Back to the Easel

Here I am....revisiting an old friend....the truck and the hare.  It felt so good getting the pelican painting finished that I have put the old truck back on my easel.  I had a bout 2 hours to spend on it yesterday......

Still have some "rock" work to do and I will be adding some cacti and probably a few more smaller rocks.  I want to get the foreground completed and then I'll move on to the hare and the finishing details on the truck.  
The past couple of days have been absolutely glorious here in Indiana........cool, dry, and sunny!  Makes me feel like dancing, singing, and howling at the moon!  Yes....it is quite the sight to see....just ask my husband!  LOL!  Oh yeah, Mesha is just doing great.....man I love that dog, she has been a real "gift" to our lives!  When she lays here head on my chest and bats those big blue eyes.....I just melt!

At My Easel

Yesterday was a little better....still cool temps, but the sun was out.  I spent the day painting.  I have two I'm working on these days.  Here is the pelican.....

I just did a close up of the area I'm working on....long way to go yet, but I think he or she is looking pretty good.

Here is the old truck.....decided on a spring time theme for the background!
I think I mentioned we had been having some issues with our furnace.  Well, it finally bit the dust.  It tries to light, but no go.  Thank goodness we have the electric heaters as it gets pretty chilly here at night.  Looks like we will be calling the rv repair guy here in the park to have a look!

Here's Sadie!

Yep, I got back to work on Sadie yesterday and she is almost finished.  I have a little "clean up " work to do in the background, but she's looking fine!  Donna....I hope you don't mind I added the "Bad to the Bone".....got the idea from the T-shirt you bought Sadie and just couldn't pass up the opportunity!

 I had the question if "Princess" from my last post is going to be my next painting.  I actually have a really cool pelican painting started so "Princess" will have to wait a bit.
Our stay here in Bull Head City will soon be coming to an end.  We plan on leaving here someday next week....probably Thursday.  Rick and Paulette have talked about how much they like the Sands Resort over in California......we decided to check it out.  We will miss the folks here at El Rio Rv Park....we made many new friends, but it is time to go we both got the "hitch itch"!  Time to roll on down the road and see new places and make new friends.  "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the others gold"  I remember that from my days in Girl Scouts....still rings true!

Rylie Finished......

The weather here has just been gorgeous these past few days.....I think we hit 91 yesterday afternoon.  I am finally warm....sun feels so good!
I did manage to get to my easel and finish the portrait of Rylie........

I'll say it again.....Love, love, love those "Betty Davis Eyes" and all those wonderful curls.
I took some photos of a new pup here in the rv park yesterday....her name is ......

"Princess"

She just got back from the groomers and they put little Saint Patty's Day bows and a little spray of green in her tail....too cute.  Princess is a rescue pup.  The managers here at the park adopted her a couple of months ago.  She has come a long way.....amazing what a little love and kindness can do.  She was actually thrown from a moving car by here previous owners.  Some kind soul stopped.....amazingly she suffered no physical injuries.....and took her to a shelter.  Now she has a wonderful home.  She has gone from a shy and frightened dog to one that is outgoing and friendly and loves to be cuddled!  She is indeed a "Princess" and quite the "Daddy's girl"!  I love "Happy Endings"! 

Rylie Update and more.....

Today we are heading back to Oatman.....now that I have my nifty new camera, I want to get more photos of them, there burros!!  Hopefully, I will have a few to share with you next blog.
We are very happy to see warmer temps arriving here in Bullhead City for obvious reasons, but also cause our furnace is acting up.  As you may remember we replaced the thermostat and that is working fine, but not so the furnace.  We have educated ourselves on limit switches, sail switches, burners, and circuit boards and have decided it is probably a bad igniter.  The blower will come on and you can hear it try to light....but nothing.  It works some of the time, but here lately it is working less and less.  What a pain....it's always a somethum!  Thank goodness for our electric heaters.  
Here is the latest update from my easel.......Sweet Rylie is coming along.....don't you just love that sweet, gentle face and all those fabulous curls.....

A Big Thank you

I don't have a lot to blog about today, but I do want to send out a big "THANK YOU" to all those who have left comments on my paintings.  I want you to know how much I appreciate your praise and enjoyment of what I do.  You have all been wonderful!


Sadie is getting close to the finish line......

Today I'll be away from my easel and at the laundry and then on to the grocery.  My darling hubby always insist on clean clothes and hot meals......a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to keep her man happy!!  LOL!

Sadie 4

The weather here has taken some what of a turn for the worse.  The wind has kicked up and rain is moving in....so....I'll be spending most of my weekend doing what I love....painting!  Here is a photo of my painting of Sadie.  I think she is coming along nicely....and this photo was taken with my new camera!

Til next time....keep having fun out there!

Hail?

We knew that yesterday and today were going to pretty much be all day rain events.  No problem, I like a rainy day every once in awhile.  It was nice and cozy in the fiver and I watched a couple of good old black and white movies along with working on Rylie's portrait.  I don't know what it is about those old black and whites....but they seemed to have a soothing effect on me no matter what the movie is about.  BUT!  Just as we are all relaxing and enjoying the day here comes the HAIL.  I know several folks saw hail and were just as surprised as we were......

Next thing I know....there is a little thunder thrown in for good measure.  All this and the sun is still shining....peeking out between the storm clouds.  I'm sure there was a rainbow somewhere, but I didn't have the desire to go stand in the hail and rain to find it.  Today is another day of rain, but hopefully the hail days are behind us all.  Looking forward to another day of painting and maybe catching another old movie or two.  If you want to see my progress on Rylie, check out my Art Blog.

Wind, painting, and repairs

Thanks to all of you who left comments on the last post of my baby lion painting.  It is so appreciated to know that others find my work pleasing.  
The wind here today has picked back up...makes it difficult to be outside doing any activity.  Good news is it usually dies down a bit in the late afternoon.  Many of us have found a place where we are blocked from the wind and we have a "happy hour".   Lot of fun!

I turned my attention back to my old truck painting.  Here is a photo of the progress so far.  I just love all the textures and shadows.
We also had a welcome visitor the other day.  Our RV repair guys have come out here to work for the winter.  They are going to do some work for us on our tire blow damage.  They can do most of it here on site...the rest ( a bit of painting and decal work) can wait til we get back to Indiana this summer.  It will be so nice to see some of that ugliness disappear.  If you are in the area of Bullhead City, AZ and need any work done....we highly recommend these guys.  Great work at a fair price.  You can email Ron here... rec_spec@yahoo.com

Baby Lion Painting.....fini!

I completed another painting......isn't this the sweetest little guy.  I used a reference photo that my cousin had taken while visiting a lion preserve.  I will be sending her the finished painting as a somewhat belated baby gift.  She is a new Mom to the cutest little boy.  I'm hoping the painting will be a nice addition to the nursery.

He is sleeping soundly....all snuggled up with his little blue blankey!  I did the painting on an 8 inch by 8 inch cradled gessoboard in acrylics.  "Cradled" just means the painting surface continues round to the sides so you don't have to frame it.  You can click on the image for a bigger photo.