ok...well, it hasn't worked out like I thought

*The road to hell is paved with good intentions* I think we can all remember this saying. My pencil has been quiet, sitting hidden in its tin box, waiting...waiting for the moment when it can come out and play....to touch paper, to create a line....waiting.....waiting.....
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You know, I don't know what it is. Fear of failure, which how egotistical is that, that I won't create anything unless it is perfect...I try to think, baby steps, learn by doing, learn by your mistakes, you only fail, if you fail to try. It is overwhelming to see the seemingly effortless work that is out there, beautiful work. It makes me wonder...was it like this for them, did they struggle or did they just push past it and did it? I have a new resolution, (I know)....but I guess I need to challenge myself to do this one thing everyday....good or bad...get over it, and just push forward.....so today, is that day. Today I am thankful that I have the ability and the means, that I have no good reason not to, I have plenty of paper and pencils, and journals....standing by....waiting.....today, I say, TODAY...is the day.....! So what will be my challenge...hmmmmmm....

finished hummingbird

This is the finished hummer. Last class tomorrow. Don't know what I will start, because I will have to dive in and continue on my own. The class will resume after the first of the year, but with the winter months, and the constrants it causes with working I will probably not continue. I will continue to paint on my own...

hummer

This is a work in progress.

First completed watercolor picture

This is the completed picture I have been working on in my Monday morning watercolor class.

getting back to the purpose

I know this site got a little off track from drawing to painting and photography...I will try to get it back on course, and leave my other site for things of that nature. I re-joined http://www.drawspace.com/ in hopes of getting me back on track, I am also into my second week of watercolor classes on mondays. I will post my first attempt. We all have to have a starting point. I hope to post pictures of my progress as I go along, so stay tuned. I added another pic. of the Zucchini, worked on softening it a bit and a red pepper I did last Monday.

Goldfinch on purple coneflower seed heads

Summer is at a close...fall is fast approaching. Trees are slowly changing color and the air has a cool crispness to it, and the pace is slowing. Squirrels are busy in the oak trees, gathering acorns among the branches. They hurry to the ground to bury them, searching for the right spot...how do they know where they are come winter? When you look high in the trees you can see their nests of twigs and leaves, and again I wonder, how do they survive the harsh Michigan winters...? I too am slowly getting things in order for the long winter ahead...some years it catches me and I am working in the first fallen snow trying to find everything that needs putting away...This year I am getting a jump on it, I have slowly started. I know we have a good two months left to work with, actually three, but why chance it. I usually pull the pumps on the koi pond Thanksgiving weekend, when the pond starts to freeze over I put the pond heater in....and wish the fish a good winter.
I enjoy all the seasons....each for their own reasons, fall for the smell of the autum leaves, cool nights, makes for peaceful sleeping, things start to slow down, people start to settle in...it is like a slow deep breath....exhale.....

WATERCOLOR CLASSES, one monday at a time...

In Sept. on Mondays....I am starting a 10 week watercolor class at the local museum. I need to be shown, I have concluded......I have checked out many books on watercolors from the library, but I think I need to go and learn, and practice, and be committed. I know I haven't fulfilled my promise here, to create....to *speak with pencil*....I really do hope to change that. I find that I am pretty good at purchasing supplies. Tho, once assembled, I find it difficult to create, sometimes I think my creativity revolves around assembling and setting up....Once I get my mind on doing something, I will research it, decide what I need, seek it out, buy it.....and then.....I am satisfied, and on to another quest. Its just that I have so many interests, so much to discover, and so little time....I am taking time.....one Monday at a time, for me....to learn....I am really hoping I will have something to post. Maybe each week to show my progress....stayed tuned!! A special Thanks (and my first masterpiece) to my boss for allowing me to arrange my schedual to allow this class...

LIGHTHOUSES AND BEACHSTONES

These two pictures were taken on a recent vacation..below is a little history on the Point Iroquois Light...

Location:
Whitefish Bay, Michigan
CoordinatesWGS-84 (GPS)
46°29.021′N 84°37.541′W / 46.483683, -84.625683
Year first lit:
1870
Deactivated:
1963
Foundation:
Cement
Construction:
Brick
Tower shape:
Conical
Markings/Pattern:
White tower/Black parapet & Lantern
Height:
Tower - 65 feet (20 m)
Elevation:
Focal plane - 72 feet (22 m)
Original lens:
Fourth Order Fresnel lens
Current lens:
None
Range:
15 miles (24 km)
Characteristic:
flash every 30 seconds
Point Iroquois Light is a lighthouse on a bluff in the U.S. state of Michigan above Whitefish Bay that marks entrance to the St. Marys River, the connection between Lake Superior and other Great Lakes.
Point Iroquois includes a larger geographic area than the lightstation site. It was named for the Iroquois warriors massacred there by the Ojibwe in 1662. Native Algonkians called the point "Nadouenigoning," composed of the words "Nadone" (Iroquois) and "Akron" (bone).
In 1855 a wood and rubble stone lighthouse was built and commenced operations on Jun 18, 1856. It was a 45 foot tall rubble stone tower with a wooden lantern deck, outfitted with a flashing white Fourth Order Fresnel lens. Being built on the Point's highest ground, it had a 63-foot focal plane, and a range of visibility of 10 nautical miles. It was then torn down in 1870.[1][2]
Following the Civil War, the United States Lighthouse Board went into a lighthouse (and life saving station) building boom on the Great Lakes.[3]
In 1870, the first lighthouse was torn down; the present Cape Cod style white brick lighthouse was built and ran continuously for 93 years, guiding ships in and out of the Soo Locks. It has a 65 foot tower height, and a focal plane that is variously reported as 68 feet or 72 feet.[4]
In 1885, a bell tower was erected, which incorporated a Stevens automatic bell striking machine.[5] In 1890, the bell tower was torn down,

*HOME OF THE BRAVE*

This is my finished rock...I was going to work on it more. It was an entry into http://www.crafterschallenge.com/ monthly craft contest. It had to go live today, so....I entered it as is. I may continue to work on it. I have seen versions of this theme, the eagle with a flag in its beak...I like the concept.

EAGLE ROCK, PROGRESSION

This was a perfect rock for an eagle head. I have blocked it in, and now I have to put the details in, when finished it will be my entry into the monthly www.crafterschallenge.com contest. 4th of July theme. I would like to add something in his mouth, like an olive branch, flag...I haven't decided, today (June 30th). Is the last day to work on it and enter it.

drawing day

Drawing Day - June 07, 2008
drop everything and draw
Drawing Day is a worldwide drawing event encouraging everyone to drop everything and draw for the sake of art. The Internet is an open canvas. Help us create 1 million drawings online this day and boost online art communities. (I just came upon this on drawspace, so I have to go check it out too to see what it is all about.)

I have to admit...I haven't had the courage of my convictions...(one of my favorite quotes). I want to draw, but yet I seem to be too busy, to do what I say I want to do....but that's going to change. I am going to get back to my lessons on www.drawspace.com if you haven't been to that site, check it out...wonderful *free* lessons from beginner to advanced. I think I have one more lesson before I advance into the intermediate section.

I went to the library and picked up four books on watercolor; The Zen of Creative Painting, interesting book, a second in a series, offers creative artists of all levels empowering guidance based on Zen principles. The first in the series, The Tao of Watercolor. I also picked up you can paint watercolors, and watercolor for the first time, and painting realistic watercolor textures. I have some watercolor postcard blanks, to try my first attempts on, and post in the future.

Lexi done

I added a blue background, and more detail.

A work in progress....

This is a work in progress, I haven't painted a rock in sometime, and it is kind of hard to get back into the swing of it. I got this order, and I couldn't say no...as I really do want to get back into it. My confidence level is real low, because of my lack of practice....I have done well over 100 rocks, and then one day....I didn't....I am not sure why. There is much more I have to do with this, I will post the final project. For now, I just wanted to get it out there, maybe I can look at it and see something that needs to be done. More than anything I want people to appreciate my work, to me that is the payback....

drawing lessons.....

I am taking online drawing classes from Drawspace.com. It has been a few weeks since I did this picture, which was the last lesson I did.

EDM #33 DRAW AN EYE

I will be moving over some pictures from my other site. I liked this one, and it felt good drawing it.