Turtleville

It's been interesting getting gardening done between rain storms. This not-so-little snapping turtle helper was inside the chicken wire fence I have around the peas and cabbages. She had been digging holes and presumably laying her eggs. After getting hung up in the fence on the way out, she took a rest and wasn't too concerned about a human being close. After all, I DID get her to the other side of the fence!

Yes, I'm ready for my close-up!

Maggie was intrigued by this funny rock in the mud puddle. Mmmmm? A much smaller cousin of Ms. Snappy Pants.

AND THEN, I found a beautiful moth out at the barn this morning. I love how the eyes look like an owl. That would scare it's enemies away.

More Flowers of Spring

In photography and in art:

"Spring Iris"

As available at Fine Art America

"Purple Irises at Catfish Corner"

as available at Fine Art America

New Florals

How about a little dose of sunshine?! New floral art:

Hardy Hibiscus

Sugar Daddy Petunia

Petunia

Day Before April Fools

A BEAUTIFUL day at Catfish Corner! The snow and ice is receding and the horses are happy, the dog is happy, the chickens, and the humans!! The grip of winter will probably try to make a last stab or two, but this weekend and today has been proof that there is, indeed, an end in sight.

It was a great winter for painting and creativity. I loved every day of it, other than the days my hands froze so bad I thought I might faint. The STU DI O was a happy place to spend winter. Donnie made lots of suet feeders of his own special design which was a special event every time he was out there with our Maggie. It's fun to have our happy family together in another location other than in front of the fireplace. Paisley, the shop cat, loved all the extra attention. 

The walls are covered with new art, old art, and the CLUTTER is overtaking!! This is the no-holds-barred look at the world of an artist. The place is a mess but it's a comfortable, come-on-in kind of discombobulation. 

This is my world....and welcome to it. 

Fine Art America

I opened an account with FAA last March and just kind of played around with it while not taking it too seriously. But in recent days I found myself making some decisions about how and where to present my art. 

The whole limited edition print market is too daunting for me at this point in life. I don't have the drive to be promoting myself at art festivals every weekend like the real artists, do! So....basically, I'm lazy! But not too lazy to get busy and use the tools I have at my fingertips. My profile at FAA will allow collectors to peruse and purchase, if so chosen, a variety of sizes and types of prints, be it paper, canvas, metal, acrylic, etc. So it's a win-win for everyone.

The past few brutally cold days have been spent at the computer getting images uploaded. I found I have several pieces of art that need to be rephotographed because there are just too few pixels. That is going to be a several days job alone as frames will have to be removed. 

Overall, I'm happy with the amount of work that has been accomplished. It's been a walk down memory lane of images I haven't seen for a long time, too. More to do, but the the effort has been more than worth it. The site made my first sale yesterday.......thank you, thank you, thank you!

More Winter....and more...and more

The flags were flying off the pole when we had our blizzard on Thursday. The weather reporters had us on pins and needles about how bad it would be. Our predicted 7-10" of snow turned out to be more like 5"....... probably because it RAINED so much and tamped it down. The result on Friday was a big icy mess. The truck doors were frozen shut and Don had to take hot water out to get them released. The snow just couldn't be scraped off, it was glued down! Trucks were heated from the inside out to get the ice moving. But the funniest part of the snowy ordeal was the PONY JAILBREAK!!!

Since we have had all this cold weather, our daily routine has been to run the water at the barn every 6 hours or so. This means a late run out to the barn and the night of the storm "someone" (ok, me) must have left the gate open by the waterer when she put the hay out. 

Fast forward, my usual 3 a.m. wake up, and I'm looking out the kitchen window to see black horse forms out by the barn raiding the goose feed. OMG I need to get dressed and get them in! Thinking ahead, I got a bucket of sunflower seeds from the garage and came out bearing gifts to the wayward equines. I hollered, "PONIES" and they came running to me and followed nicely back to their place on the opposite side of the fence.

Once morning came I could see they were probably out FOR HOURS! There were tracks everywhere. All the bird feeders were cleaned out, they went down the lane to the 40 ac. field, to the 3 ac. pasture and even down along the creek, (which is one place they never want to go), they went down the driveway about 3/4 of the way; places they would not like to go alone, but with their herd complete they were on a wild adventure. 

Things were pretty quiet on the horse paddock Friday. They had tuckered themselves out, eaten a boatload of birdseed, had a wild escape and found out that no one was going to stop them until they stopped themselves. 

Just like kids, give them enough space and freedom and they can grow.

Arts West 35 Entries (that won't be in the show)

These didn't make it into the show. Oh well, maybe next year!

"Frosty Toes at Catfish Corner" - pastel 16x20"

"Frosty Toes" was done from a photograph I took a couple winters ago from the perspective of being at creek level. Most of my other "Catfish Corner" series were from a higher vantage point. And, yes, my toes were frosty when I was slogging through the snow to take the shot that chilly morning.

"Rough Elbows" oil on canvas 16x20"

Another photo outing involved hoar frost on a massive and ancient cottonwood tree. Tradition is the only thing holding this tree up! The base is probably 5' in diameter and is HOLLOW. I could stand up in the center of this tree. It towers any other tree in the area and it's knarly! Someday it will no longer stand and I'll be glad to have this memento of a unique and beautiful tree.