painting

La la la laaaa….

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 25 Comments

I haven’t been blogging much lately, not for any particular reason, I mean besides everything in my house breaking at once and a total lack of coordination in dealing with those break downs. But eventually I did manage to get somewhat coordinated and put up my Christmas tree. I have hundreds of bulbs so it takes me awhile. I used a fold up towel dryer to sort my bulbs. Clever, no?
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xmas3©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012.

I made a few new discoveries this year. For instance I discovered that when I put reindeer antlers on Sampson, he sinks. His head gets lower and lower until paralysis sets in and he is stuck on the floor. Apparently he thinks they are very very heavy. This made him quite sad. Fortunately his little bear was there to help him out.

I’m thinking this may possibly be useful in the future.

Sammy ©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

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I also discovered that reindeer antlers have a strange affect on Zeus as well. He realized that the wearing of reindeer antlers changed him into a reindog with super powers. Super Reindog, we call him. These super powers give him the ability to lie on my bed, because although ordinary dogs are not allowed on the bed and think that I don’t know they get up there the second my back is turned, reindogs have no such restrictions. Yes, a reindog will lie right on the bed in front of me and coyly wave his paw. Reindogs are very impertinent animals.

Well that reindog has another think coming if he thinks I’m going to put up with that…

zeusxmas©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

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I also discovered that when the moon is full with Jupiter to it’s upper left and the Christmas lights are on, you can get some pretty cool shots.  You must however stand in your driveway wearing pajamas, boots and furry earmuffs to do so properly.

moonbokeh©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

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I also did some painting. Christmas ones of course.

This is an acrylic, 3×5 on 300gsm watercolor paper. I used one of my goose photos as a reference. This naughty goose has stolen someone’s Christmas ribbon. Geese are mean like that.

xmas4©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012.

This goose  is being downright pestiferous. Fortunately this snowman appears to be a bohemian jovial type of snowman as opposed to the perfidious abominable type of snowman.

Acrylic, 3 x 5 inches.

xmas5©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012.

I also painted a little tiny snow scene, this one is acrylic, 2 x 3 inches. I don’t know why I made that so small, I was leaning in as I painted it and it just came out that way.

xmas2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

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This is another snowy scene. Had a bit of fun with the purple and yellows in this one. If you look closely, you’ll see a small pestiferous perfidious abominable snowman hiding in the shrubbery. Okay, not really. I just like using the words ‘pestiferous’ and ‘perfidious’.

Acrylic, 3 x 5 inches.

xmas1©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012.

I went out the other day, the light was terrible but I did meet up with this fellow. I was enchanted to meet him. He was, well not so much..

eagle1©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012.

Back at the ranch, Dummy decided to climb the Christmas tree so he could meet the Christmas Angel. He has been infatuated with her for years. He thought that as he started out as lowly carved piece of scrap wood, that she would not like him. He was pleasantly surprised to find that she started out as a toilet paper roll. They’ve been inseparable ever since.

dummyangel©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012.

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Happy Holidays!!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Balloons..Oh I love Balloons…

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 9 Comments

Fall is definitely in the air and so are the balloons.

There is just something about balloons..

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Really big balloons..

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With fire and stuff..

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And balloons of all colors..

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There were even balloon slides and as I watched the kiddies playing on them, this little guy hung on for dear life.

Then the little girl pushed him down and he screamed…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must be a terrible person because it made me laugh.

That’s why I like children, they’re evil little things but they are comical.

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Meanwhile back at the ranch, I should be outside raking but instead I painted some tree trunks.

This is a 5 by 7 inch in acrylic.

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I hope you’re all enjoying Autumn. If you live in a city and miss raking leaves, feel free to drop by!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Seurat, Sundays and Top Hats..

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 17 Comments

Georges Seurat (1859-1891), the father of pointillism never visited Iowa.

But Iowa sure likes him a lot. So much so that when several large oak trees fell during a storm, artist Ted McElhiney carved them into the figures from Seurat’s most famous painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. And Mr. McElhiney didn’t keep all the fun for himself, the figures were then painted by local high school students. They now are a fixture on Credit Island In Davenport, Iowa.

That is pretty darn cool.

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All I ever did in high school was (badly) paint a gigantic picture of a carousel horse that for some reason my mother insists on hanging in her bathroom.

Well done, Mr. McElhiney and  teenagers!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis..

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 8 Comments

That’s a great song. Written by Sterling and Mills for Judy Garland of course.

Everyone sing!

“Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis..

Meet me at the fair

Don’t tell me the lights are shining any place but there!”

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“We will dance the Hoochee Koochee”

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“I will be your tootsie wootsie!”


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“If you will meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
Meet me at the fair!”

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Alright so I was actually at the Saint Louis Zoo but it was started when the city bought the walk-through birdcage from the 1904 World’s Fair. It’s now a world class zoo and it’s gorgeous. Just the landscaping alone is worth seeing.

And this camel with the bad toupee is worth seeing as well.

“Toupee!” he says in a bad British accent “You cad!”

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Then there was this monkey, a lion maned something or other who apparently thought I was a photographer for a clothing catalog.

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And he told the lemur to pose too. Work it baby, work it!

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This lemur went for the deep look

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This guy just yammered on in a bad New York Yiddish accent

“Oh vey! What do you expect me to pose for, I don’t wear the clothes!”

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And the hippo was as adorable as a 6000 lb animal can be.

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And don’t get me started on how much I love rhinos.

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Being at the zoo reminded me of a painting I had wanted to do for a long time.

I was the Pueblo Zoo in Colorado a few years back. I was watching this goose who was sitting on the ledge of their little river. And this goose refused to move, all the geese kept having to walk around him. Then along came this white goose and a brown goose. Instead of walking around the sitting goose, they stood and watched it, honking softly.

They seemed very perplexed by the sitting goose’s lack of manners. The sitting goose did everything it could not to look at them. It was a very haughty goose and it made me laugh.

This is acrylic, 5×7.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Birdstalking Part 2 or How the Catbird Sought Revenge..

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 12 Comments

So.

Hello.

I’m trying to come up with a better opening line that that.

But I’m exhausted.

Tuckered out, you might say. Dog tired, bushwhacked, fatigued, lethargic, pooped even.

I mean downright weary.

Why? Well, let me tell you why…

There’s a catbird living in my tree.

That’s right a catbird, I said. To be specific, a Grey Catbird, also known as the Slate Colored Mockingbird.

For those of who you have never met a catbird, yes, they do meow.

They also cluck and cackle and caw. And they coo and cheep and twitter and peep.

And occasionally they whistle.

But the one thing they never do, the One Thing no catbird would ever dream of, the ONE THING that never ever, in the history of animal kind, a catbird has ever done is to..

SHUT UP!!

They sing in the morning, they sing at night.

They sing in the dark, they sing in the light.

They sing when they’re hungry and happy and sad.

They sing when they’re excited, tense or mad!

(They also make me write like a Dr. Seuss wannabe. That mocking thing is contagious)

So I decided to fix his little red wagon and fry his chestnuts. He was done as dinner.

I turned back to my bird stalking ways. I cleaned my camera lens and it was on..

I tried in vain to get a photo of him with his mouth shut.

But I only managed to get photos of him with his mouth open.

He was singing to the left…

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He was singing to the right..

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Hmmmm… that’s not working…I need help…

Oh Mr Hummingbird, thank you for offering your services. Yes, you stick your tongue out at him.

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Oh dear, Mr Hummingbird. Yes it is awfully hard to mock a mockingbird. They enjoy it, the sickos.

But thank you for trying. I appreciate the effort.

Mr. Cardinal? You have an idea, you say?

You’re going to give him the Awesomely Malevolent Evil Eye as only a Cardinal with a capitol ‘C’ can?

Wonderful..Give it your best shot.

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Hmmm, Nice, but no banana.

Mr Bluejay, You’re going to what!?! Screech it away?

No!! No!! It’s a mockingbird!! For the love of God!!! Don’t teach it how to screech!!

Sorry, beg your pardon, lost my composure for a minute. It really is mimicking you quite well.

Yes that is how you sound, you can sit up in that tree and be as offended as you like but that is the noise that you make.

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So finches? Any ideas?

You’re too busy playing ‘One Finch, Two Finch, Three Finch, Four!’ to help out a friend?

Yes I do realize catbirds chase cats. And dogs. And hawks and sometimes people too.

I also know that it’s been observed that other birds will actually line up and watch them when they are doing so.

It’s true. Everyone loves a show.

Fine, finches, go on with your game.

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I think I know what will do it.

That’s right I called the Great North American White Wookie. It says…

“Arggggg…grrrr…gargle…gargle… arggggg!!!!”

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Nothing? Really?

Well, I guess it’s time to ask the Honorable Zen Master Tree Frog for advice..

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Hold up now. It’s upset you too? The Honorable Zen Master Tree Frog?

The Catbird stole your moves? and your mating calls?

The Nerve! The Gall!  The sheer unadulterated insolence of that Grey Catbird slash Slate Colored Mockingbird!

Dummy! Come quick! The Honorable Zen Master Tree Frog needs you!

That’s a good Dummy, you cheer him up and I will settle this for once and for all.

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Catbird, I didn’t want to have to do this. You left me no choice.

It shouldn’t have come to this but when you push people to extremes they go to…well..extremes.

By the power invested in me as President, Vice President, Treasurer, Clerk, Recorder and Supporting Cast of Birdstalkers Anonymous (Quad Cities, IA/IL Chapter) I call the..

The …

Get ready folks…

The..

Hide the children…

The..

Avert your eyes…

The (and this is the technical name)..

The Dastardly, Heinous, Ghastly, Loathsome, Menacing, Razor Toothed, Jagged Jawed, Mother Nature, that is one mean looking mother but it does have exceptionally pretty eyes for a goose Goose.

We call him Al for short.

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So what do you have to say now Catbird?

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Yea, I thought you’d have nothing to say

Wait a minute..What is that? Humidity? Oh it’s Hot!  I guess it’s time to turn on the Central Air so my house doesn’t turn into an oven. You know when I turn on the Central Air so my house doesn’t turn into an oven, I can’t hear outside.

Never mind, Catbird. Carry on.

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Now I have some peace, I can get back to painting.

This is from a photo in Wetcanvas‘s RIL by Dave Slaughter. Thank you to him for it’s use.

This is acrylic, 4×4 inches and it’s a Mountain Bluebird.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Come thunder! Come lightning!

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 17 Comments

Mother Nature has been on a roll. Super Moons, fiery sunsets, lightning. You name it, she’s been throwing out the works lately.

The super moon was well..super. Congratulations to whoever came up with the name Super Moon. Job well done. Sure, Super Moon, sounds as if it should be running around dark alleys, rescuing old ladies from purse snatchers and generally giving miscreants some well deserved ass kickings but nevertheless super it was. I did not however see it’s sidekick, Mediocre Meteor, who sadly burned up in the atmosphere causing a ruckus over in Scotland where screams of “We’re being invaded, Laddie!”  were heard from glen to glen and down the mountain side.

Did you know  that last December a guy accidentally drove his Mustang off a 100 foot cliff while watching a meteor shower. Yes, he did. And then he walked away.

Foolishness comes with it’s own airbags.

But I digress, anyway there’s this Super Moon, complete with cape. People, all over the world, gathered to see it and take photos and generally have a good time. As per usual when anything interesting is happening in the sky, Mother Nature in her infinite wisdom covered our area in clouds. I’m starting to think the big M doesn’t much like Illinois.

She did however like Northern New York, where I took this photo in 2005. It was taken with an old digital but it is pretty, no. (That last sentence sounds better if you read it with a french accent.)

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The sky was on fire!

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But this is what I saw of the Super Moon.

*sigh*

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BUT! I fooled her, yes I fooled Mother Nature. Friday night, when the Moon was still quite close to the earth, not a Super Moon but a somewhat impressive moon, it was beautifully clear and I went outside with my camera to play with some filters.

Boo-yah! Mother Nature. That”s right, I said it.

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This is a blue filter.

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This is a sepia filter.

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And this is a Canadian filter.

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That was all fun and good but then a thunder storm came so I decided to try and take some lightning photos.

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Ooooh. Right to the ground….

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A little further off..not terribly clear.

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Time to try my new tripod.

Did I mention that I finally bought a tripod?

Yup, I did and it’s metal and I tried it out in a thunder storm.

Son of a…..

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Mother Nature is  a mite touchy.

And for the record, do not try that at home!

Other then some shakiness, a killer headache and a ringing in my ears which I successfully drowned out listening to Def Leppard really loud, I’m fine.

I decided to take a break from the photo thing and paint this acrylic which is 3×6 and was painted for a challenge in the Miniature Forum on Wetcanvas. The original photo came from Wetcanvas’ reference image library and thanks to PeterH for putting it there.

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.Take care, all!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Cemeteries and Black Cats…

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 8 Comments

It has been a chilly, gloomy rainy week.

A perfect time to clean the house or closets or..no no that won’t do.

We rarely have long periods of gloom here so in keeping with the atmosphere I have bravely ignored the housework and instead have reflected on our trip to Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Mount Moriah, a cemetery established in Deadwood after the old one filled up, is an interesting place. It’s the final resting place of the some of the most infamous of Westerners. Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Sheriff Bullock and Preacher Smith. It’s been said that Calamity Jane was buried next to Hickok as a rather rude joke as she drove him nuts in real life. The more likely explanation is that interest in the cemetery was waning and they needed a tourist boost. They still charge admission to the cemetery to pay for it’s upkeep.

I had envisioned a much tackier tourist attraction, I mean really who charges admission to a cemetery. Being from Niagara Falls , Canada, I’m a bit of a cynic, tourist attraction wise. I’ve seen many wolves come out to try and fleece the tourists for all they’re worth.  But like much of what we saw in South Dakota, the spirit of the west, the charm and ruggedness of the scenery and the decency of the people overrode any modern attempts to exploit it.  I wish we had taken the time in Niagara Falls to care for, maintain and respect both our natural beauties and history as the people South Dakota have.  Hats off to them.

This is an acrylic miniature (4×6 inches) of a path that leads up to Sheriff Seth Bullock’s grave. The Sheriff, a Rough Rider under Roosevelt was a tough, rugged and fair man. He managed to stabilize the rough lawless town of Deadwood and surprised everyone by doing it without killing anyone.  His grave is up on the mountain, 750 ft above the rest of the cemetery facing Mount Rushmore.

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I took many photographs of Mount Moriah as well. Don’t worry they encourage that, the visitors and admissions pay for the upkeep of this absolutely beautiful resting place.

I don’t normally much like sepia toned photos but I thought it suited these.

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This one appeared to be made of petrified wood.

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Overlooking the mountains.

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Mass grave of the victims of a boarding house fire.

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Wild Bill Hickok.

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Meanwhile back at the ranch..

It’s still raining, both dogs are soaked. Zeus being a lab is impervious to the rain.

But Sampson is soaked and he smells. So I helpfully mentioned a bath might be in order. Sampson hates baths.

And this is his “We are not amused” face.

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Normally we do this little dance. I run the bath. He hides, behind the couch, behind the curtains, or he will continually walk around the dining room table with me in slow pursuit.

Today he upped his little game and instead of hiding he chose to sit behind the one thing that could stop me from bugging him. His biggest fan and protector. Five of her six ends are pointy and she knows how to use them.

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Well played, little dog, well played.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Aimless wanderings…

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 14 Comments

It’s been a good week for aimless wandering.

I wandered here and there and to and fro.

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I met a swan

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And a crocodile

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And an iguana

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And a boa constrictor all nicely tucked in.

It may actually be a python..

I was too distracted by his pretty blue marks to ask.

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I also saw a butterfly.

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And a burl oak tree (the cemetery is from the mid 1800’s)

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I visited a mill, built in 1850.

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And drove under a rock processing plant. The quarry is on the other side of the road and the rock travels in that tunnel over the road. They made the road curvy to boot so tempting as it is to speed under the tonnes of rock going by overhead, it’s not a good idea.  A bunch of sadists made that road.

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And I painted this from a reference photo by Pippin on Wetcanvas for a monthly challenge in the Miniature forum.

It’s acrylic, 5×3 inches and painted on my favorite black background.

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And now like the elephant, I am ready for a nap.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

 

It’s Spring!

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 18 Comments

Spring! Spring!! Spring!!!

Makes me sing sing sing!!

What a grumpy looking cardinal!

Cheer up Buddy.

It’s Spring!!

No? Hmmm. I wonder if he’s heard about Zeus’s bird catching abilities.

That’s right Zeus, my lab, catches birds.

He doesn’t hurt them. He simply catches them then stands around looking like a fool with wings flapping from both sides of his mouth.The birds freak out of course. Lab spit just isn’t a good cologne during mating season. Normally they prefer Old Spice.

I think he thinks they’re small planes. We live near an airport where many hobby planes are. I quite like them myself especially the old painted bombers. Zeus thinks he can catch them too. No such luck so far though.

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He’s been trying to catch this flicker, but he tends to stay up high. He looks like such a soft sweet bird but let me tell you when his suet is out that bird yells his fluffy little head off.

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So I told Zeus to stop catching birds. It’s weird.

To which he replied..

“Birds! I wasn’t catching birds! I was catching little planes!”

*sigh*

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In the meantime since my eyes are feeling a bit better I’ve been doing some quick sketch paintings to get back into the swing of things.

This is an acrylic of the sun setting over the Mississippi. It’s 5×7 and I spent about 20 or so minutes on it. It seems to me to be a bit off balance. The positive and negative spaces aren’t doing it for me. I do like the way the blues came out. They’re a combination of prussian blue, violet blue, olive green and naples yellow with a bit of white (all Liquetex brand).

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I also did this 8x 10 of my grandmother from a very crumbly photo circa 1920. There were parts of her face that were not distinguishable so I used my sister Yvonne’s face. She’s a cutie with lovely brown cow eyes.

This is also acrylic and I spent about 30 to 40 minutes on it. This is just a quick sketch for a real portrait eventually. I’m not sure why I signed it, I don’t remember doing that. It must just be habit or my mind is going, either way, it’s all good.

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I hope you all enjoy your first day of Spring and have some time to get out and smell the crocuses, crocusi? crocs maybe?

Beats me, but enjoy them all the same.

Happy Spring!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

 

 

Twitchy eyes and pirates

~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 24 Comments

I’m suffering from eyestrain. My eyes are hot and dry. And the right one keeps twitching.

twitch twitch twitch…

I also pulled the arch in my foot.

limp limp limp…

It’s so bad now that when I went to get the mail with my hair unkempt, limping and twitching, small children and animals ran away from me.

It probably doesn’t help that I call the mail “My Precious”.

So I need to take a break.

I could put a patch on my eye. But then I would have to say “Arrrr” and “Matey” and get a parrot. I’d also have to get my boat out and float up and down the Mississippi pillaging and looting.

But the boat is still winterized and Sampson is not fond of parrots (he has met a parrot and it mocked him). And to boot my mother would be mortified if I pillaged and looted.

All together it’s just too much work.

But that’s okay, I’ll be back in a week or two. In the meantime Dummy has decided he’s capable of helping me out. He played a couple rounds of golf with some doctors and now he thinks he knows everything.

I just hope he doesn’t try to use his stethoscope.

It’ll break his heart to find out that he doesn’t have ears.

I did this little acrylic, ATC size 3.5 by 3.5 inches before my eyes went buggy. It’s of the Chicago Lighthouse that can be seen from Navy Pier. As always it will appear bigger than it actually is.

So I hope you all have a nice couple of weeks. Enjoy yourselves. Run amok.

But if you do happen to see a wild haired limping twitchy person, please be kind. Really really kind…

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012