Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping 2012 treats us all well!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy New Year!!!
Please fasten your seat belts, and put your tray tables and seat backs in the upright and locked position. 2012 is going to be a wild ride, and the captain thinks we might experience some turbulence. ;-)
Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping 2012 treats us all well!
Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping 2012 treats us all well!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
the big news, and a Christmas list
Hmmm, how to break some big news to you all...
Should I just come out and say it?
Okay.
No, I'm not getting married. That would definitely be more shocking than the real news. ;-)
I am, however, moving. Moving out. Moving away. Friends of mine who own a ranch in the mountains east of Redding (Oak Run, CA) have asked me to move up there, and I've said yes. After determining that all my necessary "stuff" will fit (just barely!) in the barn loft that I will call home, and giving it excessively careful consideration as I am prone to doing, I realized that I'd have to be crazy not to do it. So... a grand new adventure will begin next year, and I'm excited!!! I will probably be leaving Wilton in mid to late April.*
There are a lot of people and traditions here I will miss sooooo much and it definitely makes me sad to move away from so many people I care so much about, but hey, I'll be less than 200 miles away; there's no excuse for not visiting me! :-) And since I'll still have family here, with all the holidays and birthdays and artsy things, I will probably be back fairly often...
There are still a million things to figure out. The most daunting thing to me actually seems to be how to relocate all the birds. I will be cutting back even more, but will keep the BBRed flock and a few other birds, but this means starting from scratch with chicken coops, in a land with lions and tigers and bears oh my. Well, maybe not lions and tigers, but there are raccoons and coyotes and bears. Oh em gee...
Yes, I'm taking the horses! And Olin too. Angus and Homer will stay with my mom.
I will of course still be working in fine art/scrimshaw. I think you all know me well enough to know I'd drive off a cliff if I had to stop doing that. ;-)
Surprised? I'm sure. :-) So, local people, if you need something from me while I'm still living here (photo shoot, road trip, baking for any more weddings, hot date, etc.), don't miss your chance. ;-) Time will fly...
Are there things I need? Goodness yes, a lot, big stuff like a computer and chicken houses (eeek!) Pardon the utter shamelessness which I am about to embark upon, but here's my Christmas (New Year, Birthday, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc) list:
I want people to buy art!!! I won't have space to take it all with me (I am moving into less than 400 square feet). Drawings are here and scrimshaw is here.
If Santa Claus is reading this, or if I have any secret admirers out there in blogland who are desperately wanting to lavish me with gifts (hey it's almost Christmas, and my birthday AND Valentines Day are in less than two months!), I'm not usually in need of "stuff" but these next few months will be different! Gift cards... Did you know Apple has gift cards?!?! (Did I mention I have to buy a new computer?) Amazon.com (I even have a wish list of things I think of that I'll need, though I'm making a list for my own purposes to keep track of things I think of, you're welcome to look at it even though the contents are a bit eclectic)... Or maybe Home Depot or Tractor Supply for chicken house building stuff. IKEA? Winning lottery tickets?
I'll have a lot to blog about, won't I...
*that's the current timeline, life is subject to change, but I'm pretty sure that's when...
Should I just come out and say it?
Okay.
No, I'm not getting married. That would definitely be more shocking than the real news. ;-)
I am, however, moving. Moving out. Moving away. Friends of mine who own a ranch in the mountains east of Redding (Oak Run, CA) have asked me to move up there, and I've said yes. After determining that all my necessary "stuff" will fit (just barely!) in the barn loft that I will call home, and giving it excessively careful consideration as I am prone to doing, I realized that I'd have to be crazy not to do it. So... a grand new adventure will begin next year, and I'm excited!!! I will probably be leaving Wilton in mid to late April.*
There are a lot of people and traditions here I will miss sooooo much and it definitely makes me sad to move away from so many people I care so much about, but hey, I'll be less than 200 miles away; there's no excuse for not visiting me! :-) And since I'll still have family here, with all the holidays and birthdays and artsy things, I will probably be back fairly often...
There are still a million things to figure out. The most daunting thing to me actually seems to be how to relocate all the birds. I will be cutting back even more, but will keep the BBRed flock and a few other birds, but this means starting from scratch with chicken coops, in a land with lions and tigers and bears oh my. Well, maybe not lions and tigers, but there are raccoons and coyotes and bears. Oh em gee...
Yes, I'm taking the horses! And Olin too. Angus and Homer will stay with my mom.
I will of course still be working in fine art/scrimshaw. I think you all know me well enough to know I'd drive off a cliff if I had to stop doing that. ;-)
Surprised? I'm sure. :-) So, local people, if you need something from me while I'm still living here (photo shoot, road trip, baking for any more weddings, hot date, etc.), don't miss your chance. ;-) Time will fly...
Are there things I need? Goodness yes, a lot, big stuff like a computer and chicken houses (eeek!) Pardon the utter shamelessness which I am about to embark upon, but here's my Christmas (New Year, Birthday, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc) list:
I want people to buy art!!! I won't have space to take it all with me (I am moving into less than 400 square feet). Drawings are here and scrimshaw is here.
If Santa Claus is reading this, or if I have any secret admirers out there in blogland who are desperately wanting to lavish me with gifts (hey it's almost Christmas, and my birthday AND Valentines Day are in less than two months!), I'm not usually in need of "stuff" but these next few months will be different! Gift cards... Did you know Apple has gift cards?!?! (Did I mention I have to buy a new computer?) Amazon.com (I even have a wish list of things I think of that I'll need, though I'm making a list for my own purposes to keep track of things I think of, you're welcome to look at it even though the contents are a bit eclectic)... Or maybe Home Depot or Tractor Supply for chicken house building stuff. IKEA? Winning lottery tickets?
I'll have a lot to blog about, won't I...
*that's the current timeline, life is subject to change, but I'm pretty sure that's when...
Thursday, December 15, 2011
December 14 work in progress
Okay, oh my goodness, December is a really busy month. No, I'm not getting much scrimshaw done lately, I'm afraid I just have 4350934850983 other things going on at the moment. But there is at least a little progress. Actually I have more done than what's pictured here tonight, but it's at an ugly stopping point (no worries, I just mean one wing is half-shaded), and besides the camera is in the other room AND it's after midnight and all I can think about is flannel sheets and the cat that's already curled up on my bed.
Anyway..
If you're one of my readers who visits the studio in person sometimes, you'd maybe notice I have the desk set up a little different than usual. Because the knife is so very large, I didn't want to use my vise for it, but feel MUCH safer keeping it on the tabletop. So I've pulled the table forward up over the top of the vise stand. Works pretty well that way! And I'm remembering how much I like keeping my elbows on the table when I work. Maybe this will become my default setup again, I'll have to think about that. Working on a piece of this size can get pretty awkward, and that's part of the reason I keep it thoroughly padded and taped, so as not to skewer body parts that I would rather not have skewered.... I was going to post a photo to illustrate this, but it seemed like a pretty gratuitous boob photo (I'm sure at least one of you would have enjoyed that though) so you'll have to use your imagination....
So yeah, some progress! As you can now see, this side features the F4U Corsair. There will be a very full background. What will it be? Well, just wait and see!
And I would just like to say that putting the border on the curved upper and lower edge of this knife was really hard. I'm feeling very happy to working on a mostly-flat surface though, unlike the pistol grips which required me to constantly refocus the scope every time I moved them!
Anyway..
If you're one of my readers who visits the studio in person sometimes, you'd maybe notice I have the desk set up a little different than usual. Because the knife is so very large, I didn't want to use my vise for it, but feel MUCH safer keeping it on the tabletop. So I've pulled the table forward up over the top of the vise stand. Works pretty well that way! And I'm remembering how much I like keeping my elbows on the table when I work. Maybe this will become my default setup again, I'll have to think about that. Working on a piece of this size can get pretty awkward, and that's part of the reason I keep it thoroughly padded and taped, so as not to skewer body parts that I would rather not have skewered.... I was going to post a photo to illustrate this, but it seemed like a pretty gratuitous boob photo (I'm sure at least one of you would have enjoyed that though) so you'll have to use your imagination....
So yeah, some progress! As you can now see, this side features the F4U Corsair. There will be a very full background. What will it be? Well, just wait and see!
And I would just like to say that putting the border on the curved upper and lower edge of this knife was really hard. I'm feeling very happy to working on a mostly-flat surface though, unlike the pistol grips which required me to constantly refocus the scope every time I moved them!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
a hummingbird story
This morning, my mom found a hummingbird that was somehow stuck to the hummingbird feeder. I never quite figured out how that happened, but nevertheless, it was stuck.
The bird, a female Anna's Hummingbird, was in pretty sad shape. Who knows how long she'd been hanging there. She was fluffed up mostly kept her eyes closed... very weak.
I knew she needed to get some food if she was going to recover, I remember learning that hummingbirds expend so much energy flying that they have to eat often, so I mixed up a little bowl of hummingbird food. It didn't take her long to figure out where the good stuff was, and she eagerly drank and drank and drank. I sat with her perched in my hand for well over an hour as she warmed up and refueled.
My niece Chloe came over for a visit and was pretty enthralled with the little bird. We named her "Princess Hummingbird" and she was very gentle about petting the little bird.
Look at those little feet! :-)
Much perkier!
Once the bird was bright-eyed, awake, looking around, and starting to move her wings around while sitting in my hands, I decided it was time to put her outside. I carefully placed her on the perch of the hummingbird feeder. She sat there for a bit, drinking more, and then buzzed away out into the yard.
Quite an experience holding such a little thing. :-)
The bird, a female Anna's Hummingbird, was in pretty sad shape. Who knows how long she'd been hanging there. She was fluffed up mostly kept her eyes closed... very weak.
I knew she needed to get some food if she was going to recover, I remember learning that hummingbirds expend so much energy flying that they have to eat often, so I mixed up a little bowl of hummingbird food. It didn't take her long to figure out where the good stuff was, and she eagerly drank and drank and drank. I sat with her perched in my hand for well over an hour as she warmed up and refueled.
My niece Chloe came over for a visit and was pretty enthralled with the little bird. We named her "Princess Hummingbird" and she was very gentle about petting the little bird.
Look at those little feet! :-)
Much perkier!
Once the bird was bright-eyed, awake, looking around, and starting to move her wings around while sitting in my hands, I decided it was time to put her outside. I carefully placed her on the perch of the hummingbird feeder. She sat there for a bit, drinking more, and then buzzed away out into the yard.
Quite an experience holding such a little thing. :-)
Saturday, December 03, 2011
the next scrimshaw project
Okay, this is the beginnings of part two of the Greatest Generation project, a very large knife. Here's a pic I posted months ago before starting anything:
And here it is all wrapped and taped and padded so I can work on it:
The WWII theme will continue here, of course. This is one that has undergone a lot of changes. My client's original suggestions did not turn out to be feasible options for this piece, so there was a lot of brainstorming to come up with other ideas. My mind was actually sparked while perusing an article in one of my art magazines about a photographer of horses. The photos had these dark moody clouds in the background that really caught my attention, and that got me thinking about the sky, which got me thinking about airplanes.... AIRPLANES! Yeah! Those can be compositionally arranged to fit a long narrow space! That idea went over well and we were off and running. So the knife will feature a few of the iconic airplanes from WWII, one side representing the European theatre and the other side representing the Pacfic theater (corresponding to the Patton and MacArthur images on the pistol grips).
Now, I should have gotten a lot more done in the last few days, but guess who totally mashed her right thumb into the wall a few days ago while, um... I hate to even admit this... hunting rats... Yeah, that would be me. It's finally feeling better today (and what a lovely shade of purplish blue!) but it had all the strength of a bag of jell-o there for a little bit. I'm bad for thumbs.
And here it is all wrapped and taped and padded so I can work on it:
The WWII theme will continue here, of course. This is one that has undergone a lot of changes. My client's original suggestions did not turn out to be feasible options for this piece, so there was a lot of brainstorming to come up with other ideas. My mind was actually sparked while perusing an article in one of my art magazines about a photographer of horses. The photos had these dark moody clouds in the background that really caught my attention, and that got me thinking about the sky, which got me thinking about airplanes.... AIRPLANES! Yeah! Those can be compositionally arranged to fit a long narrow space! That idea went over well and we were off and running. So the knife will feature a few of the iconic airplanes from WWII, one side representing the European theatre and the other side representing the Pacfic theater (corresponding to the Patton and MacArthur images on the pistol grips).
Now, I should have gotten a lot more done in the last few days, but guess who totally mashed her right thumb into the wall a few days ago while, um... I hate to even admit this... hunting rats... Yeah, that would be me. It's finally feeling better today (and what a lovely shade of purplish blue!) but it had all the strength of a bag of jell-o there for a little bit. I'm bad for thumbs.