nay?

I'm considering putting this one up for sale on Etsy.

Here, though, is a WIP that's typically me. I finished the trunk last night, and will start putting in foliage today. (And no, the background won't remain orange.)

This method takes forever, but I really like the end result. Tomorrow I may take Zoe down to the botanical garden for more reference photos. (Yes, it's just barely April in denver,  but they have a giant tropical conservatory building, so there will be plenty of green for me to shoot.)

Also this year I'll be starting to enter some juried shows. Not so much that I need the validation, but because I need to fill out my CV, since I'm finally taking this seriously. (Because Zoe starts preschool in September, and then I will have MORE TIME.) Some of the trunk was painted with Zoe sitting on my lap, saying, "Is this one for me, Mama?" When I told her I hoped someone would buy it, she said, "But I want to buy it!"  If only she were a rich art collector/critic.... LOL.  There's also something else I'm working towards in the art arena.  I'm hoping I'll know more by the end of the month, but am afraid to say anything now.

And, though I'm late blogging this, I did take part in Earth Hour on Saturday. Zoe was in bed, and Danny was gaming at a friend's house, so I lit some candles, poured a shot of scotch, and grabbed a nice, meaty spy novel. It was actually a nice way to spend an hour. But I did learn two important lessons.

1) birthday candles are not a useful light source, as they burn down REALLY quickly.

2) when blowing out a gigantic mass of birthday candles while your daughter is sleeping, your smoke alarm WILL take offense. Loudly.

Colorado Weather Is a Bit Flighty

Yesterday it was in the 70's. Right now, it's snowing.

Torturing My Eyes, Again

I designed this as a bookplate for Zoe. Still need to add the "ex libris" to it, which I'll do as a separate piece, then float on top as I scan it. I kind of liked the idea of having this as a print, as well, which is why I'm doing it in two parts.

When asked what she thought about it, Zoe said, "It's kind of odd."  Ah, the honesty of three year olds.

Things You See In Boulder

Coming home from the library yesterday, I was waiting at a stoplight. In the station wagon in front of me, looking at me from the back window, was a Great Dane, a Shiba Inu, a Chihuahua, and a Siamese cat. All lined up, neat as you please.

The truck beside me was pulling a trailer loaded with a very antique black carriage, which in turn was carrying an antique ivory/white satin-covered coffin.

I'm not sure what that was doing in downtown Boulder, unless it had just come from Nederland's Dead Guy Days.

The Boulder stoplight - stuck between the menagerie and the macabre.

Unexpected Benefits

There are small, unexpected benefits to having a child.

You can drive in the HOV lane.

No one looks at you strangely if you have Legos in the house.

When you travel in a group of 3 (Danny, Zoe, myself) you'll never have to sit next to an obnoxious stranger on a plane.

You never need fear sleeping through you alarm. (You'll never sleep that late again, anyway.)

Fire Engines, Anthills, and Ankles

The past weekend was strange. Saturday was completely frenetic (Zoe's party) and warm (72). Zoe was so wound up that she barely slept all night. Between her waking up 7 or 8 times and Danny still coughing, I got maybe 3 hours of sleep. Sunday... well, we woke up to 5 inches of snow, 34 degrees at the warmest, and constant overcast. We were stuck in the house, Danny and I were exhausted, and Zoe was STILL all wound up.

So today it seemed like we needed to do something a little out of the ordinary. A normal Monday routine just wouldn't cut it. I thought about taking her down to the art museum in Denver, but, no, it was closed on Monday. I decided on the Childrens' Museum instead.

The first thing we saw once inside the door was a fire engine. Probably one a real, working engine, but now mounted on wooden blocks so that herds of kids could safely climb on it. (Safety being relative. Climbing the fire engine might not hurt them, but the hordes of wild children jumping on and off and throwing hard plastic fire hats like boomerangs certainly could. And most likely would, if you stuck around long enough.)

Zoe fell in love with it, and, rather than pretending to put out fires or drive the truck, she was content to just sit in the jump seat and observe the chaos. Dragging her away, even with the promise of more fun stuff upstairs, was a Herculean task.

Once up the stairs, she was happy to drill wood, paint at easels, pretend to be a supermarket checkout girl, miss every basket she aimed the ball at,  play veterinarian to a stuffed kitty, etc., etc.

Then we found the area with the tunnels. They're supposed to be creature tunnels. Rabbit, mole, prairie dog - you name it, if they were 4 1/2 feet tall and fond of eating children, they'd have loved these resin tunnels. As did Zoe and the rest of the horde.  And for about 20 minutes she had a blast. Then she found the way up, I assume from some back tunnel, to the top of the tunnel mound. The way down was textured with fake roots, which were supposed to be steps of a sort, but she wanted help. So up I went, and she came happily down. Then I came down, too, though less happily. She jumped the last two feet and disappeared back into the warren. My foot slipped on a "root", twisted under, and I landed ungracefully in a painful lump on the ugly brown carpet. (food for resin carpet beetles?)

People allowed me to wave off the offers of help. So I sat in a corner, foot throbbing and swelling, and waited another 20 minutes for Zoe to emerge from the tunnels. Again she made it down fare more gracefully then I had. We headed for the stairs, which, of course, she beat me down.

By the time I was down she was back in the jump seat on the fire engine.I had to give her the "look" to get her down, and I swear she's been mad at me the rest of the day for making her leave. (though she didn't actually see me fall.)

Slowly and painfully made it to the car. Then, 20 minutes into the drive home, "Mama! I have to peepee!" Oh, how I wished we'd let her keep the diapers just a little longer. I've never had a less pleasant trip into an Albertsons.

Bleargh. But after having it elevated for a few hours and doing some online research, I've decided it's probably not broken. Most likely just a nasty "mid-foot sprain."

Now if only we didn't live on the third floor.

In brighter news, we've planned a vacation back to TN and VA in a few months. Some time with Mom, some exploring, some walking on the beach.

And we've booked a yurt for a camping trip in mid-June, which I'm really looking forward to. Nice, remote, pristine lake. Plenty of barely disturbed forest. And a nice, elevated yurt. With a deck, screened windows, a ceiling fan, heat, and electrical outlets. Plus, plenty of tent sites, providing maurading bears and mountain lions with easier and more accessible prey.

That's my kind of camping.

Whew.

Survived the party.

It was very fun, but quite chaotic. Zoe had a blast. Especially since our order of nine balloons turned into a mistaken order of 19 balloons. Much craziness.

I didn't get to take too many pics, because I was busy herding hids. But here's a pic of Zoe enjoying the balloons prior to the party, and a picture of the cake with the salamanders.

Another mom took more pics, and as she emails them to me, I'll post more. Now, I must collapse on the couch.

Sometimes, Being a Parent is the Best Thing in the World

I getting over a cold. (Yes, this is our 4th illness in two months. Joy, oh joy.) This afternoon, Zoe wanted me to get up and play a game with her. I told her I didn't feel very well, and really wanted to just sit on the couch.

"Lay down, Mommy," she said. Then she curled up next to me. "I will sing you a song."

"Up in the sky, down in the water,

Up in the clouds, down in the water,

You're the bestest person,

I like you, I like you,

and I love you, too."

And if you ever wondered why we adore her so much, now you know. And next week she'll be 3!

Sometimes, You Just Have To Eat with Pants on Your Head

I swear, this was not my idea.

And some cute kitties. Just because.

When Fantasy and Reality Share Space in Your Brain

Flipping through channels tonight, I stopped for a moment on Iron Chef America. This is what I heard:

"And tonight's top secret ingredient is... elf."

(Of course that wasn't what he said, but it was what I heard. The actual secret ingredient? Elk.)

Obsessed

The conversations you have with preschoolers run the gamut. Some are surprisingly insightful, others... well, you'll see.

Last night we were lying on Zoe's bed, looking at the moon through the window. She asked why the moon was white, and why we only saw it at night. So I tried explaining the movement of the solar system using her balls. Then we looked up a animated model online. Something stuck, because she exclaimed, "Oh! Sunlight on the moon!" Then she looked at the planets again and declared that she liked Jupiter the best.

Earlier in the day, though, she asked me, very seriously, "Mom, where do the cats poop?"

"In the litter box."

"And the dog poops on the grass?"

"Yes, on the grass outside."

"Where do squirrels poop?'

"In the trees or on the ground."

"What about lions?"

"On the savanna."

"Where do panda bears poop?"

"In bamboo forests."

"Where do dinosaurs poop?"

"Dinosaurs are extinct. They don't poop anymore."

"I think they poop in caves."

"OK." (We're having trouble with the concept of extinct. I'm not pushing it.)

"But Mom, where do dragons poop?"

"Anywhere they want."

The Way She Thinks

We stopped at Target today, after a separate trip to get swim goggles for Zoe.

"I want a toy. Goggles aren't a toy."

"They're close enough, and it's all you're getting today."

"Mom.... I'd rather have a choking hazard toy."

Shopping

Yesterday Zoe and I went to the store to pick up a few things.

"I want your list," she said.

I handed it to her, and she looked at it very solemnly.

"Okay," she said, "we need milk, sparkles, and candles for my birthday cake."

It's still nearly a month til her birthday, but she's very excited about it.

"I want sparkles all through the cake, and salamanders on top."

"Salamanders?"

"Red ones! With sparkles. And they can leave sparkle footprints in the frosting."

Somehow I don't think the baker is up to sparkle salamanders. But perhaps I can sculpt some out of red fondant, then add edible glitter.

Sparkly fairy efts, anyone?

Not My Morning.

But I'll probably laugh about it later.

I'd taken my first sip of coffee when the cat started hacking. I didn't want her to throw up on the rug, so I decided to pick her up and make a run for the kitchen. Hopefully the sink, but at least the linoleum.

It didn't work. In my rush, the toes of my left foot curled under as soon as I started the run. I tried to recover, which made it worse. I fell hard, scraping my knee, bonking my elbow, and tossing the cat.

The cat started to throw up in mid-air, creating a horrifyingly impressive spray pattern of puke.

The next 20 minutes were spent scrubbing the carpet and muttering under my breath while my coffee went cold. (Are you sure this isn't Monday?)

In other news, we stopped by Zoe's preschool yesterday to drop off a copy of the tax return. (Apparently if you can prove you make under $150,000 a year, you get financial aid. Why yes, Boulder is expensive.)
She was excited going in, inconsolable coming out.

When I asked her what was wrong, she said, "There are kids in there!"

"Yes, they're older than you."

"But... but...  They're starting WITHOUT ME!" she wailed.

It took a good long time to convince her that she wasn't being left out, and that she and her friends would all start together in September, and that no, they wouldn't start without her.

At least we know she's looking forward to school. She's also informed us that we can wait outside if we like, but cannot come in with her when she starts school. Because it's just for kids.

She's going to have an absolute blast.

footnote:  This is going to be a wonderful school. Shortly before school starts, they actually send teachers to each and every incoming preschooler's home to get to know the children. This way, on the first day, there will be an adult there that the children know. (the classes start with 3 teachers per class, then go down to 2 in a few months.)  I've never heard of this before, but I think it's a fabulous idea.