What are you working on?

[Katie]

I must admit that during the winter months I feed them quite well with peanut butter balls mixed with oats and fruits. View attachment 3430

I love that you do that for them...poor little critters

 

[musket]

They're not poor little critters. They're very resourceful and quite capable of feeding themselves through the winter. Inviting squirrels to your house is a very, very bad idea. You want to feed something, feed the birds. You should, Katie. You're in bird paradise.

 

[Iain]

It is common knowledge the introduced Grey squirrels have pushed out the indigenous Red squirrels here in the UK. The greys are more voracious, transmit disease (plans are afoot to capture and mask ), and are generally more aggressive than the poor indigenous Red. Plus, unlike our bredrin, they do not sport cute tufted ears!

I once saw one dart into a bush with something. It was colourful. I tiptoed towards it and parted the branches. I wish camera-phones had been invented. It was holding a lollipop on a stick! Imagine the image.

 

[Iain]

The front of the backside (detail) of "Proudly Presents."

 

[OliveOyl]

I finished all three paintings with the crackle finish that I was working on (way back on page 1). Someday, maybe I’ll post them despite the fact they’re just...meh. It’s weird that I appropriate images left and right and these photos belonged to my mother so I suppose these are appropriated too. But still, I feel a little funny posting them because they’re like “too real” or something.

Anyway, I’ve already moved on.

After a week of stifling heat, I got an 11 hour migraine which sent me to bed for most of the day. But then two days after that, my back went out after yoga class so I was immobile. After about 5 days of feeling like a 95yo, I gingerly took the howling freaked out cat to the vet where he threw up all over his carrier. But when I got out of the car, my back went out again. It’s now 6 days past the cat puke day and it’s still too hot and I’m still stiff and sweating and aggravated. But like a good little doobie artist person that I am...I’ve managed to squeeze out another painting. Because...what else do I have to do? This one is wide (48”x20”) with photo transfers of burning buildings on top of acrylic and bleach and there’ll be a tin toy police parade rolling along in the foreground. At the end of the road (meaning, literally...on the canvas), there’ll be something “positive.” Still TBD.

This is my version of a “political” painting and it’s matching my mood these days. Sure, things can always be worse but to say I’m cranky these days...is a bit of an understatement.

 

[Desforges]

They're not poor little critters. They're very resourceful and quite capable of feeding themselves through the winter. Inviting squirrels to your house is a very, very bad idea. You want to feed something, feed the birds. You should, Katie. You're in bird paradise.

I know that what you are saying is probably right . I was also very lonely when I started. My son had been away for 8 years in Asia.
My squirrels showed up skinny, on my fourth floor balcony, a couple were hairless during a very cold Quebec winter, probably from mange. So I started making them really good food with nuts and grains, oil , honey and peanut butter rolled into balls. After a while they would climb the tree every morning and sat in my window. They love fruit too. Anyway, all this to say that they kept me company.
They became fuller and better looking.I never feed them in the spring.

 

[Artyczar]

The front of the backside (detail) of "Proudly Presents." View attachment 3446

Really like this. It's unique!

 

[Artyczar]

I finished all three paintings with the crackle finish that I was working on (way back on page 1). Someday, maybe I’ll post them despite the fact they’re just...meh. It’s weird that I appropriate images left and right and these photos belonged to my mother so I suppose these are appropriated too. But still, I feel a little funny posting them because they’re like “too real” or something.

Anyway, I’ve already moved on.

After a week of stifling heat, I got an 11 hour migraine which sent me to bed for most of the day. But then two days after that, my back went out after yoga class so I was immobile. After about 5 days of feeling like a 95yo, I gingerly took the howling freaked out cat to the vet where he threw up all over his carrier. But when I got out of the car, my back went out again. It’s now 6 days past the cat puke day and it’s still too hot and I’m still stiff and sweating and aggravated. But like a good little doobie artist person that I am...I’ve managed to squeeze out another painting. Because...what else do I have to do? This one is wide (48”x20”) with photo transfers of burning buildings on top of acrylic and bleach and there’ll be a tin toy police parade rolling along in the foreground. At the end of the road (meaning, literally...on the canvas), there’ll be something “positive.” Still TBD.

This is my version of a “political” painting and it’s matching my mood these days. Sure, things can always be worse but to say I’m cranky these days...is a bit of an understatement.

View attachment 3448
View attachment 3447

Wow Olive. I'm so sorry for everything you've been going through, but I love these paintings! I mean, a lot a lot! ❤ ❤ ❤

 

[Desforges]

I finished all three paintings with the crackle finish that I was working on (way back on page 1). Someday, maybe I’ll post them despite the fact they’re just...meh. It’s weird that I appropriate images left and right and these photos belonged to my mother so I suppose these are appropriated too. But still, I feel a little funny posting them because they’re like “too real” or something.

Anyway, I’ve already moved on.

After a week of stifling heat, I got an 11 hour migraine which sent me to bed for most of the day. But then two days after that, my back went out after yoga class so I was immobile. After about 5 days of feeling like a 95yo, I gingerly took the howling freaked out cat to the vet where he threw up all over his carrier. But when I got out of the car, my back went out again. It’s now 6 days past the cat puke day and it’s still too hot and I’m still stiff and sweating and aggravated. But like a good little doobie artist person that I am...I’ve managed to squeeze out another painting. Because...what else do I have to do? This one is wide (48”x20”) with photo transfers of burning buildings on top of acrylic and bleach and there’ll be a tin toy police parade rolling along in the foreground. At the end of the road (meaning, literally...on the canvas), there’ll be something “positive.” Still TBD.

This is my version of a “political” painting and it’s matching my mood these days. Sure, things can always be worse but to say I’m cranky these days...is a bit of an understatement.

View attachment 3448
View attachment 3447

Very cool! Did you transfer the photos with acetone ? Very nice size as well, feels like you can walk into it

 

[OliveOyl]

Thanks for “the three thumbs.”

(Arty...I’m just old. Whining about body parts comes with the territory. Apparently.)

And Desforges...I found the (digital) pictures and then, made them black and white and then, added a raggedy border and then, flipped them to print out backwards. I used decoupage glue but acrylic gel medium works, too. I coated the front (where the printer ink sits) with the glue, as well as on top of the actual canvas where the image would sit and then burnished the paper smooth. Wait 24 hours and then take a damp sponge and wet the paper surface thoroughly and rub very gently until an image appears. I did the figures again on top of all that. And later, when I put on a sealer, that filmy paper residue should disappear. Tedious as all that sounds...if you (or anybody) has never done a photo transfer...it’s VERY satisfying. To rub away a solid sheet of white paper to “reveal” an image underneath is like discovering a secret treasure. But it makes a big bloody mess.

I guess I could have given a much shorter answer, but there you go.

Oh and btw, your work is really interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing more. It has sort of a magical Moroccan-inspired hippie fairytale vibe and THAT’S....a compliment.

 

[Iain]

Really like this. It's unique!

Thank you, i appreciate....

 

[P. Barrie]

We hate squirrels. Nasty animals. They bully the birds and have endlessly greedy appetites. Last year they were a plague, huge numbers of them all over New England. I shot as many as I could, sorry. Over thirty in total, grey and red. I don't enjoy killing things, but the last thing you want setting up housekeeping in your attic is a squirrel. They're incredibly destructive. This year it's chipmunks. Also nasty, despite their reputation for cuteness. Usually we get four to six. This year, so far, we've done in over fifty. Thus preventing who knows how many more. You want to interact with a wild animal, make it a procyonid, not a rodent.

I’m with you. Too many rodents! We have eliminated much of the original habitat of rodent predators. Rodents seem to be able to thrive anywhere. Not so with the carnivorous predators. Hence we become the predators and must take some measures to control rodent populations in our living areas.

 

[musket]

Thank you, Mr. Bobcat. One less squirrel for me to deal with.

 

[laf.art]

This is really cool Olive, perfect for this deranged time that we are living through

 

[stlukesguild]

We started back to work yesterday... teaching... all distance learning for the time being. We will be spending the first 3+ weeks in professional development meetings... beginning with learning how to use the various platforms: ZOOM, Microsoft Groups, Office 365, Seesaw, Schoology, Clever, etc... Already I feel like this:

 

[Iain]

Ouch! That does sound torturous, when all you want to do is teach! You must love it to do it. In another life with a different brain, I would have been an academic.
(Yet again) Detail of "proudly presents"

 

[brianvds]

Ouch! That does sound torturous, when all you want to do is teach! You must love it to do it. In another life with a different brain, I would have been an academic.

I can't imagine how one can satisfactorily teach an art class online.

 

[Iain]

I don't know. If I had to be taught "art" I wouldn't do it.

 

[Artyczar]

What have I been doing? I have not been painting. Yet I've been busy with "other stuff." I haven't even been on the forums for a couple days (if you guys even missed me, I don't know).

One of the stupid things I've been doing is a bunch of photo organization on my computer because I recently couldn't find specific ones that I needed for an application. It took me literally hours because they were named something they shouldn't have been. It pissed me off so much, I decided to start organizing them. I've been meaning to do it forever. I have photos in too many different places by various different names and I don't know how it even got that way. Maybe from multiple scans, raw files, WIPs, edited .jps for the website, for various submissions, for show files, etc., etc., whatever.

I also think I decided to comb out my hair--one of the many other things I've been doing on top of working on my friend's images for her website, doctor stuff, writing for a grant, working on a new book, catching up with emails (which I don't think I will ever do before my life ends), and cleaning up the porches after we had a 22,000 acre fire not too far from here. The ash is everywhere!

Combing out my hair is going to take a month. No joke. I've had dreadlocks for the last decade and they are past my butt. I'm cutting them about fourteen inches long and then combing them out one by one. I can do up to two a day, depending on how thick they are and what else I have going on. I've combed out eight so far--all before I decided to really commit to the task! But I guess I'm doing it. This slow process is the only way to do it without having to shave my head.

I suppose I could cut it really close to my head, and then comb it and have super short hair. I mean, I don't mind having really short hair. I've had it before, but I'm not sure what style I want it yet. I figure having hair long enough to barely touch my shoulders will at least be a good place for a beautician to start doing something to it.

And I won't be so freakin' hot in this 100-degree heat! But, it then again, it will be fall by then.

 

[PSA3475]

Can we get before and after photos of your hair?