Artorama

I don't remember where I was when I snapped this one..

Big crows and red winged black birds have taken over my birdfeeders.  Since the crows don't eat the nectar put out for the hummingbirds, I'm thinking of just feeding these little creatures... Snapple cap fact #840:  The only food that does not spoil:     HONEY

There is this huge photograph of this man on the wall... Who is this? Joe?

Some animal ate this bird and left all the feathers behind.  I found them.... I put them in a Plastic bag.  Poor birdie.  The feathers are about 5" long, so I'm not sure if this was a finch or what? 

One of the cruel events of nature.  The evil wrens who rule the property were probably responsible for this.  Poor little baby robins. 

This is the first time in 10 years I have ever seen a red headed woodpecker.  Red Bellied, yes, but this bird is a beauty.  Sorry for the distance shot, but I can't get much closer if I was outdoors.  The bigger birds are very skittish of humans.  Only the little humingbird seems to know we would never hurt them.  I saw him again today.  Really bright colors.  Unmistakeable. 

Snapple cap fact 765:   A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

If I were in this photograph, I believe I would be seated at the dog's tail,squinty eyed, barefoot, paper and crayon (or pencil) in my lap.  I spent the entire day (it's 2pm) on the wonderfully screwed up iphone updates. First I update, then I backup/sync.  Then I have to restore because I lost everything.  Then I had to reinstall itunes to recover the apps.  My iphone crashes a lot more than it used to. I can see why people are getting frustrated with this phone.  Everytime I download an update, I spend half a day restoring the phone.  Since it is summertime and skin will be showing, this snapple fact seemed appropriate: Real Fact #:  864 Taft was the heaviest US President at 329lbs, Madison was the smallest at 100lbs.

This model is "I've been kidnapped by woodsmen and I'm forced to be their slave"  Poor Barbie.  I hope she survives the elements.  We will check up on her and see how she does throughout the year.

I found this little guy a lot in the back woods. taken with iphone... blurry

is this the dreaded gypsy moth???  took it with my iphone... blurry, but you get the idea

another part of a sculpture student's work.

I took this photo on my last day of class for the year.  The sculpture students share the studio with us. Pretty interesting piece...

Been busy with the outdoors. The mosquitos haven't hit yet, so I am trying to rid us of the dreaded vines which choke out all our real woods. We have 12 fruit trees... The vines did a job on a couple of them, but I need to get rid of the roots. The above ground evidence is gone...

Now here is a sign you are not going to see in Illinois... Link 23 with a red paw print.     Must have something to do with Disney..  This was taken in Winter park Fl....last week.

On our way to the Texas BBQ, I spotted a space craft on a roof.  Well, regardless of what was inside, I had to get a photograph of the clever show stopping UFO on the roof.  Well, it just so happens, it is a surplus store!!! OMG, an assemblage artist's dream!!!  Even Frank found some stuff to buy inside.  Wish I had a cool place like this around my house.  They had sheets of copper, copper washers, all sorts of lights and bells and whistles...  Alas, I could only buy what I could fit in a bag and take on the plane with me.  They have a website and cool t-shirts with the spaceship on it.

I am not a really big meat eater, but there is something about Texas Brisket I just love... It's almost like an addiction.  You start to crave the taste...  We went to Sara's graduation over the weekend and her boyfriend Adam told us about this BBQ place which has really long lines to get in... We lucked out on the long line and ended up sampling a few sandwiches, sides and brought 2 lbs (without sauce) home with us.  In my opinion, you don't need the sauce for good Texas Brisket.  When Frank used to bring it home from Houston, he never brought sauce and I became accustomed to eating it without sauce. 

Snapple cap fact: 734 Potatoes have more chromosomes that humans.

From far away, they look like a white mass, but up close, the apple trees are beautiful.  Some years, I cut the branches and make a pretty bouquet.  I left them alone this year.

This is what I ended up turning in for my final project. Although it is an assemblage piece, there is only one point where I used adhesive glue. I soldered and wired the rest. Although I am somewhat pleased by my little caged doll, I think I could have done better. It takes so long to figure out what to do and then when things go wrong, you have to switch gears and keep going in a new direction. I hope to get "cleaner" in my art as I go along. For now, my little mistakes are a part of me and where I am at in my learning process.

Real Fact #:  836:  Pomology is the study of fruit. I have cleaned up the vines which were killing our fruit trees.  We have a lot of buckthorn and grapevine and lets not forget the mustard weed we keep fighting. Finally put the shovels away.  Hope there are no more snow storms.  After watching the Food Inc Documentary, I have decided to make a real effort to purchase food locally.  Saturday we went to the Farmers market and I bought a 5 lb chicken for $15 ( 3.50/lb) and a lb of ground beef.  No chemicals or crap in this food.  It is too early for vegetables.  The chicken was superb.  Frank grilled it.  It did not have that awful layer of slimy fat most chickens have.  The meat was firm and had good color.  The flavor was outstanding.  I would eat this without any sauce or additional seasoning.  Frank put some seasoned pepper and garlic salt rubbed on top before he grilled.  Mesquite chips were put in the grill too.