The Only Difference Between Men and Boys....

I just can't resist showing these pictures. Today was sort of a gloomy day and I decided I would go out with my camera, feed the fish, get the mail, and just walk around looking for interesting things to photograph. Well this is what I found. Terry stays very busy all of the time. Everything he does though has a special "tool" to do the job. So I look out and he really reminds me of my boys and their Tonka toys and the phrase "the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys". Terry is wanting to clear out the underbrush so that we can see the animals better as they sneak up to eat the blueberries, my lemon yellow daylilies, or even the hosta right next to the house. The underbrush is just mountain laurel that blooms in the spring and jillions of little pines that jump to a foot tall before you can turn around good, but Terry loves digging it all up with the good old Ford 1910 with front-end loader that he would love to trade in for a newer, bigger model. He really needs it to do all the jobs around the house. Michael, our Grandson has even put in some good plugs for how much he needs a new tractor.

As you can see in the second picture he is plowing up all of the grass as he disposes of the branches. That is one way to prepare the soil when you have to seed again. He really loves working outside with all of his tools. He has chainsaws to cut trees down and a woodsplitter to prepare the firewood. He even uses the four-wheeler to haul things, especially when we had the garden. To have the garden he had to get a tiller... another must have tool.

I don't know if when you had little boys and all of the toys you bought them, but he trained my boys right. They had toy chainsaws, toy trucks and cars, and loved their Tonka machines. We even bought the boys a toy John Deere green tractor when they were little. We trained them right, typical men all of their tasks require tools.


My tasks... we just don't have any fun toys to do our jobs. Just stop and think about it. Is a vacuum fun?

Terry's coming in for lunch. Later. Sally...

Friends...

Whenever I have to run errands up in the Gainesville-Dahlonega area I can count on Linda Dragonette to go with me. So Saturday was to be a fun-filled "artist" day. She had just lost her dog, Junior, so she was very sad over the loss. Sometimes when you can get out and just talk about things it makes you feel so much better. So we shared about our pets and how losing them is so hard. Pets are like family but different.... they don't ever get mad at you. I know it takes a long time to get over the loss of a pet, I think that you finally after the loss, begin to start thinking of all of the good memories of things that your pet did. So that finally the good takes over the bad, sad feelings of loss. It just takes time, but it does get better. The Arnold's are bad about their animals, we get too attached.



Linda had told me how good the Plein Air Painters of Georgia show at the Quinlan was, so we were going to see it. We started our day out at the Quinlan. It is really a wonderful show, they all out did themselves with their paintings. The Quinlan is such a pretty space now and they were decorating for a wedding reception. The beautifully decorated tables with calla lilies and lace tablecloths just added to the whole ambiance of the gallery. I know the people at the reception will really enjoy the paintings. If you're in the area of Gainesville, stop by the Quinlan, you'll love seeing the show.

I had to pick up some of my paintings in Dahlonega. So as I'm getting them together, it's nice when your friend talks about how nice they are. Sometimes you need that little extra encouragement about your art; maybe that's why I brought Linda, she is always so encouraging. Helps to improve the way you're feeling about everything. I had forgotten how many oils I had done, caught me by surprise when you are looking at paintings and all of a sudden you realize they're yours. I'll have to photograph them and put them on my art blog. They are mostly of the north Georgia mountains and river scenes. In Gainesville and Dahlonega it is so sad to see so many places struggling for business. I guess it is really everywhere, hope the economy begins to pick up soon. Seems like everywhere they need a boost.

Also, had fun swapping paintings. When someone wants to trade one of their paintings for one of yours that they just fell in love with. I couldn't believe that I was going to get one of hers... the really special one of the little barn with the beautiful light falling on the field in front of it. I was painting that day with her and still remember the scene of the golden light shining on the field and building with lots of moodiness behind it. She caught it all and now it's mine. She wanted my Green Door, a painting that I did of a little front door area at Bellingrath Gardens in Victoria, BC Canada. The painting is on the slideshow.

Always have to stop and take pictures. So in Dahlonega by the river we stopped and made pictures to paint from. The river was really rushing with ripples letting the light dance across it. Thought I would share these pictures with you.

I've really been stocking up on my artists things... Friday night Terry and I went to Margaret Dyers opening reception of her show at the Genema Gallery at ChristChurch just off of Peachtree. The paintings are gorgeous. You just have to go and take them in, the color is amazing the way she layers and weaves it into the most beautiful compositions. Pictures just don't begin to do them justice.

So after being back in Snellville a few days getting my art fix, while Terry is playing with radio controlled planes and ice hockey; we are just about ready to fly back up to the mountains.

Just wanted to talk about how important friends are. Sharing the ups and downs, good times and bad, it is wonderful to have friends. We had a good time and I'm glad Linda is my friend.

Take care. Sally....

Paintings, fruit and flowers....

Persimmon and Pomegranates

Pastel, 15" X 15"

Well here is the finished painting of my persimmon. The dish was one that they had at St. Stephens where Southern Colours paints on Fridays. The dish was really neat, metal with the embossed fruit pattern on it. A deep dish that held the fruit almost like a bowl would, but I sat it up on it's side and nestled the fruit down in the crown royal bag... did I disguise it enough?

So I finished most of the painting at the Church and then just did a little more and here it is.

Basket of Lilies

Pastel, 12" X 9"

Thinking about the Church dish, we also have wonderful flowers to paint from too. We all kid each other about the funeral flowers. We are doing our part when it comes to recycling. The ladies at the Church that prepare the flowers know that we love to paint them, so on Fridays, they'll leave them out so we can see if there are any we want.

Here is a quick Friday painting of the flowers with another Church prop... the basket. So whether they are funeral flowers or from a church service we enjoy and get good use out of the beautiful flowers that are left. Sally...

Persimmon, a very strange fruit...

As artist, we are always trying to find things to paint. My latest "setup" has been for a still life. Sallie Atkins and I went to DeKalb Farmers Market before Christmas to get specialties for gifts. I love to go to the Farmers Market because they have every kind of vegetable and fruit you can think of. I wish you could photograph in there; but you can't, so I always wind up buying things (that I'm not sure I'd eat) for my painting set-ups. Then you have to paint like crazy before the stuff ruins.

On this trip to the market, Sallie and I were looking at the persimmons. They were beautiful and the color was just gorgeous with all different colors in it. I have pictures of the various stages of my persimmon. We both bought one and then Sallie promptly painted hers. I just kept looking at mine and finally last week I decided I would set it up to paint on Friday at Southern Colours.

I managed to get most of my painting done, so I didn't need it any more for my still life. The persimmon was well on it's way to becoming soft..., so before it ruined I decided I would cut it open. Then I could make pictures of it and you all will know what it looks like too. And, yes, I did taste it. Terry and I both tasted it.... just like a peachy taste, but where those little lines are that make a little bit darker mark, it almost has a jelly texture and taste... that made me a little sqeemish, but it was really just the texture... from peach texture to jelly texture, weird. The persimmon was good though, so don't be afraid to buy one.

I loved painting it, especially the cap with all of the shadows in the crevices. I will photograph the painting when I'm finished and put it on the blog for you to see.

We're up in the mountains and they say we might have a little of the white stuff. If we do I'll make pictures.

Sally....

Happy New Year!

Well it seems like 2008 just flew by, I guess it was the year of the good, bad and ugly. The good was Terry is retired and we are kind of foot loose and fancy free. I really enjoyed having him around more and going to the mountain house more. The bad was Terry had rotator cuff surgery on the other shoulder. And the ugly... well I guess the stock market was really ugly... don't like to think about that. So I think we are all ready for a New Year, starting fresh again.

I have been doing some little encaustics. Just little 5 X 7's that shouldn't take long but you can fool around with them experimenting with color and textures. Texture is one of my favorite things. When I look at these little paintings I'm probably way to textured with them. I might try putting some of the XD Damar Medium on top of them and see if that settles them down a little. I need to concentrate on making these small ones more simple with just a few shapes. I know what I need to do, but it is hard to make myself do it.

The little vases of flowers are just fun to do. I really didn't have anything to go by, but I should have; they would have been "more proper" paintings if I had planned them. I just had fun with them dolloping the wax flowers on building them up so that they become almost 3D. It really is fun, but I guess they should really be flattened out some so they are not so busy.

I'm trying to be more abstract with the encaustics so I'm trying to let go and not worry about the ebb and flow of the wax. Tomorrow I'm going to work on some larger pieces. I have a painting of trees that is almost finished. I've decided that I like the furniture grade plywood better than the masonite. I especially like to have the plywood cradled. The painting has a much more finished look when it has the base on the plywood. The 5 X 7's are on Ampersand masonite panels.

Have a wonderful New Year... Sally