A Pooka and a Harpy

I believe I've finished the Pooka, altho I am not completely satisfied. It was a photo taken indoors and so more difficult to get the lighting. But for now I am calling her done. Do you know what a Pooka is? Do you remember the old Jimmy Stewart movie "Harvey" about Elmer P. Doud and his 6 ft. tall buddy, the white rabbit named Harvey? Well, Harvey was a pooka. A pooka is a large, mythical creature. This Pooka, isn't so large, but she can be "mythical"!!! :-) When she was a puppy she had "spectacles", but once she'd "caught" me with that face, she lost most of her sabling, so now she's mainly tan with a bit of sabling (the dark fur) on her back and a very dark sabled tail. This piece is done in casein.


I and a friend went to the Russian museum last Thurs. and really enjoyed it. She and I did alot of talking about Flemish masters and their technics. She is taking classes on how to do this. It turns out that is a bit similar to what I've begun doing so I started trying to do a bit more along those lines with this harpy. All these feathers are driving me crazy, but I think it is coming along ok. Time will tell. Obviously it is a WIP and has a long way to go yet. I think I like this technic more and more as I go along. I am doing this piece in acrylic as it lends itself to this technic more than the caseins or gouache.

Another castle website

Just a quick link- I found this from one of the blogs I follow called Life at Willow Manor. I doooo love castles and ruins!
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hanna/sorbie/Sorbie.htm

One last robin post and KLUTEN!

I've reworked the robin to get his size and angle a bit better. He "grew" as I painted him and got a bit out of shape! I did also try to add a bit more darkness to his shadowed side as well. I'll post him at the bottom so you can see him closer to the "before" shots. He's a bit out of focus so I'll have to try and retake him and repost later.
I thought I'd post a family recipe made by my grandmother when my mom was growing up, often this was their dinner or a good portion of it. My grandfather came over "on the boat" with his father very early in the 20th century- they went through Ellis Island- and they were from Germany. The name of the recipe is Kluten and we believe it came over with them. It is a "by gosh and by golly" recipe as my aunt says, so you must realize things are approximate in some of the amounts. But it is yummy and very different from anything else I've ever had. Also very easy. This time of year we get all those lovely apples, so I thought as I made it yesterday- I should post this on my blog. :-) So, I give you...

KLUTEN
apples
1/2 c. sugar
cinnamon
Cake batter:
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
flour- approx. 1 1/4 c. (enough to stifen like a cake batter, not too thick)

Mix cake batter ingredients until well mixed.

Pare and slice apples (about 5-6) into a large Dutch oven. Add water to come even with the apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and 1/2 c. sugar. (You can add some red cinnamon candies to make it pink, pretty, and a bit sweeter if you like.) Heat to boiling and cook until apples are half done. Lower heat, and drop cake mixture over. Cover and cook until cake is done, approx. 45 min. Very good with whipped cream or ice cream.

Hope you enjoy this old family recipe which warms our tummies each fall, and also has brought back memories in the past for my mother of her family around the dinner table.

Re-worked and refined robin on fountain

I've reworked the values a bit more on this piece and also the warmth on the sunny areas. I believe you can see the difference- the top, larger photo is the newer version of the piece. Hope you find it to be improved.
BTW- I've named the newest "studio buddy"- he's Pipsqueak- Pip for short. :-)

A Fountain and a robin

I finally got to finish this one several days ago, but just hadn't had a chance to photograph it. It is a combination of several references I had. The fountain was one I saw in a garden in Iowa with my aunt. It was huge, but just gorgeous. It wasn't running unfortunately, and it had a sparrow on it which I wasn't sure I wanted so decided to change to the robin. Hope you like it. It is in need of a title- as usual!

I'm working away on the puppy and hope to have it to post very soon.

A New Piece begun and a Final Thank You

First of all, let me say- It's good to be back and finally getting a bit of painting done. I'll post the piece I worked a bit on while on our trip when my mini painting friend Gail and I got together to talk art and later on I'll post the piece I just finished today that has been calling to me for weeks now!



This is Gail and I during our visit. We had a great time, while our husbands spent their time cooking ribs over the fire and generally just waiting for us to quit painting and talking! :-)




I had my mom here for several days. She has alzheimers and has progressed to the point of constantly thinking I am her sister, not sure who I am when I tell her I'm her daughter, and not sure how many children she had (I'm "it"). This is difficult to deal with as I'm sure you'll understand. She did have a couple of "good" days and even though I thought I "should" be painting I decided to play my piano for her. I believe it will be the last time I'll get to do that and she will know who I am and what I am doing for her. She sat and listened and enjoyed, and I played (with tears in my eyes) thinking- "This is my thank you for putting up with all the "----" I gave you when you made me practice". If it weren't for her I wouldn't be able to play. I was generally an easy child to raise, but that was one area I was awful with a capital A! I bless her every day that I play for that gift she gave me, and this was my final thank you to her. I have a piano student who played for her grandmother and then at her grandmother's funeral. I don't know how she did it- I couldn't I know. So I am thankful the Lord gave me this final chance.
Thus, I still haven't painted as much as I would have liked, but it is a start and hopefully now that I'm done traveling for awhile and mostly back to normal health I can get back into the "swing" of things.


The piece I am posting is in casein, as Gail wanted me to show her how casein and gouache work/paint. Personally I find them to be like painting with the same paint, just that casein is permanent when cured, gouache is not. It was great fun to have someone to paint with for once and I wish I could do it more often.

New Studio Buddy!

I just got this little fellow, and I can hardly stand myself he's so cute!!! Already love him to pieces. Tomorrow morning we go for our vet check. Sure hope he's A-ok! He's tiny, should be about a 4 to 4 1/2 lb-er. I didn't want him any smaller than that. His face reminds me of my Sammie. Just not as big of eyes (and different color ofcourse). I didn't want one just like Sammie anyway. I think that would be too painful actually, and I want a new guy to love all for himself. Yes- that's a regular coffee mug he's in so you can get a feel for his size! Now for a name!