Art & Nature

Orange Kitten 2009

5x7 inch watercolor and colored pencil

Art and nature are definately 2 of my favorite things so in this post we're going to touch on both. First, though, I'm still trying to figure out to take high quality pictures with my iPhone. I must admit, I miss my old camera. If any of you have a website for some tips on how to get some great photos please let me know in the comments section. I think I may go the duct tape route with the old camera (the back 'door' where the film goes in won't click shut).

Orange Kitten 2011

8x10 inch watercolor and colored pencil

Speaking of pictures I have a STACK of photos that I constantly pull from and paint from. Some time ago, my friend had recieved a pair of kittens. I went over and took about a roll of film of these sweeties playing and tumbling over each other. Above is 2 paintings of the same kitten. I like to look at the comparison between the two and my goodness, much richer color and more saturation with the latest 2011 kitten. Same kind of paper and materials used too. Sometimes I think I'm not growing as an artist (Bear with me - I am my own worst critic) and then I look at my paintings side by side... What do you think?

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Deer Causalty at Chester
February 2011

Dead Deer March 2011

Jason and I spend a lot of time walking in the woods and we came across these scenes at 2 different locations. The first was at Chester. From the tracks and blood in the snow, it seems that this deer was pushed off the packed snow track and into the 2 foot snow where it wasn't able to move as freely and then was attacked and cosumed by a pack of coyotes. The second was in Weston and from what we could tell, this deer (about 20 yards from the road) was probably hit by a car, made it into the woods and died. Then, coyotes came and took care of the rest. Nature isn't pretty all the time (just look at Japan right now) and I think as more time goes by the more we become disconnected with it. I try not to feel bad for these deer, I can't. It's nature and I have no control over it. I think I should do an art project about this....