A few things...

One thing learned:  no more playing with background color behind the text.  It comes through the feeds looking like a FOIA document.

Well, for good or ill, here are a few paintings...

6" x 9"
Oil on birch
This was a quick, end of day study.  He took over my chair while I was painting and I couldn't resist.  I'll probably go in and clean up that lower right corner sometime but otherwise, I like it. 

And here he is from the front: 

"Oh good god.  Another damn photo?"

I love my Japanese rabbit.  This is a study I'll finish as soon as I figure out how to do the copper bits on the brushes.  That is what's stumping me at the moment - I know I just need to sit down and draw them but I guess I decided to take the hard road and you know, not draw them. 
The shadows need something too - I'll tinker with them.  Maybe.

6" x 6" Oil on primed watercolor paper

I was thinking of those old Silver Stream campers when I began this one.  This is a possible entry for this year's tomato festival.  That is if I can get it to come together a little better.  It's better than it was - I completely redid it this morning.  I got entirely too fiddly and overworked the hell out of it.  So reboot. 

It has potential.  Somewhere in there. 

9" x 12"

Oil on birch

That's it for now, y'all.  Have a good one.

Sketches and potential paintings...maybe.

This has been a month for getting images on paper that I've been struggling with for ages. The exceptions are the unicorns but even they came out better than they have in the past.

Click for a bigger image.


I remember the dream this faery appeared in, even though it was back in the '90's. She lived near a streambed and I, along with two others, had to repair it after it had been damaged. I never knew what happened to the streambed, just that she thought we had done it. I remember thinking I had to watch my p's and q's because she could actually kill us if we accidentally insulted her. We managed to fix the stream to her satisfaction. Thank the gods - even if she didn't kill us, I wouldn't want to be whacked with that stick.


This is another dream image that has stuck with me. I remember dreaming I was on an island when two unicorns came trotting out of the water. I love how the horn isn't in the usual place. Here, I just played with the idea of a mare and colt, especially how the colt's horn would be just starting to grow.


I'm going to have to refine this one for a painting, if only for myself. It's another idea I've played with for a few years and just couldn't get it to work.

I like the little one with her eyes shut tight. I imagine her sounding a little like Ike from South Park: "Oh no...." I also like the farmer just waving away, like flying through the air over an alien landscape is an everyday thing. He may even be yelling, "Hello! Nice night, isn't it?!"

In progress: Freya

Click the graphic to see a bigger version.

Freya is interesting and complex. She is a warrior, riding her boar into battle. As leader of the Valkyries, she is a psychopomp who claims half the fallen dead and takes them to her hall, Sessrumnir. She is a witch, who taught women the art of seider, prophesy and magic.

Of course, there is that other side of her. Lusty, sensual, beautiful. There's no hangups for this girl, she'll willingly use whatever skills she needs to in order to get what she wants. Just look what she did with (to?) those dwarves for the Brísingamen.

When I began this sketch, I wanted to reflect a bit of her complexity. It also seems natural, after facing so much death, to want to reaffirm life. Here she is, in the wood, her warrior's armor is shed, except for her Valkyrie helm by her side (minus the wings, which I haven't gotten around to putting in yet.) She is now wearing a traditional Norse dress and the Brisingmen is around her neck. Eventually, somewhere in the background will be Bygul ("Bee Gold" or Honey) and Tregul ("Tree Gold" or Amber), her two grey cats.

Of course, one of my own cats couldn't let this be without making his own mark so just ignore the spot there in the upper part of the sketch. I still haven't figured out whether it means, "This is worthy. I claim it as mine" or "This is what I think of you and your pathetic scribblings."

I'm not sure I really want to know.

(I also have a few more sketches and a painting in progress to post but I'll do it tomorrow. My brain is nearly gone at the moment.)

Throwing fits

There are a few paintings that have given me absolute fits lately. Here’s the 4’x2’ King of the Fits:

I don’t know exactly why this thing is giving me such fits. I like the corner those two donuts are in on the left. I also like the pool of glaze on the right. Excuse that big blob of ochre on the right and that thing in the bottom center – I was trying to get something going.

Those were some great donuts though.

Another painting that gave me fits is Instant Ancestor#1:

I think I’ve got what I need to finish it now. Part of my problem with this painting was its cuteness. It’s almost too cute. So yesterday, while I was raking leaves for the garden, part of her story came to me.

“Her ‘pet’ (it can’t be pronounced by our tongue) is the reigning Grand Champion as well as currently standing at number one in its class. He has killed 243 of its competitors, surpassing his Grand Champion dam, who could only claim 130.”

Now, this isn’t at all like dog fighting. Nope, not at all. It is more like Westminster...well, okay – Westmonster. She’s so proud, isn’t she?

(Which reminds me: I should clean the story off the front door where I wrote it on the glass with a china pencil, although it would be interesting to see the faces of people who come up…)

Here are a few more ideas for Instant Ancestors:


Yes, beside the “normal” guy, it says “The black sheep – we don’t talk about him.”

One more:

I played with the anatomy of this satyr (well, that sounds wrong.) I like the idea of the horns and the tail but it makes more sense to me to use the front legs of a goat. They are a little more analogous to the legs of a human. I don’t know but I like this guy.

Here’s a doodle of Bast on part of a 3”x5” card. I keep trying to end our little cat fight.


I couldn’t pass this one up. I don’t know exactly how I’m going to use it but what imagery. You should be able to read it by clicking on the picture.

…and one more. I read a story a while back that had a crow who just happened to also be a parson. I’m still playing with it but here are a few things so far:



Yes, that is a comic book. You can’t expect a Trickster like Crow to actually pay attention during a ceremony, can you? I don’t know about the girl yet. I think I’ll work on her a bit – or get rid of her entirely. Who knows?