Fun with Superglue

 It started innocently enough.  

You see, some months ago, part of a fence board along the Back 38 broke off.  It was a smallish section, maybe 3" wide by 10" long, at the top.  While it didn't need to be fixed, it did tend to bother me in an aesthetic sort of way.  

So one day I was digging around in the Art Closet when I noticed two frames.  I'd bought them very cheap at a yard sale around two years ago, thinking there would be a use for them someday.  They had no glass, just antique looking wooden frames, one painted blue and one yellow.  As I stared at them, pondering (and not for the first time) what on Earth to do with them, the image of the broken fence arose.  AHA.

The next thing you know, I was nailing one of the frames around the broken bit.  The idea was to turn the flaw into an artistic expression.  So I framed the flaw.  And then I nailed the other frame below it, and naturally it needed decoration!  

I found a lot of green buttons lying around the house, and used Super Glue to affix them.  There will be more to come, whenever I find more buttons or other similar items -- why, there's room for big mosaics on that fence!  Whee!  

In fact, I went to the antique mall in search of more buttons (they have lots) and while there, a old coat rack caught my eye.  It was painted a hideous shade of red that was flaking off, but the style was fabulous, and it was cheap, so I took it home and repainted it and yes, I nailed it to the fence and decorated it!

Here is the whole section -- those trellises are for a climbing rose which I hope to train up one and down the other.

I guess this is the sort of thing that happens when an artistic person runs low on blank wall space inside the house.

Okay, on to the adorable dachshund pics!

Here is a series I took this past Friday, when the dogs were bored and trying to entertain themselves.

It's been very hot, even for here, and we haven't been able to go out for dog walks.

The Hounds have been spending a lot more time playing with each other as a result.

They are ever so sweet and gentle with each other.

Except for a few minutes early in the mornings, it's also been too hot to super-glue things to the fence, so I've found ever more ways to keep occupied inside.  Here's one thing that kept me busy for several hours -- the Good Omens theme music (treble part only), drawn onto a wall in an appropriate spot:

Our sketch group also had its two weekly meetings, but I only liked one of the drawings I did:

The coming week is going to be even hotter, with potential record-breaking highs.  I'll be indoors with the AC on, thinking up wacky, creative stuff to do!

Stay cool out there, everyone!

The Usual Miscellany

 This past week I liked both of the pieces I did during our two Zoom art practice meetings -- that hasn't happened in a while.  But as I mentioned last week, there were watercolor books checked out from the library to work through, and YouTube tutorials to watch, and I DID that, and possibly learned a thing or two.  

And then I applied that knowledge to the practice pieces, and voila, things seemed to work better.  Mostly.  On the whole. Whatever.  Here's the first one, part of a door at Edinburgh Castle:

The technique I tried for it was using salt on wet watercolor washes for a more textured look to the stones.  

Both drawings were rendered in ink and watercolor.  The second one is of a pier in Tacoma, for which I tried a wet-in-wet sky technique that made use of a bristle fan brush that produced a lot of cool movement to the clouds:

So it was a productive week artistically (and there's a little more to come yet).  And it was a productive week for dog walks -- Pippin can go farther now, up to half a mile at a stretch.  We've been making regular visits to the dock to check for riverboats, and were rewarded one day by one of the paddle wheelers:

My other artistic endeavor last week involved painting a wall -- or rather, a small portion of a wall in the dining room.  It's a long (31 inches) but quite short (6 inches at the highest point) series of images from Good Omens rendered in silhouette down at the baseboard:

It was just a little painful at times, getting down that low (I did have a pillow to kneel on) and craning my neck and arm round while drawing and painting it on there.  For some of the really small areas I used a pen.  I might continue it once my knees recover...

My other idea is to draw the music from the opening theme above the images -- I recently tracked down the piano sheet music for it.  (After playing it a few times, I got it stuck in my head for days.  Yay.)

In other home decorating news, at a yard sale this past week I found a queen comforter and five decorative pillows in a style that spoke to me, all for $20.  I decided they would make the boring sofa less boring:

The Hounds seem to like it.

Well, that's about as exciting as it gets here in the Channeled Scablands of southeastern Washington.

May you all have a lovely week wherever you are!

Perky Pippin, the Garden, and Birds, Birds, Birds

 Pippin has been freed from the pen!  Wahoo!

He has returned to his normal perky self, and has been able to go on short walks.

I'm delighted at his recovery, though still extremely careful about preventing him from jumping.  

Here he is in the backyard, overseeing my work on the garden:

Speaking of which, I managed to finish off the right half of the "Back 38" by clearing off the rocks, bringing in better soil, planting perennials, and topping it all off with bark mulch.

I've decided to leave the other half until this Fall or next Spring, as it's getting rather hot here now.

The Hounds approve of the new garden!

And now for some birds -- I actually managed to get out and look at birds.  It's been a while.

But before I left the house to go birding, I had to admire this Western Wood-Pewee who perched for hours one afternoon in the trees just on the other side of my back fence.

The next morning I headed off for the McNary National Wildlife Refuge near Burbank.  I could have shown you all 122 photos that I took that day, but took pity upon my readers by winnowing that down considerably.  There were a LOT of birds out there!

Here is a mere sampling of what I saw.

Barn Swallows on the headquarters roof:

Spotted Sandpiper:

Blue-winged Teal:

Ruddy Duck -- there were dozens of them:

And there were dozens of Yellow-headed Blackbirds:

And lots of Black-necked Stilts, who were having loud altercations with each other:

They kept dive-bombing each other, and sometimes they harassed the nearby Avocets as well:

This one came in for a landing quite near where I was standing -- it looks like a juvenile, but who knows:

What I didn't show you:  Mallards, coots, a Cinnamon Teal, gulls, robins, sparrows and finches, quail, doves, Killdeer, Red-winged Blackbirds, cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, crows, Western Kingbirds, a Virginia Rail, and a pair of Osprey on a nest -- mostly because my photos of them didn't turn out quite as nicely.  

There were also quite a few turtles sunning on logs, and one muskrat paddling about.  Lovely day all round.

That was definitely the highlight of my week.  

Yes, there was also some art practice -- one failed effort at painting Stonehenge, and one successful effort at painting these chalky islands that sort of looked like molars to me:

I'm especially pleased at how the water ripples turned out.  

This coming week I hope to get cracking on several watercolor technique books from the library, which have oodles of intriguing demonstrations and step-by-step tutorials.  Since it will be too hot to do much in the way outdoors, I shouldn't have any trouble finding the time for it, right?

Well, that's the theory...we shall just have to wait and see how it works out in practice!

Have a lovely week out there!

Garden Update (and yes, dogs)

I continue to make efforts at creating a garden in the Back 38 -- that long narrow stretch of rocks along the fence.

I planted two Carefree Wonder floribunda roses in April.  Here's one - protected against the Hounds, who enjoy peeing in this area:

I also planted this Spirea bush:

And this penstemon (AKA Beard's-tongue):

Over the past week I dug out more rocks and planted a few perennials, including a calla lily and lavender, and some ground covers.

Here's the second Carefree Wonder rose, next to one of two Hostas inherited from the former owners:

So far the most colorful flowers in the garden are the annuals that I planted -- marigolds, snapdragons, and petunias:

The hybrid tea roses also left by the former owners are also blooming nicely:

This week I hope to plant another excavated section of the Back 38 with more perennials To Be Named Later, as in, after I get to the nursery and randomly decide what might look nice.

Meanwhile, I'm quite certain what everyone really wants to see is PIPPIN!

He is making progress -- completely off the painkillers now, and seems to be okay with that so far.  

I allow him short visits from his pen onto the sofa, where he is strictly supervised, and where he gives me guilt-inducing looks about being kept in jail most of the time.

His minimum four weeks of being cooped up will come to an end this Friday, when he'll get to roam about more, and when I'll get to figure out how to keep him from jumping on and off the furniture.  Yay.

As for Truman, he got to go out and about, which he has hardly done at all these past few weeks.  The Farmers Market opened for the season, and I trundled him down there for a stroll:

Then I tried to get him to exercise by taking a walk in the nearby park, but Truman never has been one for walking, and this is all he did:

At least he looked spiffy during his outing, as earlier in the week I took him to his first-ever professional grooming.  He got bathed, trimmed up, and had his nails done, and got a nifty bandana.

Here he is BEFORE the visit, looking a tad scruffy (and a little suspicious):

And here he is AFTER his visit, looking ever so handsome:

As for art projects, I wasted some time playing around with various special watercolor techniques that can produce fun textures, such as this one, which uses drops of rubbing alcohol:

And this uses parchment baking paper pressed into the watercolor:

While this one is made by pressing on cling wrap:

Next, I combined all three techniques to make this abstract bit of nonsense, which perhaps could be an underwater scene on an alien planet:

I've no idea what these techniques could be used for in the sort of watercolor paintings which I normally do, but that's okay.  It was a fun way to spend a few hours while cooped up in the house keeping an eye on Pippin.

I also did another colored pencil portrait -- remember that throne chair Crowley has, with the ornate carving, which I swore I'd never draw again?

Well, I lied to myself.  I ran across a photo I'd not seen before -- a behind-the-scenes photo from the set, and I liked the way he looked in it, and he was sitting in that ridiculous chair...argh.  At least it didn't show as much of the chair, and the bits of carving shown were not so ornate, but it was still my least favorite part of the piece:

Someone please remind me NOT to draw this throne chair again!  Thank you.

So that was a week, and soon I hope to be out and about a bit more once Pippin is cleared for more activity -- of course, it's June, which means it will probably be too hot to get out and about more.  Sigh.

Have fun out there, everyone, and I shall leave you with one more pic of Truman taken by the groomer after his special spa day!