Happy Birthday, Dog!

March 2, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 15 Comments

Sampson is ten years old today!

Here are some of my favorite photos of him.

Just woken up Sammy

Sassy Sammy.

Suspicious Sammy

You hurt my feelings Sammy.

Look at my paw Sammy.

Defiantly muddy Sammy

Leaping Sammy

Groucho Marx Sammy

Aw Shucks Sammy

In the wind Sammy

And of course…

Purple Sammy!

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2017

A Perambulating Possum

January 26, 2017January 26, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 4 Comments

A pretty possum

Perambulating past.

Leaving radishes

On my window sash!

.Perhaps she lives

in a purple house

With other possums

and a little mouse.

They could drink tea

and dance in delight

And when they are tired

They’ll say goodnight!

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2017

Weather Vane Plane

November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2016

The Mantis

November 16, 2016November 16, 2016 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

The zinnias are still lovely at this time of year.

The praying mantis, she finds them quite dear

Such big yellow eyes!

So many butterflies..

They’d better scurry.

For the frost is near.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2016

The Cage, the Clown and the Curse

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 1 Comment

Hanging in an iron cage

Above the weathered path

Was a smirking scowling

Absurdly demented

Grinning psychopath

Come here he said

With a sharp toothed smile

And let me tell you a tale

Of horror and gore

And murder and more

And such that will make you pale

Oh you macabre mime

With your twisted old rhyme

You do not scare me at all

Stuck there in your cage

With your lonely dark rage

You’ll be dead by the end of the fall

But he mocked me with glee

For on All Hallows Eve

When the shadows rode low on the ground

That evil old clown

One magic trick he had found

To free him precipitously

He cast on me

A vermilion curse

As he cackled over the boos of the hoard

To my utter dismay

I was now in his cage

And I had transformed into a gourd!

The last that I saw him

That gruesome old fool

He was dancing in the dying leaves

Cackling, spiteful

Insanely delightful

Wailing

Happy Halloween!

Boo!

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2016

Elephants and Pumpkins

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 3 Comments

And no, this is not a political post.

Fall with it’s dramatic skies and dancing leaves is here with a vengeance. I really need to do some catching up on the blog.

This painting is a two inch square in acrylic and will most likely be bigger on your screen then in real life.

This ink is more than double the size at 5×5 inches. This was part of a monthly miniature challenge on WetCanvas. WetCanvas has a huge reference image library, it’s a fantastic resource. Thanks to the member that added the photo I used as a reference for this.

In the original photo the wall was brick and there were solar panels everywhere. I altered those which is always a good idea when you have discordant elements. You don’t have to paint or draw exactly what is in a photo or right in front of you. The pens are Microns.

This pumpkin in acrylic is from the same challenge. This quick study is 5×5 inches.

This is also from a photo reference from WetCanvas. This was a fun one, it was a challenge to use restricted palettes.

This is the Zorn palette which is Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Medium, Ivory Black and Titanium White.

Anders Zorn(February 18, 1860 – August 22, 1920) was a Swedish painter who generally painted people and figures. I’m not sure why he used such a restricted palette but after playing with it for awhile I can see the lure of the colors he used.

Fish on a plate, acrylic, 10×14 inches (not a mini!)

I found some interesting shadows on my walls.

And I fixed a staid apron by embroidering an elephant with a happy spoon on it.

Meanwhile back at the ranch..

Sampson had surgery and thoroughly enjoyed his meds.

Zeus also had surgery and was awfully affronted when I suggested that he was supposed to be sitting on the pillow on the floor not in my new chair.

They both recovered nicely.

My sunflowers grew over 12 feet tall.

We rescued these two birds.

This juvenile cedar waxwing was caught in a sudden heavy deluge of rain. he was fine after he dried off. Sorry about the fuzzy photo!

This red breasted nuthatch, I found upside down on the porch, I think he hit the window. He flew away fine after a drink and some warmth.

This came across our TV, then we had three very small tornadoes..

And there’s a frog living in my birdhouse. He’s been there since early July.

And I’ve taken at least one hundred photos of him,

And he is smiling in every single one.

🙂

Waspppp Uppp!!

September 18, 2016 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 5 Comments

That is…

Wasp up there!

Actually, it’s a hornet’s nest, a bald faced hornet. They’re pretty talented, look at those textures.

We’ve had a busy year in our gardens for insects. The insect world is an interesting one.

I don’t quite know what to make of whatever this bee is doing.

Is he fighting with that bug? Is he eating it? Do bees eat bugs?

I have no idea but this butterfly watched the whole thing and kept getting closer and closer until the bee buzzed at it.

I watched until the bee flew away with the creeper butterfly in tow. It was rather disconcerting and a bit gross so here’s a cute bee on a pretty flower to wash that taste out.

Then there’s the mason bee, they come in varying colors. This one is wearing a sassy blue metallic coat that she picked up at the recent New York Fashion week.