Artini, 24 x 24 inches acrylics on canvas. Rubbing white with a damp cloth over the textured surface, I can apply this technique to the next painting. This is serious play! The painting Artini and another recent one, Myrtle At The Zoo illustrate that: whether seasoned or just beginning, artists need to stay open all the time to media-exploration and self-discovery. Even if it’s been tried many times before, there are a lot of little tricks that are easier to try out on less serious paintings, enabling more confidence when trying them out on work with higher cost of materials and time-investment. Experimenting and exploration result in knowledge and experience of the properties of various media; learning about yours and the media’s potential and limitations.

I started covering the new stretcher-frames we built last week. Leftover canvas was cut and ironed into strips about 1″ wide, then woven across a 24 x 24 inch stretcher. I have a few ideas, and will start painting this one when Artini is finished.

Artini, Shaken Not Stirred – 24H x 24W inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, frame unnecessary, hung diagonally.

I see more little green feet in our future…

Single eggs, .25 inches small, are laid every two weeks between March through October and abandoned, hatching after 5-7 weeks.

Caring. It’s that simple.

For facts about Green Anoles and other reptile care and conservation: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Anole.cfm

Bearded Iris painted plein air,44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas

Progression of work

I could no longer avoid the subject of Iris, have always thought the subject to be too cliche, but they are blooming crazily in our garden this week, are so beautiful. This variety actually blooms an unprecedented 3 times a year here in Texas! Some of the flower stalks grow well over three feet tall, with six or seven large five and a half inch blooms.

It is Green Anole mating season. A male sits on the warm barbecue and sports his attractive dewlap. My hopes are that the Anoles will expand their family here, and that they eat fire ants!

Portulaca: low-maintenance, sun-thriving, cheerful colors.

Homemade garden sculpture of a heron, which I replenish regularly throughout the year with branches, vines and grasses. This morning a sparrow borrowed some material for its nest.

White Pine Bows, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. (sold 2010)

Some paintings take a long time and change dramatically from start to finish. Others have a clear direction and seem to flow out in a day, as this one did.

Post-dated note: showcased in Visual Arts Society of Texas’ 125 Show July 24th – August 15, 2008.
Also, Debby Davis a local Denton TX poet wrote a poem inspired by the White Pine Bows painting
Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
finding my eyes uplifted; what a show!
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines.

Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
like the beat of an orchestra playing.
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines
raining harmonies; colors displaying.

Like the beat of an orchestra playing,
my thumping heart strings tug me into now!
raining harmonies; colors displaying,
I am an audience of one somehow.

My thumping heart strings tug me into now!
It is the secret that only I shall know.
I am an audience of one somehow.
Fragile notes fracture light into rainbow.

Here are some beautiful but ominous clouds in front of a major storm that just hit Mineral Wells, west of Fort Worth, with baseball-sized hail.

Bull Sharks swim overhead in a 40 foot long tunnel in the main floor Mundo Maya exhibit at the Dallas World Aquarium.

Environmental issues are emotional issues. Groups like Greenpeace work aggressively to protect the future of our planet. It’s one way to get the point across, but if we’re talking about changing the habits of the masses, I believe a more gentle approach is more effective. As one who was most assertively involved promoting care for the planet about 20 years ago when developing and selling Original Earthbags, first-hand public reactions and feedback demonstrated that negativity toward the human species does not inspire or motivate some of us to take action; in fact it can even be detrimental to the cause.
There are small things each of us can contribute at any level, habit and practices which, by now most of us are aware of.  Zoos, major city aquariums, botanical gardens and similar public spaces  naturally affect an awareness of ourselves in relation to Earth and her creatures in a way that permanently affects our perception of life in general. We start incorporating more mindful habits because we want to, not because we are being told we should.

For information about the changing state of the oceans, here is a link to a petition gathering support to increase marine reserves.