Introducing - Merv Leib and Leibographics!

As I've been working on my Art from the Inkwell Monthly Newsletter, I thought I'd give an extra shout out to this month's featured Artist of the Month - Merv Leib.  I really enjoy this feature of the newsletter and have incorporated it into my blog as well.  It not only gives me the chance to showcase the talents of some of my artistically inclined friends, but also affords me the opportunity to meet, through the magic of the Internet, many other talented individuals of the artist community.  I was approached earlier this week by Merv's daughter-in-law, Kirstine, who serves as his webmaster, with the prospect of exchanging links.  Once I looked over Merv's website, which is actually his blog, I knew that exchanging links was not going to cut it.  His work is fantastic!  So, in addition to exchanging links, I knew that I had my next entry in the Artist of the Month selection of my newsletter.  And as with previous Artists of the Month, like Arman, Christopher and Sally Ann, I thought I'd put in an extra plug here in the blog.  The link in the title will take you over to Merv's blog, titled "Leibographics", where you can see all of the artwork he has posted.  In the meantime, here are a couple of samples to whet your appetite.  Merv and Kirstine have also begun work on an additional blog that will feature Merv's cartoons, and you can find this link on the Leibographics blog as well.

Pillar Point - Pt. Lobos

Old Timer

   

Letter from an unhappy camper!!

Just realized that I haven't posted anything in almost a month.  It's been a busy month, with a trip to Florida for my mom's 80th birthday, and then a visit with some friends in Seattle for Easter weekend.   I thought that this email I received this morning would be a good way to get back into the swing of things.  Even though they are not my words, I agree with the sentiments.  Does anyone else???

 

THIS SENIOR CITIZEN  NAILED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of  Obama's deficit

commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as  he

compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million  teats.

August, 2010.

 

Here's a response in a letter from a unknown  fellow in Montana ...

I think he is a little ticked off!   He also  tells it like it is !

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Hey Alan, let's get a few things  straight..

 

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole  for FIFTY

YEARS.

 

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for  48 YEARS (since I was 15

years old. I am now 63).

 

3 My Social  Security payments, and those of millions of other

Americans, were safely  tucked away in an interest bearing account for

decades until you political  pukes decided to raid the account and give

OUR money to a bunch of zero  ambition losers in return for votes, thus

bankrupting the system and turning  Social Security into a Ponzi scheme

that would have made Bernie Madoff  proud.

 

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk  pulled the

proverbial football away from millions of American seniors  nearing

retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65  to

age 67.  NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move  the

goalposts YET AGAIN.

 

5  I, and millions of other Americans,  have been paying into Medicare

from Day One, and now you morons propose to  change the rules of the

game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts  of the economy

to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare  to pay

the bills.

 

6.  I, and millions of other Americans,  have been paying income taxes our

entire lives, and now you propose to  increase our taxes yet again. Why?

Because you incompetent bastards spent our  money so profligately that

you just kept on spending even after you ran out  of money. Now, you come

to the American taxpayers and say you need more to  pay off YOUR debt.

 

To  add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bulls...t" on

your  incompetence. Well, Captain Bulls...t, I have a few questions  for

YOU.

 

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers  during

your pathetic 50-year political career?

 

2. At what age did you  retire from your pathetic political career, and

how much are you receiving in  annual retirement benefits from the

American taxpayers?

 

3. How much do  you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

 

4.  What cuts  in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you

proposing in your  disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,

have  you exempted  yourself and your political cronies?

 

It is you, Captain Bulls...t, and  your political co-conspirators called

Congress who are the "greedy" ones.  It is you and  your fellow nutcases

who  have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from

millions of loyal,  patriotic taxpayers.  And for what?  Votes.  That's  right,

sir.  You and  yours have bankrupted America  for the sole purpose of

advancing your pathetic  political careers.  You know it, we know it, and

you know that we know it.

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.

20% OFF Giclee Prints - 10 Days left!

Since I'll be out of town next week, I thought I'd get in one last reminder about the 20% OFF Sale over at my website on FineArtAmerica.com.  The link in the title will magically transport you over to that site (Beam me up Scotty!).  The Discount Code to take advantage of this sale is:  GDPDBZ. This discount is good through 2/26/2011.

I have over 70 images uploaded there now, with more to follow this week, and this promotion is good for any size Giclee Print, as well as purchases of Note Cards and Note Card Packages. Matting and framing options are also available for the prints, and there's even a canvas option if you are so inclined.  Here are a few of my more recent postings there, but I hope you'll get a chance to check out the entire gallery.

I've recently organized all of the images into categories, or galleries to make it easier to find a specific image. Pictured at the top is "The Reiner", which you will find in the Horses Gallery.  To the left here we have my rendering of the Oregon State Capitol building, which you will find in the Scenic Portraits Gallery.  Finally, to the right, we have my rendering titled "Kestrels", which you will find in the Wildlife Gallery. 

Coming in March, look for a special through my Etsy Shop which will feature the laser-engraved wood product line.  Since the shopping cart on my website is not really geared to specials on a wide spectrum without making massive changes to the website, I'm looking forward to being able to offer these special promotions through my Etsy Shop and FineArtAmerica Gallery.  Stay tuned.

Artist of the Week - Arman Barajas

As part of my ongoing endeavor to feature the work of other artists in my blogs and newsletters, the featured artist this week is Arman Barajas, of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Arman is a friend, and if you've visited my website at all over the past 5 or 6 years, you are looking at some of his work every time you visit Art from the Inkwell.  Arman is responsible for the re-design of my website, everything from color scheme to navigation to logo.  

While web design is one of Arman's talents, this blog will focus on his work as a sculptor. The link in the title will take you to his website, but here is an excerpt from his Artist Statement to help you along with the introduction:  

Understanding myself, relating to others, and life around me are my inspirations, and the emphasis of my body of work. My art gives a minimal amount of information, and is stylized to create a genuine feeling for nature, humanity, and balance.

I've included a few examples of his work here to get you started, and I hope you will get a chance to stop by his website to see more of his work.

Final 2 weeks of FineArtAmerica Special - Discount Code GDPDBZ

Just a quick reminder about the special that has been running through my FineArtAmerica Gallery for the past few months.  You can still get 20% off any purchase of Giclee Prints or Fully-customizable Note Cards through February 26, 2011.  Just enter the Discount Code GDPDBZ when you go through the check-out process to receive your discount.  Matting and framing are available, and also included in the promotion.  Now onto other matters.  What's up with Castle Hill Lighthouse, pictured here?  Only good stuff, I hope.  It seems to be a hot ticket item for me lately, both on the FineArtAmerica Gallery and my recently opened Etsy Shop.  Took less than two weeks to record the first sale on Etsy.  Must be some saavy shoppers with a keen eye for detail over there.  But seriously, for my artist friends out there, if you haven't checked out either of these sites yet, I would highly recommend them both.  They are great venues to post your artwork, get a little extra exposure, and maybe even make a few sales!  Let me know if you have any questions about starting up accounts at either website.  It really is a snap.  And you just can't beat their rates.



Check out this great product I found!

I stumbled across Christopher Sia the other day while searching through other Artists' websites and online offers, etc. and really liked the content. The link in the title will take you over to his site. As someone who works in Pencil, as well as Ink and Scratchboard, I got to thinking that if I was ever pressed to give a "How to" type class or write an instruction manual on what I do, I wouldn't know where to begin.  That may sound kind of silly, but it's true.  I don't really know how to do what I do; I just do it.  I've worked with other artists through the years, getting tips and techniques, but never any formal training.  I've been pretty much self-taught in my chosen media, whether it be Pen & Ink, Pencil, Scratchboard or Calligraphy.  So I guess having some natural talent is a good thing (a good place to start, anyway), but can also work against you in some ways.  Quite a few years ago, when I was living in Orlando, I was "recruited" to teach a class on Calligraphy to a local women's craft class.  Here again, I knew my process for getting to the end result, but I had a heck of a time breaking it down into basics that beginners would be able to follow along with.  So, I grabbed my "How to" books and plotted out a 6-week course, and you know what - we had some fun with it for the next 6 weeks!  The most challenging part of the class was having someone who was left-handed in there, and trying to figure out how to adapt the strokes to her natural motion.  Don't really remember if we were successful on that one or not!  Anyway, this looks like a great course - very succinct and easy to follow, with lots of extras.

New artwork - Meet Scooter

I haven't posted any artwork in a while, so I thought I'd post one of my more recent horse portraits - "Scooter".  Scooter belongs to our family veterinarian, Keri Sanders at Ark Animal Care in Mill City, OR.  Keri and the staff at Ark Animal Care are the greatest.  Over the past summer we lost two of our faithful companions, Henri and Sheba to old age.  They were both over 14 years old, and were a special part of the Howe/Tripoli household.  We greatly appreciated the care and kindness of everyone at Ark Animal Care, to us yes, but especially to Sheba, and then Henri, as we dealt with their illnesses up to the time it came to say goodbye, just a little more than a month apart.  Anyway, I did this portrait of Keri's horse, Scooter as a show of our appreciation. I completed the rendering using a combination of stippling, or pointillism and stroke work, and worked with black and brown inks.  The framed original now hangs in the office of Ark Animal Care.  The link in the title will take you to my FineArtAmerica Gallery, where you can see a larger image of the portrait, as well as all of the other portraits there.  I've recently organized the artwork into galleries, which for the most part, correspond to the galleries on my website.  There are a few differences, most notably the combining of the Northwest, Southwest and Golf Course categories (as you would find them on the website) into one gallery - Scenic Portraits, on FineArtAmerica.  As I add more artwork into that gallery, I will more than likely sort them out again down the road.

And now, for something a little different, as Monty Python used to say (no hammers smashing heads here though).  A few posts ago I introduced readers to Christopher Farlow, as artist associate of mine through FineArtAmerica, and he will be featured again in February's newsletter.  Today, I'd like to introduce my readers to one of my LinkedIn associates, Cindy Rademacher, owner of CJK Marketing.  Cindy lives in the Missoula, Montana area, and her businesses deal with Health, Wellness and Fitness.  One of her newest additions is a diet lollipop! Go figure, who would have thought you could lose weight by sucking on a lollipop. I'll try to have more info on Cindy's websites for February's newsletter as well, but in the meantime, to view her public profile on LinkedIn, just click on this link:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/cjkproducts. 

A reminder and a correction

Just a quick entry here to post a reminder to anyone actually reading this that there is a little over one month remaining to take advantage of the 20% Discount on all purchases through my FineArtAmerica Gallery.  The link in the title will take you over to my website there, and all of the artwork has recently been organized into galleries to make it easier to sort through the images.  Use the DISCOUNT CODE:   GDPDBZ  upon completion of your purchase to receive the discount.

In my last post I mistakenly listed Christopher's last name as Farley instead of Farlow.  Don't know where that came from, as I was looking right at it and actually typed it correctly in the link I provided to his FineArtAmerica gallery.  Chalk it up to a minor brain fart I guess.  Anyway, his name is Christopher Farlow, his artwork is still fantastic and worth checking out, and at least I was successful in pointing out to him that the title of his piece "On Eagle" should in actuality read "On Eagle's Wings".  So I guess we all have those little brain farts from time to time.  So long as they are not while driving a car or operating heavy machinery.

Featured Artist - Christopher Farlow

All right, this feature is not quite like Google's Artist of the Day, but I mentioned in an earlier post that I would from time to time try to introduce my friends and readers to new artists (or at least new to them!).  I came across Christopher a few days ago while I was putting in some time on my FineArtAmerica Gallery.  I belong to a few different groups there and was looking over some of the new work posted in the Pencil Drawing Group, and was blown away by Christopher's portraits.  The link in the title (or here) will take you over to Christopher's website http://www.pencildrawn.com/, where you can see for yourself some of his incredible artwork.  I've posted a few images here to whet your appetite, but I heartily recommend taking a tour of his website to see the complete portfolio. In addition to the posting in this blog, Christopher has given me his permission to include his artwork in my monthly Art from the Inkwell Newsletter as well, so those of you who follow me there will get to see more in February's edition.  In the meantime, enjoy!

This one is titled "Jessica Biel Drawing".  In Christopher's FineArtAmerica Gallery, there are actually 6 other Jessica Biel Drawings, at various stages of completion, so they are titled, appropriately enough with "Work in Progress" included in the title.  Each one focuses on a different portrion of the overall portrait, this one being the finished project.

This one is titled "On Eagle" and shows excellent craftsmanship in portraying wildlife in pencil.  There is a second eagle portrait titled "On Eagle's Wings" as a work in progress.  Not sure if the "Wings" was left out of the first title on purpose.  I'll have to check with Christopher on that.  All of these pieces are also posted on Christopher's FineArtAmerica Gallery.  This link goes directly to Christopher's gallery, just as my link will take you to my gallery.  If you would like to look through the portfolios of other artists who post their work on FineArtAmerica (and there are thousands!), you'll need to go to the main page at FineArtAmerica, and probably open an account to have access to all of the artwork posted there. There are three types of accounts:  Artists, Galleries and Collectors.  To my artist friends out there:  this is a great place to post your work and meet artists from all over the world and start new friendships and share experience and insights.

New Shop on Etsy.com

Just a quick posting here to announce the opening of my new storefront on Etsy.com.  Thanks to some of my LinkedIn contacts and groups, I was introduced to the online marketplace that is Etsy.com.  Follow the link in the title for a preview of my shop there.  So yes, here is yet another way for folks and (hopefully) potential customers to access the artwork from my website.  Each one of my storefronts is just a little bit different from the others, so if you don't see what you're looking for on one, just check out the others.  Looking for T-Shirts, Mugs, Calendars, and a whole slew of other products? Then CafePress.com is the place to go.  How about quality Giclee prints in a wide variety of sizes and Fully-Customizable note cards? That is the specialty of FineArtAmerica.com.  Plus they have matting and framing options available.  So far, I'm in the process of uploading select images to Etsy.com and will offer them as prints and note-cards, and down the road, I should be posting some of my laser-engraved gift items there as well.  The number of items posted there will more than likely be on a rotation schedule that will change every few months, but you can always slide back over to my website to have access to my complete line of 11 x 14 double-matted prints, note card packages, laser-engraved gifts and original artwork.  PayPal is available on all of the storefronts for safe and secure payment of your purchases, and links to the various storefronts will available on this blog, as well as my monthly newsletters and on the website.  And don't forget that you can always access my Amazon Shop as well if you're looking for Kindles, Books, CD's and all things Amazon.  As always, I welcome any inquiries regarding commissioned portraits, and would be glad to answer any questions regarding any of the product lines available through my website and storefronts.

Sad day for America

No links today, nor artwork, nor news of Holiday Concerts or recent trips.  Just some random ramblings about what transpired over the weekend.  What a sad and tragic day Saturday was.  I had just returned home from my daily walk with the dogs in the foothills near our house, and was settling in to prepare and cook my world-famous spaghetti sauce.  As I was prepping the sausage and ground beef (soon to be meatballs), I thought I'd check my DVR recordings for a little entertainment while I cooked.  I turned on the TV and of course, never made it as far as checking out the recorded programs listing.  The rest of the day was devoted to coverage to the tragic shooting in Tucson, AZ.  Once again, violence and hatred take over the headlines, and senseless killings rule the day.  A Federal judge, a 9 year old girl, a political aide and 3 others lay dead in the aftermath, and 14 others were seriously wounded in the shooting spree, among them Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was the reported target in the incident.  She suffered a through-and through shot to the brain and is in critical condition in the ICU. 

What has transpired since, in many regards, is equally sad and somewhat shameful.  The political positioning and speculation as to motive began almost immediately.  Left, right, sane, insane, unchecked vitriol from all sides.  It makes one pause to consider the sad state of affairs in America.  But is it really any worse than at any other time in our nation's history?  I think not.  We are a nation born of bloodshed, and political unrest has been a benchmark of our growth throughout our history.  Once it took days, or even weeks for news to reach from one end of the country to the other.  Now it is seconds.  Once it was eptithets that were hurled at opponents, and maybe an occasional duel or two.  Now we use automatic weapons and hurl hand grenades.  But let's keep everything in perspective.  In Sunday's Statesman Journal, our local newspaper in Salem, Oregon, the events of Saturday morning and all that had transpired since, were relegated to page 11.  Plastered all over the front page of the newspaper, above the fold and below were articles about tonight's BCS title game between Oregon and Auburn.  Now that is truly shameful.

FineArtAmerica update

Back to business now that the Holidays are over, guests are gone, and Holiday Concert Series has run its' course.  Speaking of the Holiday Concert Series, as promised, here's a quick review of the Pink Martini New Year's Eve Concert - FANTASTIC!!  One of best concerts I've ever attended; I'd rank it right up there with the James Taylor/Carole King concert that we saw last summer.  And you could tell that the audience was filled Pink Martini fans, because even though they may not be widely known around the country yet, whenever one of their signature songs was performed, the place went wild.  China Forbes, their singer is amazing.  If you listen to any of their CD's, you get accustomed to hearing her sing in English, Spanish, Italian and French, no big deal.  In addition to those selections, she sang three versions of "Silent Night", in English, the original German, and Arabic.  A traditional Chinese New Year's song was performed, in Chinese of course, and yet another portion of the show was devoted to Hannukah, sung in Hebrew and a Spanish/Hebrew hybrid language, call it Hebrish or Spanbrew or something. But it was beatiful nonetheless.



Dall Sheep

Okay, back to the topic. Pictured here is one of my latest postings to FineArtAmerica, titled "Dall Sheep". The link in the title will take you over to the profile page at FineArtAmerica.  Since I have over 60 images posted there now, I've organized everything into Galleries to make it easier to tour through the site.  The galleries for the most part will mirror what I have posted on my website, like Faces West, Wildlife, Horses, etc.  As a reminder, there is still almost two months left on the 20% OFF promotion for Giclee prints and note cards purchased through FineArtAmerica.  That Discount Code again is GDPDBZ, and expires on 2/26/2011.

Holiday Concerts - Part III - Pink Martini

Whew!  It's been a hectic week, so I'd better get this in tonight, since we head for Portland tomorrow for Pink Martini's New Year's Eve Concert at Schnitzer Auditorium.  The link in the title will take you to the home page for the Official Pink Martini website, where you can listen to some music, watch some videos, find out about their upcoming concert schedule and more.  If you've never heard them play, or for that matter heard of them, you owe it to yourself to get to a concert or at least get your hands on a CD.  They are yet another fabulous Portland area band, and a great way to close out our Holiday Concert Series.  Now I need a rest!

Season's Greetings

Don't know if I'll get around to a post tomorrow, or over the weekend for that matter, so I thought I'd wish everyone a Merry Christmas today.  Click on the title to (hopefully) open a link to a Jacquie Lawson ecard, which was sent to me by some friends, and that I wanted to share.  The photo here of Santa coming in for a crash landing is actually a life-size doll at the Kris Kringle Store in Leavenworth, from our trip there two weeks ago.  He is suspended from the ceiling, and is quite impressive.  His eyes seem to follow you as you make your way through the shop, so he's defiinitely keeping tabs on you to see where you end up on his list.

I recently entered two of my Pen & Ink portraits into an online art contest sponsored by GuestGallery.com.  The two portraits I entered were "Charles Bronson" and "Game Face", which I use as my logo photo on the Art from the Inkwell Fan Page.  Results came in today, and "Game Face" was among the top 15 vote getters in the contest.  Not sure how "Charles Bronson" fared, though I can say that on my FineArtAmerica Gallery, "Charles Bronson" is far and away the most viewed portrait on that site, although "Loggerhead Key Lighthouse" has been coming on strong lately.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

Last minute gifts?

Well, here I am, a day late and a dollar short as usual!  In addition to my website, FineArtAmerica Gallery, and CafePress Storefront, I now have an aStore as part of the Amazon Associates program - just in time for the last three days of Christmas shopping!  It pays to check into your various accounts once in awhile.  Here, I've had an Amazon account and been part of the Amazon Seller Central program for about a year now and wasn't aware of this other option until I went shopping at the Kindle Store last week and noticed the section on the page regarding opening an aStore as part of the Amazon Associates program.  So anyway, I've been working on this for a few days, starting out with some basics and adding a few different categories to get started, and voila! Here we go.  For starters, I'm listing categories like Apparel and Accessories, Books, Music, Cameras & Photo, Computers, DVD, Sports & Outdoors, Video Games and of course Kindle Store.  Eventually, I hope to have the entire gamut of Amazon products available as I continue to add more categories.  So, all of you online Amazon shoppers out there - please bookmark my storefront for easy access.  Of course, I'll provide quick links on my website, newsletters and this blog as well. 

As a follow-up to last week's post about our trip to Leavenworth, WA - a great time was had by all!  We checked into the Pension Anna, on Friday.  Pictured here is the old Chapel, which was converted into lodging at the Inn, and is where we stayed.  Spacious rooms downstairs, with a loft and two single beds on second level.  Saturday morning brought the snow - started about 9:30, and continued all day long - to the tune of about 16 inches of snow!  Made for a great sleigh ride/dinner that evening, although getting back into town afterwards was a little tricky.  Last weekend was the Christmas Lighting Ceremony.  The whole town is lit up and looks like a picture postcard; the streets are blocked off for pedestrian traffic, and there are all kinds of events that take place throughout the day.  All in all, one of my favorite places!  The only bad part of the weekend was that we didn't get to see our friends A.J. & Terrie.  Due to all of the snow on Saturday, he had to spend the day Sunday plowing out his driveway and road to their B&B - Sky Meadows Retreat, so their guests would be able to get out. We'll catch up with them next time around.