Will You Marry Me

Wow- things got steamy really fast!

Holding Hands

It's raining today. I guess Teal Chair  and Orange Chair thought it would be cozier if they sat closer and held hands.

Quails and Blackberries

18x24 acrylic on canvas, 3/4 painted edge. $300.

THIS PAINTING has been in the works for some time now. I took pictures on the South Fork last summer of the blackberries growing along the fence at the Well's Ranch, where I lived for 8 years. I always envisioned quails, but still had very few photos to work from. Since I created the "rock sheet", my quail file has grown considerably.

#23 O Winter Sun

8x16 acrylic on canvas, 3/4 painted edge, $120.

WHEN I PAINT, I love listening to both opera and screamo (a style of emo notable for its screamed vocals). The phrase "fever pitch" comes to mind. One advantage of opera is that, since the words are usually in a language I don't speak, I can change them to anything I like, and sing aloud my own story.

TODAY I watched Cavalleria Rusticana, a tragedy about love and betrayal in Sicily. Since I was painting the January light behind the trees on the BLM land, here in Three Rivers, I envisioned the trees and rocks singing to the sun. "O Winter Sun...  DON'T FORSAKE ME...You are too beautiful..." You get the picture.

HAD SOME trouble at the end, when she screams, "They killed Torridu!" It's a work in progress.

Rock Star!

THAT"S ME under my "rock sheet". I tried it out for the 1st time last week. I didn't want anyone to see me, at least not until I knew it worked. (I don't mind looking ridiculous if it works, but if it didn't work, I'd just be a fool under a sheet.) A nearby friend has a covey of quails that come around every day to eat the bird seed she throws out, so I thought I would try there. She said they were very friendly and I could get pics easily – I tried without the sheet first.

NO WAY. They wanted no part of me. So I hunkered under the sheet with my lens poking out from a hole and –wow! They ignored me (almost) completely while I took several hundred pictures. Now I wish I had gotten even closer. This is going to be fun!

Searching For Quails

I HAVE this idea if I sit under a sheet that is painted like a rock, I can take better bird photos. What started out as a search for quail pictures ended up as a drive down memory lane today.

DRIVING up the South Fork, I passed the first house we lived in here in Three Rivers, oh, about 35 years ago, and then I passed what I call the Wells Ranch, when a memory flashed of my youngest daughter walking down the driveway to catch the bus, only to be met by 30 wild pigs. A little farther up the road I drove up a driveway to see the barn where Bron and I lived for 2 years, artwork screwed into slanted walls, surrounded by the quiet beauty of the hills.

BY NOW I felt I needed to complete the journey. Cherokee Oaks turnoff led me to the house on Elk Street, where my 4 daughters and numerous foster children thrived on puppies and kittens and Star Wars for 13 years. It was here that I decided I needed to be an artist. It was here that I left my husband to do so, continuing on with 4 children, 6 dogs and 11 cats, a mortgage and an art business that ended with the split. It was here that I raised my fist (in a tribute to Scarlett O'Hara) and swore I would survive on my own.

I FOUND the house on Ferndale with a letter to Santa. It said "All I want for Christmas is a house to rent. Your elves can call me at..." An elf did call, and Bron and I moved in. Here we discovered if the TV was in a certain spot in my bedroom, we could get "Friends" every night at 7. We also discovered how rich we were in real friends, when so many showed up on my birthday to fence a dog yard.

I WAS crying by the time I finished up with the 2 houses on the North Fork. I have loved every home and almost all of my memories were happy ones. My heart is full today as I remember how rich I am – with family and friends, 2 dogs and 3 cats to share my life, in a great house, in this most wonderful little spot on the earth.

I CAN'T wait to get started with 2012. I wish for everyone a prosperous year, and one filled with the stuff of dreams.

Nadi

Persimmon Turnovers

10x14 watercolor, unframed. $200.

I LOVE persimmons. For my December recipe card this year I decided to make Persimmon Turnovers. I came up with the recipe, which includes zucchini and onions as well, because they were the only 3 veggies in my refrigerator. Sometimes the best recipes are that simple.

FOR A SPECIAL holiday treat I painted a watercolor of the ingredients instead of the usual photograph. I left off the logo with "recipe inside" and instead put a sticker on the clear envelope- that way you can frame the card as a print if you prefer. The painting is available below. Recipe cards are HERE.

Aengus and Caer 8- Finish