You don't know until you try it

I used an ad in Vanity Fair as my inspiration

Practicing loose faces, which I so need to do

I really like this set. Have to keep going

Too tight

Also too tight

In my altered journal 11x14

Finished with added water color

Some really tall dogs must have built this at the dog park

Jake is checking it out

I purchased a $5 hardbound sketch book, Artist Loft brand, at Michael's last week. The paper is not the best, but for just daily practice this will do fine. I like that the book opens to lay flat. Trying to get into the habit, at night, when I am watching tv to sketch for at least 30 minutes. I am also using this book to sketch out ideas for canvases and tags.

The girl in the altered book journal is once again inspired from a Sewcrazi video. She applied gesso to her journal page, then drew with a Prima graphite crayon 6B. Pam then dry brushed white acrylic paint on the face to blend the shading from the watered graphite, and I forgot to do that. Final step was limited palette water color. This face is way too long, but I wasn't after perfection, just learning the technique. Not bad, but certainly not good. Will keep trying.

The dogs and I enjoyed the bright sunshine and 34 degree temperature at the dog park yesterday afternoon. We lasted about 45 minutes. Walking in deep snow hurts my hip and back, and all of the benches were snow covered. I did clear most of them off so they would possibly dry out today. We all had a good time.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

TBT

Dega. This dog loves anything wet.

Gracie and Dega

At the end of the play time. Dega has snowballs hanging off of every exposed fur surface.

I remember this day well. We had a foot of snow fall overnight, and I called Melissa to invite them for a play date. She warned me that my house would be flooded afterwards, but I was cool with that.

Dega and Jake are both terriers, and they both have the type of fur that attracts snow and ice. After letting them romp around the yard for at least a half hour, we brought them all into the kitchen to thaw. I had water everywhere, but it didn't matter. All three dogs were exhausted and content.

Good times.
Linda

Uh huh

The weather forecast was for 4 to 6 inches of snow overnight and into this morning. At approximately 8 a.m. the local television station changed the forecast to 7 to 9 inches of new snow. This was after several viewers had notified the station that hey! Look outside! We passed 6 inches a half hour ago.

The snow had stopped, but has now started once again. Jake, being the man of the house, thinks he has to plow through the deepest parts of the yard every time he goes outside. Then he tracks in little snowballs, and pulls packed snow and ice from his fur. It's a guy thing. I guess.

20 days until Spring. Please make sure Mother Nature gets the memo. Just saying.....
Linda

Really???

I believe I have mentioned in the past that I am one crazy dog mom. Probably a few times.

Yesterday we woke up to over 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground. It started snowing again by 8 a.m., and an additional 2 inches accumulated. It also was warmer, in the low 30's. Traveling was out of the question, and in fact we were being asked to stay at home. Nothing was plowed until late in the day (it is Indiana, folks), and I didn't feel like pushing my luck with a new car. This morning I decided that Frick and Frack needed to get out and run, so we bundled up and headed to the dog park.

I was not the only crazy dog mom there. When we arrived there were two other dogs, but my two ignored them and took off blazing new trails in the snow, chasing each other the entire length of the park. We stayed a total of 35 minutes. Even though I was dressed for the weather, my feet were getting cold. Then I looked down at Jake. He is a terrier, and that is the only explanation I have for his behavior at times. For whatever reason, he was using his face as a plow, running with his head down into the deep snow, biting at the drifts. By the time I got their leashes on them and back to the car, he still had a face full of snow and I couldn't resist taking a picture. Or two.

He spent quite a bit of time at home chewing snow out of his paws and leg fur. But then he looked at me, wagging that tail. Had a really good time, mom. Thanks.
Linda

The Day After

The sun is shining bright. It's 38 degrees, and the snow is melting. This is a very good thing.

By last night, Jake had had his fill of the heavy wet stuff. Poor little guy. The snow sticks to his legs, as in this photo.

So Jake is on the deck, watching his sister who loves to run in the snow and was trying her best to have Jake chase her. Gracie wiggled her butt, barked, and made a complete pest of herself. Jake wasn't having it.

It occurred to me that this time last year, I had already planted the pussy willow tree, trimmed the grasses back that were turning green at their bases, and cleaned up the yard. I have a feeling it will be awhile yet before those chores are repeated.

Onward: while trapped in the house with the dogs, I did a few more canvases. Telling ya, this mixed media thing is soooooo addictive!

The girl is on a 4x12 inch canvas. The house is on a 6x6. I have been trying to challenge myself to work with different sizes. That changes your perspective and proportions. Really liking the odd sizes.

Hope your week is going well. Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

It has to be the right spot, Mom

Gracie has the typical Australian Shepherd coat: a thick very fine undercoat, and a silky top coat. This obviously keeps her warm. But when the air temperature dips to below 10 degrees, I constantly worry about frostbite on their paws. So I closely monitor the time they are out in the yard.

Jake's fur is wiry, but a fine undercoat, but it is also obvious that he does not enjoy the frigid temperatures. He will run out, find the first spot that looks good, do his thing, and come back to the door and bark once, even if I'm standing right there. "Open the door MOM!" So consequently Jake and Mom stand inside the house, looking out the back door as Gracie wanders in circles in the yard.

It has to be the perfect spot. Not any spot will do. She sniffs everywhere, sniffs what her brother has left, and walks on. And on. The funniest event was the first time she went out there after the first 7 inches of snow was dumped on the area. She walked in circles, wading actually, until she could get the snow down so she could squat. The Diva wants what the Diva wants.

I can't wait for spring.
Linda

This is THE winter

We had a light dusting of snow, once, last winter. So what has been dumped on us in the past week is not really surprising. 7.5 inches on December 26th, and another 5.3 inches on December 28th. More snow is on the way later today, and unfortunately it could turn into another big storm. Depends on how much moisture pumps in from the southwest.

Shoveling is a thing of the past for me. My back won't allow it. I did shovel some on Saturday, but had to quit. So it appears that I will have a driveway full of packed ice for the next week or so. Sigh.

But on Saturday I sent a text to Melissa and asked if Dega would like a snow play date in our backyard. Dega always says YES. He never declines a chance to come and play with Gracie May. Not too fond of the little guy. Jake barks at Dega. A lot.

Look at Dega's legs. And, by the way, the coat did not last long. It came loose, and Jake tried to have a tug of war with it while the coat was still on Dega. Melissa had to remove it. For whatever reason, the snow packs on this dog's fur. I mean, packs. When we brought him in, Melissa and I both tried to pull off the balls on his legs. You could sometimes break them up, but not pull them off. I finally said the hell with it, no big deal to the house, let's just let them play. The human mom's wanted to play with our new phones, Samsung Galaxy Note II. (go buy one, now.)

So the dogs were allowed to roam around the house, run from window to window, and play with the basket of toys. I had water everywhere. There was a lake in the kitchen from melting snow balls off all 3 babies. No biggie. It wipes up.

We had fun. And that is what's important.
Linda

Snow Day at Home

Notice the blue ball in Gracie's mouth

It's for both of us, Gracie!

Opps! I dropped it...

Ya know, you could help me look here, Sarge.

My friend Pat gives the dogs a Christmas present. This year it was a blue LIFE IS GOOD ball, with a hole through the center and a thick, black string through the hole. The idea is it would be easier for the human to throw the ball. Gracie's idea was to immediately lie down in the yard and chew the black cord off of the ball, so mom had to chase her before she started to eat portions of said cord.

In our home, Gracie is the alpha dog. Sarge is laid back, just wants to know I will pet him, feed him, and where I am at at all times. This includes the bathroom. Yes, it does. Normally Sarge doesn't chew bones, play with balls, etc. Except for this blue ball from Pat. He will chase Gracie forever trying to get the ball away from her. So when I let them outside in the backyard yesterday, in the middle of this snow storm, Gracie started playing the keep-away game with Sarge.

Until she lost the ball in the snow. I was laughing so hard at her looking for it I had to come in with a coughing fit. Still battling this cold/virus/whatever.

Life is good......
Linda