1st watercolor EVER!

Ok so technically this is the first practice with watercolor.  Can't do anything with it, cuz I ripped a hole in the paper by OVER wetting and painting.  Watercolor is EXACTLY like those round paints we got as kids.  The only thing I'm missing is the workbook :|  I haven't improved much since I was a kid...but hey....practice makes perfect, right? 

Now, I'm off to run with the dogs!    Mush Mush MUSH!  :)

Kristen's Stay-CATION 2011 derails...a little

The Negative influences that I am usually impERvious to...hijacked my staycation JOY for just a bit. 
Lost the PICK 3...my head was all muddled with numbers....I COULDN'T FOCUS!  hehe
Plan to go to ArtMart to spend my previous days lottery winnings.......I procrastinate until the SUN appears all glowing and awesome, which makes me want go BASk in it.
Went to Micheals to get a new paint brush instead...get there decide I have a specific reason to go to ARTMart...the prensentation binders..and I have a coupon, but while involved with my fantasies about laying in the sun, i forget the coupon anyway...so I go back home.  THE SUN with its magnetic forces DRAGS me off onto that pool mat, where I remain in Bliss for the next 2 hours.

GOTTA GO TO artmart...go there at 3:00pm, early enough to miss traffic both ways, but upon arriving i CANNOT decide and start having a TERRIBLE HORRIBLE episode of Indecisivness, and all of a sudden its 5pm. 
Frustrated, I leave the parking lot and make my way into rush hour traffic. :|   I kept yelling to the cars next to me...."JUST LET ME IN, I'M NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE IN TRAFFIC RIGHT NOW...I'M NOT COMMUTING, I'M ON A Staycation...STAY-CA-TION!" 
Luckily I was able to use my addrenaline of "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING", to skip alllllll the long lines and muster up enough "THEY GOT BRAKES", to butt my way into the veerrrrry end of the trafficy lines. hehheehee.  Ppl hate that. :)  I couldn't even hide behind the tint...since my A/C is broken...so I was just balls out "yeh, its me, i'm gettin'in front of you now.;)thanks"

I arrive home in just under 30 mins...which on stl hwys at 5:20pm is a freakin' RECORD!

So, I need to turn this shizzle around.   Ingredients...Dogs,...camera....sunbeams.... and beer.

Am I in heaven?  ..or this beer is going to heaven.  Can you hear the music?

Hey...THAT DOG IS EYEBALLIN' MY BEER!  He will stop at nothing I'm telling you...he's forming a plot...you can see it in his eyes! 

Look at this sweet guy sent from the Angels! :)  He is just in doggy bliss!

He just always looks like he's in a Hallmark commercial.  Sweet Jack!



STAY-CATION TIME for some new art.

My staycation has been quite successful so far, if you don't consider the RAIN that is hampering my pool time. We won't talk about that right now. :) 

Here's what I've been doing!  

Sat -Lounging in the pool, even though it was overcast I managed to get too much sun on my face.  
-Hiking with the dogs
-Visited my friend Angie Bauers new baby, omg so sweeet...which gave me "baby fever" a little bit...shhh, don't tell the dogs I said that ;).
- http://www.thestablestl.com/ in St. Louis for dinner.  Its on Arsenal, it is THE COOLEST place, especially the outdoor seating area.  I wish I had taken a pic. 

Sun - Played the lottery "pick 3" for the first time...I was about to buy a powerball and had a vision of the pick 3 numbers....guess what, I WON THE LOTTERY!  yep $50!   
-It was cloudy, but I floated around the pool waiting for the sun anyway.
-Went shopping at Old Navy, yay!
-Ran dogs around Creve coeur lake, where we stopped and shared a hamburger at the Lake house restaurant. It was delightful.
-Went to the eye doctor to test my theory on Natural vision restoration...and guess what my prescription has changed from -2.00 to -1 (contacts) -1.25 (glasses)!  Don't ever let anyone tell you something isn't possible.  Those ppl are NAYSAYERS and should be disregarded!
-Drew a pic of an Elephants booty!  Here is a preview...I still have to fix the birds.

Mon - My pool apparently had "chlorine lockout" which is something you can google...i could not believe it.  I shocked the HELL out of it.
- Ran from my house to the RecPlex despite getting rained on and trapped in a pavillion for a bit.   The dogs didn't mind the rain.
-Played the lottery again, this time spending $100 to increase my winnings...and guess what I WON THE LOTTERY AGAIN!  Yep $100 this time.   I can envision the winning numbers, but not in the correct order....we'll try again tonight!  hahah!
- Drew a pic of some Elephant Joy. 
Its for sale at my shop for $25.00 - http://www.etsy.com/shop/honordog

Tues - So far I've been relaxing... getting ready to go hiking, its the perfect weather for it and everyones at work so RUN FREE DOGS RUN FREEEEEEE! :) Tonight I will draw something new, stay tuned!!!

It's a VW THANG!

Another edition to my series inspired by the 70's!  VW THING!  My Uncles looked just like this.  I also had a boss that had one...back in the day, of course!   I will never forget those summer evenings zooming around in this THING with the top down...not a care in the world!  My Aunt and Uncle provided my sister and I with many excellent memories during our trips to Massachusettes.  We would wait for HOURS for that THING to come around the corner, with my cousins Marc and Mandy in tow!  OH...I can feel the excitement to this DAY!
Of course, if you happen to have memories of the 70's VW THING and would like to purchase this artwork, you can visit my etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/honordog

New Drawings!

I did manage to complete a couple of drawings just because I thought they were beautiful photos. 

Drawing from photos that inspire you is THE best way to get a good drawing.  For example, if I am asked to draw a ...um can of diet coke, then it probably wouldn't be the coolest looking can of coke drawing you've ever seen, since i couldn't care less about diet coke. :| no offense to the diet coke addictees. 

I would like to present to you, a beautiful horse drawing! Yay!

  Oh I wanna ride'm!

Go to my Etsy store to purchase, 20% goes to the LongMeadow Rescue Ranch of the HSUS.  I usually volunteer at the Ranch a couple times of year since the Horse Slaughter semi crash a few years back. 

Also presenting, the HAPPIEST dolphin EVER! :)  of course he's swimming in the WILD! :)

Go to my Etsy store to purchase, 20% goes to on of my favorite charities  http://www.savejapandolphins.org/ of Earth Island Institute.

I'm still working on the 70's toy series.  I got a couple of new ideas from some friends.  One is to draw one of those Spring Horses.

That is going to be an UGLY picture of a horse, i'm afraid.  Maybe I should put a kid on it?  Which one of my 300 childhood f/b friends wants to be featured on the horse as a child, hmmm? 

 C'mon, don't all volunteer at once.  ....Okay, don't worry I have PLENTY of gradeschool yearbooks, I'll just pick one of you!  hahaaa <weg>

I'm pickin' up good vibrations...

Sunkist givin me excitations...good..good good, good vibrationnnns!

The sun even seems to be shining on the can, as if some sort of Celestial blessing :)   or i'm just trying to minimize the cognitive dissonance at consuming such an healthless drink in just under 5 seconds.  yeh, it was worth ever granule of sugar or faux-sugar.

Oh Summer, I've missed you so!

I know its Summer FOR SURE when these flowers come out.
I thought I'd practice my photography skillz.  Of course some blurry dogs have to be in the background! :)

I don't have a macro lens, but this photo makes me want to get one.