Hey Lolo, when you read this can you confirm this is a Gerber? I’m pretty sure it is, but of course I’m more knowledgeable about animals than flowers.

Well, it’s not quite fuschia yet, but it will be. I spent a couple hours yesterday trying to mix it from primaries and got close, but frustrated. So now by george I think I’ve got it! This is a reeeeealy deep pink right now, not as red as it may look to you, and my next stages will be lightening it up and adding the details. The background color is very cool, it’s not black, it’s like a midnight cobalt blue. I’m thinking about painting the sides of the canvas another color, maybe green? Pale pink? Not sure yet. We shall see.

So there! I’ve been painting! Happy Happy!

Oh yes, ok, I can do a weight loss progress update too, since I’ve been sick and it’s assisted my goals for the month. (iew! but ok.) Ok just counted on the calendar (man I’m behind!)

75 days, down 25.5 lbs., 4.5 lbs to go for goal for the month of April!>Mark called Tuesday night. Once again, thank you guys for keeping him and the guys in your thoughts and prayers. They’ve successfully made their way through some of the tougher times to be had over there. He’s anxious to get the care packages that are on their way, there are a few coming to him from different directions – thank you guys for that, too! You’re the best!

The weather here has been beautiful, my stomach flu is about gone (I couldn’t take it anymore after lastnight and got some quick-stop medicine in my system finally), Lolo thanks for the bag! 😉

So there you have it, on the upswing once again, the pits are the pits are they not? I can do without them!! I hope you are all staying virus and bug-free so far this spring.

Ooh yes I will post a WIP of Mark’s second portrait that I started soon too. Now that the daisy is drying for the day/afternoon I may start working on filling him in and might have something identifiable to show you. My in-laws LOVE it so far… but I think they’re biased, you know? Maybe? A little? Eh that’s ok, doesn’t make ’em wrong, hehe! ::wink-wink::

Feels good to be sorta almost normal. Phew. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! I’ll be back!
xoxoxo

So where’s dinner? Huh? I’m huuuuunnnnngry. Got any grapes? Apples? Well? FEED MEEEEEE!!!!
He looks really pixelated in this pic. Fooey! I’ll get a flatbed scan of him when he dries.

::giggles::

He’ll be going up on the auction block in a bit! 🙂

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRESS: Down 21.5 lbs. in 61 Days!>Over 2.5 miles on the treadmill yesterday, over a mile so far today. YAY!

Gotta get some other things done today, I’ll try to get back later!

xoxoxxo

Woah can you see the possum? No? Hm.. I’ll have to fix that! 😉

Seriously, This is my progress for the day. Oils. Gotta let ’em dry. So today, the base coat for the bowl. Tomorrow, the bowl design. Thursday, the possum. Then on to the auction block!

I spent a good portion of the day making very cool labels for the CD’s I mixed for Mark! They’re so cool! Have a look! It took me hours to put them together. I love the one on the top left, that was taken on our (second) wedding day. It really shows how much I love him. Yep. It does. And I do. That much. He called today too. In the middle of the day even! There was a little skirmish today. They’re all ok. Thank God.

No Weight Loss progress to report today! Same same, a day later. I guess you’ll have days like that! Foo on days like that though! Foo I say!

I shipped out my Macaw study today, as well as a print of Possy 2 to the very wonderful owner of the reference photo. Of course all of my reference photo providers and copyrighter-givver-uppers get a free print of the painting if I use their photo. How fun is that! Almost like a free portrait, eh? It’s the least I can do. 🙂

I think I’ll be getting back on the treadmill in a bit. Gotsta stay motivated!

Happy Tuesday all!
xoxoxo

Looks like a table, yea? It better! 😉

This is the beginning of what I’m working on now. There will be a baby possum sitting in a dish on this table. It’ll be so cute! (it’s actually 6×6 – 1 1/2″ gallery wrapped canvas, hehe!)

Not much to report yet today. The weather is gorgeous, nearly 60 degrees, bright bright sun, green green grass – I love spring & summer! I’ve got to get some yardwork done, too! My father in law has a rototiller that I need to borrow to break up some ground and get our patio blocks back in place from the studio construction upheaval.

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRESS: still 20.5 lbs., 59 days! already walked a mile this morning, shy of 30 minutes but my leggies were rubber from yesterday’s near 3-mile walking!

3:15pm CST: I’ve got 3 paintings going at once now! 😀

Catch ya later, have a great day!!
xoxoxo

Good morning everyone!

I was up late lastnight (make that early this morning) finishing up Timmy! **THIS IS THE FINAL SCAN of the painting! Much nicer than the digital, eh? Click on his image to view the auction! 🙂

Mark called a little while ago. He’s doing good! They have 2 man trailers over there that are a pretty decent size. No kitchen/bathroom or any of that fancy stuff, but they have power and blank wall space that needs fillin’ up. I think I can take care of that problem! Those calling card minutes are expensive! He ran out of minutes on the first call ’cause I didn’t have the right number from him to recharge it. So we got off the phone (after getting the right info) and he got back in line while I recharged. 😀 Caitlin got to talk to him when he called back. whooohoo! Now I have some shopping to do, he needs powdered gatorade, they don’t have it over there. He also wants me to go “pick up” a wireless laptop. I have no idea how I’m going to do that, do you think computer sales people take good looks and short skirts into consideration when bartering? hehe!

Weight loss progress: Same as yesterday, only add a day! (Friday night. Had to eat out. daggone it!)

HAPPY SATURDAY!!! I’ll stop back later and update if anything exciting happens. For now I think I’d just like to hang out with the girls a bit and find a new fuzzy animal that inspires me.

Have a great one!
xoxoxoxo

I painted late into the night lastnight, Timmy is coming along nicely! Here’s another progress photo. I need to finish up the lettering on the side of the book and then work on his layers. I will finish this piece today!

I’m in the process of burning several songs from CD’s to my hard drive so that I can mix and burn a few more for Mark. I’m waiting for 5 more CD’s that I picked up on eBay, and need to pick up a few more at the store that I jotted down in the truck while we were out yesterday. Do you guys keep pens/pencils and paper in the car with you? I have it sitting right in my dash so if I’m ever stopped and think of something or just want to doodle, I have supplies right in front of me. I need to get used to taking my camera along with me wherever I go, too. I am ALWAYS thinking “ug I wish I brought my camera!” when we go places. (Lolo, your photos inspire me to bring it along too! Do you ever forget it and beat yourself up about it?!)

I would love to know what each of your top 5 all-time favorite songs are!

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRESS: DOWN 19 LBS IN 56 DAYS!!!!>:D

Back later! Have a great day!!
xoxoxo

Happy Thursday everyone!

First I want to share with you this wonderful concoction I put together lastnight! I’ve made it quite a few times, and love it. I don’t even have a name for it, so you can make one up for me. It’s really easy, very light, low cal, and yummilicious!

Things you’ll need:
Tri Color Rotini
1 Can of Del Monte Italian style diced tomatoes
Grated cheese blend (the good stuff that melts a bit!)
Steamed zucchini slices (get these ready before hand, I use a tupperware steamer with a smidge of water in the microwave for 10 minutes.)

Boil the pasta, drain, dump in the tomatoes, mix in the zucchini, sprinkle with desired amount of grated cheese and blend it all together. Voila!

Hope you like my quick mom-on-the-go-painting-in-every-spare-moment recipe!

I will be heading down to test a print of my Macaw painting. Keep your fingers crossed, I am hoping for a fabulous print! It’s tough to scan larger pieces in sections, and I found a place that has a large enough flatbed to capture all but about 1/4″ of the edges on that painting. YAY!

I painted more on the kitty yesterday, but had to wait for it to dry enough overnight to put the lettering on the cookbook. I painted his sweet nose. I couldn’t resist. But since there’s not a lot *more* progress, I will refrain from another WIP until I at least have the lettering painted. 🙂

Weight loss progress: down 18 lbs in 55 days!

HAPPY HAPPY! Have a good one, I’ll be back later today!

5:50 PM (CST) UPDATE
Welp, folks, It’s official. I’ve got prints of Alex, the Macaw! I am really excited! I put a lot of work into getting them just perfect. Color correcting, trimming, adhering to foam core, they look great! Here’s a shot of my very first Limited Edition (of 5), sitting right beside the painting. You like?

Ran errands doing this today and picking up groceries. I had a huge order arrive today from Dick Blick with 2- 18×24 canvas (one is for my remake of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring), 2-16×20’s and 3-12×16’s. They have modified their 1-1/2″ deep gallery wrap canvas and it’s PERFECT! Also picked up a few new colors in oil; Renaissance Gold, Transparent White, Winsor Yellow and Flesh Tint. I bought those with the Vermeer piece and the new (additional) portrait of Mark I’ll be doing in mind.

I haven’t had time yet today to work on the kitty painting. I would like to do that here in a little while. I will definitely have it finished tomorrow!

Have a great evening!

xoxoxxo

6:00 AM CST, 3:00 PM Baghdad time today, Mark called from his destination in/near Baghdad. It’s been a week since I’ve talked to him and was GREAT to hear his voice. He sounds so good! He said to tell everyone “don’t believe what you see on the news, it is nothing like they make it sound”. Thank God.

I will probably add to this entry later on today, I am going to paint!

Do you like the changes I made here lastnight? Just trying to spiff the place up a bit!

Weight loss progress: down 17.5 lbs. in 54 days.

3:14 PM CST UPDATE
I’ve been painting today, and BOY does it feel good to paint. Between hearing from Mark this morning, getting our first letters from him today, finding a place that might be able to capture a good image to make prints of Alex (the macaw), and diving into oils – It has been a most excellent day! And to top it off, it’s around 67 degrees! 😀

As usual, I will share my work in progress photos of what I’m painting. I love how this cat is coming along, and have spent quite a few hours on it already. View the work in progress: Catnipnap I haven’t decided on the title yet to this piece! That one I just made up to amuse Caitlin. She giggled. 😉

Back later with more!
Hope you’re having a great day, too!

I just found another frog article that I hadn’t seen, have a look here!

🙂

Packing and shipping today, getting ready to head to the post office! It’s gorgeous even though it’s chilly out, the sun is so bright, the sky is a beautiful blue, my trees are budding, and the cardinals and ROBIN’S are singing!!! YAY for SPRING!