Gourds and More

My Painting teacher has been pretty busy this month and we have not met since the last part of October. So I have no new water color painting  to show this month.

On the other hand,  the decorative painters have kept me busy this.  For our October meeting I took a co-worker and we painted gourds. Neither one of us had ever painted on gourds before, and as you can see we did not see how to paint a gourd the same. Then when we had our November meeting a few gals brought their finished product and they did not see gourd painting like me or Roxanne.

Roxanne's Gourd

Verlene's Gourd

Gourds brought to meeting 

The decorative painters sponsored a class using Dr Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Liguid Watercolors towards the end of October. I know the drawing has issues (especially the butterfly) but I do like how vibrant the colors are. This is the first time I have ever used this media. October was full of first for me.

Even back in the 80's I did better with my colors than most, but not better with my drafting ability. Anyway,  here is my painting.

Pumpkins and Hillsides

The decorative painters had a workshop last Saturday. A rubber stamp was used to emboss a pattern on paper, then filled with gold embossing powder. then we use H2O twinkle paints to fill in the leaves and pumpkins. A good time was had by all.


In my regular painting class we have been working on a hillside landscape for the past month.

 

We took Brandy to the vet two weeks ago and the vet said he could hear a heart murmur  and the best thing we can do (besides expensive testing ) was to reduce her weight. So, I have been pretty diligent about only giving her dry dog food. Unfortunately, I do not believe Paul is doing the same.

 It is so much easy for me to control her food intake than to control what I eat.

A Really Big Shew

Yesterday was the annual art show for the Rocky Mtn Chapter of the SDP. I enter five pieces and three actually place. I feel so validated!

My aspen trees placed 1st in the landscape group.

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The lilacs placed second in the floral/fruit group.

And the cow placed second in the animal/bird group.

 Here are the ones that did not place. In one respect, they are like children. You like 'em just as much as the ones that placed. However, it was nice to receive outside validation for the other pieces. Does that make me shallow?

In other news, I ran into my friend Sheila Hutchinson at work the other day. She will be working in my building for at least six months.  I haven't seen her in about ten years!  Ten years ago she lost her job, got another job and was working in Montreal. She looks really good. I had lunch with her today, but I forgot to take her picture.

Puppy's First Haircut

We have been thinking about having Brandy 'groomed' since the spring and finally because I had a bit of a bonus ($175), we decide to spurge and and just do it.  We took her to Petsmart, and I must say that for a seven year old puppy she looks pretty spiffy. Her hindquarters looked the best, but she would not let me take a picture of her backside.

We spent the rest of the bonus on a sauce pan, a set of sheets and I think we still have seventy dollars.  Bonuses are great.

Could of, Should of, Would of

I got to kinda of carried away with my alternation of dominoes.  I really like them even before I put a rubber stamp on them.

I have been able to give them away so far, but that is a bad thing because it means I can do more.  So far I have probably done close to a hundred.  Its the age old question of which came  first, the compulsion or the obsession

I decided to try a six inch tile. And because at  the last meeting of the Rocky Mtn Hi chapter of the Society of Decorative painters was demonstration on rosemaling I decide to use a Telemark style stamp.  What do ya think?

Some of the rosemalers brought  project of things they had painted in the past to the June meeting. I am in awe.

I agreed to be in charge of finding programs for next year for the monthly meetings for the chapter.  If you have any ideas let me know.  

I have to find something the rest of the society might might interested in learning more about and then calling a complete stranger and asking for a (free) demonstration.  Marilyn made a suggestion concerning pryographs.  Know of any wood burners in the metro area that are open to free demos?

Here is a picture of Paul and his hobby (camping).

In Judy's class we should have finished the elephant,and  a moose.  I also decided to try a llama on my own (using one of Judy's pattern) The picture of the elephant is my own and still unfinished.  I should wait until I am finished to post but who knows when that might be.

I am posting pictures Judy painted of the moose and the llama rather than my own, because my might have beens do not measure up to the way things are (moose looks real bad and llama has not even been attempted).

American Idol Bus

Just saw a posting in the Billings Gazette indicating that American Idol is auditioning contestants at Zoo Montana today. Turns out that the American Idol bus will be visiting 10 small towns around the country  starting with Idaho Fall.  The article stated that over a thousand hopefuls lined up at the zoo. One can but wonder what kind of acoustics the zoo had to offer.
 
 List of the small towns "American Idol" will visit for auditions:
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Billings, Montana
Casper, Wyoming
Grand Junction, Colorado
Dodge City, Kansas
Rock Rapids, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Joplin, Missouri
Clarksdale, Mississippi
Bowling Green, Kentucky

Wanna see my etchings?

                                         Rocks, Birds nest

                                        Raspberries

                                          Chickens

                                           Arches, Fruit

                                            Woods

                                          Buckley

                                         Daisies, sheep in bit of a bind

                               Dogs, marking from twig on cardinal picture

                                         Cardinal

                                                 Lilacs

                                          Puffins

                                            Sheep

                                         Not sure I lost my reference picture.