Another day at the Market....

The trip to Bangladesh was grueling, but well worth it. I had to pay for extra baggage, as my carry on would not hold all of my bracelets.

Third Victim in the Family Faces Series!

When I looked at this photo of my oldest grandson, it said, "I'm a monk. Paint me."
I waffled a bit, waking up one night with an image of this cherubic face as a Pentecostal Southern snake handling preacher, but I came to my senses by morning. This is a collection of things I gathered as inspiration...the Dalai Lama and a book on 1000 year old Indian paintings and a box of Yogi Tea which is down in the kitchen.
The black and white copy enlargement of the face is from the smaller color picture. First off, I colorized the photo using acrylic paints and Prismacolor pencils. You'll see the results of that at the end.
Here is my finished drawing. I later transferred it to a 12"x16" canvas.
Painted the canvas a BRIGHT orange then washed it in a khaki color then ragged with burnt umber. My photos drive me crazy! They don't show any of the subtle colors or patterns.
I've chosen my color scheme and started painting. I white-out the face so the dark background doesn't show through when I apply the face.
Did some striae on the blue and added some trim designs. Then I COMPLETELY lost myself and forgot to take any pictures until I was done.....
Which is here. Click the pic for a closer look.
YOU are handing him a cup of good old Yogi Tea! And he is very grateful.
This boy is so adorable, I could have painted a wort hog around him and he'd still look cute.
Later gators,
Ronnie

Due for a Change. No, not Obama. My Work Space!

This is where I have been working. It's a wreck! If I wanted to sew, I had to clear the painting stuff off and throw the machine on.
It was youngest (finally flown the coop) son's room. The gigantic poster of a Ferrari is still tacked to the ceiling for viewing when he was in bed. Dave Matthew's Band pic on the door. The Undertaker, a wrestler, on the back of the door. Remnants he left behind. Not exactly my space, but I was getting by.
Then Scoop Magazine called and wanted an interview with pictures for their next issue! Oh no, this would not do! An artist's digs with shades of vacated college student?!
Monsters and Minor Whiners agreed. So, I started packing it up! Take over the bigger room across the hall with a nice view and better light without 4,000 blue spots of poster putty dotting the walls!
Here it is! All nice and clean after two days of work and Joe helping me hang new blinds on three windows. And Junker Jane's monsters and kitty pillow placed on the bed.

Throw in the easel and move the monsters and pillow to the rocking chair. Made a nice big table from a door and two put-together bookcases (which hold more stuff!) and covered it in colorful vinyl. Called it good.
Now, I have TV! Better chair. Better light. Better get to work.
Have a good one,
Ronnie
If you live near me, look for Scoop Magazine! It's Free or as they say, "Priceless".

Summer Photos of St. Marys, Georgia

Joe and I discovered St. Marys over eight years ago. We fell in love with this unpretentious, friendly, quirky town. This is not a resort town. If you want to go downtown on your bike wearing your dirty gardening clothes to get an ice cream, your fine.
Everyone knows everyone, which can be good and bad. I've been known to lay in the middle of the street just 'cause I can. My sisters and I have chased cars through town on our scooters. Not motor scooters. The kind you push with one foot.
Fishing is great and you can catch a bunch of blue crab in an afternoon just by dropping in a net with a chicken wing tied inside.
Since it has been so cold lately, I thought you might like to see a bit of Summer. A bike ride on a particular day in July. Not in any order...
When I'm in St Marys, I take a bike ride both morning and afternoon. This is afternoon on the fishing pier. That's Florida in the distance.
Early evening on the boat dock, looking toward town and the boat ramp.
This is what the dining room looks like when I'm there without Joe. Art supplies!
The cemetery is two blocks from the house. I love to explore here. St. Marys, Georgia is the second oldest city in the United States.
St. Augustine, Florida is the oldest.
Many Acadians from Novia Scotia buried here.
Trees. These are Live Oak. Very old and protected by the city. You can't touch one, even on your own property, without permission. The Spanish moss blows gently in the breeze.
This is the marsh and sailboats at the marina. The marsh grass changes color with the time of day. Turns a beautiful golden color in the winter.
A winding creek heading for the brackish water of the St. Marys river
The old Bachlott House. It has been completely restored by the National Park Service. Administrative offices for the Park Service and their Rangers.
A National Park in St. Marys? Yep. This is where you catch the ferry to Cumberland Island National Seashore. Most famous for the wedding place of John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn B.
This is the Ranger Station where you get your ferry and island info and stop in the lovely gift shop for postcards and seashells and posters of wildlife.
This is my bike. I've named him Carl. Everyone thinks I'm a bit crazy to have a bike with a name, but I loooove Carl and I have the most fun with him.
I've stopped here for a walk in the old cemetery after first shopping at the downtown Farmer's Market for fresh veggies. That's what's in Carl's basket.
Then, it's back to the little house to paint a bit and do some yard work til evening comes, when I'll head out again in hopes of catching a nice sunset. Sigh. I wish I were there right now and it was Summer.
Have a great day, folks.
Ronnie
If you are so inclined, check out the St. Marys link in my link list. It'll tell you waaaay more than you want to know.

STOP EVERYTHING AND LOOK!

Click this link. No WAIT! If you've never been here before, scroll down to a picture of a girl with a pie. Then come back up here and click this link. It will make your day or make you go Eeoouwwh.
http://www.zarshmogon.com/biddyphil/


Then you can read about pj hornberger down bElow...
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For the very clever PJ Hornberger!!

PJ,
You had me hopping trying to find a pic of the old typewriter on top of the 1950's TV next to the rabbit ears. Well, here it is finally. This is the dining room at our little house in Saint Marys. Look waaaaay over there and there it is!
When I'm there next month I'll take another pic to compare with yours. Why are we doing this you may ask? Because we can!!!
Visit PJ's blog here to see her typewriter. Her January 13 post.
Do you have an old typewriter you'd like to share with us, fellow blogger? Well, then, do it!
Ronnie who now has a fairly clean house

Second Victim in the Family Faces Series

Hey Y'all! Here's another one. This one is based on a 1950's black and white photo of my big sis when she was a tyke. Tomato Boy is my grandson.
These are mixed media. I take a photo and blow it up to the size I want, then "wash it out". This takes a lot of the detail out of the face. Then I add it back using Prismacolor pencil and acrylic paint. Doesn't always work. This one gave me a heck of a time, but it WAS my sister.
Then, I cut out the photo and create the painting around it. The result is, it's hard to tell what I did!



Painted the canvas yellow this time. Then painted on this sharp little red dress. I did most of the work on the face before putting it on the canvas. But worked on it more as you'll see here....
Painted her eyes blue. Gave her a Brite Smile treatment, more color on her face, added the bows and got the pie basecoated. Lots more lettering to do. Blaahhhh.
Sorry, I got carried away and forgot to take pictures. Almost done here. This took a bunch of hours!!!
Here she is finished with white distressing added which I wonder if I like. I guess I can tone it down.
That's it for today. I have to clean my house. It's a holy wreck! And my husband will give me that look when he gets home.
When that's done I'll start number three. Weeeeee! Have a great day bloggers.
Ronnie with a stiff neck in Georgia
WOW! She just SOLD on etsy! Hip Hip Hooray!

New Painting in stages! First of a Series I'm working on.

This is the first of a series of painting I have in the works. This is my working sketch done on tracing paper. Later, I transferred my drawing to a 18"x 24" base coated canvas.
Here's the basecoat! Using Golden acrylics, Chrom Oxide Green. The big head in the chair is a hint of things to come. Yes, that is Sandy Mastroni's clock hanging under the Big Biddy. Click on the clock and it will take you to her very cool stuff.
Here, I've transferred my drawing and painted a few letters...Toronto, maybe?
Nope, TOMATO! More letters and a basecoat for my tomatoes...
More basecoats for hat, shirt and face....
A lot of work done at this point. Hat and tomatoes are complete and THERE'S THAT FACE! A bit more lettering and stripes to do and...
I added a tad of age and rust for that old tin sign look and it's finished!!! Still on the easel. This is my clearest photo, so click the picture for the Zoom look.
Dang! I forgot to sign it! Just couldn't wait to hang it up and get it on the blog for you to see.
I have several more ideas percolating for this series, which are due to fall out of the brain later this week. So, stay tuned for more!!
Have a good day, everybody.
Ronnie

Almost as Good as a Leg Lamp

I have been given a major award!
My dear longtime friend , of at least a month, "B" of Simply B has chosen me for a really sweet award. I wish I could do it justice, but this has been one of those rip-your-hair-out exercises from hell. I received this award as I was in a creation frenzy (read in warp speed mode for a mag interview and photos so I'll trick 'em into thinking I'm somebody you'd want to read about) and once I redirected my attention to my award, found it was STUCK like tacky glue to a corrupt place that my computer was afraid to go. Stupid Chicken Computer! I kept throwing stuff in and it kept sayin', nope! nope! nope!
So, "B" I have done what many would do in a crisis...I improvised!!!
The hearts you see above are a lame substitute for what you'll find if you go see the real award at "B"'s. She is an extraordinary writer and young mother and sew wizardress. She goes to places with her sewing and photo tutorials that are certifiably swear worthy. Go see for yourself! Here!
This award serves a beautiful purpose as it will continue to connect us far and wide in blogger land.
I humbly accept this award....thanks B.

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Therefore, I extend this award to bloggers I love to read and who are just the sort of folks this award describes. I'm fairly new to blogland, so my list is a tad short of eight....
Leslie - Flowers of Life
Renee - Circling My Head
Shelagh - Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
Liz - Jumble Sale Rabbits
You guys hop to b's to collect your award right Here!

A Few More Toga Pix, then it's on to 2009!

This year's New Year's Eve party was held at my 82 year old mother's house. She hung in there with us til we rang in 2009. This cardboard monstrosity is our GRUMPH. He is built each year usually out of the Christmas debris. As the evening progresses we stuff the Grumph with little notes which contain all the things we want to let go of and leave behind from the previous year. The guys then fill him with firecrackers and roman candles and other pirotechnics that were illegally purchased across state lines in either Florida or Alabama.
This is the result. The Grumph behaved very well this year. Last year Andrew stuffed him so full of fireworks that we were running and jumping to avoid being hit by shooting bottle rockets. I love this kind of crazy chaos. Such fun!
This is young women and children doing our ritual dance around the Grumph before we set him on fire. For some reason, unbeknownst to any of us we chant "Oh, we love the old one." as we form a parade from the house to the yard. One of the older women, that can still walk, usually heads the procession with the Grumph held high. Is this weird or what!?
This is my take on a Gone With The Wind Southern Georgian Toga. Yep, that's me as Scarlet O'Ben Hura with my faithful attendant "I don't birth no babies" Prissy. Two curtain panels and a rod from my son's room. You'd have to be a fan of the old Carol Burnett Show to get this.
and then there were frisky goings-on for the camera and the goddess and vertically challenged gladiator sword fight that was instigated by the goddesses. That's it folks just a snippet of our 2008 send off.

Party's over! No more slacking!

I survived the toga party. It was small potatoes compared to past bashes, but still worth being there. I left my camera as I fell out of there, so no pix today!
Perhaps tomorrow!!!
As a consolation prize here is a photo from last year's PIRATE party. Burry photo to protect the innocent!!!!!
I have to get to work. I know that! Way behind after all that holiday slacking.