Bird Goddess

I found Nancy Standlee's blog and I am appreciating many things from it. One, I found the link to theradio.com so now I can listen to tunes while I blog. Currently listening to " Have a beer with Duncan" on the Aussie bush band channel. Now a little dijeridu solo.
Two, Nancy has taken workshops with all my fav's, people I want to take workshops with...Robert Burridge, Stephen Quiller and Carla O'Connor.
Three she has all kinds of good links. Oh heck, it's just a good blog.

Here is my attempt at Burridge-like freestyle painting

I'm a Star!

I was invited to do an interview with our local Shaw cable. Shadow Mountain, a local developer donated money to Shaw to do a 13 episode series on local artists. I think this is a terrific idea. It is so hard to get recognition in the valley, every little bit helps and this is big. Thank you, Shadow Mountain, very much. I now have three minutes of fame. I look forward to seeing the other episodes.
I like the fact that the painting based on my brother is peeking over my shoulder.

It's Good to be Mayor!

Bruce won his election and is thrilled that he has a supportive council. He is already making plans for what he wants to accomplish. Please note the royal wave.

COLD! WET! DARK ! GREY!

The photo shows my grim reality. It is miserable out. You should be able to see mountains behind the trees. Bruce just informed me that a slushy snow is beginning to come down. It is dark until 8 am. It gets dark at 5 pm and it will get worse before it gets better. I can hardly wait to become a snowbird.

Jinx was overseeing my typing and bugging me, so he gets to be on todays blog too.

One hour later:

Running for Mayor

Yes, it's true. Bruce is running for mayor in our municipal elections being held this Saturday. After stepping down from his municipal administration job, I never thought he would ever darken the door of a council meeting again (2 council meetings a week for 24 years!). But, he has been so dismayed at the direction the village has taken that he has thrown his hat in the ring.

When we were driving in the southwest this spring we saw this big campaign poster for one of the delegates there. Of course, we had to stop and take a picture. I especially like the fellow's eye just over Bruce's shoulder.

I look forward to pestering him about dog control, unsightly vehicles (we have collectors in town), green alternatives bylaws ( I hope to visit the forward thinking Okotoks, Alberta and bring back ideas for consideration) and Smartgrowth (sustainable) development.

Lest We Forget

Young B. Cravens, Union Army, American Civil War




Charles Cox, grandfather, WW1


Paul Cravens, father, WW2


Michael Cravens, brother, Vietnam War


Ray Woodbury, stepson, Canadian Peacekeeper, Bosnia
Ben Woodbury, stepson, Civilian support, Afghanistan

Thanks for serving and thanks for surviving.

The problem with green!

I had to go back and revisit this painting. It just wasn't working in the original colors. Green just never seems sucessful for me. I'm still not sure that it works that well as a painting. There are two lessons here. One, don't get rapped up in your resource photo. It is just there to get you started. Two, watch out for emotional attachments. I love this painting because it is a silly moment in the lives of my daughters more so than it is a good painting. But, I can live with that!