Happy Halloween!

Monday already!? I was going to wear my skeleton earrings today but I can only find one of them. Makes me wonder where the other one ran off to! Hmmm.

It was a busy weekend, but a good one. I spent a lot of time working on chicken sketches, but the pair I finished last night is going to need some MAJOR revising. It's always kind of embarrassing to email sketches to the committee when I know they aren't "right." Sometimes I need a little input to help me figure out how to fix them though.

I did a little photo shoot on Saturday of a pair of spurs. They are so pretty, and I'm really happy with how the photos turned out, so I'll post that here. My saddle-making friend is now doing a lot of engraving, and it's REALLY cool getting to photograph everything!


Sunday I went to the print lab for the first time since spring quarter. It looks more or less the same, but the feel of the place has changed. I am definitely not on the inside anymore. There's hardly anyone left around the art department who I knew, which is sad. I started an etching months ago, and I should finally be able to finish it either this weekend or the one after. Then I'm not sure what I'll do about printmaking. I haven't done it for ages just because of lack of time, but then I really start to miss it. It's a tough decision.

I also saw "Dreamer" yesterday, which was very good. :-) I love horse movies!

Well, I'd better get back to drawing chickens...

from the depths of my brain

Does it ever seem weird to you to see plants and trees growing in wooden planters? That just struck me as odd the other day....trees growing in containers made of dead trees.

Yes I'm weird, but I had to share. Now you all know I'm weird.

I got tagged...

Well, thanks (or no thanks), to a certain D-Guy, whose blog I read religiously, I have been "tagged." Like email chain letters, I am supposed to post it and tag 7 more fellow bloggers. However, seeing as how I "know" a whopping two people who blog (only one of whom I've met in person), no can do on the tagging part, but I'll be brave and post it here for all the world to see, so that it will forever embarrass me.

7 Things

7 things I plan to do before I die:

1. succeed as an artist (whatever that means…)
2. fall in love
3. have a one-person gallery showing of chicken and horse (and other critter) art in a “big” gallery
4. own a Friesian (or maybe a half-Friesian… think Shylah would go for that idea?) :-)
5. finish the Standard illustrations
6. win Best in Show with a BBRed Rosecomb
7. be somebody’s inspiration, change somebody’s life

7 things I can do:

1. draw
2. bake desserts
3. be quiet and listen
4. find a downside to everything
5. tell the truth, even the brutal honest truth, even if I can’t say it to your face
6. write somewhat intelligently
7. waste time like it’s going out of style

7 things I cannot do:

1. talk and type at the same time
2. sing (well)
3. “throw” pottery more than about 4 inches tall
4. gracefully accept a compliment, or take anything without a grain of salt
5. keep my room clean
6. resist sugary things
7. make an instant decision and not change my mind a zillion times

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

1. honesty and trustworthiness
2. genuine mutual interest
3. intelligence
4. he has to like animals
5. big rugged cowboy-types! :-)
6. common interests
7. proportion and symmetry (probably only an artist would say something like that)

7 things that attract me to the same sex:

(first off I think "attract" is not the right word here... more like friend-qualifications...)
1. remind me of me (as in, not super-popular, quiet, horsey types, etc)
2. not “phony”
3. style, or more like lack thereof (thereby reminding me of me!)
4. common interests
5. not too needy or overbearing
6. practical, down to earth, not too girly
7. brains

7 things I say most often:

1. "um, no”
2. "so anyway…"
3. "cool"
4. "I don't know."
5. "Nellie, cut it out!/stop it!/go away!"
6. "we’ll see/don’t count on it/no promises"
7. "Gack!/Ack!/Ugh!/Bleh/Sheesh/Yeesh/Dang/Durn" (I know, I’m such a potty-mouth…)

7 Celebrity crushes (that I'm not ashamed of):

1. David Duchovny (yep, still…)
2. Brad Pitt, specifically in A River Runs Through It
3. Clinton Anderson (horsey people only will know that name)
4. John Corbett
5. Tobey Maguire
6. Heath Ledger
7. Adam from the old Bonanza series (yes, Little Joe was awfully cute, but Adam had brains too!)

I be jammin'

Ok, I'm pretty proud of the progress lately! I decided, since time is limited, and somebody always seem to step on the time accelerator during these holiday months (it'll be Christmas before you know it), that I need a somewhat different strategy for getting the chicken drawings done. Partly it just helps that I don't have art show stuff going on now (thank goodness!!!) but I figured what I would do is attempt to complete the remaining sketches as fast as I can...like do ALL of them over the next week or so.

Let me clarify the terminology. The "sketch" is the rough draft, a black and white pencil drawing that is only an outline of the final product, done on not-high-quality paper (I most often use tracing paper, so that I can easily redraw and modify by putting another layer of tracing paper over the top.) The "drawing" is the final draft, in this case done in colored pencil, on good paper.

So in the last week I've completed four pairs, and started another one today. Still several more to go, and then while those are awaiting comments/approval from the committee I'll do the really grueling work, which is the color drawing. If only that part could go so quickly!! Oh well, just think of the fame and fortune when I'm done. Heh heh... hey, I can dream! :-)

Additions to the product lineup

Ok, the "Nellie" section of the CafePress store is complete now, along with "That'll be the day." Next I will probably work on "Chains and Leather." Bear with me, it takes a while...

Spead the word!! (please!!!) :-)

Both images now available on apparel and gift items:

"Nellie"


"That'll be the day"

just a chicken picture today

Given my lack of frequent postings, I must be in one of those remarkably boring modes. Oh wait, that's pretty much how I always am... :-) Seriously though, I haven't been doing anything blog-worthy. I feel like I made good art progress during the week. And I did LOTS of chicken work (real chickens, not art chickens...well, I mean in addition to the art chickens... you know what I mean...it's been a chickeny week). With the big National meet practically right around the corner I need to make a supreme effort to keep the birds in condition over the winter (which means NO crowding and NO males housed on dirt floors...tails get muddy). Ideally I'd keep all the females inside as well, but I find if I just give them a lot of room and keep the coops free of mud they'll turn out pretty good. It's always a struggle to keep the birds in pristine condition though, it boggles my mind how some people are so good at it.

Anyway, I took some pics of my winning pullet from last weekend (she was being a real snot at the show and wouldn't pose worth beans, kept trying to fly away) so I needed a pic to use for my "bragging ad" in Poultry Press, and then I took this one and thought it was pretty nice.

Art Show, Poultry Show, and the Tire Curse

What a weekend! I'm still tired!

I left here Thursday late afternoon for the Auburn Art Walk. I had a few more things to set up (note cards, prints) and then I had to stick around for the 6-9pm reception. It didn't exactly go all that well (is there a theme to this lately??). Of course, I've never done that show before so I didn't know what to expect, but it sure didn't seem like that many people came through the shop, and most were just socializing or looking. Once again, thank goodness for note cards, although it didn't come close to covering expenses. The setup looks nice and I like the store a lot, but it was toward one end of the street where most of the shops were, and I think a lot of people just didn't venture that far, and I don't really expect much in the way of follow-up sales. The work is supposed to hang through mid December. Here are some pics from the show though:



Friday morning I took off with a carload of chickens for Paso Robles, which is about 4 hours away. The Central Coast Feather Fanciers is the first open show of the season, and one that I always enjoy. Well, then again I enjoy all of them! About a week ago, I'd taken my car in to get what I thought was the balance looked at. Turned out it had a bubble in one tire (how long had I been driving around with a bubble?!?! Ack!). It still had a little shake going on around 50, I don't think they had rebalanced it all that well after replacing the tire, but it's few and far between that anyone can really balance that car so I figured I could deal with this little vibration at least until this week, since I won't be so busy now. But the whole way down there on Friday it seemed to get worse, and after I got off I-5 and onto smaller highways (41 and 46, not exactly a lot of towns!) it was getting a bit scary. The shaking was a lot worse, and I just had all these visions of careening off the road, or the wheels falling off, blowing up, etc. By the time I was on 46 nearing Paso Robles, I could feel it bumping at slow speeds. Ah yes, I know that feeling, another bubble...

I was somewhat of a nervous wreck by the time I got there, I didn't stick around long to socialize, I just wanted to go sit down and let my brain air out.

Early Saturday morning, after getting the birds cleaned up, I bumped on over to a local tire shop just down the street from the fairgrounds, hoping there wasn't anything serious going on. The guys were super nice, took my car right in and had a look. Sure enough, it was a bubble. That now makes 5 bubbles and 13 flats on that car in the 10 years that I have been driving it. Could it be cheap tires? I think it's a curse. Anyhow, half hour and one new tire later, all was well with the world, and I must say those guys did a super job on balancing, it hasn't been that smooth for YEARS.

The rest of Saturday was spent looking at birds, schmoozing, watching the Welsh Pony show, and napping in the back seat of my car (hey, I was tired!). As always the RCCL (Rose Comb Clean Legged) class was judged last. I really hadn't expected to do more than Best of Breed at this show, since I hadn't had time to coop train the birds at all and they were a bunch of wild women. But amazingly I got Best RCCL, and that Black Rosecomb pullet moved to Champion Row. I wish I'd had time to work with these birds more. If handled, they calm down and relax at shows, and will "show" (spread tail, look alert, flirt) when approached. Otherwise, they tend to back into the corner and ruin their tails, or walk around looking pinchy-tailed the whole time.

Championship judging was Sunday morning. I get really nervous when I have a bird up on Champion Row. Other than cleaning the bird up beforehand, there's nothing I can do but stand around with my hands in my pockets and all my fingers crossed and think "pick the Rosecomb!"

Best in Show went to a very cute White Call duck, and Reserve of Show to an Egyptian goose...same owners on both.. Congratulations guys!! :-) Reserve Bantam was a Dutch. But since the American Poultry Association considers a duck to be waterfowl and not a bantam, the judges had to pick a "Reserve Bantam A.P.A" and that went to my bird. Yay!! So that's like 3rd best bantam. Works for me!

Unfortunately, looks like I won't be attending another poultry show until early January. The one I normally go to in November has been cancelled, and I don't attend the ones in southern CA because they are just too far away. However, I may reconsider that next year, because October to January is a long time to wait, and I usually have a lot of good looking birds in November.

I also don't have any art shows til January, and that's a good thing. I need a break from those. Time to duct tape my butt to the chair and spend the rest of the year drawing chickens.

Awwwww!

Can't resist! Olin and Homer sharing the recliner. All in unison now..."awwwwww."

new Cuckoo pics

I haven't posted pics of the Cuckoo project for a while, so here are some pics I took this morning:


The big reddish ones are some of Mom's egg-layers...several months younger than the bantams but quickly outgrowing them!




Above and below: some of the Creles that resulted from the Cuckoo X BBRed cross.



This is definitely the "prettiest" of the bunch, but that comb is the worst thing I've ever seen, it's horribly inverted. His color isn't correct, but it's very interesting. He will be sold, definitely!

Upcoming Art Show!

Arts Council of Placer County -- Auburn Art Walk
Thursday October 13th, 6pm - 9pm

I will be at:
Dancing Dog Productions
1101 High Street
Auburn, CA 95602

The work will hang til some time in mid/late December, but I will be up there only the night of the 13th. I haven't figured out all of what I'm taking, but there will be ORIGINAL drawings, lithographs, relief prints, photographs, and paintings. I will also have some framed prints hanging, and will have unframed prints and note cards with me the night of the show. I'm not sure yet if I can leave some of the smaller items up there....we'll see.

Come visit!!! :-)

Dang I'm tired.

Good News!

As usual I had gotten myself way more worried than necessary (but with good reason... I can't help but be paranoid about foot problems in horses). Gwen got x-rays today and her feet actually look pretty good (considering the amount of rotation she has!). My farrier has done an excellent job with her. :-) No more rotation, no indication of a navicular problem (thank goodness!) and interestingly enough the vet I saw today said he didn't see anything on the old x-ray films either that looked like a fracture to the navicular bone. So... I don't know.

Gwen's problem is *probably* that some bit of sand or dirt or who knows what has worked its way into the separated area along the hoof wall, on the inside heel of her left front foot, and caused an infection. Her foot is packed full of smelly pink antibiotic stuff, and I have medicine to give her for the next week. Her foot's all wrapped up and has to stay clean and wrapped til she gets her shoes put back on Tuesday morning (which will then cover that separated area...the separation has always been there).

I know only horsey people will understand that...it's pretty serious stuff. Horse feet are full of bones, and there's not much room for swelling. When a horse founders, the swelling causes the coffin bone to rotate downward, which, if bad enough, can end up coming through the sole of the foot (this is why my first horse Thunder died). It's a truly horrid thing, and an awful name for a bone anyway. There's also another bone, the navicular, that is prone to problems in some horses...so far looks like Gwen is ok there.

So here's hoping for a full recovery, or at least as full as she can get considering all the pre-existing problems. Her feet look SO much better in the new x-rays than in the old ones. The bone angle hasn't changed but the way her hoof has been re-shaped and re-angled, it looks so much healthier now, and there's a lot more distance between the sole and the tip of the coffin bone (thank goodness!!!)

"She's got a lot of sole," the vet said approvingly, and I think that's true no matter how you spell it... :-)

Art & Whine

Tonight was the Art and Wine show. It was quite different than any show I've been to before. I didn't sell anything (was only allowed to bring two art pieces) but I also didn't expect to sell anything, so that's not a problem. I can't believe it's just a few days til the show in Auburn. Oh, I need to post all the official info for that one. Gack! I'll do it tomorrow, I'm too tired to think that much tonight. (yes, I'm THAT boring that it's just after 10:30pm on a Friday and I'm telling my blog that I'm tired.)

I noticed I haven't posted any pics in the last couple ramblings, I just haven't been photographing much. I did go on a boat ride last week when my grandparents were up here, so here's the best shot: leaving downtown Sacramento.


Keep your fingers crossed for Gwen tomorrow. I'm curious what the x-rays will show, but also kinda scared to find out. She's walking better now with her shoes off, but she can't stay barefoot. It feels like a good sign though that the decrease in heel pressure (just from removing the shoes) seems to help. Fingers crossed...

One week til the first open poultry show of the season! Woo hoo!!!!!! Not that I'm excited or anything. :-)

horse feet

They look so big and strong, those horsie feet. It's really kind of amazing just how many things can go wrong with them. Gwen's been limping lately. I had my farrier take a look at her today and she has pain in the heel of her left front foot. Add this to her list of problems... She foundered several years ago (and also probably some time before that in her life) so she has bone rotation in both front feet, a chipped navicular bone in one (the left, I am guessing, I don't remember what the old x-rays showed) and a cracked coffin bone in the other. How did she do all that? I don't know. It's actually somewhat amazing she gets around as well as she does. From the source of the pain though it seems likely that it's now the navicular bone that's going to cause trouble for her. She is getting x-rays this Saturday, so I'll know more then. I would be thrilled if it turned out to be an abscess or something like that, but...I don't feel like that's likely. Hopefully therapeutic shoes will help. More news Saturday...

Worry worry worry...

frazzled

After that last soapbox post, I feel as though I ought to post something mild mannered and artistic. But I'm not sure I have all that much to say. I'm starting to get into worry-mode about the art show on the 13th. There is no way I can do all the stuff I'd planned to do, especially since I am trying to spend as little money as possible. I do need to order some frames though for a couple photos I plan to hang. I wanted to paint up a whole bunch of canvases of dogs and cats but so far I'm only part way done with one 4x4inch canvas, so that's really not saying much. I'm just too busy with chicken illustrations and other things going on right now. Maybe I can still do a few, but I really have a hard time painting. I just don't know how to paint, I'm not good at it. Do I go from light to dark or dark to light? I keep trying to paint from light to dark but it feels backwards to me (even though that's how I draw), so maybe I should try dark to light. Just seems that the lightest (in terms of light, not color) areas are closest to the surface and therefore ought to painted over the dark areas. Or maybe I'm just confused. Well yeah, that's for sure.

I moved all the cuckoo chicks outside yesterday. They are getting so big!! I really need to take a new photo and post it here.

Oh, and just when you thought there had been enough cheesecake for the next couple months... I made another one for a big family dinner today. New York style cheesecake (with a hint of lemon) and a blackberry sauce. Wow. Definitely a keeper.

That's about it. Pretty dull, I know.

I need to rant.

This used to be a long post about something that happened in the neighborhood, but I have decided to delete it, on the off chance that the subjects of my rant ever did decide to surf around my website. The bottom line is:

1) spay/neuter your pets unless you have an extremely legitimate reason not to.
2) if an animal is sick, get it treated.
3) if an animal is in pain and is untreatably sick, do the right thing and have your vet euthanize it.