Wizard of Oz

I've been very busy painting the scenery for my daughter's school play. These corn panels have taken about four hours each. Times that by seven and you've got A LOT of work. And that's just the tip of the iceburg. The Emerald City is 32 feet wide and 18 feet tall. The farmhouse has a detachable porch that spins during the hurricane. We've got a witch's castle and a wizard's chamber and of course there's Munchkinland. But it will all be worth it! Right?

New Posters

Poems Art Publishing just finished printing a new line of posters. Pretty soon all these little birdies will be springing up in fun new places and with any luck they'll be as popular as the abstract floral pieces.

A Little Sun

Last week the Salt Lake Valley had a terrible inversion. For the most part the inversion is horribly depressing and has no redeeming qualities as it blocks out the sun with a very thick layer of smog. But one night last week the smog turned into fog, the kind that is often compared to split pea soup, and when we woke up in the morning everything was covered with a beautiful layer of crystals.

Starling

I have a new appreciation for the birds that flitter in and out of my backyard. This little starling perched up by the telephone wires for a moment the other day and held still long enough for me to snap this photo. I've been spending quite a bit of time in my yard with my camera strung around my neck. Last week the kids and I went to a local store, Backyard Birds, and stocked up on bird seed and a fancy new bird feeder, with the hopes that we can lure some new models to our yard. The seed disappears quickly, although I haven't managed as many great shots as I'd like.

LITTLE BIRD

Not only do these photos work well on their own, but they make great studies for my bird paintings.

I Should be Painting...

Yes, I should be painting. But I'm not. I should be painting... but instead I'm playing around with all these photos that I can't stop taking. Not only am I spending all my time snapping pictures, but now I'm finding fun new ways to modify them. I really like the way these apples turned out. They look a bit like marble. Maybe not too great to bite into, but pretty neat to look at.

New Camera

I have a new obsession. For Christmas our family got a beautiful new camera and I can't seem to put it down. This past weekend we took a trip to Idaho to visit family and the three and a half hour trip home flew by as I took shots of the landscape out the window.