a slice of home

I live in what used to be, back in the old west days, the mechanic's shop on a ranch. Now it's a 5 acre parsel of land with several little houses and the rock ranch house. An old barn, a big shed, the corral and lots of horseshoes are still on the property. And for whatever reason, there are ropes and chains and rubber hoses hanging from a surprising number of trees. So, my house is made of the local rock and cinderblocks with a tin roof. A typical Wimberley structure. It's small, but cozy. I love it here. Oh, and the pattern on the red floral chair is alot more dainty appears here. Not quite so Pee Wee Herman-ish.

self-portrait

That's me sitting there drawing. The desk is a banquet table with file cabinets as supports. It's very functional for my small space. When I moved here 7 years ago, the scene out my window was pastures with grazing cattle and occasional horses. A few months ago that changed. It's soon to be a 19 home "gated community". It really hurt to sit here and watch the big, stinking deisel monsters rip the trees out of the ground. Yep, I s'pose I'm a tree hugger. This view still beats the heck out of the streets of Dallas. For anyone remotely interested, here is what's being offered to the new next door neighbors.

progress

Tragically, this is the new view from my windows. The era of a bucolic pastural vista is winding down. It's the passing of the priceless to the common.

comfort zone

I swore I wouldn't stress over Christmas this year. As always, I took the route of making gifts instead of spending money. This year was cookies. Batches of cookies that had to be boxed and mailed to other places. I made 2 batches each of Nestle tollhouse cookies, molasses crinkles with sugar icing, and cinnamon snickerdoodles (my personal favorite). Along with this endeavor, I had project deadlines, a nasty cold, a birthday, and a dear, wonderful friend visiting from Dallas for Christmas. So finally when it was all over, I drew this in a wonderfully mellow sense of satisfaction. I stressed, but not as much as Christmases past.

Happy Holidays to all!

candy bar

Ink, Photoshop, Moleskine and a splash of humor.

a color study in light and dark

Well, today is my birthday. Number 46. For as long as I can remember I've been drawing this motif for friends or family birthday cards. It would be interesting to see the collection of them all. My favorite one was for a birthday party. Back before computer graphics, I worked with 35 mm film slides. I created multiple slides and projected them all over the walls. It was really great to walk into big room lit with candles everywhere. Make a wish!

Pop-Up Cookies

3D Pop-Up art, painted with gouache in a Moleskine sketchbook. The layers are Bristol Board glued to the page. I had a hankerin' to do another 3d piece, so cookies seemed appropriate for this time of year. No baking required.

Pop-Up Cookies

A close-up image.

morning coffee

Hot coffee on a cold morning in the city.

swimming the stream

Going with the flow of progress. I'm thinking of making a series, a visual story. Yes, I think I will do this.

a study of palms

The random grouping of palm fronds have such a natural patterns, which is so rythmic and harmonious to me. When I first arrived in Florida recently, the sound of wind through the fronds added to the rythm. It's a wonderful reminder of how much I love the coast.

moon flowers

I found these moon flowers in Florida, right in front of a boat pier. They were indeed reaching up to the moon. I listened to The Marriage of Figaro while inking this drawing.

a walk in the woods

After a hard freeze, I wanted to see what it looked like in the woods. I found this tiny plant with great autumn colors.

the march of the trees

This hill is close to home so I see it every day. The Live Oak trees look like cartoon animals marching up and over the hill. It's a real visual treat to live in this part of the world.

Missis Sippi

Sorry folks, but I couldn't resist this cheesey pun.

lemon tree

These are really big, and very juicy lemons. They're also very tart, so they're perfect for a lemon merangue pie. Punta Gorda, Florida.