Steve Continued

More photos of Steve.

Steve

Today is my brother Steve's birthday. Too bad he isn't here to celebrate. Steve was s drug addict and passed away at 46 from complications of his drug use. He had more than one type of hepatitis and his liver just gave up. He suffered a painful death that he went thru for around a month in the hospital. At least it seemed like a month. It may have been shorter.

He was told he would not live, then told he had a chance, only to hear that he would not live. The nurses said he slept with his eyes wide open scared that if he fell asleep, he would not wake.

At first he was able to make conversation and even sit up in a chair, but when he got worse, he looked like a frightened wild animal. I will never forget how he looked. Those wild eyes were haunting.

Steve had amber colored eyes. When he got hepatitis, his skin was the same color as his eyes. It was as spooky looking as anything I have seen. It is hard to watch your baby brother die especially such a painful death.

We had not been speaking before he got sick. In fact he told my mom that I probably wouldn't come to the hospital. Wrong. How could anyone not go see their baby brother during his last days. The first visit was a little awkward. I was afraid of catching it so wouldn't sit or touch anything. My brother noticed and I'm sure it made him uncomfortable.

So before the next visit, my hubby and I went for shots. I couldn't imagine my brother passing away with me never being able to touch him again. I wanted to be able to hold his hand and help make him comfortable. Also to be there so that my mother could take a break for a couple minutes. She was there from daylight till night. She held his head and talked to him like she did when he was a baby.

In the end I was praying for him to pass on so he could be away from the pain and so that I didn't have to bury my mom too. It was taking so much out of her. Not only losing one of her children but actually watching each day as he was fading away.

My brother was fighting to the end. I know he had a long talk with our other brother one night and I hope that he was able to feel at peace. I have cried thru this whole post as it was hard to write. I still feel the loss very strongly. I don't miss the addict he had become, but I do miss the little boy who was so full of mischief, the young man who was such a proud dad, and the wonderful man he could have become if he had made better choices. I thank him for leaving behind a wonderful son for me to enjoy and watch grow to manhood with a baby daughter of his own.

And thank you for the wonderful gift your death gave to me. The day of your memorial (and my birthday), I accepted my Lord and became a Christian. I love you Steve.

Great Grandma and Kylie

Vizsla Start

I got a start done on my commission after dinner tonight. I had been putting it off and wanted to at least start it. I was sitting on the couch with a black and white copy of the photo, and balancing the sketchbook on my lap. I still have to work some more on the sketch and then transfer to better paper. The box around it is 5x7 inches and it will fit an 8x10 inch frame and mat.

Kylie's First Thanksgiving

This is Kylie's first Thanksgiving. Here she is with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.

Slippers

I finally finished the last of the crocheted slippers I needed for Christmas presents. Now my hands can get a rest. And now I can get to the dog portrait commission. I need to take it with me to Bible study in the next two weeks. It is a Christmas present so not much time.

I'll be glad to get back to some artwork. I haven't done anything for a few days. Not since my scavenger hunt items for the last hunt.

I have been re reading the Left Behind books. I am halfway thru the 4th one. So I am off to bed with my book.

Christmas ATCs

I am in a small Christmas ATC trade with 5 other people. I finished my cards tonight and will mail them on Monday the 23rd. A little early but I want to get them in the mail and have it all finished.

I did my cards of some of my Christmas ornaments. Most of them are ones I have bought more for props than for a tree. I don't put up a big tree any more. I have a small 12 inch tree and I put that up with some little miniature ornaments I have bought. This one can sit on a shelf or table and I don't have to worry about the dogs helping themselves to my ornaments.

The scan isn't the best as I had the cards in their little plastic jackets for mailing.

I have a large box of ornaments for a larger tree stored in our shed. I need to take those out and go thru them. Discard some and save some for drawing. There are some really cute ones as I once worked at a shop that had spaces rented for craft and art items for sale. They would put up a huge tree and everyone who rented space in the shop, could make ornaments and put them on the tree for sale.

I was able to buy a few one-of-a-kind handmade ornaments. I also made a few of my own. One I have is a tiny Cabbage Patch look alike baby that is miniature (about 5 inches). My mom made that one. I made a set of muslim hand painted cows or pigs. The mom, dad, and baby. When I ever get them out, I will take photos and post them.

My Babies

My fur babies. I just learned I can do videos on my camera. I met a couple when with my plein air group at a park and the man showed me how to do the videos. Now I have something else to play with. As you can tell, I'm not a "read the manual" kind of person. I had my first digital camera for about 5 years before I found out how to do macro photos. I guess I didn't learn anything from that.

Here is a video of my two birds Freebie, parakeet, and Bozo cockatiel.

Photo of Crochet slippers

I had a request for a photo of my slippers I am crocheting. This is the latest one I finished. I did a scan of it and it turned out quite nice. Surprising. These are done with 2 different colors which look kind of like a tweed when crocheted together.

Crocheted Slippers

I have been crocheting the last couple of days. I have completed 4 pairs of slippers for Christmas presents. I need to do about 4 more pairs. So far my hands are holding up pretty good. The one slipper I just finished caused some discomfort as the two yarns I used together were really stiff. The silkier yarns are easier on the arthritis.

I need to do my Bible study questions as tomorrow night is the Bible study. I haven't even started them and there are 10 pages to get thru. Yikes. Plus I have to take a trip across town and deliver our car insurance payment. I missed the last two weeks of Bible study due to not feeling well so I am looking forward to going tomorrow night.

I still have to work on the dog commission. I haven't even started it yet. Hopefully later this week I can get the line drawing started.

I'm up late waiting to get hubby off to work. He has to get up at 2:30 am. I will stay up and get his coffee and lunch ready to save him some time. Then off to bed. While I wait, I will work on my study questions. Just have to find them first.

Bobbie Again

I decided to do another quick portrait of Bobbie using the Derwent Drawing Pencils like Alfredart of WC uses. I took his class and love the way his art looks.

Bobbie Finished

After some more work on Bobbie, I am finished.

Bobbie Too

I worked some more on Bobbie's portrait. I transferred the line drawing to Bristol Smooth. I was going to use Bristol board but forgot and now can't find the pad. I added some detail but a lot to go.

I'm also hosting the scavenger hunt this week. It started out kind of slow but seems to be moving along better now. So many great artists and such wonderful sketches and imaginations.

We still don't have our heater serviced and turned on and I keep getting cold. When I do, I either fall asleep at my desk or go to bed and curl up in the quilt to get warm. Feels like I am sleeping my life away.

Bobbie

Here is the rough sketch I have so far of Bobbie my portrait swap partner. I still have a lot of work ahead. Soon I will transfer the outline to a better paper. As tomorrow is errand day, may not get much more done until Friday.

WC Portrait Swap

I have finally made a start on my portrait for the portrait swap. I am not ready to share what I have yet but I have made a good start. I have the eyes done. I am making a detailed drawing and then will transfer the outline onto better paper. I am using a grid for this one as I was having trouble with her eyes.

I haven't used a grid since June of 2006 but this portrait called for it. I wanted to be sure to get all the parts where they belong. I don't like using a grid. I found it very useful when I started doing portraits, but now that I can draw from life, I would prefer to wing it. Sometimes my portraits turn out a little wonky like the Elvis one but I prefer to learn by doing. But this lady is a new acquaintance and I would like to give her a nice portrait. Besides this needs to be finished and mailed toward the end of the month.

This portrait will be in graphite and if I finish early, I might try another done with the Derwent Drawing Pencils in 3 colors. It will just depend on my time. She has already done two paintings of me.

I finally got photos of the dog for my commission. It is a Christmas present so I want to get a start on that one as soon as possible. It is also graphite also.

Hopefully I will have something to show tomorrow. I want to get most of her face finished on the sketch and get busy with the better paper. I am thinking about using some Bristol board that I purchased from Dick Blick. So far I haven't used it. I usually use Bristol Smooth Paper. I just hope the board is as forgiving when I use an eraser.

Elvis Revisited

The drawing I did of Elvis has been on my mind. I was out of ink on my printer for awhile but replaced it today. I finally got to print off the Elvis drawing. Then I cut it in half across the width of the page and re placed the two pieces together. Just as I figured, now it looks more like Elvis. I told hubby I just needed to shorten his nose. Now I am an artwork plastic surgeon. I named this newer file "Elvis Sliced". Outch!

Feeling Better

I'm now feeling better...I think I will live. Looking forward to getting some art started. But not tomorrow. Tomorrow is errand day. Thankfully not too many errands.

Scavenger Hunt Items

Here are my latest scavenger hunt items. I have done my items in squares and circles and decided to try something new this time.

Feeling Better

I'm feeling much better. Still a little stomach problem but I can at least eat now and stay out of bed most of the time.

Last night I was craving a Sloppy Joe for dinner. I had seen one on tv and could just taste it. I hadn't eaten anything except some more bland things and I knew the spicy Sloppy Joe would probably kill me. But I thought of that sandwich all night.

Tonight hubby stopped and picked up the fixings for the sandwich and I had one for dinner. After that I took two antacid pills and waited. Well it didn't kill me and now I am hungry for another. And after looking at Jo Castillo's blog and seeing the Chili and Frito Pie, I'm really hungry for that. And I don't even like chili. I have never had that to eat but it sure sounds interesting and tasty.

I worked on some scavenger hunt items tonight. I hadn't done any artwork much for a week and wanted to do something. And there is always the Scavenger Hunt list. I managed to do 10 items and get them posted on the forum thread.

No New Art

I haven't felt very well for the last few days. Nothing I can put my hand on but just don't feel right. Headaches and touchy stomach. Stomach wants me to eat and then doesn't like that I did eat.

Tomorrow I hope to do some artwork. I have a cp of a dog that I started over a month ago and want to finish it. His name is Rufus. He is some sort of cow dog. When he was a puppy, he really liked me and now he doesn't seem to want me to touch him. I only see him once a year. He doesn't have a problem with hubby touching him. But I want to do the picture for his mama. I am about half done and worry that the work I did won't match when I start again. At least I did write down the colors in the margin. This is the first time I have done that and I am so thrilled it was this time.

I also have a graphite drawing half finished of one of the goats from the local live animal museum (CALM) that I started months ago. I would like to get that finished too. Plus I would like to get some artwork done to put in a portfolio.

I do have a small commission for a Christmas picture in graphite for a friend at Bible study. It's a present for the dog's owner. The dog is a Viszla. I haven't seen the dog or a photo yet as the friend is trying to get one without spoiling the surprise.

The portrait exchange was closed yesterday on WC. We were supposed to find out our partner tonight but there hasn't been a post. I am anxious to see who I will be paired up with. Downside is I have to give them a photo of me. And I am not photogenic at all. I have only a handful of photos of me that I have liked. And most of those were at a younger age. I hate to say it but I'm not aging gracefully and surely not aging skinny.

My husband daily tells me I look like my mom, walk just like my mom, etc and I know he isn't trying to compliment me. Maybe I will tell his mother-in-law and let her give him the evil eye.

I think people should seriously look at their in laws more carefully before marriage. I am now living with and kissing someone who looks just like my father-in-law and that is a little scary. Maybe that is why hubby has a problem with me looking like my mom. LOL

Fiddler Without His Fiddle

I decided to sketch one of the photos that was posted in this weeks WDE at Wetcanvas. Missswiss was the hostess and provided 15 nice photos to choose from. I decided to do the portrait of the fiddler. But I didn't want to do the fiddle so left it out.

Graphite on Bristol Smooth. About 45 minutes. 4x5 inches.