I am having my usual wild and crazy New Years Eve. My plans this year included efforts to completely avoid plans, which happened effortlessly, since I think the wild bunch has long since given up on me anyway. Just as well. I never was able to get into the party scene anyhow. :-)
So here I am, working on updating websites, writing blogs, planning some art projects, and figuring the order of things for getting back to work on Monday. Monday afternoon. Monday evening maybe. By Tuesday for certain.
How about resolutions...do you make them? I do but I don't. I don't like to refer to them as resolutions because I have never in my life managed to keep a resolution, so it seems doomed from the start to refer to them as such. I've had the same resolutions for the last, goodness, many years. Obviously I broke every one of them... But they are back again, things I would like to change in my personal and professional life. The line between personal and professional is pretty fuzzy, and in fact that's something I'd like to work on, among other things... Wouldn't it be nice to stop time for a little while and get caught up on things?
Oh, remember a little while back I said I got interviewed by a reporter from Florida about my foil sculptures? I found the article on line today (I am supposed to get a hard copy, I'll believe it when I see it). The article, if you want to see it, is right here.
I need to start making things to sell at the PPBA show. The marble tiles sold well last year but take an awfully long time to make, and they make my hand and wrist incredibly sore (because I have to use SO much pressure to get enough color saturation on such a hard surface). I really try to avoid harming my hands, since without them I'm sort of useless, so I think I may try doing some more "sketchy" type things in graphite on marble--should go quicker and be easier. I like the tiles, they are classy. And they sell, which is a pretty strong motivator these days. Unfortunately I won't have much time to work on stuff between now and then. I'll squeeze it in somehow though. There are tons of small items I could make to sell, but it's hard for them to be worthwhile--they take a long time, and it's hard to put a big price on a small item!
Still no word on the horse show in April. I hope to find out soon. I have a drawing in mind I would like to do for that show if I get in, but I'd have to have a fair amount of advance notice, and even at that I'm not sure I can fit it in until the Standard work is done, and that likely won't be til after the horse show.
That's about all the excitement. Chances are I won't make it til midnight. I know, I know...
I wish you all a Happy New Year, and here's hoping that 2006 treats you fairly, kindly, generously! :-)
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Flooding
Wilton has a tendency to flood, at least parts of it. I grew up on a ranch along the river, and I remember the levee breaks and the flooding that resulted. It was scary, especially the first time, since I was just a little kid. The water didn't reach the house, since the house was up on a bit of a hill (it would have been darn near impossible for the house to flood), but watching the water creep up across the pastures was fascinating and terrifying at the same time. I remember walking down to the river after the water subsided, boot-deep in sticky mud in some places, and being so saddened by the things that had died--cows from somewhere upstream, rabbits, squirrels, and surely lots of smaller critters too. It's really quite scary. The rivers often win the battle of containment.
I think we are safe in the place I live now too. The roads around here flood, but the house and barn are up quite a bit higher than the roads. We got 2 inches of rain just overnight (add that onto the many inches in the last week and it makes for a very soggy place!). I've never seen quite this much water across the road. I was able to walk down there with rubber boots, and could have driven out, but I didn't have anywhere I needed to go today, so I didn't drive through it. I am not worried about it.
The pastures are totally saturated.
Normally you would not see any water here... Those are fields, not lakes.
And that's a road..
I think we are safe in the place I live now too. The roads around here flood, but the house and barn are up quite a bit higher than the roads. We got 2 inches of rain just overnight (add that onto the many inches in the last week and it makes for a very soggy place!). I've never seen quite this much water across the road. I was able to walk down there with rubber boots, and could have driven out, but I didn't have anywhere I needed to go today, so I didn't drive through it. I am not worried about it.
The pastures are totally saturated.
Normally you would not see any water here... Those are fields, not lakes.
And that's a road..
Friday, December 30, 2005
new sculpture
"Shark"
I made this as a Christmas present for my brother J. It's 18 inches long, aluminum foil on wire armature, "covered" in aluminum tape.
I also neglected to mention another exploit in the kitchen. I made a chocolate peanut butter fudge cheesecake for Christmas Eve. It was dang good, definitely a keeper, but it got a crack the size of the grand canyon down the center after baking. Does anybody know how to prevent this? They all seem to crack, but this one was the worst, it nearly split in half. I am guessing it has to do with baking time, and thinking I need to leave them in the oven longer. If anybody out there is a cheesecake guru, let me know!
Oh geez, even talking about it makes me want to go get a glass of milk..
Thursday, December 29, 2005
After Christmas
I survived the Christmas insanity! I hope everyone else did too! We got back from San Diego yesterday evening. I think I have only missed one Christmas in San Diego in my life. There is always the temptation to think "well, it would be so much easier/less hectic/more relaxing to just stay home" but the truth is I'm not sure Christmas would really happen if I wasn't down there. It's part of the routine, part of the holidays, part of my life. We have our big family get-together on the 26th every year, so the 25th is always a travel day. Sometimes we fly, sometimes we drive. This year we drove. Almost 500 miles...bleh. Still beats flying though (not a big fan of air travel).
My grandparents' house seemed so much bigger as a kid. It's like a time warp to be there every year, everything almost the same as it has been forever, except the people keep getting older... Ever notice how as a kid, people never really seem to age, but then as an adult, suddenly people really seem to age a lot from year to year? It's weird.
It was fun, it's always so nice to see everyone, though there is never enough time in the day to catch up with all 30something people who are there. Then again, I don't tend to be all that good at catching up anyway, except with just a few people. I wouldn't say I'm the black sheep, but perhaps D.J. was right when he said I'm the black rosecomb of the family. :-) It's not a bad thing.
I am in rather dire need now of some solitude though. My tolerance for family togetherness isn't the highest in the world. I know that sounds horrid, but...it's just who I am, I need time alone.
We had almost two inches of rain in the last few days, and it's totally gross outside now. I haven't worked the horses for quite some time now, and I can only cross my fingers that the birds will end up in decent condition. I don't have the facilities to keep all the birds indoors (nor would I really want to keep them all indoors) so it's kind of an iffy situation here in winter time. PPBA is a month away. Aaack!
I spent today cleaning the house, which ranks right up there with smacking my thumb with a hammer.
I have not drawn anything since the 23rd, and it's kind of refreshing, though I'm starting to feel ancy like I ought to be getting back to work. The art table is just across the room, taunting me. I needed a break though, to preserve some semblance of sanity. I will start again on Monday. I am disappointed though that the back pain hasn't gone away. It's better, and maybe by Monday it'll be even more better (grammar, I know), but I think it's just going to be something I'll have to live with unless I can come up with a more ergonomic way to draw....and so far I have not. Of course, thinking about it makes it worse, but trying not to think about it means I end up thinking about it more. I have been told I think too much. I think that may be true. ;-)
And last but not least, to the disappointment of anyone on dialup, I am going to post a zillion pics I took in San Diego. I will not show family pics here, in the interest of privacy, but I took a zillion shots of the ocean, and I think that'll make a nice contrast to my usual horses and art and chickens and cute cats. Enjoy!
Anemone in the tide pools. I'd been hoping to find hermit crabs (they are so cute!) but we were on the tail end of low tide and they were farther out than I was willing to risk walking, so I settled for admiring anemonies.
Mussels.
Coastal bird ID is not my strong point, so I had to bust out the bird guide when I got home. Elegant terns.
Ring-billed gull.
Western gull.
The following pics are all taken along a short stretch of beach in La Jolla.
Seals lounging in what used to be The Children's Cove. This apparently has generated a great deal of controversy. It's this little inlet that used to be a beach where kids could play (I remember playing there!) but in recent years it's been taken over by seals.
One view of San Diego from the top of Mt. Soledad. (I took several shots, none are spectacular, so I just picked one).
On the very top of Mt. Soledad there is this huge cross. If I knew more about it I'd tell you who put it up, but I don't. There is a sign though, proclaiming that the site is not city property and therefore the city cannot be sued for having this giant cross there. Probably somebody got offended by it. Good grief. I thought it made a really striking photograph with the late afternoon sun behind it.
My grandparents' house seemed so much bigger as a kid. It's like a time warp to be there every year, everything almost the same as it has been forever, except the people keep getting older... Ever notice how as a kid, people never really seem to age, but then as an adult, suddenly people really seem to age a lot from year to year? It's weird.
It was fun, it's always so nice to see everyone, though there is never enough time in the day to catch up with all 30something people who are there. Then again, I don't tend to be all that good at catching up anyway, except with just a few people. I wouldn't say I'm the black sheep, but perhaps D.J. was right when he said I'm the black rosecomb of the family. :-) It's not a bad thing.
I am in rather dire need now of some solitude though. My tolerance for family togetherness isn't the highest in the world. I know that sounds horrid, but...it's just who I am, I need time alone.
We had almost two inches of rain in the last few days, and it's totally gross outside now. I haven't worked the horses for quite some time now, and I can only cross my fingers that the birds will end up in decent condition. I don't have the facilities to keep all the birds indoors (nor would I really want to keep them all indoors) so it's kind of an iffy situation here in winter time. PPBA is a month away. Aaack!
I spent today cleaning the house, which ranks right up there with smacking my thumb with a hammer.
I have not drawn anything since the 23rd, and it's kind of refreshing, though I'm starting to feel ancy like I ought to be getting back to work. The art table is just across the room, taunting me. I needed a break though, to preserve some semblance of sanity. I will start again on Monday. I am disappointed though that the back pain hasn't gone away. It's better, and maybe by Monday it'll be even more better (grammar, I know), but I think it's just going to be something I'll have to live with unless I can come up with a more ergonomic way to draw....and so far I have not. Of course, thinking about it makes it worse, but trying not to think about it means I end up thinking about it more. I have been told I think too much. I think that may be true. ;-)
And last but not least, to the disappointment of anyone on dialup, I am going to post a zillion pics I took in San Diego. I will not show family pics here, in the interest of privacy, but I took a zillion shots of the ocean, and I think that'll make a nice contrast to my usual horses and art and chickens and cute cats. Enjoy!
Anemone in the tide pools. I'd been hoping to find hermit crabs (they are so cute!) but we were on the tail end of low tide and they were farther out than I was willing to risk walking, so I settled for admiring anemonies.
Mussels.
Coastal bird ID is not my strong point, so I had to bust out the bird guide when I got home. Elegant terns.
Ring-billed gull.
Western gull.
The following pics are all taken along a short stretch of beach in La Jolla.
Seals lounging in what used to be The Children's Cove. This apparently has generated a great deal of controversy. It's this little inlet that used to be a beach where kids could play (I remember playing there!) but in recent years it's been taken over by seals.
One view of San Diego from the top of Mt. Soledad. (I took several shots, none are spectacular, so I just picked one).
On the very top of Mt. Soledad there is this huge cross. If I knew more about it I'd tell you who put it up, but I don't. There is a sign though, proclaiming that the site is not city property and therefore the city cannot be sued for having this giant cross there. Probably somebody got offended by it. Good grief. I thought it made a really striking photograph with the late afternoon sun behind it.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Sleigh Bells
To all my faithful blog readers (I think I might even need more than one hand to count you all up now!). I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, or whatever it is that you may celebrate.. :-)
Friday, December 23, 2005
ha ha!
That is SO not a flattering picture (really, I'm not crooked and gargoyle-ish!) but it's amusing anyway.
I am thinking of changing the name of this blog. There are way too many of them called "Ramblings" so even though that's what it is (just me rambling about things), I may retitle it. I do have something in mind...
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Pretty pictures!
I'd read something a while back about "camera tossing" (google it if you want more info) and decided as long as we have this pretty tree in the living room, I ought to shoot some interesting photos. I'm not keen on actually "tossing" my camera around, so these are not the real thing...but they turned out cool! I took a zillion photos, but narrowed it down to two.
Camera was shaken. Shutter speed 8 seconds:
Camera was twirled. Shutter speed 1 or 2 seconds (I forget!):
Camera was shaken. Shutter speed 8 seconds:
Camera was twirled. Shutter speed 1 or 2 seconds (I forget!):
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Kind of gross but very amusing
First off, I think I'll now start using people's full initials here when I talk about them because everyone I know seems to have a name that starts with the same couple of letters, and it gets really confusing, so...first and last initials now.
So anyway, I got this box in the mail today from BJ, and that in itself is always a little scary because I can pretty well guarantee it's going to be part of some dead thing. Not like gross horrible stinky dead thing, but well-preserved tidy dead thing. Dead thing nonetheless. I should feel blessed to get such interesting mail. And today was no exception. Wrapped nicely in Christmasy colored tissue paper was a leg bone from an Aseel rooster. Cool! This is to help me with my illustration of the Aseel rooster (as far as getting spur placement and shape correct) but all I could think of when I saw this odd thing dangling off a little string was "oh my word, this is the most disgusting Christmas ornament!"
So of course I had to take a picture. Obviously it's not really an ornament, but at this time of year, my twisted brain could turn most anything into something that should hang on the tree! It was definitely the most entertaining moment of my day. How festive! ;-)
So anyway, I got this box in the mail today from BJ, and that in itself is always a little scary because I can pretty well guarantee it's going to be part of some dead thing. Not like gross horrible stinky dead thing, but well-preserved tidy dead thing. Dead thing nonetheless. I should feel blessed to get such interesting mail. And today was no exception. Wrapped nicely in Christmasy colored tissue paper was a leg bone from an Aseel rooster. Cool! This is to help me with my illustration of the Aseel rooster (as far as getting spur placement and shape correct) but all I could think of when I saw this odd thing dangling off a little string was "oh my word, this is the most disgusting Christmas ornament!"
So of course I had to take a picture. Obviously it's not really an ornament, but at this time of year, my twisted brain could turn most anything into something that should hang on the tree! It was definitely the most entertaining moment of my day. How festive! ;-)
Two years!
It was two years ago today that a little scrap of a black horse came to live here after a rough first few months living in Canada. Shylah was sick, scrawny, unhandled...a real mess. She is now gorgeous, friendly, LOVES people, playful, inquisitive (overly helpful), and such a joy to be around. In six months she will be three years old, and it will be time to start riding! I've learned a lot about horse training in the last two years...having had basically no experience with it. Of course it helps to have a smart and willing student, which she is! I was going to take a good picture of her today, in the same place I had photographed her the first day I got her, but it's been rainy and crappy all day, so you'll have to settle for some older pics:
Two years ago:
Spring 2005:
Two years ago:
Summer 2005:
Two years ago:
Spring 2005:
Two years ago:
Summer 2005:
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
It's a wrap!
Well, the Christmas gifts are done and wrapped, with days to spare! I think that may be some sort of record for me.
I shipped out the Large Black Tailed Red Leghorn and Bantam Mottled Cornish drawings today (the Bantam Rose Comb White Leghorns left last week). I tend to get rather attached to the drawings when I have them around for a while, but it's good that they are finally being sent to the sponsors.
I've been thinking a lot about next year, and life-after-Standard, etc. Things need to change... a lot, or I'm not going to make it in this business. I'm starting to work on revamping the price list. It's really quite daunting. I really have to kick myself or I feel like I ought to be apologizing for raising prices, I worry that they are too high, or too low (well, too high for buyers, too low for me!). I know roughly the kind of hours I spend, and I know roughly how much I need to be making, and it's a pretty simple calculation that comes out with a pretty large number. But why should it not be so? My work is worth that. I deserve that. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
It's hard to imagine life-after-Standard. It really has been life-altering. I must admit I am looking forward to being done, and yet I'm sort of scared to be done. What then? More chickens? (Yes! But not right away!) I have things in mind I want to work on--horse art for upcoming shows, a few commissions waiting for me to finish up all these chickens. To tell you the truth I have quite a lot of chicken art in mind that I would like to do, a series of something, but I don't want to get into that yet, and I'm not sure how well it would do. I am not even sure who to market this stuff too. The show crowd wants "perfect" birds, and only in their own particular breeds. Would the general public have an appreciation for the different breeds and varieties? Or, to the non chicken person, does one chicken pretty much look like any other? I suppose the only thing to do will be to just try it, and whoever likes it will buy it. I hate that it sometimes comes down to money, but I'm afraid that the more time goes by and the older I get, that is becoming much more of a motivation (hence the "things need to change"). You know I think I might like to do...actually cut back a bit on commissioned work, and do more things that I can put in galleries (not sure I can pull that off, commissions are sort of the bread and butter...). Or put the originals up for auction somewhere (ebay?) Decide my minimum price and let it go from there. Of course I'd really have to "have a name" in order to pull that off, and I don't...yet. The poultry show crowd will know me when the Standard work is done, but how do people get known to the rest of the world? And could I even handle that sort of thing? Do I really want that? Aaaack!! Kind of scary to think about!
Well, I am in a rambly mood today and could probably just keep writing all night, but, I do need to sleep and don't want to get into a long drawing project tonight either.
But, in closing, I leave you with a random pretty picture, a closeup of a mutt rooster (half Dominique, half BBRed Rosecomb, he's sort of almost Crele colored. I sold him last week).
I shipped out the Large Black Tailed Red Leghorn and Bantam Mottled Cornish drawings today (the Bantam Rose Comb White Leghorns left last week). I tend to get rather attached to the drawings when I have them around for a while, but it's good that they are finally being sent to the sponsors.
I've been thinking a lot about next year, and life-after-Standard, etc. Things need to change... a lot, or I'm not going to make it in this business. I'm starting to work on revamping the price list. It's really quite daunting. I really have to kick myself or I feel like I ought to be apologizing for raising prices, I worry that they are too high, or too low (well, too high for buyers, too low for me!). I know roughly the kind of hours I spend, and I know roughly how much I need to be making, and it's a pretty simple calculation that comes out with a pretty large number. But why should it not be so? My work is worth that. I deserve that. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
It's hard to imagine life-after-Standard. It really has been life-altering. I must admit I am looking forward to being done, and yet I'm sort of scared to be done. What then? More chickens? (Yes! But not right away!) I have things in mind I want to work on--horse art for upcoming shows, a few commissions waiting for me to finish up all these chickens. To tell you the truth I have quite a lot of chicken art in mind that I would like to do, a series of something, but I don't want to get into that yet, and I'm not sure how well it would do. I am not even sure who to market this stuff too. The show crowd wants "perfect" birds, and only in their own particular breeds. Would the general public have an appreciation for the different breeds and varieties? Or, to the non chicken person, does one chicken pretty much look like any other? I suppose the only thing to do will be to just try it, and whoever likes it will buy it. I hate that it sometimes comes down to money, but I'm afraid that the more time goes by and the older I get, that is becoming much more of a motivation (hence the "things need to change"). You know I think I might like to do...actually cut back a bit on commissioned work, and do more things that I can put in galleries (not sure I can pull that off, commissions are sort of the bread and butter...). Or put the originals up for auction somewhere (ebay?) Decide my minimum price and let it go from there. Of course I'd really have to "have a name" in order to pull that off, and I don't...yet. The poultry show crowd will know me when the Standard work is done, but how do people get known to the rest of the world? And could I even handle that sort of thing? Do I really want that? Aaaack!! Kind of scary to think about!
Well, I am in a rambly mood today and could probably just keep writing all night, but, I do need to sleep and don't want to get into a long drawing project tonight either.
But, in closing, I leave you with a random pretty picture, a closeup of a mutt rooster (half Dominique, half BBRed Rosecomb, he's sort of almost Crele colored. I sold him last week).
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