Titled so, because a friend and I thought this was the type of place where that kind of horrific tragedy might have occurred.  We were only more convinced of our sick, twisted ideas of this old northern Indiana farmhouse, when the grinding roar of a vacuum started up inside the house, at least we told ourselves it was just a vacuum!  Ha…..certainly added good memories of painting this landscape, as we laughed quite hard at our crazy story.  This was done plein style from the end of the driveway, per the permission from the old lady that dwelled within.  It is watercolor, pen and ink and colored pencil.  I love the old barn in this scene, but it has since completely fell to the ground leaving nothing but old wooden boards and debris…..Good times…..

I did these two pictures of Judy Garland when I was in high school, before I spent money on too many art supplies, this is plain white poster board and a sharpie marker.  I did obviously, add some watercolor to the head portrait.  These are framed and hanging in my spare bedroom.   I have discovered as I get older, I am the only person in my circle of friends who know that she did much more than the Wizard of Oz with her career and some of my younger friends even have said, “Judy who?”  Augh.  Needless to say, I was quite an oddball, being a Judy Garland fan as a high school teenager and not banging it out to AC/DC like my student counterparts, what can I say?  I appreciate a strong, clear voice and the days of the silver screen.

This is not recent by any means, I was cleaning out my office, which houses too many old memories in the forms of envelopes, piles of paper and photographs, when I came across this old ink drawing I did for an article in the newspaper I was working for in the late 80′s.  I think it speaks for me, in that,  it explains why I do not do people in my works.  I can’t believe they actually used this in the  paper, I guess they thought it was good at the time, or, the deadline did not allow for another option, ha.  The paper it was drawn on has long since worn and greatly discolored with rips  and missing chunks of paper all around the edges, eliminated my the miracle of modern photo technology, but it was fun to find and recall that time, oh so long ago.

Another small attempt at an animal to keep up the mix.  Not sure if this grizzly is laughing, yawning or growling at me, what do you think?  This is watercolor and colored pencil.

While house sitting for my sister for about a month last year, a friend of hers was most accomadating by entertaining me in activities, dinner and spontaneous fun in Sacramento.  Some of those events were at her home, she has a most beautiful, luxurious and tropical back yard, one of the largest I have seen in sacramento, where most yards are a small patch of green, hardly enough to let out your dog to do his business.  This is only a portion of her yard, in which I was prvilidged enough to attend cook outs and hang outs, very relaxing and quiet.  I did this as a gift to her in thanks for her time, kindness and friendship during my stay.   I know this one has been a long time coming, I have been working on this since before Christmas and it was meant to be a present for her before that day arrived, as usual, I am a slave to procrastination and I have just finished,  and now I  have to rush to the framer and get it shipped.   Oh, to have the ambition and drive to complete a task on time.

This is Sacred Heart in Garrett, Indiana.   The photo is a little blurry, but it’s all I have.   I believe there was a convent here at one time, then a nursing home, not sure what it serves as now.  I liked the architecture and surrounding area, I painted this from a lovely quiet park across the street.  There is a school adjacent to it and across the street to my right,  and as luck would have it, they had recess in the park while I was painting.  Somehow, I remained undisturbed by them and managed to complete this piece, which, a short time later, sold to a friend’s mother.  As usual, it is watercolor and pen and ink.

Another result of spending a day with Leslie, she has a way of unwittingly (well, I am unwitting, she is not) luring me in a direction that makes me become more ambitious than I really am.  After painting this drawing I did over a week ago, I actually completed another larger drawing and started to paint it….something that rarely happens when I am alone.  Granted, this piece is little like the titmouse, but, normally that’s a day for me.   Nothing wrong with a little push in the right direction I suppose.  Thanks Les, and I’m still not sure about this one.

I tried this titmouse to keep in line with my new found interest in painting animals.  I used masking fluid to help create the bird’s furry feathers and was almost able to use the same pallet I had out from the giraffe.  This is much smaller than my usual stuff at only 8″x9″, I didn’t want to get too adventerous yet and thought a smaller piece would be easier.   I’ll have to search my zoo pictures for a new reference idea, practice makes perfect, doesn’t it?  Well, it at least makes things a little better…..

So, I spent the day at Leslie’s house, host of what has become a  great “teaching” artwork  blog site called Lesliepaints .    I have had the good fortune of being friends with Leslie for over 12 years, a friendship that has definitely influenced my artwork, as well as  my ambition to continue to paint and she was the driving force for this blog site.   Leslie encouraged me to act upon my expressed interest in varying my work from primarily landscapes and architecture to adding animals to the mix.   When I wanted to start doing this, of course, I called her.  Painting with Leslie is like nothing you have experienced while painting alone.  While she enjoys watching another artist’s style at work,  her input is priceless, noteworthy, entertaining, useful and appreciated.  This giraffe is from the same photo Leslie used to compose her piece Giraffe Portrait.   It is always interesting to both of us to see the different colors and style that appears when we do the same piece, this mainly derived from our trips through the Indiana countryside painting landscapes plein air style together.   Our finished pieces were always a world apart and fabulous to see.   An artist’s style is definitely their signature, every artist has their own and all are definitely unique and wonderful.  This was a fun and informative day, thanks Leslie.  I may be on my way in the animal world.

The people who bought this piece from me were excited to have it custom framed and matted and get it hung in their home, so they sent me this photo.   Ignore the reflection of their stained glass lamp in the upper right corner.   I thought that was very cool of them, I think they did a fabulous job on matting and I am very impressed with this elaborate frame.  Makes an artist feel good about what they do when see their work this way and being enjoyed.  I’ll certainly miss this one, it was one of my best.  But, I did have prints made before it was framed, so at least I have those.  Still, nothing is like the original.  Thanks to Depra and Stephane for sending me this.