Caron Wiedricks ~ Arts of Eden

And the De-construction began...

2011-04-15T15:58:00.000-04:00

started the removal of the siding..

removal of the base boards..

added new insulation and plywood..and it is raining

front ready for typar house wrap..:)

Rear-same process

This was a cold day..had to rebuild this entire wall as the base posts were rotten

got to move the terrace door over some to make room for a larger pantry in the kitchen when we get to that project..haha

starting to take apart the couryard

Adding new support posts and beam in the kitchen..

The de-construction on the house began on August 21st of last summer..not the nicest of days..it actually started to rain before we got the front wall closed in. All in all, it was long, dirty tiresome work that I honestly can say I never want to go thru again. All my artwork was put on hold for how could one be artistically creative or see beauty while living in such chaotic conditions. The outside work took to December-one week before the snow actually started to fall here. It was a welcome site I can say for sure, to see that last long go on! With only a small break, we started the interior logs one week before Christmas(what was I thinking???) 4 months later, we are working on the 5th and second last interior wall. Can you say 'had enough'? But I know thru all of this, it will be so worth it in the end. Just the road getting from point A to point B has not been joyous...it has been enlightening? to see how all those closet handymen went about doing what they believed to be fixes or improvements...haha. With that said, here is a photo catalog of the exterior process for you to enjoy...:) More pics loaded of the process tomorrow..:)

Should I say Happy Anniversary??

2011-04-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

If I waited about another month, it would be exactly one year since I visited this ole blog. How distracted from it have I been...A lot has happened over the past year..mainly the progression of the house. Flagstone was completed where the deck was and the hole for the pool was finally started. Digging a hole approx. 5 feet deep proved to be a time consuming, body aching process! We started building a retaining wall out of railway ties to hold back the dirt away from where the pool will be.. Let me backtrack a little bit. The pool is a 20 foot above ground pool which as you know will require level ground to be put up. Well no where on our land is there any place that is even close to level. So major digging was needed to make an area 22 feet round flat. What we have now is an above ground pool that has its north wall level with the ground..so more or less an inground pool but the south wall is on ground...if that makes sense. When it is completely installed, a deck will be built around it..about 4 ft wide made out of plywood and sloping slightly back into the pool. The surface will be painted with that granite rock they have on the market so its not slippery but its slope will hopefully catch splashed water and guide it back into the pool.. Since we are on well water with a very low water supply, the water will need to be trucked in to fill it. The more I can keep, the better off we will be..:)

The construction of the pool area stopped in August to begin the deconstruction finally of this old house! As much as I was looking forward to the process, I actually think now it was the end I was envisioning and not the road it would take to get there. An absolutely incredible mess everywhere with piles of old lumber, siding, insulation, nails and whatever else we tore off..oh, and windows and doors! Not much was left except for the original timbers inside the walls before we could begin the re-construction. Below are a few pictures of its de-construction and the finished flagstone...:)

Pond Side..

2010-05-29T10:43:00.001-04:00

About 2 years ago now we dug out an area that was rather boggy and let it do its thing. Not huge..about 24' diameter and about 8' deep in the deepest part, it naturally started growing its own plants(outside of the lilies which I transported down from the 'house' pond)and in no time, life. Even fish started to appear!.ha, must have come in as eggs on birds or plants... above you can see the Damsel-flies morphing from the nymph stage they live as in the water..

A frog that is still a tadpole. If you look close, you will see his long tail..:)

Sitting on the oxygenators....

Up close...

camouflage!!

A new addition I discovered yesturday..an Eastern Painted Turtle. Dont know if it is male or female yet but no doubt is adult. It probably measures about..5-6" in length. Will have to try and get pics to show his size..

Happy Spring!

2010-04-24T14:41:00.006-04:00

Cant believe the amount of time has passed that has since I last posted here. We have gone thru a winter, a Xmas, a Valentines, a St Patty's Day, an Easter and fast approaching a Mothers! One of my favourite blooms is that of the Redbud. this one here we have had now for 2 years and is at its beginning phase. Give it about 4 more days and it will be in its glory!

Work on the flagstone has commenced again..slowly and hope it is complete to move on within the next week or so...

The Gypsy painting of Cobalt, Tonka, Guinness and Slainte, was completed and now resides in its home at Old Mills Farms in Pennsylvania

Is this October..or November??

2009-10-17T09:25:00.004-04:00

K with the weather being as cold and windy and wet as it has been, laying flagstone has been tough. Not being a woose or anything but the fingers get numb real fast! However I did make some progress. Today seems to be can I say 'nicer' outside so hope to get further along..

On another note, I did get to spend some time creating some product in my zazzle store http://www.zazzle.com/artsofeden/

Im excited by these new products!

Flagstone progress

2009-10-14T09:49:00.007-04:00

The weather has not cooperated with us getting much done outside. But we have done what we can and are making progress! At this rate, I will be so happy just to have it all down before the snow flies...here are some images to show where we are..

Top shot shows where we were and where we are as far as the front goes. Stones are almost all in place. Just trying to go thru the pile to find the pieces that will fit into this last area. The deck will be going back up on this very front edge. There is a corner section which will be deck that is about 3 ft wider then the flagstone on both sides so it will be protruding some. Another deck will be built off this little deck that will wrap around the pool we will be putting up next year. The flagstone out front that you see above will be level with the deck. The flagstone that will go around the corner(images below) will have a 4" step up from the deck.

Top photo shows where it was and the bottom one shows today. The lines show the area left to do here. At the top of the photo is an area completed. This comes down 4" off the patio area and is about 4-5' long then will have a 4" step about 14"wide and then another step down to this level. The deck will be at the front end of the drawn line and will step down another 4" to the deck height..if that all makes sense. It has been difficult to come up with the different heights as the back terrace door on the patio is a very different height to the front door. We didnt want to have regular 7" steps incorporated as they would not be as comfortable to walking around on all the time. As well we also had to consider the height of the pool and the deck needed that will go around it to decide the height of the small square deck on the corner. I think all this figuring took most of the time we have spent on this but hopefully we figured it out right..

This is the same area but taken from the patio. Here I have shown where the flagstone will be-toparea closest to us is the area done and then the double lines are the step down and then the lower area that will be 4" higher then the deck drawn in blue

And this is the back patio area. Not much done here accept filling in dirt about 8" and putting up the ledgerock wall. The dirt we have been digging up from down below and bringing it up in the trailer on the tractor so not fun, a lot of work but gotta be done...

To help make this all a little easier to understand, Ive scanned in a drawing that I did of the whole area. It shows the house, where the flagstone areas are,the two decks and the pool & gardens. Hope it all makes sense.. The ink area is going to be the covered roof area that will be over the flagstone...one day...lol

Some of my favourite things..

2009-10-02T16:55:00.005-04:00

On this chilly rainy dismal fall day, I thought to share some of my favourite things....

My home here in the valley.....

My kitty 'Stars'....

The life in the gardens....

And my ladies, Lena....

and Cherokee...

Renovations

2009-09-25T09:46:00.009-04:00

5 years ago we bought this old house out in the country. Not old like in an 'old country farmhouse' that is made of brick or stone and in some gala Victorian style but old like in a timber frame wood General Store circa 1800. We bought for the incredible land and location..the house was an added bonus or nightmare depending on how you looked at it. The buildings, house and barn, are situated on the side of the hill and roll down gracefully to the river below which borders our property along with ravines and woods. We have a cozy view of the farmers fields across the way and are sheltered from most winds and storms that roll in.

We spent the first few years cleaning up the land of previous owners debris, Nightshade, fallen trees and used that time on the house as our 'discovery' period. Too many 'closet handymen' have had their way with this old house-cutting support beams, covering timber sill plates with dirt so they would rot, and changing the top hill to a degree that it interrupted the underground streams of water so that now they spring up in inconvenient locations flooding our basement at will. We have dug by hand trenches to lay in Big 'O' to catch ground water and steer it away from our foundations and many, many other things to try and repair and correct what damages have been done.

This past summer we decided to set forth to replace windows (since most you cant see out of anymore) and the siding as the existing siding as seen more then its day. The windows we chose white vinyl single hung with grills in the top half. This would keep them in the style they were originally but with a bit of interest. The siding we spent more time on deciding. The earliest photos we found of our old place presented it as wood ship lap with a whitewash paint. I think back in the day, it was a common practice but I really didnt want to make back to that. Although vinyl siding has its bonuses, it wasnt a material we were interested in for this project. We just knew it had to be wood. Now Board and Batten is a popular practice these days and in fact our neighbour used this technique when he built his house 10+ years ago. Looking thru various magazines and such to find a style that appealed to us and was going to make it a bit unique for our parts, I came across two.

The first was a 4" red cedar ship lap. Absolutely rich and stunning looking. Red cedar is not common in these parts so I would be looking at shipping it in.....THIS I could really go for!

The second was pine log. After much searching and research, I found a company in north Michigan that created a half log siding that would be ideal. http://www.woodworkersshoppe.com/ One of the features that really appealed to us about going with this company was that they used a tongue and groove technique not only on the top and bottom of the log, BUT on all four sides! This feature would make installing not only easier but also would allow us to not have to worry about end cuts on posts or beams in the walls thus less waste...:) We have always loved logged homes and right now was our prime opportunity to create that look we both so loved. We opted for the 3x8" half log with full vertical log outside corners for the outside AND for a 2x8" quarter log for the exterior walls INSIDE for the greatroom, diningroom and kitchen for a full log effect.

(Picture from their website-NOT our home)

Before we can tackle the windows and siding, we have had to go underneath the main part of the house and jack up the floor joist to try and level out and repair previous damage plus a steel rod needs to be inserted into the the outside walls in the main and also the kitchen addition that was put on around 1840. The rod going thru the Greatroom will be going thru the walls upstairs and hidden within the handrail of the balcony that overlooks the greatroom down below. This will just add support and keep the house together hopefully for many years to come and to help compensate for the damage done by previous owners. The second rod will go thru the upstairs bedroom and actually pull the walls back in(they are bowing out and the roof is sagging in)and pop the roof back out so that new cross ties can be installed. This one will remain for a month or two and be cranked slowly to bring it all back together again. Once it is back in place and the new cross ties are in the ceiling, this rod will be removed...much to our daughters joy Im sure as this will be taking place in her room making occupancy most difficult. This whole process is on the agenda for this weekend..oh joy!

Before we can tackle the siding, we need to see what is under the present siding but first the deck that had been put on 2 sides of the house had to be lowered as, well, naturally it was put on too high letting snow and water seep into the doors and of course keeping the sill plate, well, wet! On the most part it should have been an easy job...thats if it were being done by anyone else or more so in any other location but here. Most of it rotten, of course, due to incorrect installation and lack of ventilation so off it came. That was not on the schedule or in the budget. So before installing the windows or replacing the siding, we are now replacing said deck with flagstone. This has proved to be a very time consuming process that with our limited time has kept us occupied for the past few weeks.

At times we can really get overwhelmed with the projects we have underway but its the vision of the final outcome and the knowledge that we are saving this old house. It is afterall the last remaining building of Wilsonburg, a town that was created and built by Ambrose Wilson back in 1820. Wilson came to our valley and built a sawmill with dreams of creating a flourishing town. Our home, the General Store, was built to accommodate the many men that worked the various mills that were incorporated upon our land. But as with so many of the towns and communities of that day, it succumbed to fires and floods which over time destroyed everything that was here...everything accept the store. Our land is now made up of lots and streetnames for the town that once thrived here. And our 'General Store' is finally getting a facelift it is so deserving of so it can look out over the valley for many more years to come...:)

So in between creating my paintings, I am hands on into these glorious renovations, spending absolute quality time with my family, with my fabulous girls Lena and Cherokee, my feline/canine crew of rescues or simply just enjoying all that we have been blessed with...

Stallions continue...

2009-09-24T15:20:00.003-04:00

This has been a large 24x36 commission for a Gypsy/Drum Horse farm in Pennsylvania depicting 4 of their prized stallions.

I continued work on Slainte(far right) and Guinness(right). Need to add the lights to his bottom legs and feet feathers. Tonka, the black horse has begun to get work done on him. His eye is in place along with his mane and highlights have been started. Needing a break before I continue on him. Hope to have him complete tomorrow leaving Cobalt to be worked on last. This has been a long time in progress and it feels good to see it coming to life...

Gypsy Stallions progress...

2009-09-23T07:28:00.004-04:00

Back to work on this large commission for Old Mill Farms featuring 4 of their prized stallions. From left to right-Cobalt, Tonka, Guinness(a Drum Horse) and Slainte.

Will be adding finishing touches to Guinness today-legs, feet, etc and then moving onto Tonka..

Full shot taken yesturday before working more on Guinness..

Summer Run Down...

2009-09-17T08:00:00.004-04:00

Fall is apon us and I am slowly getting back into the cyber world. The last few months have been dedicated to home and family life here on our ranch and have given us experiences, joys, changes and challenges.

The end of the school year in June, gave us all the wonderful feeling of summer approaching, but not only us but also some of the furkids. Four of our furchildren started to experience the great outdoors and loved all the new sights, sounds and smells that it brought. They have been amazing for remaining at the house even though Im sure the river and woods just beyond would offer much, much more. Our one boy did however get over confident with his new found freedom and started to venture to parts of our property that really were too far for comfort. He then lost his freedom and became confined to the interior side of the glass. One Sunday early evening, Sunday June 25th to be precise, we experiences a fairly heavy rain. Thinking that no creature would want to be venturing outside in that when they had the dry, safe comforts of home, I opened the screen door to let in some of the sweet smells of rain not thinking of the hole in the screen the dogs had created with their nails. A few hours into the evening I sat comfortably on my bed and then came to the realization that my Shai was not. This was a highly unusual event. Shai is ALWAYS on my bed or realatively close to it...not far out of vision. No where!

Shai was gone for almost a month and it was the longest, most stressful time I have encountered. He returned early morning and nothing more then skin and bones. His purr never stopped and he would let me out of his sight for almost 3 weeks upon his return. It took a while for his weight and personality to return...but it all did. I thank the Powers-That-Be every day for keeping him safe and guiding him back home to us. I just couldnt imagine life without him..

Mermaid & Barn Swallows

2009-06-03T10:28:00.005-04:00

I continue here not to share my art but rather the reasons I love living where I do. They all give me such joy-the birds, critters, my own crew of rescues and of course my deepest love, the girls Cherokee and Lena. I have to admit they do all keep me away from my easel more then I care to admit. But we only live this life we were given once and I dont want to miss a thing my wee corner of the earth has blessed me with....I do still get to my paints for short bursts every day, well, almost everyday. Along with the Gypsy commish, I have also been working on an 8x10 Mermaid(my first with a Merman!) painting depicting a ballet amongst the ruins of Atlantis...this is a progress of where it is at...hope you can see where it is going...:)

Well as promised yesturday, I just snapped some pictures of our Barn Swallows. They have definetely set up residence in the barn and let us again shut them in last night. One has taken to sitting in the nest, while the other perches himself on the pile of boards we have located on a shelf above the main door. Im calling that one a 'him' but it could be the other way around..not sure with this bird who actually is the guardian of the nest. Just being stereotypical in my thinking I guess...lol Think I will go do a bit of research on these extremely handsome bird..:) The first image of the nest, her tail is slightly visible on the left front corner. As I was taking pics, she turned around and this time her tail was visible in the front right..:) He was out flying around for a while and returned..

Spring time Birds

2009-06-02T08:25:00.006-04:00

Baby Robins!!

The last couple of weeks have had the new fledglings of spring leaving their nests. It is both an exciting time and one filled with anxiety especially with cats and dogs running around the grounds. Last week I discovered a fledgling still with pin feathers in the garden out front. He had fallen a fair distance down from his nest Mom had built high up in the antenna tower. Not sure what to do, I brought him in and made up a baby formula (one I still have on hand from my days as a Wildlife Rehabilitator) and kept him for 2 days. On day 2, I discovered a second fledgling from the same nest out front, this time with a cut on his head. In he came to join his nest mate. Now I had a decision to make. Keep the two and feed them and hope upon release they would survive, or, construct a makeshift nest and set it back in the antenna tower and hope that Mom would return. I opted for choice two and made a nest out of an old Margarine container. I pierced holes in the bottom and lined it with soft toilet paper, placed them inside and secured it snuggly in the metal pipes of the tower. I stood outside in the rain for hours about 35+ ft from the front garden and watched and waited. About 4 hours later, a Robin appeared and hoped about the garden in quisitive and cautious. In no time she was at the makeshift nest. This was mom. What a relief to see her return time and time again with food and leave with poop. I had made the right decision..:) 2 days later, one of the fledglings was standing on the side of the container now visually investigating his world. A little while later, he was back down on the ground where I had originally discovered him talking to Mom as she flew back and forth to care for the two. That night we had tremendous weather and I did carry much concern for our little fledgling but had to keep in mind this is a wild bird and not one with 'our' comforts of home so he would do just fine. The next day(Saturday), the second fledgling was sitting on the edge and by day 3 I discovered both on the ground a ways away from where they had started.

By Monday, the first fledgling was long gone into the wooded area beyond our home but the second is still around the house-on the ground.

The poor dogs cant understand why they are not freely running the acreage here the past couple of days. I cant help but wonder how I handled other years? We have had nests around the house many, MANY times and never have I fretted about the babies as much as this year. With this one baby still in the front garden, I fear for him. Has Mom abandoned him? I hear her calling as he certainly answers one particular bird but her voice is off in the location of Fledgling one Im sure. I have yet to see her return to this one. I broke down yesturday and did feed him a worm(although I will add that he was still pooping giving me indication that he is still eating. Perhaps Mom is visiting when I dont see?) and I certainly last evening contemplated if the safety of our home was in order. Right or wrong I opted to leave him where he be in the hands of Mom Robin and Mother Nature.....

Also this past week we have Barn Swallows take interest in our barn for the very first time! This has proven to be such an exciting experience to see them flying in and out and checking out an old nest that has been in the rafters of the barn since we bought here 5 years ago. A little skittish of the people, they leave when ever we are busy in there. I have also been driving my family crazy with having to make sure the doors are open early and keep things quiet at the barn..lol last evening though for the very first time, they came in and remained and allowed us to close the barn doors for the night while they roosted high up on the ceiling fans we have in there for summer circulation. Could it be they are beginning to trust us? I can only imagine what I will be like when THEIR fledglings are ready to leave the nest! Pictures to come....:)

Progress with Gypsies

2009-05-26T20:55:00.004-04:00

This is a long time coming and not as far as I would like but progress is progress. Ive added the white tone to Slainte(horse on far right) and also to Cobalt(far left). More blue white tone needs to be added to the whites before I continue to give them definition.. I also worked on the background tree...tomorrow the whites will be completed

Morning Pod

2009-05-08T12:49:00.003-04:00

Ah, another mermaid...what can I say? They feed my horses....

5x7" Acrylic

About this Painting
As the Mermaid finishes up her sandcastle on the beach, the morning sun rises to catch a pod of whales greeting the new spring day....
From the "Mermaid" Series

On ebay this evening @ http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/animalia*_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ

Some of my favourite Spring Birds!

2009-05-04T09:36:00.012-04:00

Where did the time go? I cant believe I let 4 days go without writing here...not a lot new but some. Our spring birds are starting to arrive! THAT is always a highlight here come spring. This year is the earliest I have seen them. Friday a yellow Warbler appeared, Saturday the Baltimore Orioles and yesturday I spotted the Red Breasted Grosebeak.

No hummers as of yet but I have all the feeders out just waiting for them! This is the Indigo Bunting. One of the richest of blues I have spotted in a bird. My very first glimpse of one I thought my eyes were playing a trick. Indeed one for everyone to see as it is true eye candy!

And of course, some of my winter favourites still remain with us. Being out here we have very little traffic and one of my favourite things to do is sit out with a coffee and just listen to the chorus of song each kind of bird sings. Simply one of the best things to hear!

And this pic has been posted for Melody..:) Spotted in the pond out back..

Gypsies are starting to appear!

2009-04-29T22:08:00.004-04:00

Did NOT get as far as I wanted to today...just got too bogged down with too much stuff. But never the less they are starting to appear and with that I am happy..:) Here I have blocked in the darker midtone on their black areas. When applying detail now I will have the option to go darker and lighter around it to create muscle and depth. Havent decided yet if Im going to detail it first or go onto their eyes tomorrow..will have to see what the day brings with it tomorrow

The lawn tractor broke and we are waiting for the new seal to arrive. One came in the other day and guess what?, they ordered the wrong one, sooo part of my day today was using the push mower to cut a couple of acres. So forgive my late blog and my lack of participation today...

Anyway here is the painting, hope you enjoy seeing its beginning..:)

thanks all and have a Great Wednesday night(whats left of it anyway)

Nighty, night!

Gypsy Vanner & Drum Stallions

2009-04-28T14:18:00.008-04:00

This is a large 24x36" commission(priliminary photo to work from above) for a Gypsy& Drum Farm in Pennsylvania. First I went thru a few dozen photos of the individual stallions to get the best positions to make them appear as if they would standing together in the final composition keeping their'hands' in mind for their placement. Next I decided on the lighting and wind direction since their manes, feathers and tails are going to be a very important feature of the painting. I need them to be blowing to really accentuate each individual horse without taking away or seriously covering up their neighbors.

I started painting the actual background on the canvas and then took it into photoshop(took a picture of it and saved it) to apply the horses to figure out how they would go. This is the composition I came up with and drew in the estimation for their manes etc in photoshop before bringing it to canvas.

This is the actual painted background started. I need to add more leaves to the tree in the background still..Im not worrying about creating the tree to precise realism as it is only being done as a suggestion and to create a grounding for the horses..There will be another bush/tree to the left of Cobalt(the white horse) which will be more in focus and contain more detail..

Today I started drawing the 4 horses onto the canvas. It may be a bit hard to see the pencil lines..hope you can see it...

This is the two horses on the right, Guiness the Drum and Slainte the Gypsy. Hardest to pick out Slainte in these...

And this is the two horses on the left, the white one Cobalt on the end and the small black Tonka between him and Guinness. The hands difference between these two is incredible. Tonka is a mere 13.3 and Guinness a very large 17.1. When I originally placed little Tonka on the end, his wee size was too accentuated.

Well this is a start. Now off to get something small done for ebay today as my mermaid ends this evening. Need something to replace her...Been doing mainly mermaids & dolphins for ebay these past few months. Gotta do what sells there right? Ive missed doing the realism and the horses especially so this commission is a really nice treat...:)

Happy Tuesday all!!

And thanks for your interest!

Caron

Introducing some of our Feline Crew

2009-04-27T08:08:00.019-04:00

We have a large group of cats here, each finding their way into our home and hearts mostly by rescue. The oldest member of our crew is Shai, a 9 year old Flamepoint Siamese and the only cat we acquired by ourselves, meaning he is not a rescue. He is my baby...:)

Shaisys best bud is Khepera. He came to us from out of the woods out back as a kitten as we sat around a bonfire. A little skittish, it took a few days to catch him.

5 years ago we took in a Mom and her 3 babies who were being abandoned when their owner was moving. They all remain with us..:) This is Shu, one of the babies..

Mom of Shu is Krista. She has two more with us also black, and they are Mink and Tefnut. Krista has often been a subject of my paintings. This pic below is Krista with Mink, Shu's sister..

And this is Tefnut....

The last family that came to us was Shadou who gave birth to 3 as well-Moonette, Stars and Gabi..Here is Shadou...

Meet Stars. She also was the subject of one of last weeks Photo of the Day! She is our bigger girl and thinks she rules....well most of the time..

And here is her twin, Moonette... She is only a twin in looks as her personality is the complete opposite of Stars. She is quiet, hidden a lot and very skittish... The final sister is Gabriella or better known as Gabicat...now THIS one thinks she rules the roost and often will stock and attack our poor Shai. So much so Shai had to be put on a sedative to relax his frazzled nerves.

Well thats it for the feline side of our crew here. They all keep me entertained and busy! Hope you enjoyed meeting them!

Now THIS is spring!

2009-04-25T13:50:00.003-04:00

Todays Photo of the Day features our girl Stars. I was heading out the front door the otherday and noticed her perched up on one of the beams that crosses our GreatRoom peering down on me. Think she had a "Im mighter then thou" thought running thru her head?

Today DH & I spent the wee hours this morning cleaning up the horse 'apples' and trimming branches in the girls pasture prior to letting them out. Miss Lena of course went straight to the hay! That gal does love her food!

We are digging the top soil mound that was deposited last year at the base of the pond we had put in down below. Over the early spring, DH had smoothed out the clay base that remained around it and we have layered old manure and hay on top of it. Today we are now starting to get that mound broken down and spread on top of the manure/straw mixture so we can hopefully soon grass it. Why are we not using a loader? Well the land is extremely hilly and no loader will get down there..:(

In the mean time I did get to work a bit on this new OSWOA (4x6) painting of a fairy. Still has a ways to go but she is started.....

Hope to get some time later today to work on her some more.

Happy Spring Saturday everyone and dont forget your sunscreen!

"Gentle Friend" From the Mermaid Series

2009-04-24T05:35:00.001-04:00

"Gentle Friends"

About this Painting
Up on the beach just as the sun was about to set, this mermaid gets surprised by one of her seal friends as he snuck up behind and brushed his soft whiskers on her back...
From the "Mermaid" Series

http://http//tiny.cc/5DKge

Introduction

2009-04-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

Well this is the very first post in my new blog and decided it was a good time to introduce the 2 of the many loves of my life. Cherokee and Lena are two horses that own my heart and have often graced my canvas. They are the subjects of todays, Photo of the Day.

Lena is a QuarterHorse we purchase NewYears 2008 for our daughter from the farm she was riding at. She was our very first horse and certainly has character but can be a sweet girl. A small girl at 14.2 but a powerhouse. As a DocBar, she is an excellent Cutting & Reiner and lives to run. A bit too much horse for our DD today but they will get there..:)

The other girl, Cherokee is a blind Paint mare that we rescued last summer. She was in sad shape but has since come a long way. She has gained confidence in her surroundings and will run around with the best of them. She has suffered much at the hands of man and it is surprising she is as sweet and trusting as she is. She is the complete opposite of our Lena and between the two of them keep things interesting..:)