Rod Lawrence, Tim Ernst, Two Artists' Nature Journals

There are two web journals I'd like to share with you that I really enjoy reading.  I guess one could call them 'blogs', but the way they are written without using blog platforms such as  Wordpress or Blogger, they seem more intimate and therefore more intriguing to me.  Both of these guys are good writers, both have a love and respect for nature (they actually live in the wilderness), and both are great, well-known artists in the area of their specialty.

Rod Lawrence is an author and acrylic wildlife painter.  I came across his journal one day as I was thinking about trying some acrylics and wanted to experiment with creating bark textures, fur, etc. and remembered that I have his book, Painting Wild Life Textures Step by Step (just noticed when making this link that this book is now out-of-print.  You might try Alibris or Amazon - can view inside book at Amazon - or one of your favorite used book sites to locate it if interested in getting one).  After reading a while, I thought I'd look him up on-line to view his website and was pleasantly surprised to see that he occasionally writes about happenings in and around his home in a journal format.  Although his postings are sporadic (like someone else i know), he states he only posts when he finds time and is just trying to give readers a feel for what life is like at his wilderness home in Michigan.

Tim Ernst, a nature photographer,  is very well-known in these parts and throughout Arkansas, as well as outside the state.  He lives close to the Buffalo River which he calls Cloudland.  His Cloudland Journal is very similar writing to Lawrence's - about living with nature, but with many more photos and posts.  Although I have a tiny patch of woods and hollow behind my home, I don't live at all in a wilderness area like these two men, which is why I so enjoy reading their journals.  And because I respect the ruggedness of the Arkansas wilderness, I have a great appreciation for the way they live.  Their writings reflect a simple, quiet but sometimes rugged life, yet I'm sure these two men lead very busy lives with such successful careers and can only imagine that they relish being home from their many travels on the road.  I had a chance to attend a slide presentation given by Ernst a couple of weeks ago, promoting his new coffee table book, Arkansas Autumn, and his trip to Iceland with Iceland nature photographer, Daniel Bergmann, but I missed it and of course am now regretting doing so.  I'll just have to catch him next time around.  I came across his journal because I've really been concentrating on my photography lately and wanted to view his recent work.  I hope to some day take one of his workshops.

So sometime on a cold winter's day, like me, you might like to curl up with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa by the comfort of your own fireplace (or electric space heater) and go into the wilderness via Tim and Rod's writings.  Happy reading, and if I don't get around to posting again before Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Layla

In loving memory of 'Layla'

This summer has really thrown a curve ball our way.  We lost our beloved Layla in May, due to a sudden illness.  Not sure what of, but at the time I didn't have the heart to have a necropsy performed.  Now I wish I had, as I think it would have given us some closure, but it was narrowed down to either tick fever, a toxin, or perhaps liver or some type of blood disease.  I had always suspected and mentioned to my husband a time or two that  I felt Layla may only be with us for a short time, as she always seemed a little frail and sensitive to illnesses.   She was so very special though.  Yes, all pets are special in their own way; however, I've never had such a bond with any pet in the way I had with Layla.

This happened just after the loss of my husband's Aunt (who we are also still mourning) who passed away earlier that month and it just so happened that we had taken in her three cats (Layla did not get her illness from them as I had them checked out and vaccinated as soon as they arrived).  So, it's been a period of adjustment for all of us here in pet menagerie land. Now, we're home to 2 dogs, 4 cats, and a Cockatiel. Oh, and with 2 fish, we've got most every level of the food chain covered.


Samantha, age 14 (pardon the blurred photo) is
pictured below.  She's so sweet. She snores when she sleeps!













We're taking it real slow.  The kitties stay in my studio at night.  Of course Samantha's whole world seems to encompass just that room.  She mostly sleeps on Aunt Betty Jo's blanket under my easel in the corner and eats, but loves to be petted and purrrrrs up a storm when brushed.  Guess she'll become the main 'studio cat'.

Gracie (Layla's sister) is not so sure about this 'invasion', but she seems to be adjusting fine.  Gracie has really helped us in getting over the loss of Layla, although it's very hard getting used to no longer seeing 'double' as they looked almost identical except for the different lengths of their Manx tails and Layla had a small white 'spot' on her head.  

It was 5 years ago on June 10th that I first saw these two little ones.  I was out sightseeing in a little town in NW Arkansas when I drove by a lady's house who was having a garage sale with her daughter.  The kittens were in a cardboard box in her front yard.  I could tell immediately these weren't your ordinary mixed-breed kittens, their markings were beautiful, and their fur was snow white, with 'points' like Siamese kittens.   There were four in all, so I asked, "do you mind if I take two?"  "Not at all!"  the daughter said, as they were her kitties.  I picked each one up and looked carefully into their eyes.  Layla I knew instantly was going to be a gorgeous cat.  Even though most kittens' eyes are blue, hers were intense at eight weeks, and her little 'riser' Manx tail made her look like a little bunny rabbit.  So choosing Layla was easy.  I knew they were probably some sort of Siamese, but the Manx tails were throwing me.  "Are they a particular breed of some kind?" I asked the girl, although it's never mattered to us, we've never been picky (but after having these two, I must say I'll not be content without having at least one  Lynx Point Siamese in my life forever).  "The mother is full blood Lynx, but she's brown, so I don't know why they all turned out white," she replied with her hands on her hips.  Well, I didn't know what the heck she was talking about.  The only 'Lynx' I'd ever heard of was the wild kind, and when she said hers was 'brown', that really threw me.  I'll have to Google it when I get home, I thought.  I have always wished I could have seen their mother.  I'll bet she was beautiful.  So now for the second kitty.  I chose Gracie, because she was the only one left with a 'stubby' tail and the Manx tails were so cute.  Besides, we had never had a Manx cat before, much less two.  The mother and daughter gladly ran and fetched me a cardboard box to put them in for the ride home beside me in the truck.  They would have given me all four kittens if I'd asked, which I was tempted, but knew hubby would have a conniption, so thought I'd better hurry up and leave before I weakened.

I can't tell you how excited I was about these two kitties!  We had lost our latest beloved cat, Bosco, of 14 years that previous Christmas and we were now ready for a new one...or two.  We had never bought 'litter mates' before.  It would be so much fun seeing them grow up together (and boy, was it). All the way home, brave little Layla kept trying to climb out of the box, but not Gracie, she was just fine in that safe, dark space.  And their personalities have remained the same to this day.  Layla was always the adventurous brave one, always pushing the envelope.  Always jumping over the fence, just to prove she could.  I would clap my hands and say "Layla, get back in this yard, girl!" She would make her tiny 'kitten meow' (which must be a trait unique to their type/breed) and reluctantly jump back into the yard.  Gracie on the other hand, is content to lay on the back deck all day, and has never once even tried to climb or jump over the fence.

Layla is buried just on the other side of the fence, which was her favorite place in the world to be, now among our other pets who have passed on, and we can see her headstone from our back windows.

Thank you sweet Layla, for your love and unforgettable memories...

Watercolor Palettes - Homee, Holbein, Craig Young (Oh my)

I've spent the last 2 days researching metal folding watercolor palettes for plein air use and have come to the conclusion that what I have currently - a plastic 'Homee' palette which I think I purchased from Art Xpress, is looking better all the time!  I have the 'small' size.  It offers more mixing areas and has a small rubber 'seal' around the edge which keeps my pigments moist and also helps prevent spillage when closed.  The clear plastic mixing area that fits in the lid is removable for cleaning, so the white lid itself it can also be used as an extra mixing area if needed.

However, lately I've been toying with the idea of using a palette I can hold in my hand, as I sometimes feel I can't get to my colors fast enough when painting.  I've tried different ways to position it closer to my board while painting en plein air, but I still tend to 'hit' the easel with my brush a lot when going back and forth between palette and board.  Since my left hand is usually just holding extra brushes, thought I'd try holding a palette in it instead (and could still hold a brush or two/my small mist bottle).  So that would require a palette with either a 'thumb ring' mounted underneath the palette or a thumb hole, neither of which the Homee palette has.

I really like the palette used by Alvaro Castagnet, but after much, much searching to find the maker of this palette, I discovered that it is way out of my piddly little price range, not to mention that the waiting list to get one is months.  It's one of those little jewels that I can only dream of some day owning, if ever.   Craig Young is the maker of these beautiful watercolor palettes, and I literally mean 'maker', as each one is hand-made, signed and numbered, thus the high cost (approx. $400.00 USD for the 'Paint box' model which I like).  They are truly works of art.  You can see them on line at the Paint Box Company.  Drool away...

The following are threads that led me to Craig Young's Watercolor Palette:

Wet Canvas - This Wet Canvas thread is finely where I found it.  At the bottom of the page are images of the long anticipated arrival of an artist's one-of-a-kind Craig Young Palette which had just arrived to his home.  As your scrolling to bottom of page to view images, pause to view an image another artist posted of a Craig Young painting.


Painters Online - Artist 'Harry' describes going to Young's home and workshop to pick up his palette in person.


Well, in my dreams.  If I do purchase a palette, it will probably be Holbein's 1000 series which Art Xpress is offering for a great price of around $72.  A lot of artists seem to like this palette (I think it's what Zbukvic is using in his videos).   Be sure though, if purchasing one, that you get the Holbein brand, as there are some Holbein 'look alikes' out there.

Well I was thinking, there must be some way, since I like my Homee palette just fine for now, to rig something so I can hold it in my left hand while painting.  This is the ceramic artist in me, making one's own tools is part of the fun of being a potter (but I'm always trying to think of ways to 'fix' a problem).  I thought of a small plastic oil/acrylic palette that came with an old paint box I bought at a garage sale a few years ago.  Even though covered with dried up paint, I knew all it needed was a good scraping and it would be good-to-go.  It has the perfect shape - about 5" wide x 10 1/2 " long - perfect to velcro my watercolor palette to!  Using Velcro would enable me to quickly remove it for cleaning, storage, or to use laying flat.



I scraped the paint off and here's what it looks like:
 The thumb hole for this little palette is very comfortable, which is why I saved it. 

Then, I laid my open palette on it to see how it 'felt'.  It felt just fine on my arm, with the paints at the top, just like I prefer.  The lid, or large palette area rests perfectly against the inside of my elbow.  Now, where's that extra black Velcro tape I saved from my last hair-brain project..  then again, that Holbein 1000 sure is purdy...

In the Hollow

Looking across the hollow at the fallen trees from last year's ice storm.

I have always loved snow - to take a woodland walk in virgin snow feeds my soul, so I-for-one was glad for the small amount we received.  It's strange how the snows began exactly one year after the devastating ice storm of last year.   A group of small young bucks along with a doe or two have been passing through, proudly strutting their two-point racks, but I've yet to catch them with my camera.

I painted the scene below Thursday morning en plein air. After about an hour, I had to return to the house (which was very close by, just up the slope) to let my feet thaw out and to dry the watercolor paper. It just would not dry in the cold air. Then I returned to the site and finished painting it. I knew it was not a keeper, but was determined to follow through with the experience.  I then returned to the studio, and after seeing that there was no saving such a pitiful painting, pulled up this photo (which I try to always take for reference when painting on site) on my computer monitor.

My view for the painting.

I then flipped over the painting and re-taped it to my gatorboard, and started again.  I was using Sanders Waterford BTW, which personally, I'm not crazy about, although, as some artists claim, it doesn't seem to buckle as much as other brands.  The unfinished result is below.   I'm not after pretty colors and reflections on the snow, but a moody, dark woodsy effect, so I probably could have used even less warm colors and gotten closer to the mood I'm after.  I just kept glazing the background over and over with blues to get the needed value, but now probably need to go a shade darker with the middle-ground, right?  Snow scenes are so easy to mess up in watercolor!

My painting in progress...

So far, I'm pleased with this one, as I think I'm ever-so-slightly getting closer to being able to portray the deep woods the way I want.  Like I did when I painted the pines.  It has been my biggest struggle (or should I say 'goal', as there are way too many struggles to list) since going back to watercolor.

Now, I'm sure your asking, "hey, where's your original plein air so I can compare?"  Well  (conveniently) it's on the reverse side of this painting, taped to the gatorboard!  But believe me, it was bad.  I'll let you know how this second attempt comes out (or maybe not, depending how much I mess this one up).  Here's to learning...

Yep, I've changed my blog background yet again (the pains of being a Gemini). Gone to the dark side, gettin' serious here...

Inspiration: Gerit Grimm

This is just a quick post for inspiration. I discovered this artist, Gerit Grimm, via Ceramics Arts Daily Newsletter and was so inspired by her talent and creative use of the 'wheel', I just had to share it. Even if your medium is something other than clay, her encouraging words of wisdom and inspiration on the subject of art in general are worth viewing. I was actually working on another post when I came across this so I hope to post that within week's end. It involves a step-by-step painting using masking fluid. Let me and others know who, or what, was your inspiration recently. Til the next post, good luck with your endeavors...

Thoughts on Popularity of Plein Air, Updates posted (by others) on Peel Mansion Paint-out, Goals, Sun-Eden Watercolor Tripod

Well, unfortunately I never made it to Phoenix as I was not yet over my illness, but now am better and ready to re-group and get back to work. Was so sorry not to make it to my great-niece's graduation, but was able to talk to her that night and sounds like everyone had a great time. Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. The weather was rainy here. My hubby finally got to grill his steaks yesterday but it started raining on him again just as he was finishing up. Umm, they were delish!

As for an update on the Peel Mansion Paint-out, I've posted a couple of links in the column on the left side of this blog under 'Recent and Upcoming Events in Arkansas' regarding how it went. Looks like it was very successful and I'm so happy as that means it will surely become an annual event. Hopefully, Heart of American Artists' Assoc. (founded by John Lasater and Todd Williams) and Peel Mansion have started the ball rolling as far as getting other organizations interested in sponsoring plein air events.

I don't know if it's just that I'm so aware of everything 'Plein Aire', but am I wrong in feeling lately that in the U.S., and maybe worldwide, Plein Air painting may be experiencing a renaissance similar to what happened with the popularity of gardening over the last 10-20 years? I know personally, I started my fascination with plein air back in the late '70's, but there was no internet to search the subject. Also, I was busy working and mothering at the time so my only connection to the art world was via books. But there weren't many on Plein Air painting like there are today, and certainly not the number of videos currently being made! Anyway, if it's truly going through a 'rebirth' I'm thrilled. I do feel that, as in gardening's comeback, it can be related to one's desire to get back in touch with our earth and with nature, especially in such times as being so disconnected due to technology, with global warming, and from a strictly artistic POV, that our greatest teacher is Mother Nature herself. What's your take on this thought?

I received my new Sun-Eden easel and I can't wait to try it out! The one I purchased was the 'Heavy-duty Plein Air Tripod'. I was concerned about the 'travel adaptor' (the part that holds your canvas/watercolor board) being plastic; not to worry, it seems strong enough to hold up even to pretty windy conditions. I am concerned though about the tripod. It's a bit bulky when folded up and at first I could have sworn it was heavier than my old tripod. But I went back and re-read the specs on both and even weighed each one on my postal scale and sure enough, the Sun-Eden tripod is slightly (every ounce is being counted!) lighter than my old one. I guess, because of it's bulkiness when folded, it visually appears heavier. Anyway, the bulkiness makes it a bit cumbersome so I'll just have to see. The plastic tray that holds one's palette, etc. is very nice too. I'll give an update on it after I use it.

My goals for this week:

• Do some plein air painting with my new easel!

• Prepare some pots for glazing; I've ordered some more ^6 'Buff' clay from Flint Hills Clay works.
  

• I want to make some changes to my website i.e. colors, etc.

• I've made a new goal to dedicate the equivalent of at least one hour a DAY in my yard / gardens. It's the only way I'm ever going to get my yard looking half-way decent or the way it should!

• Although it's very time consuming, and I probably won't get the time to do it (such negativity, I should strike this!), I want to make a new 'winter to spring' video to replace the 'March' one for my blog.
  

Until my next post, happy painting, gardening, photographing, or whatever!

Watercolor, Pastels

With the winding down of winter and the last bit of snow we had recently, I've wanted to re-visit an idea to paint from a photo of some snow-covered echinaceas that I made last winter.

This is the photo I chose to work from. I had painted them once or twice before, but was unhappy with the results.

The first watercolor I did, I was so disgusted with it that after a few days (battling the saying, keep all your paintings, you can sometimes salvage them or at least have them to learn from or assess your progress), I could stand it no longer and covered it up with gesso. I had tried some maskit on the stems and snow and did not like the results, but then I never do. I have to agree with others that it takes practice and using [maskit] is an art in itself. I think my main mistake was trying to stay too close to the composition of the photo and not using my artist's license to create a more interesting composition (one of the pitfalls of painting from photos). A horizontal format, it had more flowers plus too much detail (same as the photo) in the background, resulting in a very busy painting - not at all the mood I was after. I know you're probably thinking 'why didn't you show us the first painting so we could see for ourselves?' Ha! Too late, already painted over it. Besides, I thought I would spare your eyes and my embarrassment.

I sometimes think about things for a very long time before making my next move. If you read my post about 'artistic thinking', you'll understand me when I say that I've had this on the back burner since the day I took the photo. That would be over a year, maybe longer. So, at times I would think that just a triad (is that the word? I forget my art history sometimes) composition of flowers would be best. I have to work through my thinking/creating process, putting the pieces of my ideas together, before getting to the end result. So that's why I first tried the horizontal format which was similar to the photo. Then I can say okay, been there done that, got it out of my mind, now on to the next step.

I knew then that I needed to return to my early thoughts of focusing on only a few flowers to make a more interesting painting. I made a few rough sketches (in my mind as well), before drawing this detailed pencil sketch on tinted paper.

This time, I did away completely with the background, and only used three flowers, the main one in the center that attracted me in the first place because of its interesting stem shape, and placed the ones on either side to balance the composition and lead the eye up to the center flower and back around to the center stem. And since I was only using three flowers, I changed the format from horizontal to vertical. Just for fun, I added some colored pencil to the sketch.


Here's my second attempt, a watercolor on a quarter sheet of Waterford 140 lb. cold press paper (the flip-side of the gessoed 1st painting). For the background, I chose to abstractly use the colors, wet-in-wet, that were actually there to compliment the warmth of the flowers' stem colors. And oh yes, I tried masking fluid again on this painting, and still was not satisfied with the results. I need to go in and soften up some of the edges of the snow and also some of the stem edges, before I chuck this one to the done that pile.






Snowcones
Pastel, 9.5" x 13"

Here's my third redo, using pastels and I'm much happier with the results. Did this on Fabriano Tiziano drawing/pastel paper, a small sheet approx. 9.5"x 13" with a gray ground, which gave the 'cold and quiet' feel I was after.

Using the blue-gray paper also saved on pastels and time. Pastels are so expensive! I absolutely love the medium, and for a long time have wanted to get into them more, but the investment in the sticks, good grief. And then there's the problem of archiving and framing; guess I need to purchase some glassine - suggestions anyone?

Let me know your experiences with your creative process, and your opinions. Let's have an 'art to art' talk!

Tuesday, I painted in the hollow and am itching as I type this from a couple of tick bites received on that outing. I'll let you know how that went on my next post.

A Farewell to Old Friends

It's been a busy but also a melancholy week here
at home. The 'tree guys' finally removed all of our beloved pine trees (the ones my father gave me 28 yrs ago, just before he passed away) that were severely damaged from the Feb. ice storm. I've been dreading this day for several years. Funny, but I almost had these trees removed before the Christmas holidays, and backed out. As I hung up the phone with the tree service, telling them NOT to come, that I had changed my mind, I had a sinking feeling and thought, I hope I haven't jinxed us. This will probably be the year we get a bad ice storm. My husband and I continued to halfheartedly joke about that, saying we were certainly 'due' one as it had been several years since the last big ice storm. Well, as it so happened, it couldn't have worked out better, because the storm did just enough damage to make the decision easier without taking out our home. We're so lucky they didn't come crashing down on the house during the night. This week, just feeling the deep, vibrating 'thud' as each gigantic trunk hit the ground was enough to reassure us that we made the right decision to get rid of them before they take us down in the next storm. They would easily have split the house right in two.

You can see in the photo on the right how 'thinned out' the pines were from the ice damage. Of course I think they would have recouped fine, but they were just getting way too tall and were too close to the house, as were several of our oaks (notice in 3rd photo on right, the 2 oaks standing, now stripped of their limbs, trunks shortened, and ready to fall, how close they were to the house) . The old oak tree on the side of the house was the last to go. So sad, as it was a gorgeous tree, but it pounded our roof all night during the ice storm and if that tree had snapped, well, it was right up against our house. It's the one that kept me running all during the night of the storm as each limb that snapped crashed to the roof. We would grab our flashlights and cautiously peek into the bedroom to see if any limbs were protruding through the ceiling. Luckily, they never did. As much as I hate to see all these beautiful trees go, I know we'll rest easier, especially at night when a storm's coming. We lost a total of 15 trees in our yard, 7 of which fell from the weight of the ice, but fortunately, we were able to save many, or at least give them a few more years, by pruning the damaged limbs.

One good ending to all this though - knowing that this day would come, I have been saving seedlings from my Dad's pines and should continue having some for a few seasons, as I've also been collecting the pine cones and I know the yard is still full of seeds. I have been transplanting the seedlings in the hollow (they're not too happy there though-too much competition for sun). I'm trying to find some good sunny spots to plant some along the back yard at the wood's edge - well away from the house! Hopefully, I'll be able to continue my father's imprint on our property (which, regrettably he never got to see) and his love for southern pines.

My goals for tomorrow:

• Finish mixing up some glaze recipes - had to order some more chemicals before I could finish up.
  
• Play around with some new water-based oils I purchased a while back.
• Maybe make some more clay pendants. I'm having fun with these, but have no idea how they are going to turn out.
  
• And I'm STILL archiving photos - been doing this all week!

As I'm posting this, a tornado warning has just been issued in parts of Oklahoma, and probably headed this way. Hey, that's okay, at least we've taken care of the tree issue, now we just have to worry about the house...

Re-designed my Blog, XML Note-Taking Tips101

Well, as you can see, I've been busy the past couple of days re-designing my blog site. The dark background and colors made it seem just to 'doom 'n gloom' so I decided to spruce it up a bit by lightening everything up, especially the background color. I've also wanted a 3-column design since the beginning but just now found a site's tip/instructions that actually worked for me. I use Google's 'Denim' template. If you're wondering where I found the instructions for how to change that template from 2 to 3 column, go to Computer Consultant's blog site. I'm trying to think if there are any tips I need to give you before you try it.

[March 23rd: I'm adding this advise a few days later to this post - did not see the sense in putting a whole new 'addendum' post separate from this one - I forgot to mention the most important thing I discovered to make these instructions work! After you follow the instructions Computer Consultant gives you for your 3-column blog and try to preview your blog, you may get a message from blogger like I did, that says something like 'can't load your template, this 'widget' is not loadable' (can't remember the exact wording). I then went back to view the html template, and where Comp. C. had me put in the info for my 'Profile' widget, I removed that from the html. Then blogger allowed me to view my template, but wait! It did not look 3-column - it just looked the same except my 'body content' was shifted to the left of the screen. Well, here's where you need to go to 'Layout' and there you will see that indeed you DO have a left column 'add a gadget' there. Yes! Now go ahead and add a widget using the left-column's 'add a gadget'. It doesn't matter what you add, it can be anything for now. This will get your left-column started. Then you must add your following gadgets BETWEEN the 'add a gadget' widget and your first widget or else it will 'jump' over to the right-column. After you've added a few widgets using that column's 'add a gadget', you can go back and remove the first widget if you want. You have to use the left-column 'gadget adder' because you'll notice that at first, you're not able to move widgets from the right-column to the left. However, after I added a couple of widgets, I was then able to move them from left to right and vice-versa; however, you'll notice that doing so is a bit tricky for the last widget in both L. and R. columns, because of the html coding, they don't want to stay put if you try to add them to the end of either column, so you have to 'lock' them in place by first putting them 'between' widgets on whichever side you want, and then you can move them up or down anywhere within that column. Hope this tip helps - it's key to making these instructions work! My apologies for failing to mention it the first time I posted this.]

Note: These tips are for those of you who are into customizing your blogsite, in this particular case, a 'google' template. However, the tips I give below can be applied to any xml/html file.

Of course you want to be sure:

• To first save your current template using the prompt within your google blogger account before making any changes. Go to 'Layout', 'Edit Html', and click on 'Download Full Template'.
  

• I printed off Computer Consultant's instructions prior to making any changes. Just makes it more convenient, also nice to have in case I forget (senior moments are comin' faster these days) where I got these instructions.

• I keep a notebook of my css/xml/html tips and info for my website and blogsite.I jotted down beside each 'change' on this printed off sheet, what I initially had in my css, so that I would know what my original dimensions were in case I see that I need to tweak it a bit before saving. Of course if you don't like the result or it doesn't work, you have your saved template (I hope!) you can just reload that, but this is a habit I started a long time ago, and it comes in handy sometimes for re-adjusting widths, etc., so I continue to do it.

TIPS: You can also make note of what you are doing within your html editor by preceding your note with a bracket (<) followed by an exclamation (!) and two dashes (--) and ending it with 2 dashes (--) and a closing bracket (>). Do not space between the bracket, exclamation, nor the dashes; however, you can space anywhere between these note tags. As long as you do this within the body of your html document, it will not show up on your site. It's only for you're own benefit or to explain to others what you have done. Sort of like 'note taking'. I use this puppy a lot to remind myself of what I did and why. I'm quickly learning with blogging, there are SO many gadgets that require embedding code into the body of my blog, that there is no way on earth I can remember why I put it there (sometimes I can't tell what it is just by reading it) unless I make note of it, so I use this tag to do so.

For making notes in the 'css' part of your html (that's the listing of 'div' elements or 'styling elements' given above the 'body' part of your html document), you can use /* before your note and end it with */ which is great for noting details of what, why, and where that particular Div element will show on your site.

If you want to see how I use these 'note' tags:

Go to my website (really, I'm NOT trying to plug my site, just want to show an example of how I use this tip, yeah right) and do a 'view page source' by placing your mouse on the site; right-click your mouse and choose 'view page source'. If you can't do it that way, go to your 'view' tab at the top of your browser screen, click on it, and choose 'Page Source' from there.

This shows you the html document for that site (BTW, you can do this on virtually ANY site, a great way to learn mark-up language!) You can see where I have used the beginning (< ! --) and ending (-- >) brackets (I'm only spacing between the dashes, exclamation, and brackets here so you can 'see' them) and /*note tags*/ to serve as a reminder of what I did. (you can only see the /*note tags*/ on this line because they are within the 'body' of this page-that's why I had to put the css note tags in parenthesis, so they would be visible to you - hope this isn't too confusing!).

On the html 'view page source' for my website, look near the top, ABOVE the 'body' tag (the /*tag*/ only works ABOVE the body tag of your html file) along the left side of the page, and you'll see where I noted the end of my meta tags with:

/*end of my meta content*/

You would have to go to my 'style sheet' or css document to see all of my css notes, but if you use Firefox (may I count the ways of how much I love Firefox...)Web Developer, you should have that option when you right-click your mouse.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll certainly try to answer them. I only do html/xml/css as a hobby. I learned html back in the 90's when I was designated as the 'web person' for my department. Then I had to learn css on my own while creating my website. I enjoy learning css and web development, so this is just '101' stuff mostly that I'll be giving tips on. Hope it helps you if you're into customizing your site(s). Again, let me know if I can help, if you have tips to add to this post, or if I've mis-informed with incorrect advise/tips by leaving a comment. And please let me know if you like the new design of my blog site. Thanks for reading my rambling mind's post today, and have a great one!

Are You an 'Artistic' Thinker?

This is a question that I ponder often because I'm intrigued by the subject. I am reminded sometimes, when experiencing something, that I'm processing the information in an 'artistic' way. And that's where I feel there's more to the meaning of the word 'art' than just aesthetics, 'creating', or the various definitions offered for art. However, I realize I'm certainly not the first to think this as I'm sure there are many other artists who share this thought regarding art.

There is a famous quote by Andrew Wyeth, "...I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious",. Joseph Zbukvic says in his book Mastering Atmosphere & Mood in Watercolor, "you start painting the moment you look at the subject, not with the first brushstroke." Do you think art more than you actually do it? I know I do! That's why I was excited to read these quotes, especially Wyeth's. I've come to realize in recent years that not all people think this way, and personally feel it's part of an artist's personality, literally the way an artist processes his/her thoughts.

I think art is an innate makeup of the human species, but for artists, they are just 'wired' differently. They see and translate the world around them with a deep desire to validate (perhaps, at least for me, enhanced by aging/mortality) what they've experienced. They may or may not (as in Wyeth's quote above) actually 'leave a mark' via some form of creative outlet. In other words, I think artists process life experiences differently than non-artists. But I do think we ALL have art inside us, in varying degrees, it's just hasn't been tapped into as deeply by some as by artists, because they have this desire to 'search' for answers or to validate their experiences. This, to me, is what makes art so exciting, and creates such diverse reactions among those that view or experience it. Take my husband for instance, he'll be the first to tell you he has no desire what-so-ever to create art, nor to do anything creative artistically, and he certainly does not 'think' artistically (opposites do attract!) . However, he does appreciate some genre of art, but no, he makes no claims to being an 'artist', or even 'art-minded'.

So, are you an artistic thinker? Let's have an 'Art to Art' talk! Even if you, like my husband, don't 'think' artistically, let's hear your take on the subject! Have you ever thought about how you process the world around you? This inquiring [artistic] mind wants to know!

Too much time on the internet...

and not enough time creating art!!! Time to get back to reality and produce something. After spending the last 2 days on the internet, I feel that I've wasted a lot of valuable time that could have been spent much more productively.

Anyway, I did manage to make some jewelry during the week. Yep, that's right, I'm all about jewelry now, and I don't even wear much jewelry to speak of. But I've been wondering how I could express my love of nature in more 'portable' ways, and pendants, bracelets, and such have been on my mind for a while. I've made about 8 pendants this week, but won't know 'til after firing if I made them too thin. Crazy how my mind wonders! Let me know if you tend to do the same. I think it's just part of the 'creative process' I get hellbent on something and there is no stopping me. Just like the internet, I think I've been to the end and back 3 times already this week, seriously!

Something else I did today, I threw all those liner test tiles in the oven at 200 degrs., brought the heat up to 300 for 30 mins., just like I talked about in my last post, and guess what, they look fine from what I can see. Have to repeat the process 2 more times though. Crossing my fingers!

Crazy weather we're having; our newest member to the family enjoyed eating and playing in his first snow. He comes running when we're getting ice from the fridge to grab any pieces that fall to the floor. Guess he thought snow was the next best thing!

Raisingmaine-shy about blogging

I recently came across this interesting post regarding a blogger's concerns about becoming an overly cautious writer on her site(click on her link to read entire story):

clipped from raisingmaine.mainetoday.com I am becoming a shy blogger. Words that used to flow freely from my head onto paper and off to you are now being edited to destruction and my final thoughts just before I post are, ”Yeah So?” thus I post nothing. It reminds me of when I was in 7th grade and my family moved from the suburbs of Boston to our summer home on Cape Cod. I wrote a great blog about my niece’s wedding. How I danced so much my thighs still hurt, how very very blessed I am to have nine brothers and sisters and mostly that my children chose to go with me. My overly cautious editing killed it. I think I need a trip to the woods Raye. I am not sure this venue is the place for my boldness or the place to show slivers of myself, but I struggle writing in any other way. i don't even blog, and STILL i edit and carefully choose every single word that i say on this site. i have admitted that there are things i won't talk about because i'm never sure who is reading [this was a comment in response to her post/rjd].

I enjoyed reading her thoughts on becoming shy about blogging and over-editing her posts. I could really identify with it. Being new to blogging, I tend to hold back on revealing too much of myself, although for artists, that comes with the territory. Expression requires 'exposure' to some degree. It's the act of exposing via one's posts to the entire world that can be intimidating, at least for me. I'm curious to know how you feel about this. She seemed concerned about remaining authentic to her readers if she holds back too much. But how much is too much? Are you new to blogging and find yourself continuously re-editing your posts? If your a seasoned veteran, do you still do the same, or do you even think about it? Let me know what you think! I hope this clipmark post works this time. I originally had a much better post and lost it. See, there I go, having to re-write and edit again!

Now Where was I...

Oh yeah, when last posting, I was going down into the hollow to take some pics and assess the damage from the ice storm. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I first thought, given all the damage to people's yards and our streets. This is a pic of some trees on top of the slope that uprooted.
Surprisingly, many of the oaks that completely uprooted were fairly young trees, maybe because of their limited spread of roots. Some of the oldest trees took the storm much better. This image shows what a limited root system the young trees had compared to what a much older tree would have.

Many trees just split multiple times right down the middle of their trunks. This was especially true in town. Lawns look like they're landscaped with bouquets of 'toothpicks'.

Scenes of the bottom of the hollow:



Okay, enough pics of trees already! As I'm posting this, my husband is outside with the chainsaw cleaning up the mess and I need to go help. Back in a bit...

Cleaned up in the yard all day, now it's time to get back to art! I did accomplish one major goal over the past two weeks and that was getting my Etsy Shop set up. This is truly a milestone for me in goal-setting. Although I only have a few things listed so far, I feel that I can get things going now that I'm finally set up to sell on-line. Tomorrow I'll start testing my liner glaze tiles for durability. Will let you know how that goes.

'Sticky' Mess

What a mess NW Arkansas is! This is what it looks like in probably every town across northern Arkansas - on every street, in front of every house, piles and piles of sticks and other debris from the ice storm of last Tuesday.

I'm going into the hollow in a few minutes to take some pics of the damage. I walked a short way into it yesterday and was shocked. Not just tree limbs and upper halves of trees on the ground but manytrees completely uprooted throughout the hollow. It looks as though the Jolly Green Giant walked through knocking over trees at his whim. Very much like the aftermath of a tornado
or strait-line wind damage. It was too dangerous to go into the woods friday because of the wind gusts. Actually, the wind (I'm guessing) knocked out our power again friday afternoon. It finally came back on around 4:45 yesterday morning. But again, not to complain, as there are still people in our area without power. Once the crew comes to fall the damaged trees, our clean-up job is going to be huge, so for now, we can live with a messy yard.

Ice Storm's A-brew'n

Well, we're bracing for the ice storm which should hit this afternoon. My husband spent much of yesterday collecting wood and kindling. Depending on how bad the storm is, I won't risk firing the kiln this week, because they're predicting power outages. Today I need to finish trimming some green-ware. But most of today will be spent preparing for going without electricity, just in case...

Andrew Wyeth Dies at age 91

It's a sad day today. Andrew Wyeth has died, but what a life he lived. He was truly my hero of the art world. Seems so fitting that he died at home in his sleep. I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time over the next few days reading my books on his life and articles on the web. Check out your local library if you're wanting to do the same. There's also an excellent VHS-video interview with Mr. Wyeth that may be available in your local library.

Blanket of Clouds

Well, it didn't get near as cold as the weather guys (and gals) said it would - only in the upper teens, thanks to 'low clouds' that moved in over night. So I'm glad for all the 'lil critters out there and people too, who have to brave the elements this time of year. Well, back to work, I'm preparing some more test tiles.

Cold, Cold, Cold...

Very cold and spittin' snow today. Supposed to get down to 4 deg. tonight; but I'm not complaining. I know people up north have got it a lot worse than us folks down here in Arkansas. Well, my goal for today is to decide which pieces I want to glaze for the next firing along with my cone 6 test tiles, and to prepare them by waxing the rims and bottoms. Til, then, stay warm...

Yesterday's Goal Reached (Somewhat)

Well, seems blogging is helping somewhat so far in goal-setting. I did finish trimming my jar yesterday and although I did not get around to painting, I did get a bisque fire done. I'm preparing to test some new cone 6 clay from Flint Hill Clay Works - located in Marion, KS. I really like the feel of this clay, feels just like their high-fire clay, not groggy or gritty at all. The only other cone 6 clay I've tried so far is Ardvark's cone 6 'Bone' - don't care for it - too sandy- literally cuts my hands after throwing awhile. Anyway, will post my test results of my cone 6 test tiles for the F.H. clay as soon as I do the glaze tests. So, if I can get myself away from this computer, maybe I'll get some work done.

Today's goal

Today's goal - finish trimming on a jar (see image below), and hopefully get time to paint. Most important goal for today - get AWAY from this blog! I keep coming back to make changes to it; just too new to blogging I guess - time to get down to business. BTW, hope you had a nice holiday and a Happy New Year to all.

One of my 'safe jars' (Jack-in-the-Pulpit):