Been hanging out on Facebook...

and en plein air...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15291&id=1649853106&l=3d2ae30ebb

: )

More sailing...

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I think I'm done. Now all I need is a good title.

Sailing through February

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Drat, it seems that I can't get an animated GIF to work here or on Facebook. The set of images above represents the progress I've made on an oil pastel piece that I've temporarily titled "Sailboats", which I've also been featuring on my Facebook page.

Whooping Wade

Here is "Whooping Wade", an 18 x 24 inch oil pastel painting on a canvas panel, finished earlier today. This is one of three images that I'm hoping to have on display at Overture Center later this year as part of the Mount Horeb Area Artists Association.

I've been cited for blog neglect...

...or should have been.

Rather than dash everyone's holiday spirits, I went into hibernation for a few months. Great for the artistic creativity, and I was able to pass the holidays--plus there have been plenty of opportunities to play in the wintry weather.

The snow has been piling up again this year, and just before the second big snowstorm of the year, a lovely little snow blower joined my arsenal of home and garden tools. Whew! It's saved me hours and hours of labor and offered some abominable snowman moments. No one tells you that some days it really doesn't matter what direction the exit chute is pointing, the wind tends to whip it right back at you or over the path you just cleared.

Another clipper is headed our way over the weekend. After last week's sub-zero temperatures and -40 wind chills, this week has felt downright balmy--and it's just approaching 32 degrees!

My latest online adventure has been getting bamboozled into playing on Facebook. Friends out there anywhere?

: )

29th Annual Holiday Craft Boutique

Again this year I'm showing pieces at the 29th Annual Holiday Craft Boutique, a home show out in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin that my good friend Stephanie Funck alerted me about several years ago. It's a good way to get the jump on fun holiday shopping without the crowds.



Jan Dorner opens her home for three successive weekends to a group of artists who provide a broad range of art and craft items for the holidays and gift-giving throughout the year.



Snowmen. Reindeer. Dried and pressed flowers. Dolls. Wreaths. Soaps. Glass work. Hand painted wood. Ornaments. Purses. Handwoven Baskets. Baked sweets and treats. Quilted pieces. Garden stones. AND much, much more.

The show is open from 10 am to 5 pm
• Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 28
• Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25
• Friday, October 31
and from 10 am to 3 pm
• Saturday, November 1

Map your way to 829 Davis Street in Sun Prairie.

Some of the proceeds from the show go to The Empty Stocking Club.

New Website FINALLY Launched!

I've been promising it for months, and here it is! I'm proud to introduce the new ElectrKolor.com, which contains online shops for photography and sticky note packs. No need to visit another venue to shop!

Too few posts?

I have to admit that I've been too busy with other things to post as regularly as I'd like. I keep trying to "step away from the computer" more and more, especially now that I'm back working full-time as a contractor. I continue working on my pastel craft, and the grape hyacinths and brick wall shown here are the subjects of my next drawing. I hope to show some decent progress on it later this week.
I've been woefully neglectful of officially finishing my new ElectriKolor website, and have let all Etsy store items expire without replacement. I feel like I'm going to be heading toward dealing mostly in pastels from this point forward, so I'm pondering the possibilities.

In search of...

...a good photo opp...sometimes results in something totally different...Last Saturday morning, my intent was to shoot a GOOD photo of the "mystery bird" that, in the bright morning sun and from a distance, looked pretty much like an inverted bald eagle--a dark head and a stark white body. It's sad to say that I was disappointed in the fact that it was simply a large, healthy red-tailed hawk. He or she did not appreciate my stalking methods, and I was able to shoot only three frames of it before it continued its hunt elsewhere.

Undaunted, I went out on a local photo safari, catching some local residents in action--horses and cows mostly, although there were a few frisky geese working on repopulating the species...I did run across a pregnant cow with what were probably her yearlings, and they were curious about the gal across the street in the car with the funny-looking mechanical device...after a bunch of reference photos, this time intended as reference materials for some pastel work, I headed back to the homestead, and after a day of thought, began this pastel on PastelBord, which I put the finishing touches to on Thursday.

Today was a day off work, so I finally shot a photo of the finished cow to share with my blog audience. Enjoy!

I'm pretending that it's really spring...

Yes, another snowstorm passed through here the 2nd day of spring. Much of the piles of previous precipitation had already melted, and the temperatures are creeping up above freezing during the days, so this won't last long. We did, however, break the 100 inch milestone for winter snowfall records, and it wouldn't be unprecedented to have a few more measureable inches of snow before all is said and done.

The owls have returned--I haven't seen them in the trees, but have heard them and seen them flying around and about--I believe celebrating the rites of spring...Even I, winter-lover that I am, have become a bit weary of this winter. Of course, that doesn't mean that I look forward at all to tornado season...