Happy Birthday, Roge

Happy, Happy Birthday, Roge.....Hope you have a Great Birthday....Your 1st one in your new state, town, house, time zone, (shall I go on???) Anyways hope it is great!!

Glad to hear so many things have worked out for you!! It's nice to follow the dream and make it really happen, isn't it? Both Gary and I are SO glad that we moved back here---We miss the people downstate but that's about all....

Anyways blow out all (how many??? I can't believe its THAT many!!) and eat LOTS of cake!!

Spam Filters

Phyl,

Concerning the spam on the post below. I have set up on my own blog a check from which all comments can be reviewed before posting. They can either be approved or rejected. You can set this up from your dashboard. This way anyone can post, but only approved comments would be published. Only drawback is the time lag between initial comment and your approval. You would have to monitor it on a fairly regular basis.

Thanks for your work and interest.

Dad

Meant to get on here and talk about Dad on his birthday but I didn't get it done.... Just wanted to remember him and think about how he influenced my life.... They lived a very simple life and we didn't have a lot of money but I don't think we ever wanted for anything especially food. I never went to bed hungry and never felt like we didn't have enough to eat. There are many things that he taught us especially how to work hard and "accomplish something", but also how to treat everybody no matter their status in life, their skin color, or even if other people didn't like them. I love you, Dad and miss you alot...

Happy Birthday, Phyl

Just wishing you a Happy, Happy Birthday tomorrow!! May you have a GREAT day!! Love you!

View from the Driveway

Most of the front is finished. Chimney is nearly done and then the scaffolding can come down (which will make it look better).

Oops!

Trying to fix a couple of things and inadvertenly deleted a couple of authors. Sent invitations to Roger and Helen to rejoin the blog. Please join using the email invitation.

Katie and Glen

Katie was Cindy's first friend in Jacksonville and has been her best friend all the way through. We have eaten dinners with them on a regular basis. They are good people.

I captured Glen almost exactly in his portrait. It took me less than 30 minutes of sketching before I was ready to start painting him. Katie was somewhat more difficult and is still off, but I wasn't able to figure out how to correct it. Ah, well, some you win, some you don't.

Phil and Deb

From a portrait sent by Deb at Christmas time a few years ago. Close enough to recognize them, far enough away to know there still is room for improvement.

Looking upriver on Julington Creek in Jacksonville, FL. My magnum opus, so far.

We've been busy.........

............at the house. Nearly finished the fireplace and the flooring in the greatroom. The windowsills are started (that's my project and I'm slow). And I included a better shot of the kitchen for you to see however, there is so much clutter and dust that you can't see how good the countertops look.

Saucy Seagull

Reached a milestone with this one--#10. I am quite proud of this painting. I think it's the best one I've done so far. I took some license with the wording on the sign to add a little tongue-in-cheek humor. Not that the seagull cares at all.

#9--Hawk at Sunset

I took this photo in my front yard just before dark. The hawk had been living in this area for weeks. I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. The vertical lines in the house are in the board and should have been sanded out before I started.

Please comment.

Helen, please try to comment to this post and see if you are allowed. If not, let me know by email that you tried. Thanks.

Stella--Take Two

Ah, Phyllis, Phyllis. Right again, as usual. Anyhow, after I got over my outrage and indignation at being severely critiqued and chastised, I decided that she did look like she had worms, so I picked up my battered ego and my paint brush and started again. I think that the remake is actually better than the original.

This time I really am going to leave it alone.

Little bit of variety--#8

This is Stella Artois Patterson. She owns the house which Rex and Wendy live in.
There is a beer named Stella Artois. I don't like it, Rex does. He says that the cat gets more attention than he does. Anyway, I told Wendy that I would paint a picture for her and she gave me this one.

I've tried repeatedly to upload the original for comparison, but can't seem to get it. I'll keep working on it.

Number Seven

This is a picture I had about 90% finished six months ago and only just finished it up today. Enjoy! I've found out that I can take more photos to paint than actually get painted.

Woohoo!

We have an offer on our house. They offered, we countered, and they accepted. Please pray that nothing causes it to go sour.

The timing is good. House has enough done that we could clean up and live there. They want to close by Aug. 31st so that gives us about six weeks to put it together and move.

See Posts below.

Would this be better treated as a printed poster and not a painting? Am I missing something here?

Phyl,

I just took this picture twenty minutes ago in my yard. Notice the hawk in the center. This bird has been living in my front yard (and the neighbor's) for at least two weeks. It is either a domesticated bird which has escaped or else has a nest here. How would you handle this photo? How would I paint it?

I think it is a gorgeous silhouette. Cindy thinks that it would be a good backdrop for an inspirational quote splashed across the bottom.

I'm really trying to understand this. Please realize that I don't have time to do a lot of research or studying, nor do I have the money for classes. I have to learn this on my own. Anything you can help me with would be appreciated.

These are some pictures that I am going to be painting in the near future. Phyl, please give me some advice. I have already sketched the seagull and the wagon onto a board, but I think it would be better to paint the entire background first and then do the detail in the front, rather than trying to paint around everything. Am I correct?