Turtle studies times 4!

Turtle Study I

I am always drawn to turtles, their very existence relies on our helping them to hatch here on our Gulf Coast. When we walk for turtles and find a nest, we have to move the nest the majority of the time. The mama turtles are having increasing difficulty finding a place to lay their eggs without the influence or interference of man. The amount of tents, beach toys, garbage and other abandoned items was shameful. Many the morning we walked we filled up 6 or more bags of trash. There were even tent weights tossed away like it was nothing. We are slowly but surely destroying our planet with the items that could be recycled, but are just thrown away! 

We all need to realize that the things we toss, are not just disappearing, they are clogging up our planet with useless garbage. Our turtle nests are not producing as well this year either. The nests are full of eggs, but many more are infertile than in years before. My concern is the BP oil spills lingering effects on our beautiful stretch of the Gulf of Mexico. I am praying that this is not the case! In the meantime, I paint turtles!

Turtle study II

Turtle study III

Turtle study IV

Turtle Studies I, II, III, & IV Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12 Paintings 49, 50, 51, and 52 of the 100

Cigar boxes, Mops projects, Ghost crabs and shells

The LAST of the boxes! 

This week has been an exercise in how much can you get done! 

Artwalk and painting while talking with potential collectors.

Trips to buy supplies for classes, more trips for supplies after adding students. Housework,(what is that anyway?). Labor Day weekend fun. Designing a logo while on the road. Swimming pool driving me crazy because I can't seem to get the chemicals correct and the water clear! In the middle of all this, I am trying to paint and blog, then the internet is down, or flaky at best!

Ah such is my crazy artist life here at the Raccoon Retreat Studio in Fairhope, Alabama!

The show season is rapidly, rapidly approaching. This makes sleep difficult at best, because all I can think about is catching up on blogging, painting, and designing.

The LAST of the boxes! takes care of 3 paintings, numbers 33, 34, &35 of the 100 paintings

Shells

These are simple paintings, simply done. 6 x 6 canvases

Paintings 36 & 37 of the 100 paintings

Ghost crabs I, II, III, & IV

Two of these are 6 x 6 canvas, two are 4 x 6 Canvas

All four are just plain fun! These little guys are constantly skittering away from us while we are walking for the turtles. Some of them are no bigger than a quarter, and so pale you cannot distinguish them from the sand. Others are so large that the birds chase them, hoping for a tasty meal!

Paintings 38 through 41 of the 100 paintings, all acrylic on canvas

Paintings just for fun!

My church has a Mothers of Preschoolers group. The leader,asked me to create decorations for the tables using this years theme. They are simple and fun, painted on blocks of wood so they can stand. All of them are painted on both sides.

What I would have given to have had such support from other moms when our children were small. I was a mentor for a time and really enjoyed it, the moms want to know how the children were raised in gentler times. I cannot imagine having a baby in this turbulent time we live in!

I would have loved being told to do this when a young mother! This years theme for the group is similar to others, just embrace the mess, and the craziness that is the preschool age. 

Love your little ones, they grow up so fast!

Paintings 42 through 48 of the 100 paintings, acrylic on wood.

A Whale of a tail

Bonding Box

Whales box

Today's entries are studies in simplicity. Both are Cigar boxes (I'm almost finished with them!)

The top one is a mother whale pushing her baby to the surface after birth for that first breath of air. The others were just for fun!

Bonding and Whales, Acrylic on Cigar boxes, Paintings 30 & 31 of the 100 days