Boyoboyoboy! My bad. Hanging my head in shame. I've been away from my blog and painting so long, I forgot I had fingers. More on that in a moment. I have had two journals from the "Flying Moleskins" Project....Vernon Schwarz and Dean Haven. I have been sitting on them. Attempting to get back in step, I finished Vern's and have it posted here. I'm working on Dean's and will have it shortly.
Vern's subject was anything, so I painted anything out in desert, but I kept getting annoyed by this "Beep, Beep" every now and then.
I went through a bit of escape and stick my head in the sandness. Call it malaise. or discombobulation, or mollygrumps, or manic depressive, or panic distressive or< maybe just "out of it".
As human beings, we all have problems. Artists, as human beings, have problems....except ours are more colorful.. I, as a part-time human being, have problems, too...but I'm just a bigger baby with them. I have a habit of making things worse than they are. For instance, I became reclusive for a couple of months and after getting home from work, just sat and watched movies instead of painting or doing anything constructive. However, If I was depressed, I'd watch stuff like "The Road" or "No Country for Old Men". If I was cold, I'd watch "March of the Penguins". If I had money problems, I'd watch "Falling Down". If I dwelt on social injustice or man's inhumanity to man, I'd put on "Schindler's List" or"Holocaust". If I read something about covert government or something I stuck "Shooter" (Mark Wahlberg) or" Enemy of the State" in the DVD playeer. If I saw something about the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy, I rented "2012" or "Day After Tomorrow" or "Deep Impact". DUH. Anyway, I watched" K PAX", "Godspell" and "Out of Africa" and now I'm all better.
More later...I won't be gone so long. Cya down the road................James
I've been away from the blog for a while. I encountered a toxic plant resin rom a FireStick plant (Euphorbia Turicalli), got it my eyes and couldn't see for days. It felt like you poured gasoline and pepper sauce in em....absolutely excruciating. And it took a few weeks to be able to work in close detail. During that time, my brother-in-law and best friend left this life after an 18 month struggle with esophageal cancer. It really affected me (still does and will continue to) and I kinda got propelled into a major funk. Authors have an occasional "block" and artists do, also. I just got into a mood where I got home from work at the greenhouses, grabbed a couple of beers and read books....I think I've finished everything Ken Follett, Michael Crichton, Dan Brown, James Rollins ever wrote...and well into James Michener.
While in this state of retreat, I looked up one day and noticed I had two Flying Moleskin Journals to do...Ed Burton and Vern Schwartz. Pokey and Taco Belle, my pups, hopped on me and commanded in dog lingo to get moving. So I picked up my brushes and turned out Ed Burton's Journal with the two pieces. Below....First, the original "Rock" band, and the second. three of my favorite artists.
Now...to get cracking on Vern's. I also haven't updated Windows to the Words, but that will be coming in a couple of days.
Speaking of Ed Burton....Ed sent me some of the neatest photos of pumpkins carved with unbelievable talent and imagination. It's a bit after Halloween, but these are just TOO good, not to share. Here's a couple of them.....
Pretty cool, huh? Cya down the road............ James
This month I had Sheila Tajima's journal for The Flying Moleskins project. Sheila's theme is "Things You Love". Well, aside from the "Four F's"..Faith, Family, Friends and Freedom, there's about 17 kazillion other things....like my pups, Pokey and Taco Belle and a hot shower and a comfortable pair of tennis shoes, and..... I could go on and on. But I settled for a T-Bone, super stuffed baked potato and a cold beer. So there.
Last month's challenge on Windows to the Words was frogs. I just realized I never posted them, so here they are. There were some very nice other submissions of the little slimers, and you can view them by clicking HERE
Also, this month (Until Labor Day), the Pooch Portrait Exchange is featured, with some delightful works.
It has been so-o-o-o hot, that I haven't had a lot of energy left over to blog much.....waiting for that first cool spell. But I haven't been alone in my sweltering. Below are how a few local pooches coped with the heat........
Cya down the road....James
Gary Kiemeg's Wildlife Challenge (Click HERE) for this month is the cute little chipmunk pictured above.
With puffy cheeks like that, he has to be a double bubble fan....so I painted him as above.
Aside from being miserably busy and busy being miserable (kidding)....I've had computer problems. You may have had problems such as I have had. Click the image below and see if your computer and you have had similar experiences.
A couple of blogs ago, I pictured an oil-soaked Brant's Comorant (I think). I painted this Momma Brown Pelican and her two chicks the way our wild life should look. It's a 12 x 30 Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas with image extended on edges.
In the incredibly delightful "Flying Moleskin" project, I had Irit Bourla's journal, and her theme is "PLACES". Well....there are a lot of places. Over a thousand, I think. To narrow the choices, I just picked the four places I've lived...Texas, Louisiana, Costa Rica and Florida. And did a little cartoon-like vignette of each, showing a few highlights. It was fun to do and I hope she likes it.
Preview 
A few mornings ago, I dropped by an old red-neck buddy's place. He was in the middle of whipping up some breakfast......
He asked me to join him, but the eggs were a little too greenish for my taste, so I moseyed on over to the Blanco Cafe ...."The Bowling Alley (yes, that is the name of the cafe). I always carry my camera at the ready for spectacular shots, but all I got was these photos of things you're likely to run across in these parts..
.Cya down the road........................ James
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