Happy Halloween!

Halloweenie

I know this is an older painting but since I recently posted this year's Halloween paintings I thought I'd dig this one out since it's one of my favorites.

Anyway, today was pretty busy - first we had our Grandpuppy (or Granddogger as Chris says) Lola for the weekend - Violet and Linda were thrilled, but the cats and Jabby could all think of other things they'd rather have happen.

Lola

Today was also our 23rd anniversary and we celebrated as usual by going to the Chiller Theater convention. Violet wore her Cleopatra costume, she looked great & a lot of people wanted to take her picture! Here's a pic of her with her Gus Fink Puff Dog, Violet's a huge Gus Fink fan (like her mom!) and luckily he was there or she'd have been very disappointed.


I was very happy and excited that I got to meet LeVar Burton there! I told him that we watch him almost every night in TNG reruns :) Even Violet knew who he was, although she didn't recognize him at first without his visor (she watches with us sometimes).

Other than that it was the usual Halloweenery, trick or treating and such - we took Linda with us for a bit but she barked furiously at the decorations in which she could recognize a face, pretty cute! Violet did quite well for herself, a 5 lb haul (!)

Kidnapped!

This is a portrait I did for my art group's portrait swap - I was a little late with it (ok 11 months, hanging my head in shame) but finally recently finished it. I know some of you have already seen it posted elsewhere.

Anyway, this is a painting of just about the worst thing that's ever happened in Wibbley World, that horrible day when Lunchbox and Bloo were kidnapped - a day that will live in infamy. Poor Lunchbox dropped his lunch-pail and I tell you, you could hear him wailing into the middle of next week! I was shocked to discover that it was my friend John Borrero who had put on a disguise and stolen them:

Kidnapped!
12x12
Oil on canvas

I'm filled with outrage just looking at this again - how could John just laugh and ignore the fact that he made Lunchbox drop his lunch-pail and cry!? Doesn't he know that when you have your diaper but not your lunch-pail, then everything's not OK? Apparently he had lured them with some candy and then tried wheeling them off in a wagon but they kept climbing out, so he had to carry them in his arms as he trotted away on his spindly little goat legs.

But you know what? Everything did turn out ok after what was quite a scare. Eventually I was able to track them down by following Lunchbox's shrieks of terror (Bloo was so petrified she couldn't make a peep) and John's hoof-prints. I was able to rescue them, bringing them back home where they could be happy again. Here's John's portrait of our reunion:

"John in Wibbley World" by John Borrero
18x24, Acrylic & mixed media
(click image to read John's side of the story
and to see more of his amazing artwork)

After re-reading John's story I guess maybe I overreacted, but that's how we Mommies are when our babies are in trouble!

So now you know, if there was any question:

Lunchbox + lunchpail + diaper = good
Lunchbox + diaper - lunchpail = bad
Lunchbox - lunchpail - diaper = you don't even want to know

Deery, too

I've decided I'm going to try to post something at least every other day - usually a piece of artwork but sometimes not. I have a lot of sketches, drawings and paintings that I haven't done anything with, many are ideas for more developed paintings.

Anyway, here's a little pencil ACEO I drew a couple of months ago:

Deery, too

Not to be confused with

Regular Deery

I think they may be cousins.

I'll probably be putting many of these on ETSY in the next couple of months. I still have Regular Deery too but sometimes when I have a painting for too long I bond with it and it's even harder to sell. I see I painted Regular Deery back in 2005! Wow, I didn't realize it was that long!

Another Owl!

Also for Nibblefest:

Petunia
2.5 x 3.5
Graphite on Stonehenge paper

Halloween paintings!

I just finished (and listed) two Halloween paintings - one's for Nibblefest (our theme this month is OWLS).

First up, for both of you Star Trek / Halloween / Lunchbox fans out there:

LunchSpock
5 x 7 Oil and Chromacolour on Panel
(click to go to auction)

It’s that time of year again! We all know by now how much Lunchbox loves Halloween, but I bet you didn’t know he was such a huge Star Trek TOS fan. Actually neither did Lunchbox, he just came across this Spock costume at the Halloween Store – it was marked down because the Tricorder was missing. But you know what? Lunchbox doesn’t care – he has his lunch-pail and his diaper. When you have your lunch-pail and your diaper, who needs a silly tricorder anyway?

This painting is the third installment in my “WibbleTrek” series, and as well as the third installment of my Lunchbox Halloween series (I think).

* * *

Next is my Nibblefest entry:

Happy Owloween!
5x5 Oil and Chromacolour on panel
(click to go to auction)

“Trick or Tweet!” OK I know owls don’t say "tweet" but oh well.

So anyway, Shelly's taking her little brother Alex out trick or treating - she's kind of mad because she had other plans and her parents just dumped this on her at the last second. Poor Alex is really scared of all the ghosts and monsters too. ☹

Spam & Trout!

"Second Thoughts"
5x5 Oil & Chromacolour on Panel

Well the "big day" is finally here and Spammy is having second thoughts. Maybe it's not such a good idea for a slice of Spam to marry a trout - after all, don't trout eat Spam? Not that his beautiful bride would ever harm him, but you never know for certain about such matters. Besides, I bet he's really delicious!

Maybe mother was right, he should have married a nice slice of bologna after all...

I created this painting for EBSQ's "Spam & Trout" show.

Acrylics (again)!

So I've been doing some more experimenting with acrylics again, I tried a different brand (Old Holland) & so far am very happy with them!

Here are some of my experiments (two are currently listed for the August Nibblefest contest, the theme this month is FACES). They're all ACEO's, Norfy's on unstretched canvas and the other two are on masonite panels.

Norfy

Owley

Somebody Else

Here's a link to the auctions if anyone's interested. Sorry they don't have particularly clever stories this time, I guess I was a little distracted due to Violet's birthday week (which is still going on!).

I've also been doing a lot of pencil drawing which I'll post in a bit (hopefully sooner than five months!)

The Moozles

The Moozles
(click to see the auction)

The spotted calf wants to know your name. Really she does, but don’t get too close! If you look carefully, you can see that those aren’t ordinary spots. Bossy has the moozles (not to be confused with their cousins, the measles) which (from what I’ve read), are super contagious and all kinds of itchy.

I painted this using Genesis heat set oil paints, about which I can't say enough good things. They very well might be my favorite paint now.

Soft and Fuzzy O'Johnson

"Soft and Fuzzy O’Johnson”

They say everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, at least that’s what Soft and Fuzzy Johnson (or should I say Soft and Fuzzy O’Johnson) believes. Personally, I think it’s just an excuse for him to dress up like a leprechaun and drink green beer in the middle of the week.

Wibblestronomy Lesson

"The Wibble Moons" Astronomy Lesson #1:
The Phases of the Moon

I know that most of you are familiar with the various types of Moons out there: there’s the Blue Moon, the Harvest Moon, the Wolf Moon (I just learned about that one!) as well as your garden-variety Fulls, Halves, etc. This lesson is about two lesser-known and seldom-seen lunar phases, the Lunchbox Moon and the Waxing Wibbous Moon.

First up is the Waxing Wibbous:

So you think that things go haywire during a Full Moon? Just wait till you experience a Waxing Wibbous Moon! This phase generally precedes the Lunchbox Moon, and no particular constellations are associated with it. Sometimes you can even see Lunchbox perched on the tip – this is the only time that Lunar Lunchbox is visible to the naked eye.

Next we have the Lunchbox Moon:

When the conditions are just right, you can see the extremely rare and hard to find Lunchbox Moon in the sky; interestingly this is also the only time that you can also get a clear view of two of our most elusive constellations: the Big Lunch Pail and the Little Diaper, which are almost never seen independently of the Lunchbox Moon. Explain that one, Science!

The Lunchbox Moon was traditionally viewed as a good omen by native tribesfolk, which makes sense because when you have your lunch-pail and your diaper, what more do you really need?

So now you know what people mean when they say, “Once in a Lunchbox Moon” or, “Things sure are crazy around here, it must be a Waxing Wibbous;” you won’t have to just nod your head and smile politely anymore.