THE RACK

I came across the bicycle rack on campus one morning last April.  Sunlight was streaming through a break between tall buildings and bouncing off all the shiny metal surfaces.

I took a few photos of the little scene and even created a blog post about playing with one of the pictures in Photoshop.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for inspiration for my next painting.

 I remembered the bicycle rack and brought up one of the snapshots for another look.

I decided to try and capture the memory of that sunny spring morning in a painting.

The first big chore was to simplify that very detailed subject and create a value drawing.

 Then I used tracing paper and a felt marker to draw out the edges.

 After a few days and hours I came up with this finished painting.  Still, some of the colors looked a little muddy and others weren’t as intense as I would have liked.

 So back to the drawing board.  Hoping I’d made most of my mistakes the first time I came up with this final version.  I’m calling it, “Bicycle Rack.”  Not very imaginative, perhaps, but I’m sticking to it.

See this and more of my work for sale here.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR!

Okay, so it’s been weeks since I've posted something here.  My excuse is the calendar.

 I think one’s attitude has a lot to do with which side of the shopping we are on.  I’ve been trying to have a good attitude but it’s been a challenge.

Along with the aforementioned shopping, there has been the decorating and the gatherings and---well, you know.

 I tried out a new recipe.  A friend was bragging about how wonderful his Christmas Stollen was.  I figured I should learn how to make it since my hubby’s family is mostly Scandinavian.  Besides it gave me a good excuse to break out the yeast and sugar and fill the house with yummy smells.

I followed this recipe http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/DresdenStollen.htm.

 Mine looked a lot like this recipe picture except I left out the nuts since I was taking it to a party. I plan to make more, this time with nuts.   I’d never used cardamom spice before but found it a nice change from cinnamon, and recognized the flavor from those lovely Danish pastries I’ve enjoyed.

 Good news:  I’ve been selling a lot of paintings from my Etsy Shop.

 The bad news:  the huge lines at the post office.  Good news:  I’ve had time to read a lot of your blog posts on my phone while standing in those lines. Today I had to stand for quite a while behind a guy whose back pack smelled like a rotted carcass.  The whole place smelled like wet socks and sweat.

One other note.

Our post office has changed their sign with the really bad spelling mistake.

This time, no list; less chances for error.

TROTTING TURKIES 2014

Once again some of the family wackies participated in the Race to Feed the Hungry Fun Run on Thanksgiving Day.

They paid their money and pinned on their

numbers for the 10k, 5k and one mile run, walk, or get there however, challenge.

 Some of them wondered what they’d been talked into.

 They all seemed excited to have an excuse to act weird in public.

 CindyLooWho got singled out by a local news station for an interview that ended up on television later that day.

 The group participated in the costume competition and gave credit to CindyLooWho for their crocheted turkey hats.

 Winners of the completion won a pie.  We got a LOT of pies.  This may be the first Thanksgiving EVER that we got sick of pie.

A short video of the big warmup.

Finally the three thousand entries lined up and took off.

Off like a herd of turkeys.

 DH and I waited at the finish to cheer them in.  It wasn’t long before we recognized a redhead wearing a turkey hat coming in from the 5k run.

 His sister was not far behind.

 Another brother.  They were easy to spot in the crowd in those hats with the long yellow turkey legs.

 Beavis went by in a blur, finishing the 10k run.

 We got a kick out of watching all kinds of groups with strollers, wheel chairs, and even dogs go by.

 Here comes CindyLooWhoo finishing the 10k.  Yay!!

 A couple of sisters trying to outdo each other in the final sprint.

 Dad and Mom and the youngest Sim.

Last but not least the shortest turkey and his dad.

 We’ve burned off a bunch of calories. Bring on the feast!