Project 365 - April 23-29

Tuesday, April 23 - Plugged in my new external harddrive and began the very long process of backing up the computer.
Wednesday, April 24 - My last day as a stay-at-home-artist, I worked on my Arabian stallion drawing. I am now working a second 20-hour a week job in addition to my 15-hour a week job, so my time of working on my art every day has come to an end.
Thursday, April 25 - After the first day at my new job and the varying stresses that brings, it was nice to  watch the antics of my dog. Here she is trying to get me to rub her belly.
Friday, April 26 - Our t-shirts for summer reading program came in - I love the design!
Saturday, April 27 - End of April, and I'm very happy to FINALLY be able to wear sandals!
Sunday, April 28 - With the weather finally warming up and all that snow melting, everything is a bit muddy, and I got in a little deep as evidenced by my work boots.
Monday, April 29 - The new (to us) tractor and planter that are being prepped for planting. Going to get busy around here!

Project 365 - April 16-22

Tuesday, April 16 - Taking photos for Etsy listings for ready-to-frame prints.
Wednesday, April 17 - This was kind of crazy - I played five letters in Words with Friends, and this was the way the new letters came up - I did not rearrange them at all!
Thursday, April 18 - Snowing again! Will it ever stop?
Friday, April 19 - Doing some applique on a colorful quilt I've been working on for a long time.
Saturday, April 20 - Got an area set up for redoing some old Etsy photos.
Sunday, April 21 - Our dog's newest trick - we taught her to "give me 5". It's so cute!
Monday, April 22 - New game we got in a silent auction at a fundraiser - can't wait to try it!

Project 365 - March 26 - April 1

Tuesday, March 26 - I got an  incredible deal on a subscription to Taste of Home and got my first issue today. Love this magazine!
Wednesday, March 27 - Working on my Arabian stallion drawing.
Thursday, March 28 - Working at the library.
Friday, March 29 - Our cow/calf pairs got moved to a new, bigger pen, and the calves had a great time running around. Here's little Miracle at two weeks old, looking happy and healthy after her rough start in life.
Saturday, March 30 - My sister's dog, Beau, waiting patiently while we play a board game.
Sunday, March 31 - So I didn't take this photo, but I took all the other family Easter photos. Here's my husband and I - wish I remembered what I'm laughing about.
Monday, April 1 - Catching up on watching Survivor - hadn't had a chance to watch last week's episode until tonight.

Project 365 - March 12-18

Tuesday, March 12 - In bed, just before falling asleep, I remembered that I hadn't taken a photo today, so this is what you get. By the way, I hadn't set the clocks ahead yet, so it was actually 11:45, way too late to go around photo op hunting!
Wednesday, March 13 - Boot shopping with my mom and little sister.
Thursday, March 14 - Started wearing my pedometer again and got in 10,831 steps today! My previous job, I sat at a desk and was lucky to get 1200 by 5:00. Now, working at the library, I average 800-1,000 steps each hour!
Friday, March 15 - Some good produce deals at the grocery store - look at all that wonderful fruit. Fresh pineapple is an extra special treat for me!
Saturday, March 16 - Pieper usually lays by the door or on her blanket in the living room, but after working in my studio, I headed downstairs and saw her lying at the bottom. I liked how she was framed by the stairway. (Forgive the yucky steps - we're waiting on new carpet.)
Sunday, March 17 - A calf born yesterday that had a lot of trouble arriving. She got stuck at both the shoulders and the hips and took over an hour to be born. She couldn't get up, and it was bitter cold, so I made a fleece jacket for her.
Monday, March 18 - This is what Pieper typically looks like while we're trying to put our boots on - right in our faces. This time, she even came under the table trying to get in my lap. Such a cutie!

Project 365 - March 5-11

Tuesday, March 5 - The little Black Hereford heifer born yesterday. She's such a cutie!
Wednesday, March 6 - Our second calf, a red bull. He's having a hard time keeping up with his very active sister even though she's only a day older than him.
Thursday, March 7 - Girls' night out and working on scrapbooks together.
Friday, March 8 - Playing Settlers of Catan with my family. If you haven't ever played this, I highly recommend it. It's our all-time favorite game!
Saturday, March 9 - Sleet storm. My poor doggie after helping us with chores. She was completely frosted.
Sunday, March 10 - The current state of my studio workspace - lesson books, reference photos, my iPod, my current drawing, a binder of art prints, and the model horse I've been sketching from.
Monday, March 11 - I cleaned off my vanity top - look how nice it looks! Our bedroom is decorated with our wedding stuff. On the vanity is my bouquet, a few photos, our cake topper (a ranch sign with our name and date and mini hay bales and cowboy hats underneath - my mom made it, and I love it), our toasting glasses, and on top (which you can't see) one of our centerpieces.

Project 365 - February

Tuesday, Feb. 26 - Working on drawing with the reference photos up on the screen of a laptop - so nice!
Wednesday, Feb. 27 - Freezer cooking day with my mom. At the end of the afternoon, we each had two gallon bags of chili, chicken soup, hashbrowns, and maple pecan pancakes.
Thursday, Feb. 28 - Night out with the girls and eating blue Dum-Dum suckers.
Friday, March 1 - Pieper worn out after a long day of guarding open gates.
Saturday, March 2 - Had to come up with a way of keeping track of what is in the freezer since, besides the freezer cooking day, I've been making extra portions to freeze of some of our favorite recipes.
Sunday, March 3 - Date night with my husband who's been gone a lot of nights lately working on our planter. Our relaxing evening consisted of beef stew, mango, and watching The Avengers.
Monday, March 4 - Our first Black Hereford calf arrived! I went out to check the heifers at 3:30 a.m., and her mama was just getting up, so I missed the birth by minutes (not that I mind terribly, it's pretty gross to watch!)

Project 365 - February 19-25

Tuesday, Feb. 19 - Bitter cold day and the brightest sun dogs I have ever seen! Not long after I took this photo, they were too bright to look directly at.
Wednesday, Feb. 20 - Watching the Scottsdale Arabian show live online. Love seeing all the different classes that I've never seen before like saddleseat, native costume, liberty, and gambler's choice jumping.
Thursday, Feb. 21 - We finally had a nice warmish day (20 degrees), so I took some photos of our new Black Hereford heifers we bought last weekend.
Friday, Feb. 22 - I was lucky enough to be watching the live feed of the Scottsdale Arabian show at the right time to see a half-sister to my colt be named top ten yearling Arabian filly!
Saturday, Feb. 23 - My sweet Border Collie begging for her treat. She almost always puts one or both paws up by her face when she begs - adorable!
Sunday, Feb. 24 - Yes, I forgot to take a photo. I'd say a 54 day streak isn't bad though!
Monday, Feb. 25 - A cute summer shirt I got for $5 through my hometown's garage sale site on Facebook.

Project 365 - February 5-11

Tuesday, Feb. 5 - I found a gently used iPod 3rd generation Nano for sale! I've been wanting an iPod for years, and I'm so excited to finally have one.
Wednesday, Feb. 6 - On our way to the sale barn to sell a couple fat steers and some of the smaller calves that couldn't keep up with the bigger calves.
Thursday, Feb. 7 - Baking bread. My recipe makes three loaves, so I had two extras to give to my two friends that I went out with later that night.
Friday, Feb. 8 - Working on my Sketchbook Sunday blog post.
Saturday, Feb. 9 - The beginning of a blizzard that shut down the whole area for a day and a half. They were huge snow pellets - that's the only way I can describe them. They looked like hail but were spongy like snowballs. Never seen them before.
Sunday, Feb. 10 - Our Border Collie, Pieper, begging to be let back in the house while licking snowflakes off her nose. She really does love the snow once she gets out into it, but being put out of the warm house into this was a bit of a shock.
Monday, Feb. 11 - The blizzard finally ended with 7-8 inches of new snow.

Project 365 - January 8-14

Tuesday, Jan. 8 - One of my Breyer Christmas horse collection.
Wednesday, Jan. 9 - Eating supper at work - leftover Italian meatloaf, Doritos, and a banana.
Thursday, Jan. 10 - Out for pizza with a friend. Pepperoni and almonds on my half; almonds and extra cheese on hers.
Friday, Jan. 11 - I'm excited to finally have a designated space set up for scrapbooking! I still have to clear out the drawers to store scrapping stuff.
Saturday, Jan. 12 - One of the sun dogs in the afternoon. It was cold!
Sunday, Jan. 13 - I pulled out a knitting project I'd been neglecting for a while and was reminded why I'd put it away in the first place - the huge tangled mess in one of the skeins of yarn!
Monday, Jan. 14 - I went to Wisconsin to help my grandpa move to a new house. This adorable puppy did everything she could to impede the progress and then finally reached the end of her boundless energy.

First Project 365 post - January 1-7

I'd debated doing Project 365 this year, but I had not really committed to it due to the fact that I did make quite a few other mini-resolutions and decided I had enough on my plate already. But about 8:00 on the evening of Jan. 1, I decided to go for it. Nothing like last minute decisions!

I decided to go with a collage format, but if you would rather see my photos full-size, let me know, and I can do them that way instead.

So here we go - the first week of Project 365, 2013:

Jan. 1 - Playing dominos with my family.
Jan. 2 - Putting the finishing touches on the portrait I gave my mom for Christmas of her cat, Bummer.
Jan. 3 - Freshly baked bread and burger buns. I've been baking my own bread for over a year now and have gradually started baking most other bread-related things as well - buns, pitas, pizza crust, etc.
Jan. 4 - Pieper, my dog. This is her confused face wondering why the heck I'm kneeling on the floor pointing a black box at her and telling her to stay where she is.
Jan. 5 - My show tack from my 4-H days. This is set up at the library where I work for our western-themed adult winter reading program. I thought this was an appropriate day for this photo as it was 9 years ago today that I lost my precious horse, Sugar, who wore this saddle and bridle.
Jan. 6 - A self-portrait. We got back from playing games with friends from church at about 11:30, and I realized I hadn't taken my daily photo yet, so this is what you get.
Jan. 7 - Working our 2012 beef calves. They got shots to keep them from getting certain diseases (much like humans are vaccinated against measles and mumps and even chicken pox and the flu) as well as a solution poured on their backs that kills parasites. The boys were also castrated at this point and we took a closer look at the girls to see who might be good future cows.


Now that I've started, I'm very glad I decided to do this. I think it'll give you a look at my real life that I don't share much of simply because I don't know what and how much to talk about without boring you.

Sketchbook Sunday - September 16

Busy week. Between bottle calves, and new horses, and a show to prepare for, not a lot of time for anything else. I'll post more about the show later this week, but for now, a peek into my sketchbook.

Just the bottom buckle this week and started on the blinker.

The proportions lesson is finished. He's the final assignment. Starting now on foreshortening.

 I did a real quick sketch of a Border Collie puppy that I photographed this spring.

My last month

I realize I haven't posted anything in over a month. Life's been crazy. March 8 was the day I realized I couldn't stay at my job any longer and had to quit whether I had another job or not. The same week I turned in my notice, I interviewed for, was offered, and accepted a new job, and I became a librarian on April 2. I had two 40 hour/6 day weeks for training, almost a full week the third week due to other commitments, and this past week, I was finally able to work what will be my normal three-day work week.
To make things even more hectic, I also became a mother in early April to an adorable little calf named Pumpkinseed, a.k.a. Punky.

Her mama had pneumonia and mastitis and was unable to take care of her, so I've been bottle feeding her morning and evening for the last month. She'll hopefully be able to make it on her own in the next couple weeks.
We're up to 21 calves now, and keeping the records, getting them separated from the rest of the herd with their mamas, giving them shots and tags, and moving them to the pen with the other cow/calf pairs has been a part-time job in itself. There should be 37 more coming in the next couple months.

I'm also loving what we're having of the spring weather. It's been 40 degrees and rainy the last few days, but there have been a few tastes of some gorgeous weather.

Of course, the spring weather also means that planting has started, and I've spent some time tossing around seed bags, pouring seed into the planter, rolling up the electric fence around the fields, and transporting my husband from place to place to move equipment.

Probably the most enjoyable part of the last month was a visit from my sister last weekend. She was dogsitting and brought Champ along. He didn't sit still for very long, so I got a chance to play with shutter speed in my photography.

(For the record, that stick was a good four times his length, but he didn't believe it.)

I was thrilled to finally have a camera with adjustable shutter speed to catch a shaking dog in action.

And one final shot of Champ.

In case anyone is still looking for a replacement for Picnik, that last photo was edited with Picmonkey.com. Pretty much just like Picnik, only FASTER!!! I'm actually happy now that Picnik closed because it was so dang SLOW!

So... there's my last month in a nutshell and the explanation for why I haven't posted. I also have hardly drawn during that time, and sadly, my ACEO per month goal is not happening. My intention is to get back into the art this week now that the work schedule has calmed down.

Beau and a bow!

First off, I spent my lunch break at work drawing, did some finishing touches this evening, and I think I've finished the drawing of Beau the beagle for my little sister.
Here he is in his entirety:

And close up shots:

I'll take a fresh look at him in the morning, and if there's no changes, I'll give him a coat of sealant, and he'll be ready to go to the print shop with me tomorrow afternoon to get prints made for my art show next weekend.

I'm hoping my sister still likes him. I talked to her last night, and she'd just found out that Beau had killed one of her kittens (she's a rare person that likes dogs and cats equally). She's pretty upset with him right now, so I hope she still likes the drawing!

Just after I finished him, I looked out my studio window and saw a bow of another type:

Isn't it beautiful? Was much brighter than this. Cameras sometimes just can't do justice to nature.

Progress on the Beagle drawing

I didn't get as much done on this drawing today as I'd like due to coming home from work yesterday with a 102 temp. and just feeling off most of today, but I have to have him finished plus matted and framed next Tuesday for my sister's birthday, so I forced myself to accomplish something on him. So here he is with the right side of his face mostly complete.

Just the ear, ground, and touchups left. I'm not sure what color to mat him in. My sister's bedroom is blue and orange (high school colors), but she'll be gone to college next year, so those colors (besides absolutely clashing in my opinion) won't match her room for very long. I'm thinking maybe a chocolate brown?

My current project and brand new subject for me

I thought it was about time to give everyone a peek of what I'm currently working on - a portrait of my sister's beagle. I've never drawn a dog before (at least not since becoming a "serious" artist), so I was a little hesitant to post photos in case he didn't turn out as planned, but I think he's coming along pretty well. So... here's Beau:
This is the original photo I'm working from - I'm discovering how easy and fast it is to draw when you can copy exactly from a photo. It makes me love taking my own photographs even more!

Here's the drawing so far. The left side is mostly done, and I'm just starting the right side.

And just for fun, a close up of the nose since I love it so much! (Apparently, there was a dog hair laying on it.)