Looking over my last post, I can see that I must have been in a really energetic mood at the time! Well, it's been over two weeks since that post and I can at least say that 3 of the 5 goals have been either fully met or at least begun:

• I have tried my new Sun-Eden tripod. I also purchased a new bag, the Guerilla Plein Air Packer has been at a great value for $44, the cheapest I've been able to find it by ASW (ASWeXpress.com). Pros and Cons regarding the 'Packer':
  

1. Love that the Packer fits all my gear, including the tray that goes with my Sun-Eden tripod along with watercolor paper (quarter sheets), and I use the 'back pack' straps to hold my gatorboard. It has straps underneath to hold my tripod and the 'travel adaptor' (the canvas/waterboard holder) or a fold-up chair or waterever.
2. What I don't love is that the shoulder strap is poorly designed as well as the flap that folds over the bag. The strap is adjustable but the shoulder 'pad' is not wide enough to slide over the part that adjusts the strap, so what's the use of shortening it if I can't slide the pad? The flap for the bag is connected by two zippers, just another thing (or 2) to break in my opinion, which one of them almost did the first time I tried to zip it closed because it 'snagged', you know like zippers do. It would be better if it had been either Velcro or buckles; then I could tuck my canvas holder, because it's plastic, or the folding chair underneath the top of the flap and secure it without worrying about it getting damaged when sitting the bag down. They really didn't think that through!

• As for the tripod, I'm not yet sure how satisfied I am. Things like switching around my water container to get it within easy reach, adjusting the 'quick release' for the tripod adapter, etc. will take a few paint outs before I'll know for sure if I like it or not.

• I have gotten SO many things done in the yard!! Wow, what a difference working the equivalent of an hour a day makes. Of course that will slow down once the summer heats up and it's just too hot to work. And I really should cut my goal down to maybe 5 hrs. a week - that's much more practical and attainable.

• I have prepared some pots for glazing, so now I need to get them glazed!

• After spending way too many hours on my website trying out different styles, I've decided not to touch my website for now. It's just way too time consuming and I have too many other things I'd rather be doing!
  

• I painted out last week. It was a painting of a small koi pond with a waterfall. Well, I 'learned a lot'. I'll leave it at that.
  

Not sure what my immediate goals are for now. Of course to paint out. That's a given, whether I reach it or not! As for other goals, we're about to have new flooring installed, so not sure when that will begin nor when it will be completed. I just know we'll be busy moving furniture for now!

Good luck with your endeavors. Until next time, stay positive!

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!

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...

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!

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.

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.

The Plunge

Well, I finally decided to take the plunge and start blogging. Why? It just seemed the thing to do, since everyone else is doing it. There are actually several reasons why I decided to blog. Mainly,

• I hope that blogging will help me in the self-discipline area, particularly in setting and attaining new goals. This is an experimental exercise on my part in 'staying focused' because of my interest in more than one art medium. I'm anxious to see if blogging has helped others in reaching their goals as well. Perhaps sharing my experiences will help readers in whatever they are struggling with in their situation.
  

• It will enable me to convo with other artists about art and to solve problems in a particular medium we may be working in, whether it's watercolor, ceramics, photography, or whatever. Hey, maybe we'll just talk gardening!

• I don't want to get 'left behind' in the world of web technology. I love the internet, and everywhere I turn, I'm reading 'Get a Blog!' So there, I've done it.

There are a couple of other reasons not worth mentioning now. I hope to get some photos soon of what I'm doing. Well, here goes, my plunge into the blogosphere...