Blogging Books

Yes, I published my blog for 2009 and 2010 into a book, it was easy with Blog2Print. http://blog2print.sharedbook.com I know at first I thought it seemed a little pretentious to do it but . . . What the heck. I thought I would give it a try and so I printed 2009. Of course it cost a bit much, one book with shipping but it was a special treat to me. The book came and looked so good I decided to order 2010 and some friends also wanted a copy of each. (That and a coupon did help with the cost of the second books.) I know I am old fashion but I like a hardcopy to hold so it didn’t take me long to read my books and enjoy my work and the memories all over again. I know I should have shared it earlier but I decided I would wait until the second book came. That way I could show you the cover and the inside together in a picture.
It has turned out to be a really different way to show my work and to read about my activities over time. When I put the books out during my show last week I found that many people picked them up and had a look. As you can see the pictures and drawing came out very nicely and you can use your pictures for the cover, the back cover and even a dedication page. The company is totally integrated with blogs done on blogspot, typepad and wordpress, so if you want to preserve your thoughts and pictures for prosperity or give yourself a special treat, give it a try.

An Update on the Crane Family

While I was visiting the Riefel Bird Sanctuary in late March I asked about the sandhill crane family that I photographed last year and used as reference for my drawing “The Family Outing”. They were still there and the little baby was nearly grown up!! This little family loved the Sanctuary so much that they decided to stay for the whole year. I really enjoyed the seeing them as when I first took my pictures last June, the young crane was only 18 days old. Two babies had hatched at the end of May and the other one had died after only 5 days. I must admit when I talked with Riefel Bird Sanctuary later in the year I was afraid to ask about the family.
So here are pictures of the young crane with one of the parents, I like to think it is the mom as it is a little smaller than the other adult. They were out feeding and very oblivious to any people walking by. I guess after living in a place for over a year you do feel that you own it!! They also told me that the adults may boot the young one out of the family and lay another egg so I will definitely check on that later this spring. Here again is my picture of the family on one of their early “Family Outings”.

THE FAMILY OUTING - 11 x 15 in.

Out With The Hens

Out With The Hens 10x 14 SOLD

Have you ever been to a workshop that just left you feeling so inspired you just want to paint, paint, paint!! I just spent two days with Harold Allanson doing his workshop “Fearless Watercolors” and had a wonderful time. He does beautiful big watercolors of sights along the west coast that you could just die for. See some of his work at http://www.haroldallanson.com/

We spent our time working on these wonderful chickens from his place. I must admit I loved their tail feathers; they just were so interesting and lovely to add colors too. I definitely learned a lot from him and I think that I have finally got a firm handle on my darks. I had felt that often my watercolors were lacking in values but after this weekend I might have trouble getting some soft colors!!