Big Biddy, Sand Hill Cranes,Trip to Town, and Giveaway

I painted another Big Biddy this weekend, celebrating my love of Chicks, Checks, Dots, Red and Yellow! You'll find it in my Etsy shop.

Sand Hill Cranes! They're heading back up North. This could be a good sign for you all up there.
I was doing the morning dishes and heard Joe call, "They're BACK!!" And I could hear them. DRRRRRR Drrrrrrrr Brrr DRRRRR! Hundreds of them flew over the house!
HUndreds and hundreds of trilling cranes. Can you imagine it?! Click the pic for a closer look.
This event thrills me no end! I ran out and took several pictures, but this is the clearest. I am no Shelagh Duffet!

Thursday I headed into Atlanta, Virginia Highlands to be specific. It's a small charming village surrounded by turn of the century houses. This is Highland Woodworking where you can learn everything you want to know about wood.
40% off sale on canvases at Sam Flax, so I was on a mission along with lunch with sisters.
A Valentine display and my reflection.....
This caught my eye as I was about to cross the street.... Painted Windows!
And here's the guy that creates them. I had to talk to him. So, I did! Charming man with elegant long hands and a passion for what he does. He paints these in reverse!! A brain buster to me. Click the pic to see a closer look at these great paintings. Here's his website....HERE!
A Yummy gourmet food shop....bella cucina
And heading out to eat with sisters. Sorry! I put the camera in the car at this point. We had sauteed veggies with Tofu and a luscious baby greens salad. Gawd this is a bunch of boring crap.
Are you there?! I didn't think so....Blahhh.
Oh, and that fabulous Giveaway!? Check here at B's place!
Love to you all,
Ronnie - aka JOe's stove operator living in a small town in Georgia

Hey guys,
I was tagged this week by a bright new talent. She is a sharp little artist living in Australia with a studly husband and TWO real cute kidlettes.

She has a great new blog sharing her life in Australia,
Where it is now Summer!
I know! Booooo! Hisssssss!
(This is for all us in North America and Europe!)

To see Kaili's brilliant paintings, stop by her spanking new Etsy shop also called Billyandbutton!

As for the TAG, it requires that I show you the fourth photo in my fourth photo folder and pass it on to four other bloggers.
I dread what I'm going to find. I'll be back in a minute.


Well, not exactly what I'd hoped for. : (
If it had been the FIFTH folder and the FIFTH picture it would have been the night I went out with George Clooney and we stopped on the way to Burger King to pick up Brad Pitt to discuss my part in the next Oceans 11 sequel and I said, "Nah, throw Julia a bone. She's been busy with the twins and I've got a lot on my plate with the blog and all and keeping Joe in Cheerios."
So, this is what you get. And these were the rules! : )
later gators,
Ronnie

This tag stops here. Enjoy.

billyandbutton

If not for you

Here I am sitting on the side porch of the 146 year old house that I am very slooooowly renovating. I am in a moment of creation! HaH! Many of us create here, but I digress.

If not for you, the things you create would not exist. This is Bob and I am his creator. I made him for a friend as a gift of love. His purpose is to ride strapped to her motor scooter as her constant traveling companion.
My delightful story telling grandson. If you could see the next frame, he would turn and tell you a story about this old cabin. His mind is always creating and he loves to tell you about it. Perhaps one day he'll become a writer and we will all be changed by his creations.
This is me trying to convince Joe to grab the other rake and put down the camera. WE are creating a garden. If not for us there would be no delicious greens for our dinners. I forgot to mention, Joe did the tilling.
A neighbor of mine worked hand over foot to create this work of art. I bought it from him at his yard sale. I tried to convince him to keep it, but he said he had moved on. I proudly display it on a ledge overlooking my vegetable garden. It brings me joy each and every time I see it.
This is my oldest grandson (Yogi tea boy). He is lost in creating. Or perhaps he is contemplating how to get back at his cousin with whom he has just had a pebble fight. I chose to believe the former.
I'm often lost in the act of creating. It is only after I've completed something as simple as a good cup of tea or a scooter-riding Bob, that I realize, "This didn't exist a few moments ago!"
If not for you it wouldn't exist. So, I leave you with this quote by Martha Graham...

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. "
-Martha Graham

Have a brilliantly creative day folks!
Ronnie

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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V (these are arrows)

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