One Behind Two More to Go

The Daisy commission is now behind me.  And two new clients have approached me about pieces they want done.  I am very excited and can't wait until someone hands me another adorable Dauchsund to burn.  Most any cuddly pooch will do, but Dauchsunds are truly fun to illustrate.  But then...this was only my first dog.  

Since I know Daisy's owner personally I burned a short message to her on the back of the wood piece.  I am sure she will cherish this piece for ever and ever.

My Jaw surgery is coming up fast and after January 25th I will be resting and recovering so it may be about seven days before I am in any mood to sit at the art table.  I may rest a little longer, but soon enough I will be back at my burning.  

I have spent a lot of time lately sharpening my techniques on the pan-flute.  I believe knowing that I wont be able to use my jaws for a couple months makes me want to play all the more.  

For those of you who do and don't know, I have a Class III malocclusion - that includes a cross bite, and I am very excited about having it fixed.  At the same time I've very nervous, confident in my surgeon, but nervous at the same time.  I will gladly accept E-attention during my recovery. ;)

Thank-you all for visiting, come again soon.

Piebald Dauchsund and WIP

Finally, here is the update!  This is what I have been up to all this time.  I am beginning to dread uploading pictures for some reason.  For one thing it is hard to get a good picture of artwork with the camera I am using (parents camera). 

The Piebald Dauchsund in progress you see her is a commission of a friend.  This portrait is of her dog Daisy, taken directly from a photograph.  Replicating photographs is not easy.  But that's what I'm here for!  So far, this pooch has been alot of fun to burn.  I know her personally and she is so sweet and spoiled.  I feel knowing her helped me to portray her engergy and charm onto the wood.

Next is the Work In Progress I laid aside to do Daisy, the Dauchsund.  This is a Cowboy at the Cross portrait that I sketched on paper in June of 2010 and decided to improve.  I did indeed improve it, tweaking things here and there, and am pleased with how it is turning out so far.  I am struggling to add texture to the horses skin at the moment, as I know horses are so spongy, fleshy, and alot more bumpy than a pencil or pen will often allow you to portray.  The eyesets, and the mood overall are pleasant, contrast is fine but I will continue to work on deepening that contrast.  I like being able to set it to the side for a moment because it allows me to contemplate my next point of attack. 

I hope to offer prints of this work in the near future.  I do not know when the origional will be for sale.

Also, I am now burning on Birch Ply which is very fine for burning.  In fact, I like it better than Basswood.  For any of you pyro guys and gals out there, who are like me and wonder just where in the world can I find good fine art proffessional canvas wood.  I looked high and low, here and there, but the only place I was able to find fine birch ply was at my local Lowes.  But it was fine wood, and a good price ($4.00).  I just had to have my dad run it over the table saw, cut it into three pieces of different dimension.  Cheaper than basswood and an excellent burn, excellent grain.  I just love it!

Merry Christmas and Daisy Commission

         Ran across this video and wanted to share it.  I wont say much because it speaks volumes in itself.  I was especially touched by the little girl's reaction, which was nothing but genuine.  I can imagine it is hard for these children to know that their dad is working far away from them for months at a time, and that he might one day never come back. 

Merry Christmas!

I have put aside the Cowboy at the Cross portrait, visible on Facebook, for a short while as I have been commissioned to do a portrait of a lovely little Piebald Dachsund named Daisy for a friend.  Will post pictures soon.  Thanks for visiting.

The Diamond of India

I have always thought that the women of India were some of the most beautiful women on Earth.  The colour of their skin, the shape and depth of their eyes, their mysteriousness and modesty, everything about them.  Even the old ones, with wrinkled skin and greying hair, possess a pristine look and natural beauty no make-up queen could ever attain. 

Yet we know that India is one of the most crowded and over-populated nations on earth, and in fact, starving- although most of this is due to religious views.  (Recalling the picture of the woman with hungry children pouring milk and cream into a bowl for the rats)

So, perhaps it is their tradition that is causing all this trouble.  If the men had to pay huge dowries for a woman the woman would be treated as though she were worth something and the families would want to have girls instead of boys. 




However, what we truly have is a great pedjudice, a gender predjudice.  If the man doesn't want a daughter...he doesn't want his own wife.  The ridiculous part of this is, the man doesn't seem to realize that by putting women in that position, they degrade themselves to the same level of worth. 

Take a look at these videos presented, and know that the people of India would truly be the most beautiful people on earth, if they would only treat themselves and each other as such.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

It's that time of year again, Thanksgiving and the day following, Black Friday.  I have never attended a Black Friday Jungle event or what they call a Sale.  There isn't alot I suppose I should say about either holiday, it is only the placement of the two that concern me. 

Thanksgiving, is the day we're taught from little on up to give thanks to everyone from God to our friends and family for all that we have and- everything and everyone.  We be thankful, one day out of our usually selfish lives.  On that day of thanks we feast, greedily and selfishly helping ourselves to multiple servings of stuffing, turkey, hams, sweet rolls, pies, icecreams, and on and on.  Then when all the greedy selfish feasting is over, we rush out of the house, early in the morning, with the children and the dog, and set up tent in a shopping center parking lot, waiting for the store to open and the sale to begin. 

When it does we rush greedily and selfishly through the doors, pushing and shoving against our thankful neighbors, contesting, trampling, screaming and grabbing, we clear off the shelves of everything our hearts desires- greedily trying to grab the last DSI or Xbox of Wii Kinect or Ipad before our neighbor can get one.  If they can't hold onto what they have tightly enough, you might not be thankful for what you are clutching in your own hands and snatch the product from them, and then greedily make your way to the checkout.  Then you leave, triumphant at how much money you saved, if not a little thankful...

Those of you who have lost loved ones in these stampedes, are probably a bit thankful that your own life was spared.  It is a shame that a life was stomped into the Walmart ashpalt over an electronic that was then dropped in a toilet (on accident) and ruined just two months later.  Daddy would have lived alot longer than that cellphone.... 

So this holiday we celebrate the very morning after Thanksgiving, what is it?  Is this what our day of thanks provokes us to do?  To fight like wild animals, to herd like jackasses or wild cattle, trampling everything in our path... for merchandise we think we "need", which is in reality only a luxury and not the joy of life.  Is this what Thanksgiving Day has taught us Americans?  To grovel like serfs under parade floats, and grab and claw for merchandise we are fully convinced we must have. 

Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed a holiday when we realized that the pilgrims were thankful to God to be alive, for the land of oppourtunity that lay before them.  They were thankful for the raw materials, as in: The raw lumber and concrete and drywall used to create a house- not the finished mansion.  The materials.  They had uncultivated, uncultured, wild land.  No towns, no tradesmen, no shops, no government, no economy, ... and they were thankful. 

So, my dear Black Friday shopper, consider my words.  Only a hypocrite can celebrate Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.  This year, I will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. 

The artist~

Shearling Vest Upcycle

This is one of two shearling vests my grandfather brought to the states from Romania in 1975.   They are rather inexpensively made, being common farmer's coats and the outer jean is quite torn and worn.  In fact, the shearling liner is even torn in two places on one.         

So,  with Shearling now the fashion and very expensive, I plan on refurbishing or upcycling these two vests.  After all... (sarcastically) if Sheepskin scraps are SO expensive, why bother to throw it away? 

It will be an exciting project and I should be very glad to have a shearling vest once I am done. 

My plan is to first, pick the jean away from the shearling pieces (the vest is only three pieces of material) and lay the jean pieces on the new material and cut it out accordingly (adding 5/8 inches for seams). I hope to detail certain areas of the vest to dress it up a little, and may or man not add buttons.  The vest wont have that inside out look some shearling coats have but it will surely be nice. With success, the old will be spectacularly new once again!!  Wish me luck! 

                                                                     



What I Think of Your Boyfriend

Something that has annoyed me grealty for most of the years of my life is the couple- not the couple themselves, but usually how the couple react to me or my prescense.  So I have decided to take a stand on it.  Ladies:  I DO NOT WANT YOUR BOYFRIEND.

This is the message of this post, clear and simple.  I consider myself to have average looks.  I see myself realistically.  My face isn't perfect, my body isn't perfect.  My jaw is too stubborn, my brow kind of thick, my hair kind of wiry, my cheekbones a little too flat, my face somewhat round, my facial pores a little large, my nose kind of snippy, my lips a little thin, my eyelashes way too thin (thanks to my habit of toying with them) and on and on I could go critisizing myself. 

I am a sociable person, but somewhat distant and rigid.  I make acquaintances and contacts but I rarely committ to a close friendship, especially one that seems a little to restrictive.  I like to spend a moment talking to a stranger, make his or her acquaintance, rub off of them, rub a little of me on them, and then pass out of their life quietly.   

If I am an attractive lady it is through no fault of my own.  I am no flirt.  My ex-boyfriend was the playful one.  I was the rigid other trying not to draw attention to myself at all costs.  Compliments towards men are scarce.  I am not a sympathetic or doting person.  Extended conversations with men are a chore.  And lastly, what kind of woman would want to steal another girl's man?  

This is my reason for writing this.  I want all of you couples to know how offensive and imature it is, especially when you are under the age of eighteen.  I had such absolute faith in my guy friend that when he was surrounded by a group of females all competing for his attentions I left the fray, knowing he would handle it appropriately.  I had no fears he would leave me for one of them.  

When you and your partner, sitting alone- socially deprived, on a lonely cold loveseat while dozens of other happier youth frolic and talk and laugh together all around you, and you are approached by a lady who wants to talk, dare you give her that jealous look.  In doing so, you accuse her of being a very low woman.   Why would she want your boyfriend?  Why would she want to hurt you? 

If your boyfriend did take to her, would she want a guy that just dumped another girl?  Might that guy do the exact same thing to her? 

Might that guy not have any emotions to sort out about leaving his first girl?  Personally, I can't even understand jumping from one companion to the next.  After leaving one I would need a couple of weeks if not about three to four months to sort out my feelings, redirect my focus, and re-analyse what I am looking for in a companion of the opposite gender. 

Then of course, there is the guy who wont give any other girl the time of day for fear of making his girlfriend jealous.  For shame!!  A man and woman must had enough grace that he or she can be socially cordial with any other person. 

Jealousy in a partnership is a healthy thing in healthy doses.  Remember that finding a companion of the opposite gender should not keep you from interacting with others of equal or opposite gender in casual and formal social functions.  

I personally, do not have any interest in a man already claimed by a girl.  That makes him all the more distasteful to me, because I do not want to see that my partner has had any interest in another.  Ladies:  I DO NOT WANT YOUR BOYFRIEND.  Does that make you feel bad?  Do you want me to want him?  

No apologies.  I have spoken.   I don't want him.