Little Fall Mushroom

I was really delighted to run into this cute little Fall mushroom on our walk this morning. Will this be the last one I see this year? It won't be the last one I post as I still have several summer mushrooms waiting to make their debut.

Pole with glasses

The other consistent thing for Brownie and I is to go for our walks. The weather is finally nice enough to actually enjoy our walk (and not sweat). We saw these on our walk a few days ago. I'm still amazed by what we see outside. Glasses. Really?? Did someone really take off their glasses, which they need to see, and leave them somewhere on the trail? I can picture a good samaritan putting them on this pole where they would hopefully be visible for whomever left them (if they can see to find them...). Plus, they just look kind of funny there on the pole like the pole is watching (and now seeing) everyone who walks by.

My first gallery show!

And now for some good news... I just had my first gallery show! I'm currently in an exhibit entitled "Off the Wall" at the Savage Art Gallery in Tulsa. The opening was on Thursday night (the 14th) and the show will run through October 29th. I am very excited as this is the direction I have wanted to go and to see it becoming reality is so wonderful.

Mom and Grandma came up to support me and to have them with me to walk in to my first gallery show was so meaningful to me. My sister, husband, and cousin also came to support me and it meant so much to me to have the support of my family on such a special day. I guess I've been underplaying my excitement because after coming home from the opening, I crashed. I must have had alot of adrenaline going while there and then wham, I was so exhausted.

I'll go by the gallery to pick up my paintings on the 30th and I'm hoping I'll be minus a few. I'm not sure where my next step will take me, but I'm moving in the right direction and I am thankful and excited to finally see some of my dreams become reality.

Art in the Square 10/2/10

Well, I did it to you again. I left you hanging for a few weeks waiting for a post from me and it just didn't happen. Seems like every time I get real busy, something has to give and for me, it is my blog (and also Frontierville). The only thing I do, even when I'm real busy, is play Zynga's Mafia Wars. I love that game. Probably because it doesn't involve using every single one of my fingers (and thumbs) poking various odd little buttons in sequences only savants can recall. This simply involves poking a button. I can poke a button all day long.

These pictures are from our booth at Art in the Square. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we had so many people coming through our booth (only in part because we set it up so people had to walk through our booth). We had a lot of sales (including the last 3 bird paintings I had painted) and it was our best show ever.

...and have a little more Love

Love 12, 4x5, 9/8/10

Love 13, 4x5, 9/8/10

Love 14, 4x5, 9/8/10

I've been continuing on with the Love series. I enjoy doing these little paintings and hope they bring a little Love into your day!

Parasol Mushrooms

These mushrooms remind me of a group of people out on a hot day under their parasols (similar to an umbrella, but with a bit more panache) taking a bit of a stroll.

Brookside Artzz 2010

Here is our booth at the Brookside Artzz festival. I thought you may like to see what I've been working on that took up so much of my time and attention. It was a hot, hot day but Peanut and I had a lot of fun being together and hanging out and selling our wares. We have one more show coming up in two weekends, so I am focusing somewhat on that show (ie. realized I didn't have enough hangers to hang my pictures with, need more binder clips to clip on the title/price tags, need to paint to replace the two paintings I sold, etc.). We are looking forward to our second show, but really hope it is a little bit cooler!

Hawk Sitting on my House (with breakfast)

We were pulling out of our garage to go for our walk and I looked up at our roof and saw this hawk sitting there on our roof with something furry and lumpish by his feet that I thought may be his breakfast. (Yes, this is as good as my zoom gets.) I just really hoped that he took breakfast with him when he left because I couldn't imagine having it roll off my roof and be sitting in my driveway or worse, on my back patio, or the absolute worst would be having to go up after it. I was relieved when we came home and there was no sign of any remains.

Bird Nest

We found this cute little empty nest on the ground (not near any trees) and I really wanted to pick it up and bring it home with me. I resisted the impulse (but it would have looked great in the wreath on my door...). I did pick it up and examine it and I was so impressed with the mama bird who made it. It was very lightweight, but so durable and looked so soft and comfy. Just the time and effort alone that goes into it makes it impressive. I'm just amazed by nature and by God who made it all and took care of all the minute details. Amazing.

Tomorrow is our first fall show (of two). We've been working hard to get ready for it (although I spent the afternoon lounging in my little pool and now have to finish packing my paintings tonight). I've still been taking pictures, but just now got to the point of downloading some of them because I had to make sure the pictures I took of my new paintings turned out well enough to put in my portfolio. (They did.) My posts may be sporadic for the next few weeks as our second show is Oct. 2nd. How hard I'll have to work on new things depends a lot on how much sells tomorrow. Here's to hoping we'll have to work hard to fill back up! All that to say I'm still here, but have a few other things on my plate for the next few weeks.

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth

For those of you wondering, no, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I spent a wonderful Labor Day weekend at home with family. Before we left, it was a flurry of packing and cleaning and making cards, etc. for the boxes Mom has at home. Now that I'm back, it's a flurry of cleaning and painting and making things for our booth at a local art show next Saturday. I have lots of pictures I need to post and I hope to get to it. However in the meantime, I wanted you to know I'm still here!

Typical Mushroom

This one kind of looks like what you'd think most mushrooms would look like--small, white, mushroomy in shape. I like that I caught the dew in the grass and the sharp edges of the mushroom. This one kind of looks like I intruded on a private moment as well, like I was stalking it through the grasses. Well, yes, I was.

The locust has come and gone

I just really find these "shells" interesting. The one I showed you a couple of years ago had two of them side by side on a tree. This little fellow was by himself on a steel post. There's just something fascinating about it, especially how he could work himself out of it through that small slit up the back while leaving the whole "shell" intact. Fascinating.

We've got cranes

We've got these lovely cranes that live around the river (yes, this is the extent of my zoom--he's just out there to the left of the "post"). They are really quite beautiful and graceful. I enjoy seeing them flying around.

Guy sleeping outside down near the river

One morning mid-summer we ran across this guy sleeping outside. I was a little startled and since he had his back to us, I stared and tried to figure him out. He didn't have a backpack or bag or anything, just himself kind of curled up on his side in the grass. I didn't get a picture of him that morning (as I wasn't sure how asleep he was (or if he was dead) and I felt like he had a right to privacy). We went walking by there the next morning as well and he wasn't there, so I felt pretty confident he wasn't dead.

This is the second time we ran across him. This time, I figured if he was sleeping outside in full view of anyone, he didn't really have a right to privacy. I snapped his picture (but you'll notice it was from behind and from a ways away so if his eyes did pop open, he'd have to turn his head to look at me and I'd just look away like I hadn't just been taking his picture.) It was this time, I noticed that he was just a kid, maybe 17 or 18? He had his shoes off and by his feet and he had a drink near his head. I know it looks nice and comfortable out there in the grass, but it couldn't have been as this is when the temperatures were soaring in the upper 90's and into the 100's. It was hot.

We ran across him again a week later. Curiouser and curiouser as he had on a different shirt. This time, he had a shirt or something else draped across his shoulders, but his shoes were still at his feet and a drink near his head. Still no backpack or anything else.

And we ran into him for a fourth time a week after that. Same type of situation, but this time with a McDonald's drink and sack near his head. It was still hot. I never could figure out what he was doing here. Pooker said he noticed him sometimes when he jogged (and Pooker would jog between 6 and 7 am) and one time he noticed him just coming and laying down. I haven't seen him now for over three weeks, but I still wonder just what was going on in his life that would have him coming down to lay in the grass and sleep by the river.

Cute pair of turtles

Brownie and I stumbled across this cute little pair as we were investigating a little off the beaten path. I like how the shell of the one is kind of turned towards the other. They did have their heads out until we startled them, then they pulled back into their shells (almost like we interrupted a private conversation between the pair).

My Little Birds

Here are the little bird paintings that I have been working on. I have really enjoyed them. I love birds and I have a bird bath in my backyard that I keep filled with fresh water for them. And boy, do they know it is there!

A Red Bird Will Do, 8x10, 8/19/10

Blue Bird of Happiness, 8x10, 8/19/10

Good Things Come to Green Birds that Wait, 8x10, 8/21/10

Nature's Beauty

I love how this little green vine twines up the trunk adding such a touch of beauty to this tree. How beautiful is that!

Here's a fuller view of it, although we were both walking as I snapped this picture so it isn't crystal clear. Still, it gives you the idea.

I'm thinking we've got beavers....

Well, I'm thinking we've got beavers in the area, although I haven't seen hide nor hair of them (nor have I seen any dams, dens, etc.). This is at least the third newly planted tree I've seen that has been gnawed in half. I bet the beaver was pretty disappointed not to be able to drag away his little tree to use because these were wired to posts for support!

At any rate, they've wrapped some of these skinny trees with wire to discourage the little fellows. I don't know why they wrapped some and not all, but that seems to be the way it goes around here. Maybe they ran out of money for wire for this fiscal year....

Very large turtle in our path

We were just finishing up our walk and what walks across the path in front of us but a very large turtle! We were far enough back from him that at first, I couldn't tell exactly what it was. In my haste to get closer, I stepped on and startled Brownie who had stopped to sniff something and I hadn't noticed because I couldn't stop staring at this thing. Then, if that wasn't enough, a jogger is coming up on us from behind with her dog and we avoid other dogs (Brownie doesn't like other dogs, so its best to just steer clear), so there I was trying to get off of Brownie and trying to get her off the path and away from the dog, but I kept my eyes glued to the turtle. He was moving fast and I didn't want him to get away before I could take his picture.

Finally, we get up to him and he stops, but didn't pull back in to his shell. Brownie was very curious as to what this could be and was sniffing him (I wouldn't let her get as close as she wanted because I had no idea if it would try to bite or not and I wasn't going to find out). I don't think I have ever seen a turtle of this magnitude outside of a zoo and NEVER one with a tail such as this. Quite extraordinary. We were leaving, but other people were stopping to take his picture and to look at him. I hope he finished crossing and went on to wherever he was going because there were park vehicles on the trail today (I think managing some inmates on a work crew detail to water the trees and pull grass from the bushes at the points of interest) and one just about mowed him down while we all looked on horrified. When I pulled away, a lady was trying to shoo him along to get him off the trail and into the grass. She was very reluctant to actually touch him (her friend was telling her to just nudge him with her foot, but she wouldn't do it). I don't blame her. A turtle of that size could take your foot off if he was so inclined.

I'm a little lost, could you help me?

"I'm a little lost, could you help me?" is what I think this shopping cart is saying to the rock. It never ceases to amaze me where shopping carts can end up. The closest grocery store is a mile away. The day before, this cart was in the parking lot where we park to get out and walk (and I didn't have my camera), but then yesterday and today the cart has been down communing with the rock. Someone, please come get this cart and take him back to the safety of the herd. Who knows what horrible things can happen to lost, lonely carts this close to the river....

Where's Brownie?

Where's Brownie this time? She is in the foliage at one of the little rest areas along our walking trail. No stone unturned (or bush un-sniffed) for this one!

Team Dirty Deeds at the Mud Run

I must say it was a hot, hot day, but team Dirty Deeds was ready for the run. This has been one year in the planning for them and nothing, not even the heat, could dim their excitement.

This was the first mud obstacle they encountered. They took off fast so they could be somewhat ahead of the pack so they could do their dive through the tires (and not be stuck behind a lot of runners waiting to get through).

This was the third mud obstacle (after the army crawl through the mud) and they are still going strong. I was a hot, sweaty mess as I was running to get to each obstacle to take pictures.

There was one other mud obstacle before this giant slide into mud, but I didn't go over there so I could be here to get their picture. I wish I could have shown you the whole slide in which they grabbed hands and launched themselves over the edge. They made a huge splash at the bottom. From here, it was a race to the finish.

Pooker and my sister, Peanut, after the run and they are still smiling! And yes, they both said they will do it again next year. I just really hope it isn't as hot.

...and yet a few more Love paintings

Love 5, 4x5, 8/10/10

Love 9, 4x5, 8/10/10

Love 10, 4x5, 8/12/10

Love 11, 4x5, 8/12/10

And there you have it! You are now officially caught up with my Love series. This is as far as I've gotten with these and I'm currently working on a Tapestry of Life series as well as some Wild Flowers and some little birds (again, working mainly in the abstract). I sat down and just thought and thought the other day (one of my favorite things to do) and came up with a whole list of things I'd like to paint. These are just me starting on my list and certainly in no particular order. All I know is our first Fall show is Sept. 18th and I certainly am going to have lots of paintings available to sell (which is a good thing as in the past, we haven't really gotten focused on the shows until two weeks before the first one resulting in a very frantic, rushed two weeks). I have no intentions of repeating that mistake again this year. I know my sis agrees!