Murder and Blizzard

Two of the books 've swallowed in the past week, after more than four month of plainly not reading:
"The Children's Blizzard" by David Laskin talked about the 1888 blizzard in the Nebraska/Dakota territories. Somewhere between 250 and 500 people died, many of them children. It's a fairly graphic read, but enjoyable.

"Murder of Tutankhamen" by Bob Brier was self-explanatory. After reading it, one can see why so many people were and are into anything Egypt-related.

Both were enjoyable reads, and a nice bread from a Diablo 2 mod, Median XL, that 've been brain-numbingly beating during the any and all free hours.

Snakey

12x12 inches, acrylic on board.

Ran out of inspiration for the big panels today, so spent a day doing backs for small pieces and painting this guy. Hopefully, the inspiration monkey will be back sometime tomorrow!

Dailies.

A pair of 5x6 inch acrylics on boards. A random kitty and Doughnut at Rehoboth, DE beach. Still working on the larger panels.

Chickies Galore

5x6 inches, acrylics on board for both of the below.

Currently working on a number of 24x48 inch pieces for the November thing at the Appalachian Spirit Gallery. Should have started on that batch in the beginning of the summer. Gods, I love last minute panic! :D

Past couple of day's work. (Some, not all.)

Tale for the Chicks, acrylic on board, 14x14 inches

Mushka-cat, polymer clay with inclusions, 6.5x6.5 inches

Two flowers.

5x5x2.5 inches, box with a polymer clay tile in it. The tile is polymer clay, cultured pearls, and acrylic.  ....Today was another day of running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Submitted some of the polymer clay stuff to the local artisan center, but wouldn't hear from them until mid-September. In the end, the fact stands-- all I want to do is make these things. If the cost is having to worry about money, well. Worry I shall. Meanwhile-- studio is paid up for until November. Off to creation-land! :D

Today, at the studio...

I worked some more, coming to realization: I would much rather spend 8 hours a day making stuff than marketing stuff. Maybe, someday...

Golden Serpent, box. Total dimensions 7x7x2.5 inches. Polymer clay, glass, amethyst with acrylic finish.Got 10 and a half hours total on this guy.

Box-top tiles

 Both are 6.5x6.5 inches and go atop of -boxes-. The second one still needs to be painted.

A few early morning thoughts.

We've been condemned to be a one-car household for a while, since Elrin's car is in the shop after a horrid encounter with a rather sizable truck tire (in the middle of the night, on a highway). As a result, I get to drive him to work. It's not a bad drive (30 minutes one way), and takes us across a veritably stunning patch of land.

It is rural Appalachia, and the road weaves around the forested slopes, which are eaten by the fog in the early morning hours. Invasive kudzu covers some of these slopes, turning trees into green giants, stooping and strange. You catch these out of the corner of the eye and can swear that they move.

The car, a 4-cyllinder, 12-year old Honda, is as reliable as ever. I suppose it will begin to fail on me one day, just as old pets fail out eventually (most recent case- one of the folks' cats, from cancer of the jaw, of all things), but for now, the Honda can still take on the mountain slopes and emerge victorious. After 8 years of driving it, it's hard to adjust to being in anything else.

Inbetween thoughts of car mortality, and plans for the day, and quiet underlying admiration for the scenery, I think I'm beginning to figure out life. It's a lot more simple than "Do what you want to do, and be nice to other people", though that factors into it, too. The meaning of life is closer to "Be, without regret". We spend such an awful lot of time worrying about things that are really of little to no account. What others think of us. How to get ahead. How to afford that smart phone. As long as you've got food and a roof over your head, why should the rest matter?

There are interesting people out there, and good books available for nigh-free (cost of getting to the library, anyway), and good arts. There are also addictive video games. The world is not a bad place, and there isn't really much more you could give it, than your appreciation. And, maybe, a sort of gratitude better reserved for those that give us birth.

Two for one~!

 Finished "Curious Lizard" this morning, and started on the firebird.. who, incidentally, is telling her chicks how she lost part of that gorgeous tail. ;) 

 This weekend was spent sitting with some local artists  at the Highlands festival. Saturday was completely dead, but Sunday was better.

 

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You try like the devil. Sometimes, it comes out allright. 

Trying many things, one after another.

Still cranking out stuff. Animal-related. Will document better once the Highlands festival's over this weekend. Not sure if studio living is good for me-- having a rented space makes one obsessive about making ends meet. (And on that note, started a Cafepress store.  Only a fairy frog in there now, but someday, there shall be more!  http://www.cafepress.com/bucketofbirds)

Bunches

Cranking out stuff for etsy/local festival sales...

Took a 7-hour day to complete these, plus a half-a-one.

Craziness.

First of all, a mandatory art update after the week-long family gathering in the sands of Delaware.
Starcatcher in progress.

Secondly, finally made the move to an actual studio outside of the home. One of the artists at the local museum wanted to cut costs, so here I am... It's a darn nice space.

Now 've got to figure out a way to afford it on a monthly basis...