New Year, New Art Project

So we will have a break from chemo, and hopefully the side effects will slowly start wearing off. I expected to have a lot of energy this week, but didn’t happen yet, so maybe next week. Since it is the second round, it may take just a little longer to get my mojo back, but it will come, so the next weeks are really something to look forward to. Whooo Hooo to being able to get the nasty taste out of my mouth, get rid of chemo burn and nose running constantly.

On the art front, I got one piece juried into the Glendale Arts Council Show.

Wolf Dream Catcher on Black Velvet paper, embellished with feathers, fur, leather and beads.

It is a Wolf Dreamcatcher, and will be there until Sunday, Jan 24th. The show is open daily from 10Am to 5 PM. It is at Sahuaro Ranch Park, 59 Ave & Mountain View, in the old packing building just North of the main building and rose garden.  If you live in the West Valley, you would really enjoy it, there are two rooms of great art. Speaking of Art, I have started a new project for the new year. Thinking of Christmas, I decided to make Hand Drawn Christmas Cards. If I do one a week , should have enough to send everyone on my Christmas list an original. They are 5″x7″ and will pop right into a frame, or can be matted and put into an 8″x10″ frame. SO here is a sneak preview of the first four cards.

On the pet therapy front, I got a couple of photos of Loki during our parrot therapy session. Thought you might enjoy! Oops, Loki is screaming, I mean Loki is calling me to do more parrot Therapy……Later!…..I am coming Loki……nuts, you want to be paid now…..I thought this was volunteer work……hmmmmm…

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Where Did 2015 go?

It was Jan 2015, then I blinked my eyes and it is 2016!!!! Where did 2015 go? This happens every year, but it seems like it happens faster each year! I know, I have been on this soap box before, but really how come time seems speeded up and when I was young, it seemed to drag on forever. All it takes is one art project and time goes into zen mode and I wake up a few days later with a completed project. Or it is chemo week, and I sleep the week away. LOL, I guess a lot of it went by while I was sleeping.

So this was the last chemo week for a while, the CEA count is down to 27 and we are praying really hard that it takes a big dive this month to get under 10. The hair is really in the baby grackle mode now, but in a few weeks it will start growing back. Speaking of hats, I was asked to post a few photos, so here they are, the latest style in chemo hats!

Denim Cap

Black Cap

Burgundy Beenie

Blue Sparkly made by Debi Bell

The kitty, parrot and wild bird therapy continues, and I feel a little better every day. We are planning a Texas visit the family trip the first week in Feb, so I am looking forward to seeing everyone! George got a Weber Smoker for Christmas, so we have been treated to pulled pork and smoked brisket over the last couple of weeks. The AZ Cardinals are in the NFL playoffs, so we have some exciting times coming. Wishing you and yours a wonderful year to come!

Only 3 Chemos Left! Progress on ElK

Elk Pastel Pencil

Whooo Hoooo 9 chemos down and only 3 to go!!! The nurses gave me a copy of my blood-work from Monday, and the chemo markers in the blood-work are down to 51! That is down from 75 just two weeks before.The final number should be under 10, so we are getting there!!!! I slept pretty much from Monday until Thursday this week and woke up Friday with some energy! Not as much nausea this week. Thank all of you for the prayers, positive thoughts and good wishes!

Here is the elk almost done. After the black backgrounds, it seems dull, so I am going to redo him on the black multi media board. That is the nice thing about this time of experimentation, I can try different things without the worry of how they turn out. So another silver lining with the cancer. Am still loving the pastel pencils, need to do a painting soon before I forget how to do watercolor though!

Tomorrow is the closing of the Sahuaro Ranch show, so we will go pick up the drawing that did not sell, a couple of ribbons and a check. Very exciting!

Tonight is the auction for Triple time Blues at the Houston Parrot festival Banquet. Good Luck Laney, hope the painting gets a nice contribution for the Bird Endowment!

OK, i am really getting paranoid….the parrots and the kitties have been really good this week….so I know they are plotting something. Am not sure just what though. Will be keeping a VERY close eye on them this coming week…I hear Loki whispering, see something is up. Oh Hi Loki! What? Nothing, I was just blogging…No I was not talking about you…you want a nut…..Ok. Gotta go get the bird a nut, TTYL.

Day Interrupted…..

Bobcat

It was a normal Saturday….Ok, as normal as they get at this zoo, LOL! George was outside washing the car and taking care of the yard, the cats were all up to their usual catnaps and tricks, and the parrots….well…..were up their usual NOISY tricks when the phone rang. It was one of our Rescue and Transport volunteers, who was bringing an injured hawk here for triage and further transport to Liberty Wildlife. Our plans were all put on hold while we waited for the patient. The hawk arrived with a broken wing, apparently shot. Fluids were administered, a temporary wrap done, then another kind volunteer transported the beautiful Red Tailed Hawk on to Liberty Wildlife, where she is recouping nicely. It is wonderful that these folks will give up a part of their day off to transport an injured being over 100 miles to get medical attention… make that 200 round trip. A great big THANK YOU goes out to all of the R&T volunteers who drive so many miles to rescue wildlife!!!!

Here Kitty, Kitty…

Ripley , the African Grey has been visiting, so we have had a regular plethora of  parrot vocalizations…..luckily, I was not painting a bird while Ripley visited, so we did not have any strikes from the bird models or court cases involving wage negotiations. I think Ripley is negotiating with his Parront for more out of cage time……but there are no spoiled birds in this house, so you did not hear that from me!

SO as you can see, I got the Bobcat background in and now you are going to get a TWO FER!!! Yes, I finished the painting today and Candy is telling me to step away from the painting, LOL! So here it is, hope you enjoy…..just be glad you are not a mouse!

Here Kitty, Kitty,……

Here Kitty, Kitty….

Here is the progress on “Here Kitty, Kitty…”, it amazes me what a difference it makes when the eyes are in. Since I love to save them for last, sometimes, the painting just demands that the eyes go in. Maybe it is because it is a cat, LOL, they are pretty demanding! How would you like to be a little mouse about now…..No….don’t think I would either with this one stalking me!

One of our cats, Rusty,  was adopted from the local humane society, and was an outdoor cat when we got him. He demands to go out, but he is in confinement during baby bird season, so is not really happy with that. I am SURE some of my favorite knick knacks are going to be broken, but whatever it takes to get the baby birds out of the nests safely, LOL!  We all have to make sacrifices from time to time. Of course at this point, they have all been broken in previous years, so I am sure Rusty will figure out some other way to show his displeasure! Those orange kitties are so intelligent and full of personality!

The parrots are demanding lunch, so bye for now! Ok, Loki, I am coming, No Charlie, just because Joey Bird and Paco get junk food, does not mean you are getting it…what do you mean you are celebrity parrots too?!?!?!?! Rusty, please stop whining….no you cannot go out now?!?!??!?!? What do you mean I can trust you??!?!??!? ARGH!!!!

Half a Bubble Off

WIP#2

Today, I was lost in thought……. must be related to the forgetfulness thing, LOL! Anyway, just started thinking about the saying “he is a half a bubble off”, and suddenly realized…I are one. Yup, like when you are young, you feel young, and don’t get it when old people say they are a young person trapped in an old body…. Then one day, you wake up old, and get it…  you are one. Well, I woke up today and realized that I am a half a bubble off from the rest of the world and finally realized it…. but I have to say it is a good thing when you are here. The rest of the world just doesn’t quite get you, BUT….hey it is OK. It means you are creative, march to the tune of your own drummer, and pretty much don’t get a lot of what is going on in the world. And that can be a really good thing. It allows you to have a sense of humor about yourself and be OK with being different. But not too different…just a half a bubble off, LOL! It is nice when you find things that allow you to be like the rest of the world too! I finally found a Starbucks drink that I like since I don’t drink coffee…. now I can meet my friends at Starbucks, have a drink that doesn’t have a thousand calories. Of course that would not be possible without Starbucks cooperation in finally coming up with a drink which uses stevia to offset those high fructose sugar calories! SO there must be someone else out there who doesn’t like coffee and can’t drink a truckload of sugar, LOL! That is what keeps me from being a whole bubble off.

SO what do bubbles and Red Vented Cockatoos have in common? I don’t know, but needed something to get back to the subject of the “Work in Progress”.  Am loving working on the negative painting. Also love finding the color in a white bird. The joy and challenge of painting.

Here is the latest! Enjoy!

The Hurrieder I go, the Behinder I get!

Hopefully the title of this blog, tells you what it has been like here the last few weeks, LOL. The Kickstarter Project funded, YAY! Several pieces have been in shows, and I am working on getting the rewards together for Kickstarter, framing pieces for shows, ordering cards and Giclees, and the normal business of taking care of parrots and cats. OK, so the parrot – cat thing is a full time job since cats have staff and parrots have slaves…….but I have managed to get a little painting in too, and the Wilson’s Warbler is now done! Fixed a few branches, darkened the moth and fixed the tones of the reflected light on the ventral side of the bird.

The raffle for ” Mingus” is still going on so don’t forget to check out http://the-oasis.org for your tickets….the raffle goes until Nov 3.

One of the local clubs, AABA,  raffled off  “Too Much” at the Sally Blanchard talk on Saturday as a fundraiser, and it has a wonderful new home with Patrick and Linda Cravens.

Don’t forget to put the Audubon “Gifts From Nature” show on your calendar for the weekend of Nov 22-24!

The weather here in AZ has finally cooled off and we are enjoying a beautiful fall season. Ok, so the leaves don’t turn much here, but it is glorious outside, all the doors and windows are open, and I hear all the birds outside noisily going about their business. Speaking of birds, it is way too quiet in the bird/family room………hmmmmm better go see what they are chewing up now! Hope I still have a room left! Argh – not the door sill – we need to use that door…..um Loki, why is all of your fresh food now on the blinds? Ok, guess I didn’t need those blinds…..you want a nut…… wait you just had one….you want a grape…….the grapes are all over the blinds…….OK…..just a second……later!

Wilson’s Warbler

The painting is progressing. As you can see there is strong lighting, but it is diffused and sent different directions because of the thickness of the foliage. You also might have noticed the little Warbler is in the middle of enjoying a nice lunch. Now, that is not a lunch I would enjoy, but he seems to be going after it with relish.

Even though I am blogging, we are far away from home on our yearly trip to Colorado to photograph anything that moves. We were going to go to Estes Park especially to photograph the elk. This vacation has been a lesson in flexibility! Estes Park is flooded, they are not allowing anyone in, except essential personnel. So we have rerouted to Durango, and have been taking landscape photos instead. Net we will go to Sedona for a day or two, then to Lakeside, and enjoy some of the beauties of our own state. Maybe there will be a couple of critter photos in the offing, but it is looking like landscape, LOL! SO only a couple more days of blessed cool, then it is back to the desert temps in the 100’s. Hey….that is why we live in Arizona! Excuse me a moment, I have a phone call from the parrots……..oh……they are wanting to know how come I left instructions for their nuts to be limited while I am gone…..OK guys, you are getting a little tubby, and I figured you would not scream at my son, he is following orders after all….what do you mean the cats are not on a diet…..they are not as tubby…..DO not eat the cat food…..Quit chasing them around the house….buzzzzzzz…they hung up on me! Guess I had better go check with the son and see if the house is still standing…….stay tuned!!!!!

Blue Jay……….Continued

The Blue Jay painting is progressing. He is looking like a ghost with white eyes, but we will fix that soon! So stay tuned…….In the meantime, I have submitted a Kickstarter project to raise funds to scan the “Native Bird II” paintings, and to print cards and Giclées for this series. In addition to the three Jay paintings and the Woodpecker couple I am hoping to get in at least one Humming Bird and a Wilson’s Warbler to round out the collection. If the Kickstarter project is approved, I will be asking for all of your help and support. So sit back have some popcorn, a Mountain Dew, and you will be the first to get the latest breaking news.

Blue Jay

Started the Blue Jay this week. You never know If I will start with the background or the subject, it seems that this time, the paper wants the background first, and an artist MUST listen to the paper! It has been a busy summer at Liberty Wildlife, the babies are still coming in! Here are a few photos of last weeks patients. First the baby Cottontails, they are just WAY too cute! Next, a Kingbird with cataracts who is being hand fed. What a little cutie. Then the baby Mockingbirds, who are FULL of personality!!

We visited the Lava Caves in Flagstaff and had a great adventure last weekend. Looking forward to the next trip there! Hope you all have a great summer and stay cool!