I don't get out to DA much these days. I'm still using Win2000, and the load times for DA pages is abysmal. So, in an attempt to chronicle my progress in creating art for my next big show in August, I've started an art blog at [link] . Come see me over there!

I also have a personal blog at [link] , where I record the mundane everyday stuff of life, and the random antics of my cats.

Comments are encouraged in both locations. See you there!

(pokes head in, looks around, brushes the dust off the pile of mail, sneezes)

I've lost track of how long it's been since I've visited DA. My year sorta got away from me. Highlights:
- March. Started a new job and a 10-week watercolor class.
- April. Cat died. RIP FurBeast.
- May. Big art show.
- June. Travelled to WV for BabySister's wedding/baby party.
- July. Did precious little. House invaded by teenagers from afar. Art studio ransacked by a creative 16-year-old with a thing for lime green.
- August. Photographed my other Little Sister's wedding.
- Late August. Adopted new cats, Mischief and Mayhem. Studio is being trampled by puddy paws.

Now it's September, and I'm still doing precious little. I signed up for a 10-week portrait class that starts later this month. I need to get ready for a big art show in early October. That's about it.

- The cat became ill shortly after my previous post. She's diabetic with failing kidneys. She hasn't eaten in 4 days. The end is near.

- I'm still job hunting, but something good happened this week and it's so close I can almost taste it.

- I'm taking a watercolor class for the next 10 weeks rather than figure drawing. Finally! Yeah!

- I've been posting art for sale on the big "E", but not every week. Here's the link. [link]

- I've been contracted to do another cover for Yard Dog Press [link] and I'll have a short story in their "Flush Fiction" anthology later this spring.

- I spent a week in Florida. Yeah!

Bloody hell. Three months gone by....
- September was stressful at work, and I travelled a bit.
- October found me unemployed (not by choice, but a welcome relief), searching madly for a new job, and tying up loose ends regarding income, healthcare, etc.
- November got sucked away by the job search and a blue period.

Now it's December. The holiday madness is well underway. I'm still job hunting. The sweetie is off serving Uncle Sam for a few weeks. And the cat and I are having long, involved conversations. I really need to get out more.

The only art I've committed lately has been in the weekly figure drawing sessions, and I'm not entirely happy with the output. I did a few ACEO-size works in September and showed them at two shows in October. I'll try to post some here.

I did spend an afternoon with the camera at the zoo before the weather turned. Not much art created, but I did have a Hitchcockian moment with a herd of kangaroos....

I've been away from art for most of the summer. The surgery, an arthritis flare in my drawing hand, two visiting teenagers underfoot, and, most recently, a major upheaval at work has kept me either convalescing or stressing. I did take a five-week session of life drawing, and lately I've been practicing my brush strokes.

Yes, the quality of your brushes makes a difference. I'll post some practice studies shortly. Both were done with #4 and #2 natural hair brushes. But there IS a difference. The burgundy series was done with cheap brushes. Sure, they were marked "sable", but they were still crap. The purple series was done with Kolinsky sable brushes. (Utrecht Vermeer 221, affordable luxury. [link] ) Oh, yeah. Big difference. I'm a believer. You definitely get what you pay for.

Just for grins, I've been doing these brush stroke studies in the ACEO format of 3.5 inches x 2.5 inches. I'm not sure I understand the ACEO trend, but what the hey -- the practice paper goes further, right? And perhaps I'll eventually get an image or two I can offer for sale. (If you see something you like, send me a private message. We'll talk. I also sell prints and originals posted on my website [link] )