Artful Dreamer

I have been looking at some other blogs.  There are some very creative people out there.  I hope, in time, I will be able to meet some of them.  It's always fun to interact with people with lots of different interests as well as reconnect with old friends.
It's hot out again today so I won't be doing much out there.  I try to water things in the evening when it's cooler.  At first this year we got too much rain, now it's really hot and dry.  Good for the farmers, tho.
I'm posting yet another page from Froggie and Mousie.    They are almost like one of my family.  It's hard to look at mice and frogs the same way again.  I did have a nest with mother and babies in my computer desk.  They, however, had to go.

I started working on a clay "neanderthal" type man.  I got inspired by a friend who has a neighbor with a hairy back, etc, who works in the yard in just his Speedo.  Eek.  It's fun to work with clay.  I love to make strange characters (one of them my alter ego).  She seems to have a lot of fun.

Kind of from the ridiculous to the sublime, huh?

Sharyn

Artful Dreamer

Another beautiful day.  Wish it could last for months and months yet.  I love to be outside and dig in my gardens, but part of me looks forward to staying in the house and working on projects.  There are a million things I'd like to do.  One good thing about being retired is that I can "march to my own accordian".  Of course it takes me twice as long to do it now but that's OK.

A lot of my flowers have slowed down but there are always beautiful Fall flowers to take their places.  I keep seeing other yards that are so beautiful, that I want to do it all.  I think I'm going to let go of my goldfish this year.  I really love them, but they are a LOT of work.  I'm trying to find a good home for them.  They keep multiplying so it gets to be a problem.  Some of them are getting to be a good size.  I've had them for quite a few years.

If they could stay outside all year round it would be easier.

Here is another page in my Froggie and Mousie tale.  Hope you enjoy it.

Sharyn

Artful Dreamer

I just finished working on a crazy photo.  I picked some wacky vegetables in the garden and just had to use them somehow.  I call them Mr. and Mrs. Veggie Heads.  I think they look quite good together.

I hope you like them.  I appreciate your comments.

Sharyn

Artful Dreamer

We went to the State Fair this morning.  There were cars lined up for miles waiting to get in the gate.  It was $11 just to park, plus $9 each to get in, so we were practically broke before we even got in.  Oh well, it's only once a year.  Got my Pronto Pup and Cream Puff fix so now I'm good to go.  At that time of morning, the lines at the designer coffee stands were the longest.

We went into the horse barns.  I have never seen such huge horses in my life.  They took the old draft horses and bred them much, much taller.  They mostly use them for show - they have never been ridden.  The few that are, the people need a ladder to get on them.  (The girl beside them was tall, close to 6".)  They also need ladders to groom them.  Their hooves are a good 8" across.  Beautiful beasts.

I remember when we were kids, and the farmers used horses for farm work.  Their hooves thundered across the yard as they pulled the wagons for threshing from the fields.  I swear the earth shook from the weight.  Those memories are awesome.

Artful Dreamer

I'm having so much fun with this I thought I'd keep on going.  Today I ran into some old friends from my former neighborhood.  It's always fun to reconnect with friends and also to make new ones.  That's what I hope to do with this.
I said I'd share some more of my book "Froggie . . ." so here is the next one.  These are done with colored pencil, so they're a little more difficult to scan.

Besides illustrating and painting, I am also learning new things with Photoshop.  I love a good challenge.  When I started with Photoshop, I eased into it with simple things such as playing with my grandkids photos and my flowers.  That was so much fun, I began to push things still further.  The one problem I have is that I think I have to own every book and magazine known to man in order to learn things.  However, I have to learn that sometimes experience is the best teacher and most importunately to create my own style.  So that is what I'm trying to do.
I really enjoy using my own photos instead of using standard shots that can be gotten from a lot of sources. It makes it much more personal.  For this photo, I used a picture of one of irises and of my little twin grandkids.  Really thrilling to do this.

Just go for it and have fun.

Sharyn

Artful Dreamer

I have been working on illustrating books for my grandkids, etc.  So far I have been working on existing stories and songs that I think it would be nice for future generations to remember.  So many of the old songs, rhymes, stories, etc, that we grew up with are already in the past.  I have always been intrigued with the beauty (and ridiculousness) of some of them.  One of them that I have been working on the past year is "Froggie Went A'Courtin'".  There are many, many versions of this song going back a long way.  Each singer rewrites it to his use.  Most of the versions I have read are quite dark, and I prefer to think of Froggie and Mousie having more fun ventures.  I have written my own version in many of the pages and am planning a sequel where they go to Paris for their honeymoon.  Who knows, it could have happened that way!  I will post a new page periodically and I hope that you enjoy it.

artful Dreamer

Yesterday we went for a ride into Wisconsin.  The countryside is so beautiful now - 6 ft tall corn - wonderful looking crops everywhere.  Now that I'm finally retired, it's great to be able to do things like that.

I took a camera class on Saturday but don't think too much soaked in.  Maybe I'm more the "point and shoot" type.  I really love it when a picture turns out great, though.  While we were driving we saw a pair of eagles roosting high in a tree.  Eagles are becoming very common to see in the past couple of years.  We only saw them in the northern part of the state.  They are beautiful.  I used by new camera and lens to take this picture.  I guess I can tell myself that if I had taken the time to really set up the shot, the bird would have been long gone.

Artful Dreamer

I had a LOT of woodchucks in my gardens this summer.  I tried to reason with them - eat the clover in the lawn; leave my flowers and vegetables alone!  They didn't seem to get the hint.  Fortunately (or unfortunately for them), nature seems to even things out.  We also had visits from coyotes and foxes so now our rabbit and woodchuck population has decreased.  This is a colored pencil sketch I did to illustrate what I remembered of the naughty little woodchuck who still have one of my flowers in his mouth.  He was cute, though.

Artful Dreamer

This is my first posting.  I would like to share some of my artwork and nature photography with people who are interested in the same things as I am.  I have been an artist for most of my life and love the correlation between nature and art.  The more I observe nature and its beauty, the more I realize that there is to learn.  I love dreaming about the little creatures around us and their simple beauty.

I have been writing and illustrating books for my grandchildren that I would also like to share.  One thing I discovered is that once you name a creature and give it a personality, you never really look at that particular animal again in the same way.  I have little "talks" with some of the animals in our yard and, wishfully, tell them to please avoid eating my flowers, etc.  I guess nature has its own way of dealing with things, however.  Hopefully you will enjoy some of my artwork.

Sharyn