Dog Days of Summer???
I suggested this to Terry the other day... like is it when you've been enjoying the great weather (mostly... can we all say "heat bubble") and yet there is still so much summer left to enjoy? I think my garden is loving the heat when I've given my plants enough water, still waiting for my zucchini's to explode.
We've taken our road trip to Alberta this year, happy to have seen our families after this past year and the new baby in our driveway managed very well! Our next trip to Alberta will be in August to attend a family wedding! Can't wait for this.
Art... this is what I do but summer is distracting. I have done a few pieces just for me because it is a subject or a technique I've wanted to try but I have now buckled down to a few commissions. The one I'm working on at the moment is a double portrait of a very beautiful couple that will be given as a gift by the commissioner. I hope to be able to post it here and Instagram once it has been gifted. I also have an upcoming commission of a dog which will be a memorial piece, I'm excited!
Well, I better get going so I can get this piece completed... Have a great dog day :)

Spring is definitely my favourite season. Everything is coming alive, there is fresh green everywhere, blossoms everywhere and the hope for a fantastic year! I've been busy getting my yard into shape so all my shrubs and garden areas have a great start for growth.
​I have had time to do some art for me, one being a portrait for a friend of her and her husband. I was nervous to gift it to her but she loves it and hopefully it will help heal the heart. I've also decided to find one of my own photos to use as reference in hopes of one day entering an art show. I've also had some great ideas for future art with the help of photoshop to make a reference photo. I've been commissioned to do more people so wish me luck!
.... also, Covid vaccinations have been had this month so hopefully a trip or two to Alberta will be happening this summer. Damn I miss my kids and grandkids!

Happy New Year? There is hope on the horizon and then it feels like there is a step back, kind of like one step forward two steps back. I'm pondering my next piece, I really don't feel like drawing automobiles. They just don't inspire me, they have no emotion in them. 
​I'm searching for an animal piece that makes me feel something or at least inspires me... I want to spend more time on this so big is the thinking, maybe a pastel piece... it's so messy though and frustrating to keep pencils sharpened. Oh, I'll figure it out... it's my adventure after all and no time like this Covid shutdown time to do it. 
​Stay tuned....

The leaves are gone, mostly. Fall clean up is done.. mostly. Second wave has hit...and we've avoided it mostly. I just want to sit and draw beautiful art! Terry's pool room walls are filling up with animal art, maybe they'll eventually be sold in a café somewhere but for now I enjoy looking at them. Maybe I'll eventually get around to drawing him that Dale Earnhardt Sr, Jr's, Richard Petty's, or Harry Gant's stock car... something of a challenge for me as they don't have fur.
I should definitely do this for him as he's already given me my Christmas present... The Epson ET-7750!!! It's going to be wonderful printing my own cards and prints! ...and not running out of ink every other month. I just need to work on the colour profile.
Christmas will be here sooner than we like and a very quiet one this year, no loved ones visiting no travelling to visit our loved ones... I cry. I'll miss my Alberta family. There is facetime so they don't seem so far when you get to see their smiling faces.
For now I'll get on with my commissions and dream of Spring when the trees bloom and we can travel freely again! We are planning on getting married at some point too, so mask up people!

August 25....I was reminded to pay my webhosting bill and thought, might as well update pictures and put my thoughts down. 
A man once had a conversation with me about how fast time flies once you hit 50, he used a yardstick to explain. It's been at least 7 years since I've had that conversation and it is so true! Even when we try to live every minute of everyday to the fullest it doesn't slow it for us, the more we pack into a day the faster it goes. I've come to the conclusion that if you take pictures of your life while you're living it, you can look back and realize you really did live a full life even though the time seems to have just time warped. We look in the mirror and wonder, wow!... I'm old! I often wonder if my own mother felt this way as she was aging, does she still feel this way when she looks in the mirror? I used to pride myself in trying to keep fit, I look at other people my age and wish I could have that fit body. It is something you need to work on your whole life, remember that and keep moving! Time slows for no man!...or woman!
I have a new hobby, rock collecting. Terry thinks I've lost my marbles, I think I have... but I've found rocks! The best two things about this hobby are the hunt for the elusive beauty and the final polishing! Who doesn't like a treasure hunt? Who doesn't like smooth shiny interesting rocks? I've also come to the conclusion that rock polishing is not cheap! But I am getting so much satisfaction through the whole process.
Which leads me to realize that with this new hobby I am getting out of the house more going on a hunt, there by getting a little exercise to keep me healthy! Maybe it'll slow my aging crisis just that little bit! 
Enjoy the rest of the summer, hopefully the weather will cooperate until the new season arrives however you see that happening! I'll look forward to our family golf tournament at Thanksgiving being hopeful that COVID19 doesn't cause the cancellation!
​Cheers!