Does anyone have a resource for outdoor quality decal paper? I can only find the kind that needs spraying after application.

Grackles 11 x 10 inches dry pastel and graphite on paper, tidied up with some digital work

The Dallas area is notorious for its Grackles. In some areas they gather in flocks by the thousands - I’m not exaggerating - especially noticable during evening just before sunset; bird parties I call them, lined along telephone poles and wires, sitting perfectly a wingspan apart from each other, and packed full in the trees. Photos can’t even capture it all, because the experience also includes their calls. They are fantastic to see and hear; I love it, but they’re a nusance in public places like near restaurants and malls. Park your black car under a tree if you don’t mind driving away with a fairly white one when you leave.

Rootosaurus gardenicus

African Mask profile

Frog

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There is a time for work and a time to relax.  This truck was going 70mph down the highway..it wasn’t parked!

I’m just back from NC then up to Alberta soon, so no new artwork to post until about the end of July.

What Large Leaf Maples Do At Night, 20 x 57 x 4 inches Muslin, glue, acrylics on wrapped canvas, customized LED light system in back.

Alain signed his name on this also, because he spent last week and the weekend designing, soldering and wiring a system of 30 led lights for the back. He was disgusted with the eight inadequate push-lights I was initially going to use to create this Day and Night  Art. The electric source is a rechargable 12 volt battery placed neatly in the back, with an easily accessable on-off switch in the lower left corner. He’s not thrilled to ever create another, so it looks like I’ll be learning a little about soldering and electronics, because there are similar plans for the other two canvases exactly like this one. The original plan for it to be hung in any of four orientations had to be revised because of the battery pack in the back, but the option of lighting is much more interesting. Thank you Alain for making this piece what it is!

______________________The original blog posts; process:___________________

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Kookaburrahs, 11 x11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, gallery wrapped sides painted - finished today

March 13th, 2009 Blog post: Kookaburrahs, work in progress.  This painting could have been left at phase 3, but the decision to give the birds more definition and sense of realism created a whole new set of problems. For example, the composition which was unbalanced from the start, is now exaggerated and more noticable, so a third element needs to be added in the upper left corner..not necessarily another object but color or shape that would shift the weight and attention away from the lower left areas.

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Not much artwork to be posted this past week or for the next two weeks because of all the printing and finalizing details for The Majesty of Trees, so I might as well post another link to the website and promote the show one more time.

Meanwhile, taking photos is still a daily activity because there’s always something beautiful somewhere, and it sure is a nice way to take a break..

Zen Garden #2, 48 x 24 x 1 inches texture medium, sand, white glue, modelling paste, kitty litter (new of course!), wall plaster… won the Visual Art Society of Texas title of Artist of the Year for me at Thursday night’s meeting. This piece hangs vertically, horizontally or flipped 2 ways; four orientation options. Most of the Zen Garden series are experimental, seeking various ways to obtain the raked sand look without having to pay high prices for the ready-made texturized mediums that don’t cover much surface. Zen Garden #2 uses kitty litter bought at the dollar store mixed in varying portions with the above fillers, scooped into a large ziploc bag that was cut in the corner and squeezed out like cake icing onto the canvas. I still had to maneuver the medium into place with fingers because it was so thick coming out of the bag, due to the new absorption factors of new brands of kitty litter. Maybe fish sand and pebbles next time (..or any number of other pet products that are ‘way less expensive than art supplies?!)

While titles and awards can help refuel encouragement, finding our own source of motivation keeps us working and growing continually, regardless.  Robert Genn in The Painter’s Keys has some interesting words about the subject of jurying and acceptance or non-acceptance, quoting Jung, Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.

Sumac Bushes  47H x 22W x 16D inches refurbished directors chair, acrylics on canvas

Four cropped pieces of the 1999 painting that inspired this chair hang above it, framed red; the chair and small paintings are a set.

Click here to view the previous post  January 6th.

Alright, I try to work every single day, but there are days when work just has to be play for a while. This morning my husband and I had a little argument over who it was that dumped all the clean clothes that were in the laundry basket onto the floor.

(Alain, they take our socks too)