Since Shan was the model for this art, it is a good time to slide into the art side of my time.  After a recent life changing event, I can focus more on painting.  With so many ideas and opinions about art, I will try to pick a subject and explain my thoughts.  I am not a purist in any area.  Trying different ways of producing a pleasing and worthy piece is the only goal.  I favor watercolor, gouache and then I will add ink, pencil, etc.  All this often would be in the category of 'mixed media'.  The painting of Shannon is a pure watercolor work, no additives.  This is the way I usually start.  It isn't an underpainting; just a sketch that grows into a draft that may go on to become a single medium painting.  If I feel it is unfinished as is, then I continue with other mediums.

 What happened?  Time has flown by so fast that my head is spinning.  Here it is, May, 2025 and I am still painting with Shannon asleep on the floor,  She has grown into a wonderful watch dog and companion.

Shannon or 'Shan' is my constant companion.  She has a favorite
corner between my art files and a bookcase.  She never bothers shoes or furniture, preferring the cardboard box containing art books, the rag I use to polish leather shoes or a spool of thread.  Maybe I should just toss her a box and skip the pricey, high-nutrition food I have selected for her.  I have never done animal art, but I may have to delve into this area.  We, as in the royal 'we', have taken on a dog training course.  An illustrated journal would be a 2018 challenge for us.

Our beloved Ruby left us to climb the Rainbow Trail in January.  I thought that I never wanted to have to go through the goodbye again and gave away all doggie items.  It took about three months to realize how empty the house was.  I passed by an adoption display on the sidewalk in front of one of our local pet stores.  All boys and one little girl who was being bullied by a bigger dog.  Of course, she came home with me.  So begins our adventure with a Border/Irish type terrier.  Shannon is so different from Ruby, our cuddly toy poodle.  Think: Ruby with a ruffle dress, bow in hair, white Maryjanes and Shannon with a dirty face, overalls and missing a shoe.  Life is different now.

A sunbeam from the ground

A tenacious little marigold is peeping out from under the overhang by the edge of the front entrance.  It is braving days of rain and cold.  No rain today, just a thin washed out shimmer from the sun.  It is the end of the day, end of the year.  It is a moment to reflect on yesterday and tomorrow.  This must be done with a hot drink and cookies. 

Seek Beauty in Time's Changes

Richard McKinley’s article in Artists Network was a good and positive reminder to seek beauty in change.  On a visit to my sister in Kansas City, she asked if I wanted to go back to our hometown of Wichita for a visit.  I declined.  My friends had moved away, there was no more family there and my home of teenage years had become a parking lot.  I knew about the parking lot because my sister had been to Wichita on business and looked up the old house.  I have honed my memories over the years to a golden dazzle of sweet nostalgia.  I did not want to smudge a smidgen of them.

What if I had gone and seen the herring-bone-brick street lined with overhanging trees and homes worn with love?  I think I missed an opportunity.  I will tote my camera around more often now, to capture a moment in time of a place that will most assuredly change.  Case in point, the Cracked Crab was a local eating joint, next a derelict building and now a western antique shop.  I did this art when it was falling down.  The building has been resurrected with a multitude of signage.  Good for another painting?  Absolutely.

 

Practical Painting in the Garden

A dark yard.  No moon.  A million stars overhead, but the ground is a dark abyss.   Solution: cute little solar lights!  The less expensive (translate cheap) solar lights have a cold bluish cast.  Being the romantic that I am, I want a warm candlelight glow among the flowers.  Taking the new set of lights apart and exposing the teensy bulb, I bathed it in Sharpie marker color.  Over time I have tried yellow marker which produced a sickly greenish phosphorus color.  Then I tried red; too far on the rainbow scale.  Next was a nice rich orange and that produced the golden glow that I sought. 

Painting one-eighth inch light bulbs may not be for everybody.  For me, it provides the ambiance for those special late evening moments, “This is your last chance to go, Fido.”