Who can resist the sweet smell of a baby? The scent of fresh beef as they lick your face and sniff your breath. Yes, I prefer the four-footed, canine version of baby. Rosie and Tiger, who had been gnawing on raw beef bones before slobbering on my face, were 11 weeks old when I had […]
ART ALONG THE ROCKIES
First Friday and Final Friday can be busy nights for artists and art lovers along the Front Range. May’s Final Friday found me crusin’ from Colorado Springs to Denver to enjoy the […]
How to Paint a House
Me: “I want the light purple on the siding and the dark purple on the house trim.” Painter: “Where do you want the gray?” Me: “There isn’t any gray.” Painter: “This gray” (shows me a sample). Me: “That’s the light purple.” Painter: “No, it’s gray!” Me: “OK, gray on the siding and purple on the […]
Everyone Take a Number!
Are you ever in search of an idea for your next artwork? Can’t decide what to do? Sometimes I wish I had that problem. More often than not my animals are knocking each other over trying to be next in line. My laptop is overflowing with reference photos I’ve taken at zoos, the National Western […]
Winding Down
The sun greets me as a giant red ball hanging in the east. We have had such a bad fire season this summer I am afraid there is yet another fire somewhere along the Front Range whose smoke is causing this change in sunrise color. The day slowly fills with Peter rabbit joining me for […]
More Encounters
A scene from National Geographic unfolds in front of my breakfast table this morning. Two coyotes come from the area of the DeLonde homestead heading along the road. Both watch me warily before moving to what I have come to think of as the moose willows. There is some very intent listening and then a […]
Life as a Sponge
It is Tuesday morning, my third day at Caribou Ranch. I awake at 7:00, much later than I usually do at home. Long walks in the mountain air must be the best sleep medicine there is! I think the lack of lights and constant sound help me sleep so soundly as well. Even this late, […]
Close Encounters of the Moose Kind
I am having computer issues and will not be able to add photos to my posts until the computer is fixed. This should be your reminder to always back up your files faithfully. Learn from my mistake. In the meantime, this is my first installment from my stay at Caribou Ranch. Awaking on the morning […]
Artists Play Date
Why should kids have all the fun with play dates? Artists need time to play and bounce ideas off each other too. Which is just what BLT did on a recent Sunday. Cynthia once again opened her home to let us play with dye. Oh, what fun we had! Normally we would all bring our […]
Lake Cora Memories
The sky starts to lighten in the East and awakens me. Not gently—but with a jolt. I am awake and out of bed ready to start the day. With a mug of hot coffee in hand, I wander down to the dock and watch the sun come over the trees and shoot a blinding reflection […]
Road Trip
I have a tradition of cranking up Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again as I cross the Colorado state line headed out on a road trip. Although, unlike Willie, I am rarely “going places that I’ve never been.” It still seems appropriate. This trip is going to be different. For one thing I don’t have […]
Eco-Dyeing: Chapter Two
As I promised in an earlier post, I have more goodies to share in the great eco-dying experiment. It would have been handy if I had actually kept notes about what I was doing. Although at the time I didn’t think I would be doing many pieces, and I figured I would be able to […]
Reframing
I was once told that I was stubborn as a mule . . . actually, truth be told, more than once. Not everyone would consider that a compliment, but I do. I have a habit of talking to the animals that I photograph for reference. So at the National Western Stock Show as I was […]
Eco-Dyeing
Spring in Colorado has been amazing this year, and the flowers in my yard have really outdone themselves. Not every spring is like that around here. We have had late freezes that zap everything from my lilacs to the iris. This abundance of flowering plants has coincided with references all around me to eco-dyeing and […]
Power Suit Update
Back in October I told you about the Power Suit challenge and that the artists were asked not to reveal what they had done until after the show opened. But by then I was off creating other works and forgot to do the big reveal. This week I finally got around to ordering the CD […]
Caribou Redux
When I heard about the Artist-in-Residence program at Caribou Open Space, memories of summer days spent there flooded my mind. Those memories are from the brief time that Tom and Lynn Williams and their daughters Terrie and Lori lived at the Caribou Ranch, which is just outside Nederland, Colorado. Lori was my age, and Terrie […]
Cowgirl Dreams
Every January the National Western Stock Show rides into Denver for two weeks. Along with it come extremes in temperature, from well below zero to toasty 60s, and my once-a-year desire to be a cowgirl. Not the kind of cowgirl running around with bling on everything possible, but the one covered in animal slobber, hair, […]