Lefty - Complete...

Just finished this painting - such fun to do!  Now I am waiting to see the real Lefty show up at Brooks Falls on the Explore.org cams!

Watercolour on paper - will be in my Etsy shop tomorrow.

Lefty - A Most Battered Bear...

This is a painting I have wanted to get on with since the beginning of lockdown but have had neither the time or the motivation until now.  It is of bear 775 Lefty on Brooks Falls, Katmai, Alaska.  I really like this bear - he is battered, covered in scars, missing most of one ear (hence the name) and used to thrash about in the water trying to catch fish, crazed with hunger.  Over the past few years he has learned to be patient and fish from the top of the falls and has become highly proficient at it - I cannot keep up with counting the number of fish he catches and eats in one session!

Interestingly, whilst I knew he has many battle scars, with the close studying of my reference photos I am discovering more and more doinks and dents in his skin - he's led a hard life.

With the Explore.org cams due to be switched on any day now, I can't wait to see this old bear's return!

Here We Are Again...

Looks like I'm back to sewing bears...

Masks & Geishas...

 I'm still sewing face masks - I had a bit of a run on them last week from friends and neighbours and made quite a lot.  I've completed any orders now and am back to making them from fabrics that I choose!

 Here are geishas 9 and 10 - I have 11 to make but have run out of the flesh coloured yarn so have to wait for a delivery.  They were fun but I've had enough now.

Three masks that I made yesterday - top two for someone we know that keeps owls and hawks, the bottom one for our local post office clerk.  After he showed me what he had been issued with last week, a nasty little mask made of stretchy t-shirt material that looked like a miniature jockstrap and probably entirely useless, I offered to make him a decent one.

I am painting - got one on the drawing board and a pet portrait to do.  Work is slowly returning to normal,thank goodness.

Something Completely Different...

Back in my teenage years - it was the '70's - I drew a lot of fantasy pictures, dragons, unicorns, pensive looking ladies in long flowing dresses.  But over the years I lost interest in producing this kind of artwork, preferring more natural subjects with a realistic rendition.

But this Spring I was asked to come up with a drawing of a phoenix entwined with a dragon for a friend of mine.  I agreed to it but spent weeks procrastinating and agonising over how I would be able to achieve what she wanted.  I finally had to bite the bullet - it's for a birthday present and the date is very close now - and get on with it.  Once I had a few pencil markings on the paper, I began to get into it and it made a nice change to come up with something from my imagination.  I was starting to get tired of it before the end though and now can't wait to get back to some watercolour!

Lockdown Lovelies...

All for sale in my Etsy shop today!

Still Going...

Eight down, three to go...