Hearts and Jewels ~ I've been painting some little ones lately and this one is acrylics on unstretched canvas and it's 4 x 4 inches.

We had a pretty strong storm move through last night and the electricity went off at 7:30 p.m. (darnit missed Survivor). It didn't come back on until 6 this morning! The power was off all over the area and I counted 11 of the power company trucks on my way home from work today. Those guys had probably worked around the clock getting everyones electricity back on. I would like to salute those workers and say "Thanks for turning the lights back on!"

Candelabra ~ I'm still doing digi manips of that last big painting I did in acrylics. I still can't figure out if that painting needs something more and I'm experimenting with it in photoshop in the meantime and getting some good manips.

I stand corrected! ~ About the bees commonly known as Japanese hornets re the post below. I just read every page in the website which I linked to in the post below and it seems (I had no idea!!) that these are actually 'good' bugs! It is even illegal to kill them in Germany. It seems these bees have a very bad reputation because of their size and the extremely scary look of them. They are peaceful and non-aggresive unless their nest is messed with, and beneficial because they kill massive amounts of flies and bad bugs. They do have a painful sting (I could image that as I watched it violently stinging my kitchen curtains today) but no more toxic than a regular bee. I wondered why there seemed to be so many less pesky flies and bugs this summer and now I have my answer. These large bees have been hunting them on a huge scale and taking them to their nest which must be somewhere nearby, probably out at the back of the yard where we have 2 old apple trees. I don't want to kill one now but OMG please don't let another one get inside my house LOL! :D My husband got back tonight so I'll let him herd the next one outside without harming it.

Hornets: Gentle Giants! ~ eeeek yea right! Well anyways that's what the website link below says about them. There are some good (scary!) photos of them in this site.

This morning I got up, made my coffee and had just poured a cup when I happened to look up above the window by the kitchen sink and saw one of these monstrosities crawling along the ceiling. After almost fainting, I grabbed my trusty can of Raid flying insect killer and I swear I don't like killing anything but this humongous striped black and yellow killer was in MY HOUSE! So I creeped up (gritting my teeth and being brave) and sprayed up at him and ran like the hounds of Hell were after me to the safety of the room where I paint, shoving a towel under the door to make sure he couldn't get in under the crack and get me for revenge. I was the only one at home since my husband was out of town at the NHRA race event up in Pennsylvania. Whew I could have used him for this mission.

Well at least I got some painting done while the Raid was doing it's job (I thought) so I came out about a half hour later and the giant carcass was NOWHERE to be found. I looked through every nook and cranny in the kitchen for about 2 hours and finally gave up, thinking he had croaked somewhere and I was in for a nasty surprise later. I was googling hornets about 2 hours later when I heard an ominous loud zzzzzz over to the right of me. Well after searching for another hour my cat finally helped me find him. He had fallen down into my potted mother-in-law's tongue plant and was wedged under one of the plants. All I could see was his huge yellow face and one spastic black leg moving. WHEW OK so I carefully drug the whole plant stand outside. because he was still alive when it was getting dark this evening and he had somehow unwedged himself and I never did see if he was still down in the tangled mess at the bottom or got away to go terrorize someone else. I guess that plant will be spending the winter outside cause it's sure not coming back in here!!

http://www.vespa-crabro.de/hornets.htm

"Candle Works" ~ A digital work...

Well my good friend Cyn tagged me in her blog this week so I have to share 8 facts about myself then pick someone else to tag! OK here goes:

1. I was born in Dearborn, Michigan.

2. I served 4 years in the U.S.A.F. back in '76 - '80 and worked on the Minuteman missiles out in Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. (Wow still can't belive I did that LOL!)

3. For 16 years I pasted up newspaper pages and was a journeyman printer.

4. Cats are my favorite animals but I love dogs too.

5. I've always been fascinated with drawing and art. I could get lost in drawing something abstracted.

6. I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and lived about 1 mile from where the Ky. Derby run of the roses is.

7. I actually like brussel sprouts and broccoli.

8. I'm a U.K. Ky Wildcats fan and love watching the NCAA when they are winning.

OK now I have to tag someone to share 8 facts about theirself in their blog and I pick:
W.J. ! LOL gotcha! Check out her amazing beautiful art in her blog: http://art166.blogspot.com/

...and a little photoshop magic to see how I would like my painting to look when it's done!

"Puddin's toes" ~ I did a pencil sketch on unstretched canvas of the photo I got of my cat lying on top of the clothes dryer with her big back toes stretched out (digital photos of her below). Tonight I got out my acrylic paints did some work on it. I just had to get those cute big pink toes painted first but the rest will be worked on in the next few days. She just swished by my feet heading to her catfood. She's a sweetie and I don't know yet if I'll be able to put this one up for sale unless I do another of her to keep!

Bridge of Sighs ~ I did more work on this one and I think it's mostly finished now. I think I am going to paint some more aceos this weekend. An update on my Mom - she is still in the hospital and we are going to have to put her in a nursing home which breaks our hearts. She's not able to live alone anymore and I'm hoping that it will be good for her to be around some people her own age. My sister has her on a waiting list for one in the country that her husband's grandmother is living at so hopefully it won't be as hard on my Mom since there are people living there that she knows. It's a horribly hard decision. The doctor recommended an Alzheimer's floor (locked floor) but we're hoping we can avoid that.

Pile 'o Pumpkins


Mr. Evil Pumpkin


Butterfly Fantasy

ACEOs are so fun to paint! I did three more of them tonight and I'm feeling in the fall season/Halloween mood. These are all done in acrylics on medium weight canvas and they are each 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. I'll be putting them up for auction at www.artbyus.com. A link to my auctions is down in the sidebar under my profile in the 'myartbyus' link. I guess I should mention that when I'm going to put them up for auction. One of these days I'm going to try the big E auction site.

Where the Road Ends ~ WIP (an update) - I'm still working on this painting and I hope it's almost finished now. I think I'm going to try and put more contrast in the sky and get rid of some of the white dots in the water spout/tree weird thing. I'm still not sure what that thing is. I just started painting this purely from my imagination with no kind of reference and sometimes I find I am surprised at what comes out.
This has been a sad and tough week. First the death of Steve Irwin (OMG so sad! we loved that guy!) and then I found out my Mom is in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. She is getting ready to turn 80 years old in a couple of weeks and she has had a good life with loving family. She is having confusion about dates and remembering things right now.

The many faces of Puddin' the cat ~
1. The evil look. When are you going to quit taking pictures of that boring fruit and pay attention to me?! (maybe if I stare at you long enough with this mean look...)
2. Athlete or mountain climber look. eek what's that noisy monster doing down there and when's it going back to it's lair?! (vacuum cleaner, notice cobwebs)
3. You can detour around me look. So what if I'm stretched out in the main path in the middle of the kitchen floor?! (My husband loves this one)
4. Grumpy Scholar. Her thoughtful but tired and annoyed look. Why is all that junk up there when I'm ready for my nap?!





Well since I've been posting pictures of my cat Puddin' I may as well share some other funny ones I've taken of her the last couple of years. She's a ham for the camera! Then I am going to get off here and do some painting! A huge thanks to Janvangogh (her very cool blog link: http://aplanetnamedjanet.blogspot.com/) for sharing the link to a very talented and funny author Dav Pilkey, who wrote the book Kat Kong. I've just got to read this book! LOL on his 'special notes' in this link:http://www.pilkey.com/bookview.php?id=14, which inspired me share these other photos. I hope you enjoy them!

Puddintoes ~ Puddin' is the name of my cat and here she is all comfy cozy with her big toes all stretched out laying on top of the clothes dryer. She was enjoying watching me while I was on the computer and having a catnap. When we first adopted her a couple of years ago I thought she had too many toes because her feet seemed to look abnornally large but I found out that she just has really big claws! I soon discovered not to play wiggle footsie under the blanket with her (like I used to do with my last cat) after she stuck her claws through about 3 layers of blankets into my feet! But she's the sweetest, gentle, most intelligent cat I've probably ever had. Sadly, I lost my last kitty to leukemia before we adopted Puddin'.

"Fall Night" ~ Here's an update on my tree and moon painting which I finished tonight. The second one is an abstract I painted titled "Stopping Time". Both of these are acrylics on stretched canvas.

Digital paintings in RED and GREEN ~ Here are a couple of digital paintings I did and I couldn't get them to post the other day. I am going to do some more acrylic painting tonight. The weather has been wonderful here but still a little warm. Thank goodness the 100 degree temps have gone away!

Pumpkins 1 and 2 ~

ACEO's I did....

Holey Moley my images are appearing in my posts again!!! I've been trying for almost 2 weeks without success to upload pictures in here. These are little 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches acrylics on medium weight canvas. I'll be putting these up for auction at www.artbyus.com very soon.

"Where the Road Ends" ~ This one is much larger and is acrylics on stretched canvas 16 X 20 inches. It is silvery looking mostly black/white right now but in this picture I played with it in photoshop with some translucent color to see how it will look when it's done.

Blah Blah error on page..line 404..character 5.. permission denied! ~ Well I'm not the only one having trouble uploading pictures to my blog. I searched out the help threads and found one that suggests that quite a few people are having the same problem. Your picture uploads normally and when you click on "done" it doesn't appear in your post. You then get an IE alert message - error occured on page (blah blah line 404, character 5 permission denied). Several people suggested it's a IE browser problem in the thread. They said they dl the Firefox browser and the problem was solved. Apparently blogger is currently working on the problem so I'll wait a couple of days to see if they get it fixed. In the meantime this may be a good time to get off the computer and do some painting, yea! I am working on some paintings for some of my family in Kentucky and I need to start on the one for my sister Betsy! :D

Some digital paintings I did this week ~ I keep trying to post these and keep getting the message "permission denied". I don't know what's going on so I logged out and back in blogger, deleted all the cookies and cleared my internet history. Taking a deep breath and now I'm going to try again. These are digital paintings I did this week using the Dogwaffle art program. I haven't worked any on my acrylics this week since I had to work some extra hours away from home this week. I work part time at Target your friendly neighborhood big red bullseye and we are getting in Halloween shirts this week for sale! (eek didn't work again...is anyone else having trouble uploading pics to your blogsite this week??)

WIP the Tree and Moon ~ I just started painting this one last weekend and I have to 'make' the tree grow a little more before it's finished. I am still studying/looking at this and have several layers to go before it's finished. I am looking forward to the magical colorful season that is fall! This is acrylics on stretched canvas and it's 8 x 10 inches.

YEA a fellow rockhound! I just visited my friend Jafabrit's blog and I discover that she is a rockhound too and has some fascinating rocks with faces and personalities in her blog! You can see them here: http://jafabrit.blogspot.com/ When we went to Kentucky last month we visited the creek down there and I have found some really neat fossils and strange rocks under the clear shallow water. This is one I picked up because it has such an interesting texture and tonight I was looking and noticed some 'sparkly' stuff in one of the cracks. I washed it with a toothbrush and soapy water to see if I could see it more clearly. It's tempting to crack it open but I won't because it may just be sand inside and I don't want to ruin it's unique shape. Here is a plain photo of it and one I photoshopped. Darn no matter how hard I try I can't get a great close-up pic because they always look a little blurry.

Flowers roasted by the Sun ~ Digital painting ~ Will this horrible heat wave ever ever end??? The heat index the last couple days here has been over 110 degrees and will be the same tomorrow. I am so glad we have AC and I wonder and worry about those that don't. It seems like the whole eastern U.S. is being baked in an oven. Those poor animals out there.. but they seem to know how to survive the outside temps. I remember when I was 9 months pregnant with my daughter and we had just moved here to Virginia from Florida. It was August and we didn't have AC then and I remember sitting all day with my feet in a bucket of water to try to keep cool. Well, I'll be complaining about the cold a few months from now so I may as well try to enjoy it! :D

"Night Stairs" Acrylics on unstretched canvas
"Junkyard Treasures" Acrylics on unstretched canvas "Celestial Colors Red" 4x4 inches art squared
"Celestial Colors blue" 4x4 inches art squared


Acrylics on Canvas ~ I finally got some photos of what I've been working on the last week. These are all traditional paintings and acrylics on unstretched canvas. Sometimes I wonder where I get such a weird imagination. I just start painting with no clear plan in mind and end up with strange looking works like these! I'll be putting these up for auction at www.artbyus.com very soon!

Red Flower and Moon ~ This is a little digital work I did tonight..I love painting moons and flowers! I did this one using the Dogwaffle digital art program. You can go to www.squirreldome.com to download a totally free version if you are interested in making some digital art. It's an awesome little program!

My Old Kentucky Home ~ Here are some photos I got on our recent trip to Kentucky to visit my family. From scenic views in Western Virginia during the trip..someone splashing through the creek..to views we saw driving through Lexington, Kentucky...old stone fences, a mural painted on a stone wall at a horsetrack, fences, barns, big trees and lots of bluegrass.

Grrrrr! Spam stinks! I found out what "comment spam" is unfortunately! About 30 comments all at once posted in my blog with links to spam sites. ARRGH! OK now I have to get the word verification thingee to prevent this from happening again. (insert mad face here)

Drake's Creek ~ I was so glad to get back home from our trip last night! Aargh that last couple of hundred miles seems to last forever and when it's 100 degrees outside even the AC in the vehicle feels sort of weak to cool a person off. It takes about 12 hours to drive from central Virginia to south central Kentucky where my Mom and lots of my family live. Everyone was doing really well and we enjoyed our visit so much! My sister and her family had an awesome cookout on Sunday evening with homemade chocolate ice cream for dessert, it was all yummy! On Sunday morning, we drove to an old creek we used to live near and it looked so beautiful. Every time I visit I always feel drawn to the ancient cool green mystery of that old creek. It's called Drake's Creek but it's simply known as 'the ford' because it was so shallow (except during floods and that's another story :o) that people could drive across the creek to the road on the other side. Here are some photos I got of it this weekend. The water is very clear and splashes over what looks like zillions of creekrocks and strange fossils.

1. Lilystract manip ~ Yep I am still playing with my lilies! I did a digi manip of my lili photo and she came out looking pretty wild! I love exploring new realities by taking a photo and turning it into something entirely new. I'll see ya'll Tuesday!

More photos of the tiger lily. eek I just realised that I've been spelling the word lily wrong, it doesn't have 2 'L's just one. Anyways, Cynthia and anyone else that desires to paint this, please feel free. I would love to see it if you do paint it. I think I may give it a try myself. I will go post these later in the IRL in WC also. This plant is puzzling me. The original seeds (bulbils) came from the backyard of my Grandma's house in Kentucky. Later my Mom had them growing from the bulbils (black pods on the stem) also that she got from my Grandma's place. I googled tiger lily but none I saw were as huge as these things. The size of them were about 3 ft. but the ones my Mom had growing looked at least 6 feet tall! Mine are around 5 feet tall. Also the stems looked different than the ones I saw when I did the search.

Tiger Lilly monster ~ My tiger lilly bloom finally opened today! Up close, in this blurry photo I got before my camera batteries went dead, it almost looks like something from 'The Little Shop of Horrors'! I rubbed my hand on the funny brown things and this dark brown powder got all over my fingers and it turned my fingers orange where I touched it. I had a hard time getting the orangey stuff off my hand even with soap and water!