Bay Scallop

I've always called these Queen Scallops. I have now discovered I was incorrect and may still be!

I think these are what we call Bay scallops. They are a member of the mollusk family as well.

I have collected dozens of them while at Sanibel Island.

They are edible and one of my favorites to eat. 

They can develop both male and female organs making them able to fertilize their own eggs. Even though they spawn millions of eggs, only ONE survives to adulthood out of 12 million!

Spawning takes a lot out of these little guys too, once they've spawned, they become weak and vulnerable. 

The REALLY neat thing about them is they have 60 bright blue eyes!

Fascinating to me.

Hopefully for you too!

Bay Scallop, Acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6

Day 7 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019

Turkey Wing shell

Today's entry is commonly called a turkey wing.

So called because you can almost see a turkey wing when they are together.

I love these shells and have actually found some on the beach. The beaches at Sanibel island are the best shelling in the United States and I found lots of Turkey wings and Queen Scallops as well. Their name, is really Arca Zebra and they are a bivalve as well as a mollusk. 

They have up to 50 teeth at their connection point, but it is rare to find them together.  Interestingly enough, they are eaten in both Bermuda and Venezuela.

I imagine they are tough, a lot like Conch!

Turkey Wing, Acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inches

Day 6 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019

Horsehead Conch

Horsehead Conch indeed!

This gastropod is not even a member of the conch family.

It is however, the largest gastropod in American waters. It is also the largest in the world.

The shell can reach 24 inches! It lives at or near 20 feet of water.

It feeds on other gastropods including the tulip shell, lightning whelk, Queen Conch and some murex. They have also exhibited cannibalistic behaviour, eating others smaller than themselves. 

Yesh!

They have also been observed eating hermit crabs!

The creature inside is a bright orange, probably to scare off predators. 

Generally bright colored things in the ocean are poisonous.

Interestingly, when I "goggled" horsehead conch, the first 3 photos were of paintings I have done in previous years! I guess no one else paints them!

Horsehead Conch, Acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6

Day5 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019

Sharks eye snail

The sharks eye is a type of snail typically found off the coast of Florida.

They have also been found at Core Banks, North Carolina.

So called Sharks eye, because the whorl in the center resembles a sharks eye.

Explain how that works to me. So near, and yet so far!

It is a predatory type of sea snail that can grow to 3 1/2 inches.

This guy is painted larger than life though, measuring about 5 inches.

Things are progressing here at the studio, Commissions are well on their way to being completed.

Yesterday, I managed to stretch 7 beautiful 16 x 16 shadowboxes for the 

trip to Florida later this month. 

Today I managed to get a bargain for our daughter Jessica P. in an entertainment center to be used either in the study or craft room of the new house. (Trust me, it was a HUGE find!)

Now we just have to store it until their house gets finished.

Tonight finds me sketching at least three of the shadowboxes with sea turtles.

Tomorrow I teach at the Shepherds Place for the last time this year. 

I will miss the Seniors, the volunteers, and the director until next year.

Never a dull moment with Brushstrokes & Brilliance at the Raccoon Retreat studio! 

Sharks eye snail, Acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inches

Day 4 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019

Florida cone shell

Florida Cone Shell

I have a deep respect for cone shells. While living in the Philippines, my parents went scuba diving quite frequently. I myself loved to comb the beach for shells. One of the first things I learned at the tender age of 6 was not to pick up one of the cones. I was to give them a wide berth, and tell a villager, adult, or parent that I had found one. I was walking one day and my parents were between dives, so they were on the beach. I was beach combing as usual and while I did not find a cone shell, one of the village children did. She was immediately stung and the toxins quickly did their work. 

My father tried desperately to save her, to no avail. 

Both my parents hugged me a little harder that night, knowing this girl was close to me in age.

I was no longer allowed to beach comb alone, but still gave cone shells a wide berth, thinking they could shoot me from a distance.

Imagine my surprise then to find we have cone shells here in the United States! 

Also imagine my shock to find out that ALL cone shells are poisonous !

There are several varieties, both on the Florida and California coasts. This one of course is a Florida Cone. While not as poisonous as their Pacific cousins, from what I have read they too can cause significant damage if you are stung by one. These are found along the Sanibel island area, near where we will be showing in January.

Florida Cone Shell, Acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6inches

Day 4 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019

Steady flight

Steady Flight is a reverse for a collector requesting a bird to match her other two shorebirds. She wants them all facing in the same direction. The process starts easily enough, customer messages me, I answer and we're off to the races! Of course this is a Christmas present, 

so I can only say it is going to Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Shipping on Monday to his new abode.

He's also in a version of sepia that was from a few years back.  The client knows it may not be an exact match, but wants it more brown than the blue sepia I have used for two years now. The other hitch in my get along and get it done was the canvas. It is on a shallow edge canvas that I used to paint on when framing the painting in the shadowbox frames. You see, I had used my last 

two shallow 12 x 12's when my grandson came to visit for a project he was doing. I looked through my stretcher bars, trying to find 4 -12 inch ones to no avail. 

A quick trip to Hobby Lobby found a 12 x 12 and got the project going.

Steady flight, Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12

Day 3 of the 100 days~ 100 paintings Spring 2019

Spring 2019 100 days

The verdict is in for Spring show. While I have not received all of my Yes's or No's, I do have some news about the shows we are participating in next Spring.

We will leave at the end of December for a short two weekend swing into Florida. I have two shows, one in Estero Florida and the other in Naples, Florida the following weekend. Both are highly rated shows! I am excited to see what both of them bring in the way of new collectors. I am extremely grateful for  a wonderful dog sitter that is willing to stay with the fur babies while we are away too!

Then I take a break, except for painting!

(AND another trip to India for 3 weeks!)

March 9th and 10th ~ Orange Beach Festival of Art, Orange Beach Alabama~Accepted!

March 15th~17th~ Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival, Fairhope Alabama~Accepted!

March 23rd & 24th ~ Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts, Gulf Breeze Florida~Tentative

April 6th & 7th Art in the Pass, Pass Christian, Mississippi~Tentative

April 27th& 28th Melbourne Art Festival~ Melbourne, Florida~ Tentative

May 4th &5th Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival, Amelia Island, Florida~Tentative

Thus begins the Spring 100 days. At least it should have begun a couple of days ago!

Today, Friday marks 14 weeks until the Arts and Crafts show here in Fairhope.

98 days................In the meantime, I only have 19 days until we leave for Florida!

So, I hope you're willing to put up with my posts for a while!

Same drill guys, I will be giving away a painting valued at $195.00 at the end of the 100 days.

Every like, comment, and share is a point towards the winning painting.

I am giving bonus points for those that follow the blog, register as a follower and comment!

This painting above is the final of the four created for my Africa series.  A lovely couple here locally have purchased all of them for their living room. One of the owners is Gib Leonard.

Gib Leonard helps run Buy a Brick Foundation which supports and feeds a lot of children the only meal they may get every day.  He is on Facebook and would love for you to check the Foundation out and perhaps donate to feed the kids. Back to this painting, When Gib and Leigh came back this year, they had a photo taken in a restaurant of a painting. I was not quite sure what kind of animal it was, but after some research, I found out they are Painted Dogs. A fascinating animal, they are about 50 pounds and the patterns on their coats is so beautiful! They have red, yellow, brown, white, and black on their mottled coats. No two are the same, each one has it's own distinct coat. They are endangered, with only about 7,000 left in the wild. Their habitats are shrinking, and they are hit by cars frequently on the roads that cross their territory. They live in subpopulations ranging from 2 to 276 mature individuals. They mate for life and have between 2 and 21 pups. They are purely carnivorous. They typically hunt antelope. They cooperate to hunt with everyone getting a portion of the prize, even those left behind because of puppies or sick. They greet each other joyously when they return. Interestingly, they lack dew claws and only have 4 toes per foot. They also don't howl like other dogs.

Beautiful and interesting as well,  their scientific name, Lycaon pictus means Painted Wolf.

This couple also had me paint a Lion of Judah for them, to go with their African animals.

This one measures 24 x 24

Days 1 & 2 of the Spring 100 days 2019

Both paintings are SOLD!