Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Walk In the Woods

It was really foggy this morning when I took Bonnie out for her walk.  The mist had settled on all the cobwebs leaving little white tufts of webs decorating the shrubs and undergrowth in the woods behind our house.  It would be lovely to paint, but I don't think it is possible (for me) to capture the delicacy of those little webs on canvas. 

Bonnie is my two-year-old Cocker spaniel.  She is a rescue dog we adopted last fall from the Florida Little Dog Rescue out of St. Cloud, FL.  Bonnie gives us lots of reasons to laugh as she discovers her new world--squirrels, birds, even a baby gopher tortoise.  The gopher has long since vacated his chambers for safer housing and we had laid bricks over its entrance to discourage the dog from digging under the steps.  But this afternoon the scent must have wafted up from somewhere and 20-pound Bonnie would not rest until she had dug up the pile of bricks and had her front half under the steps and down the hole.  She eventually realized nobody was "home" and gave up, but not until she had dirt stuffed in her ears and nose and her pink tongue was hanging out sideways.


We named this pup for another Bonnie--an amazing maternal black lab--who helped me overcome my fears and feel truly at ease with animals.  More about that to come.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Vincent's Starry Night

Just stumbled across this on the internet and had to share.  One creative genius has designed an interactive application to combine music and motion using works from the Masters.  Hope you enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/36466564

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Getting Back Up

@2012 Claudia Ballard, Ricky Up a Tree, 5 x7 acrylic



If you trip and fall down, you don’t just lie there on the ground….unless something is seriously broken.  You hop up, dust yourself off, and go again.  Hopefully a little wiser to watch where you put your big feet. 
My blog and marketing plans suffered a tumble due to a mountain of tax returns, the “go-live” for two major new clients at the day job, capped off by our septic tank backing up into the house. 

So, I have filed returns, rearranged my work schedule, and cleaned up the mess.  I am learning to make better use of my time….writing this while waiting in line for customer service at the bank.  Have designed and ordered business cards and promotional materials.  Just need to find a balance in my schedule to make a place for my art, because I refuse to lie there and give up before I have even started walking.

Mentorship
We did have a wonderful session with our mentor group this weekend.  We have such different styles as artists, and we are all at different stages in the development of our art careers, but I am learning so much from all of them.  They have all helped me find a clearer focus for my work…so expect to see more wildlife and less trees.