* The acrylics/mixed media painting Polypore Fungi is accepted into VAST Arts 40th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition April 10- May 29, 2008

* The Heart Shapes in Nature photographic series are available as 3 x 4 inch framed prints, matted white or black with black frames – $7.50 each or 3 for $20 at Studio 2600, 2600 Hibernia, Dallas. http://www.studio2600dallas.com/

* The Oil Pastel work Eastern White Pine is showing at the AVAA 32nd Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibit in Arlington, Texas February 15 – March 28, 2008

Graphite drawing, scanned and detailed with digital pen.

Even if we think nothing is happening…it is. Today I went for a walk through my favorite park in Coppell, and my peripheral vision noticed tiny ant-highways up and down a few trees, so I stood and admired them for a while.

While sorting through and attempting to downsize the maze of photos on my desktop and in ‘documents’ folders, I could easily spend months on the computer doing just that. My sister-in-law in Mexico has a prolific female Budgie. Here, her chicks about seven days old – April 2007.

Even the trees are bored with winter!

Eastern White Pine 18 x 24 inches oil pastels on paper, professionally framed, total size 21 x 27 inches. Sold.

Finished today, and the first drawing in a long time that I didn’t stop to document along the way…that breaks the momentum of work sometimes. This one kind of flew out for a change! It can be viewed in Arlington, Texas at AVAA’s 32nd Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibit, February 15 – March 28, 2008.

Windswept Cypress, Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, North Carolina – 24H x 18W inches mainly oil pastel on paper, graphite, watercolor pencils, white mat. Detail images:

The Fort Worth Zoo has the best amphibian displays. Visiting a zoo or botanical park can do wonders to lift the Winter Blues!

Windswept Cypress, Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, NC  – partial image of 24 x 18 inches graphite, oil pastel, watercolor pencils, mixed media experimental, work in progress. Low light conditions today, so the photo below left, is a little dark. Plans now are to erase some of the color, then see what happens when painting lightly over some of the watercolor-penciled areas; there will be some resist because of the oil pastel base.

Windswept Cypress, Outer Banks, NC, USA, 24H x 18W inches on paper, work in progress: Sculptural, windswept cypress are common ornamentals in yards along the Outer Banks, North Carolina. This started as a graphite drawing, then added some energy with the use of oil pastels, which were mostly scraped away before continuing with watercolor pencils. Hoping to see the effects created by mixing oil and water mediums.