Monday, April 23, 2007

Easel Inauguration

I painted my first painting using my new easel last weekend. It's my first effort in several years, but I am pleased with it. I think I need to work on the bottom left though. It looks a little flat. I've discovered that trying to paint translucent things that are back lit is pretty dang hard. I scraped off the middle cloud and repainted it probably four times. This is a fairly large painting for me at around 52 x 40 inches.

Monday, April 16, 2007

A Major Life Change

I've been putting this off for a week now mainly because I've had to take this in in waves. You see, the more I tell people, the more it is real, and as much as I knew it was the right decision, it's still hard.

Last week I broke up with Teri.

There, I said it. It's completely official in my head now (well, maybe after I click the 'publish' button).

It was a hard thing to do because I still love her very much, because we have such an amazing history together, and many, many other reasons. What I've come to realize over the last few months though, since we've been separated by a great distance, is that I already have roots here.

I still love her and I always will.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Homemade Easel

A few years ago I made a gigantic easel in the basement but when I finally tried it out this year the fumes from the oil paints I used filled the house. Not to mention the fumes were strongest near a furnace... not a good combination. So the basement easel was a no-go. After all the hard work I had put into building it, I got discouraged and it was several months later before I sat down at my computer and designed a free standing easel (the previous one was mounted to a wall) so I could take it outside.

I reused as much of the materials from the previous easel as I could. And the result was a fantastic easel that I can haul out to my yard in two pieces and set up within ten minutes. It's incredibly sturdy, and on windy days I can throw bags of sand over the boards that form the base to keep it from turning into a gigantic sail.

On the left you can see the schematic I made on my 3-D design program and me with the finished product.

I'm itching to paint so if any of you would like to commission a painting, or know someone else who would, just let me know.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

What a lady! Nana's 80!

My grandmother turned 80 on March 25th! We celebrated with a surprise party at the Blue Willow Inn, a fancy restaurant waaaaaaaay east of Atlanta. It's in an old plantation house.

I think we actually surprised her too! It was a good time had by all!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Buds from Valdosta

I got together with some of my old college friends recently. Unfortunately it was under a pretty sad circumstance. We all gathered together in Valdosta, GA to pay our respects to Valerie Fisher, who passed away unexpectedly in mid-March.

Valerie was a vocal student at VSU at the same time I was an art student. I didn't know Valerie well, but we hung out in the same circles. I was in marching band my first three years of college, so I hung around with a bunch of band geeks (pot calling the kettle black, I know) in the music department. Music folks are a tight-knit group, and in hindsight, I was honored to be around such a fine group of people. I only wish you could have heard the congregation singing at Valerie's memorial service. It was so beautiful! Having musical people in your life enhances it beyond imagination and it was clear that Valerie enhanced many people's lives.

The colors of springtime in America

I have a much greater appreciation for spring this year. My experience of spring in Cairo last year was a rather dreary one. There was barely any change other than the weather warming. There really wasn't any change in vegetation; no flowers and no greenery.

So this year the colors and scents of spring are magnified. The popping spring green is vibrant, the cherry and apple blossoms produce a wondrous fragrance, though I have to admit I could do without the vast quantities of pollen.

Here are a few pictures I have taken over the last two weeks. Check out the massive caterpillar I found. I put a quarter next to it for size reference.