Introducing Bluegatorjewelry on Etsy.com

Bluegatorjewelry

Here's another in my Artist of the Week/Month/Whatever entries.  This week/month/whatever focuses on SallyAnn Cobia Rogers, and her shop on Etsy.com:  Bluegatorjewelry.  The link in the title will take you over to the main page of her shop, where you can browse through her selection of handmade, one-of-a-kind jewelry (earrings, bracelets and necklaces). SPRING is almost here! Plan ahead with jewelry in flowery spring colors. More designs are being added frequently, so keep checking back.  In addition to the shop on Etsy, you can catch up with SallyAnn through her Fan Page on Facebook or her Blog. 

Although I've known SallyAnn and her husband Steve for something like 40 years, from our time at Florida Southern College, we've reconnected recently through the magic of the Internet and Facebook, etc. I found out that, like me, she has a shop on Etsy, and has been marketing her jewelry there for about 10 months or so.  So, I'm happy to give her a little plug here.  By the way, those of my readers who also go back to my college days, may be interested in catching up with Steve through his blog:  Looking Toward Portugal

Here are a couple of examples of the jewelry you can find at Bluegatorjewelry:

Bear Totem Earrings - $25.00

Aqua beach glass earrings - $15.00

        

Max

Although I had a dog named Max growing up in New Jersey, this is not a portrait of that Max.  Unfortunately, I don't think I even have any photos of that particular Max.  I think we named him for Maxwell Smart.  He had a fondness for scaring the beejeesus out of the mail man, the meter man, just about any man in a uniform, although he was at heart really friendly.  This Max greets everyone who enters Mah-Ann's Pro Fitness Center in Keizer, OR.  My wife, Fran, took some classes there last year and snapped this photo, along with a few more, and now, Max is the latest entry into the Pet Gallery on my website.  I also have his portrait posted in my FineArtAmerica gallery and my Etsy Shop, so there are all kinds of ways to check him out.  The link in the title will take you over to my FineArtAmerica Gallery, but if you are interested in a print or note cards of Max, I'll point you in the direction of my Etsy Shop, where you can still take advantage of the 10% Discount through the end of the month by using the code:  B00Coo upon completion of your transaction.  This portrait was done in ink, using black and brown Micron ink pens, and a combination of stroke work with stippling, or pointillism.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary

Lover Boy

 

Meet Lover Boy (LB), the February Horse of the Month posted on the Redwings Horse Sanctuary website.  One of the new features of this blog is to focus from time to time on animal, pet and human interest stories, in addition to my usual posts of artwork, products, and my other general ramblings. The Redwings Horse Sanctuary is one of those animal organizations that you will find posted on my "Links of Interest" page on the website, and I thought "what better way to focus on animal interest stories than to feature articles from the various organizations that I have some some affiliation with.

Lover Boy is a Belgian Draft horse, descendant of horses used by knights and farmers to better human lives in early times. He is over 17 hands high, and weighs in at a hefty 1900 pounds.  Lover Boy  was one of the four foals rescued from the Premarin slaughter sales held in Canada. Redwings originally planned to rescue four fillies, and when LB was brought into the ring he was listed as a filly. When the Redwings Staff went to pick him up and discovered he was a colt, she was told, “you can just pick out some other filly and we’ll send him back into the ring”. Well, Redwings wasn’t about to give him back to be sold again, so he went home with the three fillies.  

 

He was named Lover Boy because he was the first foal to be rescued and spent the first night alone (he was only 3 ½ months old, not yet weaned from his mother, and forcibly taken from her). When the three fillies were brought into his corral the next day he was so happy to see them, he immediately gave them all “horse hugs” and was named “Lover Boy”.

The mission of Redwings Horse Sanctuary is to eliminate the causes of equine suffering through education and community outreach programs, rescue abused and neglected equines, and provide permanent sanctuary or selected foster homes for those equines.  For more information on Lover Boy, and the other horses at the Redwings Horse Sanctuary, which is located in Lockwood, CA, please visit their website at the link provided in the title.

Save 10% on purchases in Etsy Shop

Eagles in Ink

Now that I'm getting the hang of Etsy, and have uploaded about 50 or so products to my shop, I figured it was a good time to kick off a 10% Savings Promotion.  The code to redeem upon completion of your transaction is:  BOOC00, and the promotion runs through the end of March.  The link in the title will take you over to my Etsy Shop where you can start your shopping spree!  The items you will find in my Etsy Shop are basically the same as posted on my website, but this promotion is exclusive to purchases through my Etsy Shop.  There are a few tweaks I've implemented on my Etsy Shop, most notably to the note card packages.  As on my website, note card packages contain 10 cards/envelopes per package, but on Etsy, I'm making many more assortment packages available.  For instance, there are about 5 different Wildlife Assortment packages available here, each one with 2 each of 5 different images.  Each image in the package is previewed in the details of that package.  The lighthouse assortment packages are the same as on the website:  one assortment contains the 10 Oregon Coast Lighthouses, and the other assortment contains the Washington and

East Coast Lighthouses currently available.  This discount is good for all items posted in the Etsy Shop, including all of the laser-engraved gift items listed there.  Here a few examples to give you an idea of what you'll find, and remember, the discount code is valid through March 31. 2011.

Goldpanner - 2 pc. Round Box

Dall Sheep - Maple burl Clock

Heceta Head Lighthouse -Rectangular Box

     

Land of Enchantment, and some good friends

Having recently returned from a trip to Santa Fe and the surrounding area, I realized it has been about two weeks since I posted anything, so I thought it would be apropos to share some details about the trip. First of all, thanks to Arman for putting us up for the week.  Arman has been mentioned in this blog as a featured artist, and also in this month's newsletter as Artist of the Month.  This past week, two  sculptures that he entered in a nationwide competition sponsored by the VA (Veterans Affairs), took 1st Place at the regional level, and will now move on to the nationals in Arkansas. Good luck!  It was great to see Bob & Carolyn in Albuquerque, and spend some time at their home in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains.  Hope we don't have to wait another 12 years to see them again. 

Pictured above is the incredible spiral staircase at the Sisters of Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe.  As the chapel was being built in 1876, the local carpenters neglected to erect stairs up to the choir loft, and due to the confines of the chapel's construction, adding a staircase was thought to be impossible.  About that time, a wandering carpenter happened into town, and undertook the task of designing and building the spiral staircase out of wood, not steel, since the nearest forge was hundreds of miles away.  The task defied the laws of architecture, and he also had to contend with the town's corrupt businessmen who wanted to ensure that the staircase was never completed.  A TV movie was made of this story in 1998, starring William Petersen and Barbara Hershey, the DVD of which is naturally for sale in the Gift Shop.  And also naturally, we walked out with a few of said DVDs, one for us, and a also as gifts. In the movie, it's stated the wood used was long-leaf pine, after a failed attempt with oak, but to add to the mystery of the staircase, the literature in the Gift Shop states that when a sample was submitted for testing, it could not be determined what kind of wood it was.  The results came back stating it was not a type of wood they'd ever seen before.  (Twilight Zone theme music here!)  Not a single nail was used in the construction, nor was a center pole used to stabilize the staircase during construction. Pretty amazing!

We also spent some time in Taos, and took in the hot springs at Ojo Caliente. After a week in cool, dry, clear-skied New Mexico, we returned to cold, damp, cloudy, rainy, snowy Oregon. But hey, summer is just four months away!  If we're lucky.