short (and rough) video of backyard in snow...

This is the view from my studio window this morning!

The Snow, The Ice, The Backyard!

My friend Felix sitting in front of my computer...

This is our youngest cat and the only male (neutered, of course). The wallpaper on the computer is the other two cats, Felicia and Ginger. He had just finished staring at them for about 3 minutes when I shot this video. This is kind of an experiment to see how well shooting video works on the still camera and how easily this loads onto the internet.

Another portrait...

This is Sparky, my Chow/Shepherd mix.

A portrait of Lynn...

... Same one as before - reworked.

A whole week later but finally...

I get to paint some more! Whew! I didn't think it was going to happen anytime soon. On the bottom is what it looked like shortly after starting today and then what it looks like now. I'm happy to get to work on it some more. It may be close to done.

Everybody should have the day off tomorrow - EVERYBODY - for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and EVERYBODY should get to watch the inauguration on Tuesday - if not also have that day off. I have never gotten to see an inauguration but somehow I will see this one! Wish me luck!

End of the day...

I'm stopping for the day. This is the progress. Hopefully, I'll be able to work on it some more tomorrow. I'll keep posting progress...

This is the new project today...

Okay so forget the cow(s) for now. That was not working out so well. (I have been reworking scanned images of the cows in Corel Painter that I think may turn out - I will post - good or bad - when I am done - or at least later.)

Today, I woke up with this idea and just had to go with it. I will keep showing the progress.

The garden in winter...

The photo of the garden is mainly for the benefit of my brother. Who would have ever thought I would have a garden? Two of the three raised beds are 4' x 8' and the third is 5' x 12'. We are planning a fourth bed for next Spring and long term plans include a small greenhouse. We use organic seeds (mostly from Seeds of Change) and build up our soil lasagna-style. My brother inherited my mother's green thumb and I think he would enjoy this garden. I've also included a couple of photos of 2 of our pets: Sparky is the Chow mix in the backyard and Felix is the cat in my studio window.

The second day of the new year!!

Here is my affirmation collage for 2009 (left). These are the things I want to bring into my life. I've also included an image (above) of the blooming Christmas cactus that lives (and now thrives - after being rescued from the cats) in our kitchen window - because it is beautiful.