Friday, December 26, 2014

The Day After

 
'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the town
gifts were being returned and prices marked down.
Not interested in shopping, I took a walk by the lake
and there I spied Santa--he was taking a short break.
He still wore his hat but had ditched that red suit.
I waved and he nodded, then off he did scoot.
After a sleepover in Clarksville, he's off to The Pole.
In a year he'll be back and gifts he will dole.
     (If you're good!)
  - - - -

It's been a rough year. First I had a problem with neuropathy--burning legs, elbow pain, numbness, even pain in the eyeballs. I'm not diabetic; I learned that it was caused by a prescription--statins--which I'd been taking for years. I stopped taking them and the burning/pain/cramping stopped; I felt great for a few weeks in July--so good that I moved the summer furniture from the workshop back porch to the deck. That's when the tick must have latched onto the back of my knee. In August I was diagnosed with Lyme's disease. I finished four months of antibiotics a few weeks ago and felt like myself again. Two weeks later our dog Willie began limping. He came home Monday after surgery on his OTHER knee and bladder surgery for stones. What a year--a lost year.

  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. And here's to a Happy 2015!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

O Brother

O Brother Bob No. 4
I had a photo of my brother, the collector--taken about three years ago--with a flash (not a good idea).  I thought I'd do some quick practice portraits with Tombow markers.  Unlike my iPad apps, there are no undo or erase buttons.  This No. 4 took forever because I really wanted just ONE to be recognizable.  The picture behind him is a selfie he sent me as a joke when he added another camera to his collection--he and I never throw anything away so he should know better.
O Brother Bob No. 3

No. 3 includes a few of the many paintings he has hanging at his house; however, the woman in the actual painting doesn't really look like she's ready to attack.  Behind him is my recollection of a painting by K.A. Colorado, a very nice artist Bob brought by for a visit in the Fall.  The book is a big, beautiful one on Francis Bacon, a gift from Bob to me.
O Brother Bob No. 2
Bob is a book collector/seller and gave me some titles of his favorite books (and a few I made up).  I screwed up his right eye so he's being socked by his Blue Boy sculpture (which is actually about four feet tall).  Okay, the punch works on several levels because he was Mom's favorite child!

O Brother No. 1
So this was the first, drawn upside-down quickly with the markers.  When I turned it upright, I thought, "Oh, Lordy--he looks three sheets in the wind."  This one was based on the actual photo--he's sitting in front of a beautiful hand-painted screen--filled with flowers, with the modern lamp just behind him.

Bob is one of those truly nice guys; I'm lucky to have him as a brother and neighbor.  I tried Tombow markers because I admired the work of Jean Spitzer.  My work is zilch compared to hers, but it was fun.  These are 14x10 and on hot press w/c paper.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Arty Dreams

Brain to Earplug Transfer, created in Procreate app
I dreamed that, while I was sleeping, a painting unknown to my conscious mind was being transferred from my brain to the end of my earplug.  When I woke up, I actually looked--nothing, not even wax--very disappointing (so I had to invent this one).  I'll try again tonight.  Ha.