So Many Animals So Little Time

This beautiful pelican photo was

taken in SF on the pier near the Golden Gate Bridge a few weekends ago...

 And this sweet sea lion was swimming in the water under the pier where people were fishing waiting for some stray bait to come his way...

 This land dog is named Juno or June Bug and he is bonding with his new baby sister, Allie Bel in Portland, OR.

 This beautiful fat sea gull is among the group looking for fish to catch on the SF pier.

 The Pelican obviously spies his prey and is taking off to get his fill.

 Closer to home we ran into this sweet couple on a different Saturday drive.

 And these turkeys live up the street from us...

 Oops, where did he come from?

 And just in case you were wondering, Henry V still lives with us and is on guard duty  in the back yard assessing his domain.

All of this to say

Have a Very Happy Animal Wednesday!



#13 View From My Hammock TMC

Today I lay in my hammock in the back yard and looked out over the fence and liked the view.

I wondered if I could paint it.

 The top is the end result. The bottom is the drawing and watercolor painted picture done in 20 minutes for the Twenty Minute Challenge. I've been trying to paint almost daily since joining this group. This is my 13th painting in that challenge.

When the 20 minutes were up

I felt I need to see more so I used a bold black marking pen and outlined my painting and got

the top photo that I think you will agree really makes the picture pop right off the page.

(click on photos to enlarge)

This is a technique I learned in a 4 hr workshop I took last year from David Peterson of Sacramento, CA. It's the style he uses.

Being just a tad less than humble I'll remind you that in our recent Juried Art Show this summer,

David won first prize in the watercolor division and

I won second.

(It was only my 6th ever watercolor at the time)

;-)

Yep, color me proud.

*****

If you missed my late posting yesterday

you may want to scroll down and visit the link to

a most incredible video of a bird caring for it's young.

I called it the Empty Nest Syndrome.

MUST SEE: Talk About Empty Nest Syndrome

You have to see this! Best Animal Wednesday yet!!!!  And it's only Monday.

Watercolor drawing paintings of Sunflower III

On Twenty Minute Challenge, the watercolor blog, on which we try to paint for just 20 minutes and post what we accomplish there, yesterday I posted this drawing which I had just begun to paint showing the beginning of the textile art wall hanging I am for now calling 

Sunflower III. As you can see it was much too much of a challenge to get much done in that time frame. So I posted it there as is...

and then I continued to paint  and in the end did some additions using some watercolor marking pens to fine tune it.

This

still just shows most of the background done to this time.

Today I worked

on the real thing and soon it will be ready for show!

This Weeks Watercolors From the Twenty Minute Challenge

I've been quite faithful to my goal of doing at least a 20 minute watercolor daily since joining Teri C.'s blog: The Twenty Minute Challenge. This first painting honestly took over the 20 minutes, but I was trying to capture the flow of clothing hanging on back of my bathroom door and was determined to keep trying to get it right. This was my first attempt at the same subject. Now even though there are aspects here I like a lot, the top photo is more in perspective. One day this week I took my paints to work and painted between seeing clients in my office. This is the chair where I sit to talk to people.

I was just doodling with paint and then drew the flowers off a pillow in my office in black in on top of the dry paint.

We can call this one the Leaning Water Bottle of Rubbermaid!

And this was back home again painting while sitting on my back patio looking out

on the very over grown bushes and vines that are all entangled along the back fence

that you cannot even see because of all the foliage.

You can click to enlarge if you so choose!

I really am enjoying watching my ability to paint improve

even if in teeny tiny increments!

It's fun to do.

Maybe some of you will come to the blog I linked above

and join in the challenge!

****

This week I acquired my

100th follower!

Welcome Ann, and thank you and the other

99 people who have decided to follow my blog.

Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave

a comment and feedback.

I really appreciate your doing so

very very very much!

SunFlower Quilt (My 3rd) is Coming Along

I've really been enjoying my quiet evenings sitting and sewing by hand on my 3rd Sunflower Art Quilt. French knots, felt circles and buttons...

on top of machine free motion sewing, and paints stamped on flannel, silk and cotton fabrics...

yarns couched down along side of running embroidery stitches

and showing it off in the sunshine outdoors just brings all those sunflower photos to life! I'm adding beads now and then maybe just maybe it will be time to add a clean back decide how to cut and turn or bind it and have it ready to hang!

Seth Apter PUBLISHED!

I am very happy for SETH APTER of The Altered Page Blog,

who just announced the publication of his first book:

The Pulse of Mixed Media:

Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed.

It is set to be released in March 2012; and I will let you know when you can

get your copy through early sales on Amazon.

AND

I am incredibly proud

to tell you

that a piece of my art

and some of my words will be in this book!

;-)))))

I cannot imagine being in better artist company than with Seth

and this wonderful group of artists!

Color me HUMBLE.

And again, Congratulations Seth!!!

They Are Green, Yellow and Red; And They Talk!

This is not the first time this fellow has brought his birds to this particular Starbucks. These two seemed healthier or fuller than that last two he had...

They were so pretty I just could not stop

taking photos of them...

And I was so pleased with the details my camera captured of those feathers...

See what I mean?

Colorful and Happy Animal Wednesday!

Driving Into The City on Saturday

Next Stop

Hyde Street Pier

Stay tuned.

A Checker Board and A Blue Dolphin: Birthday Gifts!

My grand son never did come up with an idea of what I should make him for his birthday this year. So I found this pattern in a book I got at the Borders Book Store going out of business sale! [book called 101 Patchwork projects and quilts. Editor Patricia Bolton.] It was relatively easy to make. You had to line up strips to make the squares fit correctly and as you all know by now this is not my forte. So what should be a 16" square is a bit off kilter. But I do not think it will mess up the game playing at all. I loved going through my fabric stash and finding things like the wood fabric and stripes for the backing and binding fat quarters; and an old orange pillow case I must have gotten at the thrift store IN CASE I needed it some day....

The checkers are made from pieces of felting wool I got at Michael's (also in case I'd need them sometime for something or other...and here I did!)

I cut out and hand stitched 48 pieces of wool holding two together per checker and sewing around them using a blanket stitch with embroidery floss.

I then decided they needed an envelop or sack to keep the checkers in. So I used some more of the orange pillow case fabric turned it into the envelop, which I hand stitched to the back of the checker board. I used a piece of green hemp and a button for a closure.

Then I sewed a strip of the fabric from the backing and made a tie so the whole thing can be folded over and held in place when not in use! Or to carry to a friend house for a sleep over

game of checkers!

I think he'll like it.

This one started with a phone call to my grand kids and my grand daughter saying she wanted me to make her a blue dolphin for her birthday gift next month.

First I found a picture of a dolphin on the Internet. I copied it best I could onto a cut open grocery bag. Cut it out as my pattern. Dove into my stash of fabrics looking for shades of blue. Tore about five different fabrics into strips and sewed them together. Laid the paper pattern on the newly created piece of fabric. Pinned and cut. Then put the two pieces right sides together

and sewed them up. I added sparkly blue rick rack I found at the thrift store for 50 cents to the seams of the new fabric. And a vintage white button for an eye on one side.

The small dots on this side are silver and sparkle in the light and sun.

I used one of her grandpa's old shirts he was about to toss into the garbage as one of the

shades of blue. The buttons remained in place on this side and make up one eye

and the rest as decoration!

I think she's going to like it.

It was relatively easy and lots of fun to make! My daughter didn't want huge stuffed animals again

(like snake and guitar done last December; This one measures 16" snout to tail.) A fun way to spend my Weekend.