Scavenger Hunt #92

Starting tomorrow I am hosting the new Scavenger Hunt. It is #92. I am also signed to do the 100th one. What a milestone.

I have my list ready and thought I should get something done for #91. I posted those tonight. Here is what I posted.

Penny in graphite finished

At my hair appt a month after I started it, I finished my graphite picture of Penny. I will have to take something each time I go. I can't real the magazines without my glasses but apparantly I can draw without them. I am happy with the way this one turned out.

Catching up

I have spent most of Saturday catching up on posts on Wetcanvas. And my project had disappeared so I spent a little time getting that back. There are 6 signed up so far. Can't wait to get started.

No art done today. Just reading about art. I spend too much time doing that instead of actually "doing" it. That will have to change. I have so many things I want to draw, it's just getting started that is causing the problem. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. Here are a few photos from my outing on Wednesday.

If you want to see larger photos, click each photo.

WC back online.

Well I was wrong. Teresa let me know that Wetcanvas was back online. By the time I found out, some people had known 5 hours before. I am glad Teresa let me know as I probably wouldn't have checked this evening.

So good to have it back. And now to replan my project. That disappeared during the move.

New Message

If you sign on to Wetcanvas, there is a new message giving a slight update. Still no projected date of return. Sounds like the moderators have access as they are helping to solve some problems. At this point, I would be surprised if it came back online before the weekend is over.

I have finished 6 ATCs for a new Disney exchange I signed up for on Drawspace.com. I think there are about 12 participants so far. They usually split their trades up into groups of 5 or so depending how many join. So I may have enough finished already. It was quite a lot of fun. I liked the way they turned out.

The 6 I did were Grumpy (one of the dwarfs), Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Donald Duck, Pinocchio, and a dalmation puppy asleep on a pillow (for 101 or 102 Dalmations movie). I found so many I wanted to do that it was hard to make a choice.

Wetcanvas.com

When I tried to sign on to Wetcanvas tonight, I got a new message saying they will be offline a few more days. They hope to be up and running later in the week. And here I was hoping it would be sooner. I feel displaced. Like I don't have anywhere to go. Isn't that funny? Instead of making more are, I seem to be making less. I need the stimulus I get from Wetcanvas.

By the time WC gets back online, the current Scavenger Hunt will be over. I don't think anyone got to post before it went down. And Thursday is when a new one should bet posted. The new project I started, another postcard/ATC trade will still be waiting for people to join. So we probably won't be able to get started by the first of July.

So in the meantime, I take my mouse and try to get on WC, and get disappointed when I can't. And the internet just doesn't hold as much interest for me at the present. Hurry WC and get everything fixed so I can get my art back on track.

Happy Birthday Stephen

Today is my nephew Stephen's 22nd birthday. I called his cell phone this morning and sang happy birthday to him. He was asleep so didn't answer. What a horrid surprise when he woke to hear my voice singing to him. I usually tell him my present to him is my not singing. I decided after all this time, he should suffer thru my singing.

I remember when he was 14 like it was yesterday. He was such a stoic little trooper when his dad died. More the adult than most kids his age. What a tragedy for one so young to lose his dad.

I remember when he was 2 or 3. He would sit in my lap and want to push the buttons on my calculator. He never tired of it. I would eventually have to tell him it was broken.

I also remember him standing on the table looking out the kitchen window to the highway across the grape vineyard and looking for diesel trucks to go by. His grandpa, dad, and uncle were all truckers. He was so into trucks. He would carry around a pad and paper to take down his "patch" (dispatch for the next day's truck run). He was totally convinced that he could get into a truck and drive it. I have no doubt he probably could have.

He was running a lawnmower at 3 or 4. At 2 put the car in gear and ran it thru the garage wall. Fell from a tree and broke his leg at about 3yrs. And about 5 or 6 could take the air cleaner off the lawnmower when it wouldn't start and use his hand to baffle it and get it started.

Grandma was constantly keeping watch to make sure the only tire he took off of the bike was the front one. She was worried if he took the back one off, it wouldn't get back together right. He would take the front wheel off, put it back on several times a day. Just trying to be a mechanic.

I remember him in the back of my dad's pickup "helping" his grandpa do mechanic work. He would rummage around in all the greasy parts and tools. He would be covered with grease. Grandma would let him have a good time, then would stick him in a tub and wash him down.

Such beautiful memories of a now grown up young man with a very bright future ahead of him. Happy Birthday Stephen. I love you.

Virtual Sketch Date #2

Here is my version of the flower photo (provided by jennifer rose) for the Virtual Sketch Date #2. I decided to leave mine in graphite this time.

Today is the 19th Worldwide Sketchcrawl. I will be going out in the morning before it gets too hot. We are having very hot weather lately. I will go to my parent's house. They have a really nice variety of plants and a vegetable garden. Hopefully I won't get heat stroke while I am sketching.

Blog Anniversary

Today is my blog's 2nd anniversary. Two years, wow. I haven't posted every day, but I think I do a pretty steady job of it. Of course when I had the knee surgery, I was absent for some time. It feels good to realize I have made it two years, and I still haven't run out of words. They get a little sparse sometimes but are never missing.

Happy Birthday To My Blog!

Wetcanvas Down Time

In case you are trying to get online to Wetcanvas, they had a message in the forums. Here is basically what it said:

"Site Going Down!!

---

Hello All,

I'm sure you've been wondering how things are progressing with the site upgrades. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I will be keeping you updated through this process as much as possible.

This week, the database has been down for several days, and our amazing tech staff has discovered that it is corrupted. It will need to be repaired before we can migrate all of the data to the new site.

The site will be pulled down for several hours tonight while this repair is taking place.

Then, over the next few days, the site will be monitored to determine if we are in a healthy place to make the migration. If things are good to go, we will take the site down again and load into the new servers with the new software".

__________________

Karyn

View Public Profile

Send a private message to Karyn

Find all posts by Karyn

Find all threads started by Karyn

Add Karyn to Your Buddy List

Plein air today

Well today wasn't really "en plein air". We were at a members house and most of the ladies watched watercolor videos. I did both. I drew a plant that was on the table and looked up at the video at times.

Two oil painters went a little distance from the house to paint the mountains. One braved the outside to sketch one of the water features, but got "well done" and escaped inside.

A couple of the ladies sketched each other while watching the video. I did find out some information. In the American Artist magazine, there is an ad to get 3 Daniel Smith tubes of paint and a brush for just about $20. And our art association is going to have some beginner watercolor classes starting in Sept. at our gallery. I also got names of 2 watercolor teachers who do workshops. I will look them up online. I can't go take the workshops, but I can take a look and see what else might be available.

Hubby is out of town for work, hot water heater is not working, I don't have to cook, I can't run the dishwasher, and I am hot and sleepy. May have to take a short nap before I stay up till 3 am.

Thank yous

Here are a couple I haven't posted here yet. They were made for thank you cards.

While I was in bed after my knee replacement. The ladies from Bible study cooked up a bunch of dinners and froze them for me. I received enough food to take care of almost a whole month of dinners. All hubby had to do was cook them in the oven. My dog groomer/neighbor also brought over a dish. She brought it the night I got home from the hospital. I have such good and thoughtful friends.

Wow! What a Ride.

I saw a saying on someone's signature line on Wetcanvas today that I liked very much.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in, broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, WOW, What a ride!

-Anonymous

Lazy Sunday

Not much done today. Hubby's dad has been gone many years, mine doesn't celebrate Father's Day. Our extra dad is in Oregon and we sent him a card. We have only fur babies so don't really celebrate it either.

I did some browsing of some terrific blogs. Saw some amazing art. Hubby cooked breakfast (lots of breakfast). The teens came to clean house. And I did my chores but other than that, I have been pretty lazy today.

Here are sketches done for the scavenger hunt. We backtracked to #88. #89 is done, so the next will be #90. We are getting realllllly close to that #100. Yay!

Too much walking

This week I have done errands that required too much walking. My ankle is complaining fiercely. It wants a rest. A long "sit on my rear" type rest. It hurts to even stand up. So I am blaming my ankle for the fact that I am doing nothing tonight.

Here is one I did for the WDE for 6-13-08. The photos were provided by Beth/Signchick. The one I picked to draw was her hubby. He has a very interesting face, and I really enjoyed drawing him.

Plants and Necessities

Four more of my art exchange cards. The coleus and the variegated canna were for the spring fling and the other two are everyday items.

The coleus and the canna were from photos I took at my sister-in-laws when we were there for a barbecue. She has a huge assortment of things on her patio to photograph. These two I did the sketches while I was there. Then finished them with the color from photos at home.

My Version

This is another of my Master's postcard exchange. This one was my version of an Alexey Venetsianova painting. I liked the youngness of the girl and the colors. I am drawn to portraits of Old Masters. Many of the ones I have done were portraits. I find a lot of the still life and landscapes not very interesting. In fact most of the still life ones seem the same. But the portraits they did show a variety of faces, styles, colors, and the way the subject was portrayed.

One old master gave all his women very long noses. It didn't make them look ugly, but they weren't pretty. More plain somehow. But they looked very interesting. I noticed with portraits of the same painter, I would see some similarities even tho the subjects were different.

Drawing Day

Today was Drawing Day so I did some drawing. Here is one of the things that I did. This is my bird Bozo. It is postcard size and is done in watercolor, pen and ink, and a touch of colored pencil. I was planning to send this as one of my Everyday Items. But for the first time, I am torn about letting it go. I probably will but this one is going to be a little painful.

I am so attached to this bird. She is in her cage behind me as I sit at my desk. She keeps me company. She keeps me entertained. She talks to me. And she wants me to talk back. She is a special girl. Very protective of her cage. Full of life. And has a pretty good vocabulary for a bird.

When I am eating something, and the dogs get a bite, she is pacing back and forth waiting for hers. She likes sunflower seeds very much. But will have a bite of cookie, cracker, carrot, bread, cheerios, broccoli, and even potato chips. She pitches a fit if she doesn't get her bite. She even plays hide and seek with her papa.

When he comes into the room to say goodnight. she goes to the back of the cage and waits for him to pull up the towel and say something to her. She gets all fluffed out and tries to attack him. Then she waits and watches as he goes to different areas around the cage. She waits for this every night. When she hears his voice, she jumps to the floor of the cage and waits to attack.

BMOA Dada Project

Bakersfield Museum of Art has a project going. It is a project where they take artwork by 3 different people and put them together. They provided 3 possibilities. Head, torso, or legs/feet.
They provided about 5 inch squares. These blanks even went out with the local newspaper.

Each person was to draw/paint their version of whichever piece they received. You didn't get a choice. The blanks had the part you were supposed to do. They had a few in the newspaper that had already been done. One had a mermaid tail for the feet. Well I did the "torso" of a cactus. I haven't yet been to the museum to see the results. I would like to see what head and feet were paired with my cactus.

It was a nice project as all were invited to join. You didn't have to have art background, and even kids could participate.

Spring Fling Cards

Here are the spring fling cards that I sent and they have reached their destination.

Shopping Day

Today I had my monthly hair appointment. Then shopped for groceries. I was totally exhausted and everything hurt when I got home and got everything put away. I called hubby and suggested if he wanted to eat, he pick up Chinese on the way home. All I wanted to do is sit and not move. I haven't done much tonight but draw.

I worked on and finished two more Spring Fling cards. That makes 4 ready to go but I need Everyday Items cards to go with them. Oh well.

While under the heat machine today I sketched from a photo of my dog Penny. I started an eye while I waited for my turn, and twenty minutes under the machine. I got quite a lot done. The stylist couldn't believe I had done that much in 20 minutes. She grabbed the postcard it was on and was showing it to everyone. I am having trouble with my scanner. It keeps telling me I need to install software. It does that just about every time I go to use it. It's probably time for a new one but it is a 4-in-1 so not real cheap. And not that old.

Here is the latest Everyday Item card that was received in Thailand and the 2 that arrived in New Zealand. I had 5 cards arrive at their destinations today. I will post the 2 Spring fling cards tomorrow.

En Plein Air

Wednesday our plein air group goes back to Pioneer Village. There is a possibility that we will have a spot on the news. So in preparation for that, we are all taking a piece of framed/matted art that we have done en plein air.

I am taking the picture that I worked on the last trip there. It was of the old jail. I did the backside of it since there was a very nice bench for me to sit on. it. That trip the weather was cold. This trip should be hot. I will be looking for a shade as well as a bench or seat this time.

I matted and framed my picture today. I didn't want to wait until the last minute to do so. I didn't really like the picture when I was working on it but it wasn't quite finished. I worked on it a little more today, and tho not happy with it, I can live with it. It's not the best thing I have done nor the worst.

I believe it is about 9 x 13 on Bristol Smooth paper. Some watercolor and watercolor and dry pencil. The mat is 11x14. I sometimes forget to state the size and medium. I'm trying to get better at that. The black mat is wider but this is all that would fit on the scanner. I have better luck with the scanner than the camera especially with black.

Life Today

I went to the post office today to make sure I had enough postage on an envelope bound for New Zealand. I am sure glad I checked. I can't imagine how embarrassed I'd have been if they had to pay postage on something I mailed, or it came back and I had to pay the same postage plus some again. Better safe than sorry. Since the recipients are a husband and wife who are both artists and both in 2 of my exchanges, I mailed them each two postcards in the same envelope. That way I only have to wait while one envelope makes its way and hopefully reaches New Zealand safely.

I worked on two more postcards for the Spring Fling exchange. I took about 70 photos at my sister-in-law's house yesterday. I did a Verigated Canna plant and a Coleus plant. She had both on her patio in pots. I sketched them on the cards while I was there, then finished the canna one last night after we got home. First thing this morning I went to work on the coleus. I really like how they turned out.

A couple of weeks ago, I told a lady who works the register at the local pharmacy that I would do a drawing for her. Well today I did it, and I will hopefully take it by to her after my plein air outing tomorrow. I used a photo taken Monday at my sister-in-laws and drew and "painted" it in colored pencils. It is of another of her patio plants. A geranium. Here is that one.

Sunday

I worked on some postcards today for my projects at WC. But can't show them yet until they are received. In fact I got three finished.

My neighbor brought me a pot with a blooming Morning Glory in it. It is so pretty. And the vines have just started to stretch. I love looking at it. She gave me one last year and it was beautiful but it hasn't started growing back yet. I can't wait until I get across the street to see how many she already has going. She had tons in her back yard last year and one that completely covered her mail box post.

I keep looking around to see what I will draw next for the Everyday Items Project. For that one, there are so many opportunities. How could you ever run out of everyday items. Pretty much everything fits into that category. Even the dogs.

It's after midnight. Today is an American holiday. We will go to hubby's sister's house for a barbecue. Hopefully it will be a little warmer. Today it was colder and overcast after rain the night before. If it was a little warmer, we would take our lab Penny with us so she could swim in the pool. She loved it the time we took her. It's really fun to watch a dog experience something for the first time. She was immediately in love. After the first dip, we couldn't keep her out of the water.

Now Friday is another thing. You would think being a Golden Retriever she would like the water. Not our girl. If you are holding a water hose and twirling the water around, she likes to chase it. But you get near her for a bath or try to get her into a pool, she heads for cover. She thinks we would throw her in. She hides behind her mama. I guess she trusts me more than hubby.

More Photos from CALM

These are more of the photos I took at CALM on the plein air outing. I ended up taking over 130 photos. These are some white poppies.

Click the photos to see them larger.

Birthday Poem

I find that poking fun at myself on my birthday helps me deal with the fact that I am getting older. I figure getting older is better than dead, at least so far, but I still need a little humor on these days.

May 21, 2008

Yesterday has come and gone
Now I feel I weigh a ton
Birthday cake and ice cream too
French bread spread with buttery goo
Then time for dinner, I should say no
But in my mouth and not so slow
Bedtime comes and one more bite
Or 2 or 3 with such delight
From thin to plump to fluffy and tight
You'd think some day, I’d get it right
But the years keep coming and bring more cake
How many more birthdays can my body take?

Yikes! I'm 59 and still in shock.

Birthday

Well today is my birthday. I had a good birthday. My plein air outing was fun. Hubby brought home chocolate cake and Cherry Chocolate Chip ice cream. Yummy. But oh so fattening. But it didn't stop me from eating it. He also brought home a nice fresh still warm loaf of french bread.

The painting outing was very nice. Not too hot but a little windy. There were five of us, and we were scattered over the place. Met again just about 11:30 for lunch and were on our way home by noon.

I took a long walk around the place and tonight my ankle is burning. Will take a couple days to recoup. But I got some really nice photos. One was an in your face of the face of a roadrunner. He took a liking to me and stayed near. Even brought me a rock. Followed me to the next window and to the cage outside when I went there. They said he gets on their shoulders when they work in the pen. He as standing on a turtle or tortoise once but by the time I clicked the camera, he had moved.

I also went to the outside petting zoo. There were 2 goats, 3 sheep, and a mule/donkey. I was impressed by the mule. It does its business in the same spot every time. Keeps his pen clean. I told the keeper I wish my dogs were so considerate.

The sheep were not impressed with me, but the 2 goats came over wanting some attention. They kept getting closer and closer. I was leaning on the fence but decided they deserved a little scratching. That was what they wanted. Right up around where the horn pieces were. I loved being with them.

Then I wandered to the ponds where all the waterfowl were. Many ducks. Not as many as the time before. I swear that time there were thousands. Wall to wall so to speak. We are in the migration area so they come and go. That is the one area where the animals are free. The others in the refuge are unable to be put back into the wild. I got photos of the ducks bobbing for food (bottoms up).

I saw a mink (nasty looking like a badger). The two bald eagles...very regal. They know they are grand. A couple deer, a kangaroo rat who stayed right against the glass eating while I took a flash shot with the camera. He didn't even flinch. I even went inside the reptile house. Creeped me out. Didn't stay long and hardly looked at the lizard things and snakes. That area is where the rat was. I don't like them either but couldn't pass up his pose. And I was about 4 ft away from a bear with a glass window between us. I wonder how strong the glass is. Got some nice photos of the two bears but the windows are really dirty so.... The windows of the eagle pen are really dirty too and covered with one way film. Makes it almost impossible to get a good picture. And outside you have the problem with the wire cage.

Anyway it was a nice way to spend my birthday. Usually I write a funny poem for my birthday. I haven't yet but will get to it in the next day or too.

Click the photos to see a larger version.

Scavenger Hunt #86

I am hosting the scavenger hunt. It is #86. I am doing pretty good getting my sketches done. Here is the last page of items I did tonight. Not great but at least I'm sketching.

Instead of Pioneer Village, this weeks plein air trek will be at the animal preserve and museum CALM. I have been there once before and was able to take photos of two large birds held by docents. I like when I can get photos without a cage showing. I was within 2 ft of a Kestral and a red-tailed hawk. It was awesome.

This time I may wander into the reptile room. It is a concrete partially underground building with glass windows. I'm not sure that glass is enough to make me feel comfy enough to wander there. I passed on it last time. I did try to see the turtles. but they were small and not close to the window.

The bald eagle was also in a similar situation but the windows were so dirty and distorted, I couldn't see them thru the glass. But I did see them thru the cage. All the owls were quite high and trying to hide. But the foliage and landscaping is great. Also a couple really giant cacti. I'm looking forward to Wednesday.

Mister T

Here is my version of Tripod for the virtual drawing date. I liked it in graphite but it was so soft that it didn't scan very good. So I went to work putting the graphite in darker and adding colored pencil.

My scanner doesn't do a good job when there is a combination of graphite and color. It makes the graphite look brown which in turn looks dirty. I used the picture program to lighten the color a little which helped the graphite.

Tripod (or Mr. T which I call him) is one of my favorite cats. I love hearing about his escapades at Jeanette's blog Illustrated Life. You can take a look at her blog from the link at the left. I can't wait to see the versions from all the others in the drawing date. Rose Welty has hers up and said we ended up with 10 participants. Here are the participants: Jeanette, Rose, Jeanne, Stacy, Belinda, Jennifer, Gayle, Teresa, Katherine and Paulette. Please stop by each blog and see what each artist has done. Rose has posted Teresa's as Teresa doesn't have a blog.

Now I am ready for the next one.

2nd Patriotic Picture

Here is the second patriotic picture that I did and entered. This one was inspired by the plate. I found it in the Goodwill store, then started looking for other things. I found only the flag. Then at home I started scrounging for other things and this is what I ended up with.

I have some squares of an appliqued quilt I am making. One of those blocks was done with appliqued hearts in red, white, blue fabrics some of which had stripes and/or stars. I used that to design my background. The quilt blocks are in blue background but that washed out my other things. So I chose a gold colored background color and tucked some appliqued hearts among the items.

This one is about 11x14 done with colored pencils on watercolor paper. The eagle is just a bit smaller and done with colored pencils on Bristol smooth paper. Click on the image to see it larger.

The Patriotic Show

This picture was taken by another artist at the Patriotic competition and show at the Bakersfield Art Association. I had two pieces entered. The piece that won was a photograph of some jets doing a flyby. It was done by a gentleman who shows his work in the BAA gallery. Photos seemed to take quite a few of the ribbons. There were about 30 pieces at the show and a wide variety of subjects and styles.

This is me and one of my pieces. I was given permission to make copies so I am posting it here.

Full Steam Ahead

I sent out 2 postcards yesterday, two today, and two will go out tomorrow. I have only 3 more to do for the Masters exchange. And one is already sketched. I did that one as I sat outside this evening with the dogs. I also did one for the Everyday Items exchange. I will be sending both the Spring Fling and the Everyday Items cards together to the ones in both exchanges. The last two everyday items I have done went out to two people who are only in that exchange. It's harder to get two for the same person done at the same time. But if it will save some postage, I need to do that. The pitfalls of doing too many projects at one time. But I love it.

Tomorrow is the plein air outing. I haven't decided if I will go or not. The particular place they will be going is not one that I mind missing. It is a theater in the down town area that also houses a cafe. Most will be sitting out on the sidewalk. With the heat, that will not be comfortable.

Now next week we are going again to Pioneer Village. There is always something there to paint or draw. It's hard on my ankle, and I will pay for it the next day or two. But the unlimited subjects is too good to pass up. The place is divided into streets. I have been twice before so should have to take many photos this time. But I may go to the farthest street as I didn't last time.

Wetcanvas has been down all day. Part of it came back up for just a few minutes but went down again. I was able to send a couple of pms but that was all. Now I wait for it to come back again. I need my Wetcanvas fix.

Virtual Drawing Date

I am in a virtual drawing date with 4 other artists. The plan is to do a drawing of a picture provided by one of the artists (Jeanette). She chose her wonderful cat Tripod.

I have fallen in love with Tripod, and Jeanette could not have chosen a better subject for me. I have already started my drawing in graphite. My hubby asked if I would add color, but that hasn't been decided yet. I really like it the way it is turning out. I still have almost a week to finish. It is supposed to be posted here on my blog next Sunday.

It is not a competition, it is a drawing event that we can share with each other by way of a computer. Each artist will do a drawing of the same photo. We will share them with each other by way of our websites. We will be able to see each artist's approach to the same subject. This not only gets us to drawing, but also helps each person learn from the others different ways of working.

Learning new ways is very important. Not that you have to follow someone else's way of working. There is no right or wrong way of working. Just different ways. But in learning and trying different things, we learn what is right for us. It is up to each person to develop a style that suits them. That learning process continues and never stops.

Just like in life. We have changes to adjust to. Some we like, some we don't. Some we adapt too, some we don't. But the changes still come around. It is up to us to utilize them or not.

Scavenger Hunt #85

The scavenger hunt this week is being hosted by EP. My turn comes again next. I have been working on my list. I am always working on a list. Then when hosting time comes, I can't find it. I am always starting lists, notes, etc in tablets. Most of the time they are the shorthand notebooks we used in shorthand class in high school. Wire bound at the top and the pages divided by a vertical line. I have filled many of these with shorthand many many years ago.

Now I fill the shorthand notebooks with notes, lists, doodles, and anything else that happens to come out of my head to my fingers. And I have many, many of these notebooks scattered throughout my house. Most of them partially filled. Some with just a few pages scattered thru the book, others that have had pages pulled out until they only have a few pages left.

Well my last list is lost in the abyss of my lost notebooks. But I really like the list I made tonight. It is kind of generic. It will provide a wide range of interpretations. That is the part I like best about the lists. The different interpretations. Sometimes mine are kind of quirky. I confess to looking for the unusual. The normal is not for me. I have even gone so far as to "Google" the definition of a word and looked at synonyms. Anything to find an unusual "take" on a certain object on the scavenger list.

I not only want to "find" the items on the list, I want to find the most unusual one. It just brings more fun to the hunt for me. So I not only learn to sketch quickly and from life, I learn different meanings for words. It seems I am playing my own little game with myself. Now to hold on to this notebook until the 17th when I host. Where is a safe place I can "hide" it.

Here are my first 4 items for the current scavenger hunt. EP has provided a really good list. I really like a list that has ideas for items jumping out at me as I read the list.

If you are an artist, and you would like some sketching from life practice, come join us in the hunts. We get a new list of 26 items and some challenges every 9 days. www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6795818#post6795818

My first Spring Fling Entry

One of my Spring Fling Exchange postcards has been received in Thailand. This one went to Ai. One of the things we see here in spring are honey bees. When the flowers start to bloom and the fruit trees get their blossoms, bees are everywhere doing their pollinating work.

Everyday Items Project

I started an Everyday Items Project in Wetcanvas. It has 24 people signed up. I pm'd the names and addresses to the participants today. Now we can get started making and mailing art.

It is a postcard/ATC exchange. We have people from the UK, Thailand, India, Canada, Australia New Zealand, France and about 8 different states in the US. It's such a privilege to send and receive original art from all these places. And what a joy to share. Sharing and making new friends is one of the perks. Plus I learn something from the cards I receive as well as the ones I produce and send out. I love doing these exchanges and meeting new people and keeping in touch with people I have already met. Plus having a goal keeps me making art.

I am still in the Master's exchange. I have only a few of those left to do. And now two new postcard/ATC exchanges to keep me busy. One is Spring Fling and one is Everyday Items. That will give me a great variety of items to put into my postcards. The spring fling will give me incentive to do postcards while I am out with my art group. And everyday items will keep me busy when I am at home. And before too long another will be started, and I will surely join that one too.

I will be posting these cards here but not until they are received at their new homes. I already have two cards on their way. One to Thailand and one to Australia so hopefully it won't be long before I will have a couple to post. Now to get busy and start my other (about 50) cards.

Colored Pencil Challenge

Every month on Wetcanvas in the Colored Pencil Forum, they have a challenge. Several photos are provided for you to choose from. I chose to do Penelope the bassett hound. The photo was from Artmutt. This colored pencil piece is done on watercolor paper. It is postcard size 4x6.

WDE 5-2-08

I very seldom participate in the WDE on Wetcanvas any more. No particular reason. I still go look at the photos and really like many. But I just never do get around to the drawing. Today I did.

This is a picture of Poco. He belongs to Cheryl T who provided the photos this week. She has a never ending supply of photo ops. She has 4 feathered babies. I liked the photo of Poco because it is up close and personal. Just my type of photo. I even cropped it a little more than her photo. I don't do that on purpose. I just start with some part and work out. Whatever fits on the paper, is what gets on the paper.

Colored pencil on watercolor paper. Postcard size 4x6. On this one I started with the sketching the curve of the beak. I wanted to get that part right or he would have looked funny. I really like doing birds in colored pencil. Birds come in so many brilliant colors. Just made for colored pencil.

Van Gogh

My latest version of a Master's painting was a Van Gogh. It is Scheveningen Woman Sewing. The original is in muted colors. I decided to do mine in graphite. I was somewhat fascinated by the shape of the lady's face and head covering. The head covering looks like a dogs head to me. Don't ask me why. It's just what I see. I don't know if in the original there was thread in the lady's needle or not, but I think I should have put some there. ATC size.

Another one has arrived in England. It is Harvesters at Pont-Aven by Emile Bernard. I liked the simplicity of the original and the vibrant colors. Mine was done in colored pencil and pen and ink.