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...

Warm-up Exercises

I start a pastel class again tomorrow, and decided that I should make sure that I'm not too rusty to draw...since having been in writing mode now for months in the contracting world. Yup, it looks like I still have a few neurons firing in the tips of the old arthritic fingers...in this 11x14 inch piece with a working title of Raven Haired Beauty. Granted it's a composition based on someone else's photograph--and wouldn't qualify as a totally accurate portrait, but it works for me all the same.

This is a 3-day class spread over three Sundays, one each in March, April, and May, and I took it last year as a "beginner". I'm coming in this year as an "intermediate" student, I guess. Last time I wrote about the surfaces that I most like for working with pastel, I was becoming a big fan of working directly on canvas. The piece shown in this post is on PastelBord, which could also fast become a favorite surface, and I've got some of the Colourfix paper from Art Spectrum to try too. Both have really toothy surfaces...akin to sandpaper. I have to admit that I love the way the pastels just crawl into the crevices. On the other hand, my blending fingers feel like I've been rubbing them on sandpaper--smooth and a little sore!

I look forward to learning something new...and to getting out of the house this weekend to meet a few new people. Now that volleyball season is all over, and the snow frequency has finally dropped to maybe once a week...with maybe just a flurry or two this week...there's more time to do things other than move snow around!

It was a cold, dark night...

...and it wasn't snowing. Yes, the sky was absolutely clear last night for the glorious lunar eclipse.



I watched as much as I could in the early stages, and then caught up with it again after the last volleyball game of the season.

Crazy gal that I am, I really was outside for several 15-minute stints in sub-zero weather trying to get a decent photo of the event...both to warm my camera and myself. It always seems more troublesome for the camera and my glasses with the fogging factors than it seems to be for me.

I was able to watch a little more of the progress of the eclipse from my bedroom window, and even removed the screen and poked my head out the window to try a few more photographic attempts, but they were less successful than the earlier ones. Sometimes it's really better to just stop while you're ahead!

Thank goodness for the ecliptical distraction...otherwise I'd have been even more bummed about the volleyball loss. Since it's single elimination tournament time, it's quite disappointing. Even more annoying is our 3rd ranked team losing to a team that we easily won over a few weeks ago and that was ranked in 11th place.

I really appreciate the subs who popped in to play for our players who are recovering from a sprained ankle and working to achieve success in a finance class. I'm also disappointed in a particular team member who gives up well before the match is over, but that's their chosen lot in life, I guess.

Me, I've been involved in athletics too long to know that the outcome of the game isn't over until they throw us off the field or court or rink or track. I honestly don't mind losing if the game was well-played...or, at least, can get over the loss with a good night's sleep.

On the other hand, if players aren't playing the whole game or don't put forth effort when it's the stuff they don't like to do, that's another story entirely. There are parts of having been a competitive athlete in high school and college that seem to follow me FORevA. I want to win...but I want the team to do well and work well together as a unit. I don't think there's room on teams for prima donas, whether the team is an athletic one or a business one. It always has an adverse effect...

Waiting on my new dryer...

and, again for the next round of snow to start. Yes, Wisconsin has already had a record-breaking amount of snow for the 2007-2008 winter. I believe the statistics have noted that there have been 42 days so far with significant snowfall. And generally that means that my blogging, creative, and relaxation times have been significantly impacted by the piles of white stuff that remain outside. This is the first winter that really feels like the winters I remember as a kid. Of course the big differerce is that my energy gets expended moving snow around rather than moving around on the snow...

I'm home this morning for my perfunctory 3-hour time window appliance delivery. In theory, they actually will call my cell phone an hour before they're scheduled to get here. And with almost every-other-day snow shoveling activities, I have a few moments to blog after a teeny-tiny house cleaning. Crash, of course, would prefer that I be spending this time playing with him (he's not being neglected...he's got his lovely spitty squeaky toy that he drops at my feet every 70 characters or so...that I kindly toss in return as soon as I'm sure I won't forget my immediate train of thought. He's even tried to help with the writing, but he's more likely to type something from the numpad than the main portion of the keyboard...he's definitely got his own way to communicate. ; )

This 3-hour time window is today between 9am and noon. Back in the days when I was a permanent employee, taking time off like this was no biggie. It's different when it means that I'm losing billable hours during this wait time. Yes, I could have driven over to the office this morning and came back when they called to tell me they'd be here in an hour, but with the original snow prediction from last night, I expected that I'd not only be doing a little straightening up, but also taking care of some snow removal. Instead, I have a few minutes to breathe...and in my infinite wisdom, got caught up in finishing a novel before turning in last night, and pretty much am ready to take a nap rather than do anything productive. I just can't get by with 4 hours of sleep like I used to live on as a college student. Heck, I'll be in sleep debt probably through the weekend all for needing to finish a leisurely read. Yet some things remain comfortably the same: I love reading at night, have trouble putting books down, and still hate mornings.

PS. The delivery is on it's way. Yippee! Better yet, my new website is officially available for test viewing. See it now!

Getting the new website ready

I've been developing new content and a whole new style for my ElectriKolor website, and am about a week shy of re-launching the site. The writing part has been easy, the design part has been relatively easy, and the most difficult part yet to complete is the online transaction processing part. But I'll get that done soon enough.

Last year around this time, I began immersing my online efforts into Etsy, which was supposed to primarily be an online venue for handmade goods. If the truth is told, the major portion of the site's sales come from supplies, which are mostly commercial items being resold by online members. Of course, this is an excellent business model, in which Etsy itself profits from the transactions of creative sellers buying from their online "friends" instead of evil big box stores. It's apparently not a big deal if the individual seller sells things at a hefty mark-up, though...

The organization of Etsy itself is benefitting from those of us trying online selling for the first time, touting itself as a great community, and using the most successful sellers there as their model citizens. Of course, most of the listed "seller" members of Etsy now have shops that are either empty or haven't been updated in months. Many of the buyers are actually sellers, who love taking whatever money ends up in their PayPal account as sales proceeds and going right back and spending the money on something cute on Etsy. Again, this is an excellent business plan for Etsy. Get people in to the organization listing their items and relisting their items to gain exposure on the site, and while they're off waiting for customers to come into their store, ensure that they go off and tell other sellers just exactly how much they ♥ the other folks shops. If the hearts actually translated into sales, then that would be of interest to me...

The other parts of Etsy that I find to be most problematic are their totally FUBAR search engine and the fact that as a seller, you're expected to bring your customers to their site, but once you do, you really don't have easy and direct access to the members that you brought in. That is, unless you communicate outside of Etsy. Yes, Etsy does allow members to "convo" each other...but don't do it too often or include information that might seem repetitive. Heck, even cutting and pasting a common thank you note to your buyer can reduce your "convo" privileges. Heaven forbid if you want to contact the customers who have shown any interest in your products by marking them as their favorites...that's considered spam. No, you can't offer your customers or potential customers opt in/opt out permissions for your portion of the site.

If I were to go into more of a rant, I'd talk about the fact that the folks who are pumping the ideas into the site don't know jack about business and have been losing sellers who become successful or who just get "fed up" with the kinds of toys that they keep adding to the site. Yes, I love Flash as a tool for delivering online content, but if you don't have the simple site basics running like a well-oiled machine, what the heck do you need another shiny new useless tool that customers won't use? Etsy would benefit from a visit from a usability expert. Heaven knows they refuse to pay attention to the sellers and buyers who've been identifying their pain points for at least the last year that I've been trying to make sense of things over there.

End Etsy rant for now...

I guess I'm just a flake-lover...

Sweet goodness of nature...it's back below freezing and a nice new white blanket of snowcover has restored my faith in the elements!

Those 40+ degree days did a lot of melting of our December snows, but now things are getting back to being where they should be for a Wisconsin Winter. For a few days there, I was having Nashville winter flashbacks...not a pretty scenario. It's wonderful that global warming hasn't yet destroyed the entire planet.

: )

-7 to >40 degrees is just downright crazy...

Okay, okay, I love the cold weather and the fact that we almost set the biggest snowfall record in the month of December. Last night actual temperatures dropped below -7°F and today reached a balmy 20°F. That part is fine. We've still got a compacted snow cover outside and on many of the roofs of the well-insulated houses.
But...there's a darn warm front headed this way. Enough to pop the temps up another 20 degrees, and melt enough of the snow to have to consider things like flooding (all the storm drains are pretty much frozen solid with snow and ice right now) and yards that turn into extra large super slushies. Can you tell that I'd prefer things stay frozen for a little while longer?

I Still Don't Like the Holidays...

...and never really have since I was a little girl. Although I was brought up in a family with Christian beliefs, they never really transferred to me. I just don't believe.

I went through the religious and confirmation processes as a courtesy for my family. I went through more religious training so that my ex-husband could get married in the Catholic church. I celebrated the holidays when my son was younger--just for him--and along the way if I happened to be involved in a relationship with someone else during the season as a sign of respect for them, which means I have also celebrated Hannukah.

But I've always felt like a hypocrite, so in the last ten years or so, I just stopped celebrating--except for some events at work with former coworkers, again out of respect. I still don't believe. I don't believe that people should go crazy to fit all the events and material things into a short period of time. I'm more of a give-a-gift-when-I-feel-like-it and sometimes for-no-reason-other-than-I-care kind of person. Sometimes the gift will be in the food family, sometimes it will be a handmade item, and sometimes it will be something that I saw in a store that would be just right for a person. Or at least, that used to be how I worked. Now I'm pretty cynical, and don't give so freely...

A couple of years ago, a friend started inviting me to her family holiday celebrations, and I often go see them, but not always. It depends on whether I'm feeling social or antisocial, if the weather is good or crappy, and sometimes for no good reason other than today I just don't want to...

I am, however, quite tired of answering questions why I don't spend more time with my family during the holidays. My siblings and I are not a tightly-knit group. My mother and I have always seemed to be from somewhat different planets. My father died in 1999, and visits "home" for me have been non-existent since then. My relationship with my son is what is definitely classified as "estranged", and that's all of the family that is truly important to me. So I have a dog who actually seems to enjoy my company and doesn't want me to be someone that I'm not or better than the person that I am. The unconditional love of dogs is probably what has kept me from falling into long-term inconsolable depressive states throughout the roughest times of my life. There is something undeniably therapeutic about unconditional love and needing to do something for another being that helps pull one back from a variety of dangerous brinks.

I really don't think I'm all that bad a person, but I'm basing that on comparisons to the other people I know and have been close to in relationships. I do the best I can and try to do better when I learn other approaches. I don't always succeed: I try to not let me feel like a failure, but sometimes these personal demons DO get to me. Especially when I'm feeling ill or overly tired. At least I don't fight against insomnia like I used to, so that even if I'm getting really down on myself, a good night's sleep helps put things back into perspective.

Guess What? More Snow...

Yes, officially it's still fall, but the snow continues to accumulate. A few inches fell last night--it's great to get a refreshing white layer on top. Just ask my dog, Crash. The snow tastes great AND is less filling! We definitely like taking our evening walks in the snow, even with the few icy spots that hide underneath the latest flakes. I'm always amazed at how quickly folks become home-bound once the snow hits, and as the temperature becomes even less inviting outside, folks tend to walk less. But that's okay by me, because then Crash and I wind up sharing the most peaceful and quiet walks that we can have.
I find the walks with Crash to be very rejuvenating, even when I'm exhausted. I know some people have suggested that I swap out to a morning walk for Crash, but that's just not going to happen. Nope, mornings are for the fenced back yard. With only a few rare exceptions, I go out with Crash and walk around the yard in the mornings too. Can't have him mistakenly thinking that the yard is all his, you know? Plus it's part of our connection. On the days where the tennis balls don't get buried in the snow, we're out there playing every morning, and sometimes move the tennis ball game indoors to the long hallway between the living room and the bedrooms. Okay, it's not that long, but it's long enough for him to run a little bit, slide to a stop, grab the ball, and come back for more--without crashing into anything other than the doorways and the walls.
As I've said before, Crash is turning into a find dog and companion. He still has moments where he needs to be strongly encouraged to reduce his enthusiasm a little bit and can be difficult to get his attention, but he's still in his late teenage years...

Snow again...every other day!

Add 4-6 inches here and 4-6 inches there...jump the drifts in the back yard...keep those shovels close at hand! Fortunately there are some good Samaritans around driving little Bobcats...if only I could get my neighbors to park somewhere on the street other than just about directly in front of my mailbox. The sun just came out a little while ago, so the snow is still glistening, and with temps well enough below freezing, it's not going anywhere soon, and is likely to be added on sometime on Saturday or Sunday of this week.

I landed a new technical writing contract that begins Monday of next week...this is exciting...and represents excellent timing! I had been going out on some lower-paying temp jobs just to help cover the costs of living. This gig will run out until April-ish of 2008 at one of the companies here in Madison's version of Research Park (not to be confused with Research Triangle Park in NC, but definitely a technology incubator wannabe). Of course, I'm NOT from Madison...or a UW-Madison graduate...so that means the world revolves around its own axis, not south-central Wisconsin. It's an interesting alumni-rich community around here. I can't imaging hanging out at Skibo (the closest Carnegie-Mellon had to a Student Union at the time) 25 years after graduating, but for UW-Madison, graduation seems to NOT be much of a rite of passage, but rather just another strong tie to being a Badger for life...

Snow Day...

...today in Wisconsin (and Minnesota, and Iowa, and apparently a bunch of other places). It started out as the tiny pellet snow and continues to get icier as the day progresses. Now that the ice is turning the top layer into a crust, walking (and driving I suppose) is becoming more and more hazardous. Crash and I have been back from our evening walk and are warmed up again nicely. It will, however, take some time for the boots to dry off. Thank goodness I have more than one pair of boots!

I love when snow is on the ground--especially for the evening doggie walks. The illumination provided by the snow is a special bonus for us...it certainly improves my "iffy" night vision...and I would assume also improves the theoretical grayscale vision of dogs. Of course, I prefer the soft fluffy snow, but I've never been in control of the weather.

The "Girls Night Out" event mentioned a couple of days ago in this post went well. Again, the sticky note packs were quite popular (I'm glad I created more). I'm hoping that these will take off as a saleable item on Etsy, too, and with a couple of initial orders already, that might be the case. I'm promoting them like crazy on their online forums. Of course, "promoting like crazy" is a relative term...I'm looking for discussion threads that are actually relevant. These would make great stocking stuffers or gifts for teachers. Heck, even some teenagers might find them to be a fun addition to their backpack. And, yes, business folks who bring work home with them might like to add a pack or two to their briefcase. I now have 17 designs listed in the Sticky Note Pack section over on Etsy.

What to say today?

It's a wind chilling Thursday here in Wisconsin. The locals are struggling with the isolated television coverage for tonight's Green Bay Packers football game. I'm preparing for tonight's Girls Night Out event at Indigo Coffee & Tea. Crash, the dog, is reclined on the floor next to me with a tennis ball in his mouth--hoping that he'll get some more play time in before he goes to his crate-based den for the rest of my workday here at home.

Crash is starting to turn into a much more mellow guy than when he first came home with me in August 2006. He's a beautiful German Shepherd rescue dog who spent quite awhile as an abandoned dog in an apartment in Milwaukee. As a truly emaciated guy, he was brought into a foster home that worked really hard at getting his physical health back in shape, but his mental health wasn't great and his manners, well, he didn't have many. As a nearly full-grown 2-year-old, he was mouthing things (like my arm) as though he was still an itty bitty furball. He was completely unaware of things around him (hence his name change from the foster name of Malachi to Crash), and had to be led to the water bowl to get him to drink. Everything was too much stimulation for him. The TV. People (especially men). Dogs. Bikes.

I honestly didn't think we'd make as much progress as I now realize we have made. The first 6 months were really difficult, but eventually we learned enough about each other to work through the toughest times and reach understanding. Two of the best things that have worked with Crash are ample exercise time and for me to learn how to act as the alpha dog to a dominant dog who had been master of his own domain for such a long time. Plus, learn to be the alpha dog even on days when I feel vulnerable, tired, or ill.

I know that I used to practice these things when my son was much younger and living with me...but I also know that upholding the alpha position day in and day out is extremely stressful for me, and with outside stressors on top of that, I know that I lost the alpha position from time to time, and sometimes for extended periods of time. Now my buddy Crash can deal with a lot of things, but this summer as a guy rode his bike out in front of my home as he was running a dog on his leash, Crash still perceived this triple combo as a bit of a threat. But, relatively speaking, barking for a minute at something that is a known trigger is soooooo much better than a 5-minute anxiety attack.

Thanks again to Crash for bringing a little bit of spark back to my life and for challenging me back from some extremely difficult and depressing times. I think he's got a bit of Bittersweet spirit in him...

The Sticky Note Packs are now selling online!

All now available from my Sticky Note Pack section of my Etsy store.

More designs for the Post-it Purse Paks

I've been optimizing the design of these Post-it Purse Paks. Of course, I realize I have to NOT use the "Post-it" name, primarily because not all of the notes are official Post-it notes from 3M, so I'm thinking Posty Purse Paks might be a valid new name. Then again maybe something like Sticky Pak might work just as well. I'll have to think on this a little longer...I'm proud to say that all of these designs are prints from my original pastels.

Waiting to Croak...

...is the title of my latest ACEO. This lovely green frog is rendered in soft pastels featuring a somewhat Christmas holiday color palette. Have I mentioned lately that I've really enjoyed getting my hands dirty with pastel dust?

Most of my ACEO drawings have been (at least at one time) placed on eBay for sale. The most popular items are the (nude) figure studies, but they're great practice for me in terms of composition and improving my life drawing skills. One of the classes that I REALLY wanted to take when I went back to art school was life drawing, which was part of the curriculum when I enrolled, but got dropped out of the requirements a few quarters after enrollment, so I feel that is the biggest part of formal art education that I've not yet had. Someday...I'll take that class...somewhere. Until then, I'll keep practicing!

They Loved the Post-it Purse Packs!

Yippee! Another successful home show this weekend. We like the events where hundreds of people come to events and bring $ along with them. Patrons of these events are especially generous when they're looking for stocking-stuffer gifts, and my artwork reduced to a 2 inch square Post-it note cover with an elastic band closure sure went quickly. I came home with only a few, and practically none of the original alcohol ink versions of these made it back. Happy holidays to all!

On Making Donations of Art

I love being able to donate art pieces to help others raise funds--it's a great way to translate my talent into something useful for others. This year, I've supported Wisconsin Public Television, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison Area Open Art Studios, and others, and now have chosen to honor former Mount Horeb High School student Sara Hime, who recently passed away after a long-term battle with cystic fibrosis. Other local artists have made donations, as have members of the Mount Horeb High School Art Club.

The DECA Silent Art Auction for Sara Hime will raise money for the Ronald MacDonald House that helped Sara and her family. The event will take place at Sole Sapori, 304 Main Street, Mount Horeb on Friday November 16, 2007 from 5 to 9 PM. Read more and watch local TV spot.