ANOTHER BAD DAY

It's been a rough one all day today. Have not been able to sleep because of this stone's persistence to be a permanent part of my body. It's now 2:30 a.m. and I finally broke down and took a pain killer. Once it takes effect I'll be heading back for what I hope to be a good night's sleep.

I did manage to get the above study completed on Sunday, but I seriously doubt if I'll be posting anything for the next few days until I get straightened out. But I shall return the very first moment I'm able.

AND YET ANOTHER FLOWER

This is the latest flower study done on Photoshop with maybe two more studies before I begin translating them all onto vinyl. This would give me a grand total of 10 for the series. I may do more as I initially set out to do, but for now ten seems to be a good number before setting out on another path with the vinyl cutouts.

STILL IN LABOR PAINS

Have a bit more to do with this Photoshop sketch but for the most part it's pretty well done. I haven't been able to do much work as I've been trying to give birth to this lousy kidney stone. After two weeks it's still making it's way down that long pathway. Yesterday was another bout of staying in bed with fevers and pain killers. I did, however, get thru the entire musical Scrooge with Albert Finney while lying there. And when I woke early this morning around 4:30 a.m. I came down to the studio and began the study above. I didn't want another day go by without sending my friends a flower.

PRINCESS CLAIRE'S FLOWER

Although I'll never be able to translate this into vinyl for obvious reasons I still liked the way the study turned out using the little tricks in Photoshop. I might do another lavender study however with a different flower and see if this enhances the faerie character.

If everyone's Thanksgiving dinner turned out even half as nice as mine then all had a great feast. Dad and I had our fill and then some. Right at the moment he is passed out in front of It's a Wonderful Life while I am down here doing just a little catch up work. When I'm finished here it will be time for the pumpkin pie and some decaf coffee, a little bit of t.v. then it's off to bed like two old bears.

A WHITE FLOWER IT IS

These studies are really starting to take off. I completed two more yesterday and will be working on Claire Miranda's request tomorrow, maybe a faerie will show up to pose... who knows? And that request line is opened for more requests, don't be shy.

We had a good bit of snow fall last night but no accumulation which will make it easy for all those commuters going to the Thanksgiving feast. I am the designated cook this year for the holiday which, as most of my friends know, is a joke. I cannot cook and don't really want to learn that art. I have enough controlling the art that I do know. However, when one cannot cook one learns to improvise with what he has. I ordered ten pieces of pre cooked skinless chicken breasts, Country Kitchen mashed potatoes already made, corn on the cob (my father will talk me through that one) Stove Top dressing (he'll have to talk me through that as well) green beans and store bought homemade biscuits. All of which will be re-heated in the microwave within less than 30 minutes. It will be a veritable feast for the Ford boys. Oh, we've been invited out to different homes for dinner but I always decline and my father won't go without me. After dinner the Christmas season officially begins and we will put on some football game or It's a Wonderful Life. It doesn't matter really, I'll be asleep in front of the t.v. in minutes with Dad following close by. It's a tradition you see.

JANET'S IRIS

I don't know if these are the same kind of iris that grows behind Janet's house but it was the only purple iris I could find in my research. If it isn't the same, perhaps the lady will send me a photo of her favorite flower? My next request was for lavender but I would really like to have a name and even a photo accompanying that request as well if you would... PLEASE?

Thinking that maybe 20 paintings for this series would be a nice round number, I want to thank my ladies for making this pleasant task even moreso. If someone should request a white flower, I have one in the wings waiting to be shown. :-) Thanks again for all your help and support.

FLOWERS FOR ALL MY LADIES

I wanted to thank all the ladies that read and responded to the "sad" blog with a reassurance to them that Martin, my brother, passed 18 years ago. It still comes to me at times like it was just yesterday. But for the most part those early memories of him that was a daily reminder of the loss are now a great comfort to me. So in thanking you all once again, on this Thanksgiving holiday I picked some wild flowers today on Planet Johann and are offering them up to whoever would like them.

I have one more Haiku painting to finish, maybe tonight, I don't know. After that I will begin on another project of wild flowers from North America and if there are some favorites from across the pond, let me know and I'll be glad to take a stab at them as well. Requests are always welcomed without reservations.

A DARK DARK PAINTING

A request was made for a dark painting, one that projected a sad event in my life. I'm sure the request was for something more romantic... more victorian maybe, but those things never interested me very much. But that still doesn't mean sad events never came my way. So the saddest thing I could think of (and required very little thought at that) was the last time I saw my younger brother alive. He was in the last stages of cancer and on a respirator. I went in with my mother to look at him for that last time and noticed his fingernails had turned gray. He just turned 34 when he died. I don't think I could do a darker painting than this.

TURNING TIME BACK

Here's another painting I did in vinyl back in 1999 before I began illustrating Haiku. I'm sure somewhere in my my growing collection of Haiku books I'll find a poem to match this painting. If I remember correctly, though this one isn't my favorite painting from that era it was most certainly my most challenging work at the time.

SOUNDS OF A WINTER'S NIGHT

"The footbridge, when I walked across alone,
In winter moonlight, had a wooden tone."
-Taigi

Another lesson learned with this illustration is that the orange vinyl I use is not as opaque as it appears on the roll. Take note of the bit of snow on the bridge and the rail that was placed over top of it. Just like a ghost. I would change the area but the vinyl is too sensitive so left it alone. I still enjoyed putting this painting together. I've also started looking for a publisher.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Curse me later for being so lazy and not getting my notes from the study, but rather enjoy this Haiku illustration I did as a homage to the lantern's light without the poem. The entire world, including the sea, is celebrating the beauty of light as seen thru the night's eyes.

LONELIEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

"The last night of Autumn is the loneliest of the year;
I've gone nowhere and no one came here."

I may want to do more work on this painting but will have to hold off on any attempts until I go off the pain medication. I've been pretty much in la-la land most of the week which keeps me from doing what I love most. Last night was a difficult night for sleep, the pain keeping me up for the most part. So I did another study... a night study with lanterns and islands. This new one looks to be what might become my favorite of the lot.

A NEW FOUNDATION TO WORK WITH

I'm still debating as to whether this foundation is solely an Eastern one or if I, or anyone, can reconcile it to the Oxidental world. Deep down I don't think I can or even should make that reconciliation. Some things cultural belong to that culture and no one else. In this case, I would much have rather shown the fireflies dancing above the pond's surface in a fan foundation of the East rather than a football foundation of the West. :-) But I'm going to leave the final judgement to my loyal critiques as they've not steered me wrong yet.

ANOTHER TO GET ME BACK INTO THE SPIRIT OF THINGS

I'll admit to doing this vinyl some time ago but it works well with the Haiku I chose for it. The poem is about the end of Autumn being the loneliest night of the year. I just might do this one over again with a more realistic night sky as I've been doing with the series. I just liked how isolation had become the whole mood of the painting. Yeah, maybe I should do this one again.

AND THEN 48 HOURS LATER

Here's a study I did on Photoshop about a week ago. I'm not done with it yet but am getting close.

I haven't done any vinyl work the last 48 hours due to another malady of the physical kind. I must be on a roll with doctor and hospital visits this month. Shortly after I sent off the cat painting for judgement, critiques or just general glancings I found myself in bed with a terrible side pain. This continued until the morning hours when I finally got a couple hours sleep. This morning I woke up feeling pretty good and came down to the studio to make up for lost time when the pain hit again. I returned from the hospital about two hours ago only to find I had a kidney stone. I'm just glad it wasn't serious. So I'm back into the swing of things, sort of, and hope to definitely make up for lost time. And because of the several requests for a night painting with snow - I will do my best to have one started for you all tomorrow. Keeping this also in mind, when I finish up on the simplified Haiku paintings the very first detailed painting in vinyl will most certainly be a night time scene with snow.

A NIGHT TIME, CIRCULAR CAT PICTURE

"Surprised, the nimble thief escapes by flight
over the roof-tops through the chilly night."
-Buson

This was a very simple idea and even more simpler to translate into vinyl. I do know that when I've exhausted the Haiku project (maybe another 20 paintings should do it) I'm going to do one large vinyl, in detail, devoted to the night. Today's work will be doing a few studies for next week's paintings.

ANOTHER SCARECROW THEME

"The scarecrow, even for the emperor
It does not doff it's hat of plaited straw."

I intentionally dressed the scarecrow in the same majestic colors as the nobleman from the royal purple robe to the golden straw hat. Tomorrow's painting is sure to please most as it is another night time theme with a cat in it. Not that I have any particular affection for cats, I don't dislike them either, tomorrow's Haiku is positively screaming for a cat to be it's star performer.

BACK IN THE LOOP

"In silent midnight our old scarecrow
topples down...
Weird hollow echo."

I thought I'd try something a little more abstract this time, furthering the attempt at bringing together two esthetic cultures into one. The colors of this painting are a bit brighter than what appears on this scan which would bring more of the oriental out in the piece. I might do another scan and also will place a Chinese Autumn character in the lower left corner. Have another painting ready to be born today so must run.

THERE WILL BE DAYS LIKE THIS

And here's another page from my sketchbook. I'll find a suitable Haiku in one of my books and add it to the list for possible illustration. Unless a miracle happens today I won't be doing a great deal of work in the studio. A guy is coming over to collect all the drapes for dry cleaning (4 sets) and he gave me a two hour window which is fine. I'll also have have my great niece and nephew all day which means I'll be stuck refereeing their minor conflicts from the playground. As it's going to be rather cold outside that playground will be inside the house. The joy just doesn't end. Maybe I can get a tournament of Go started. The strategy here is that an argument will certainly ensue and then I can send one to the study to either watch t.v. or play with that computer and keep the other kid in front of the big screen in the living room. The only thing to watch out for is when a sudden visit to the bathroom will also include an intrusive visit to the other child. That's when I drag out the iron maiden. :-)

A CIRCULAR COMPOSITION

"A light that moved about the gloomy moor,
entered a cottage; where it is now unsure."

I like using a night theme with multiple lights in it, both artificial and natural. The light that was observed prior to the writing of this Haiku could have been a gentleman carrying a lantern, or it could have been a ghost. Who knows?


I thought everyone might be interested in seeing a page from my own journal/sketchbook for this Haiku series. The pages are the right kind of paper for putting my freshly carved block prints. And now it's time for dinner and the beginning of the next illustration.

ANOTHER DIFFICULT ONE OUT OF THE WAY

From concept to manifestation. I'm very fond of this particular painting due to the flow of the line. It has a bit of an oriental edge to it from the design of the umbrella to the print of the skirt. And though I don't think it smacks of American imagery it still has that flavor of the Serb in Europe. Getting closer to the West as it were. The next painting will be done on a circular base which will once again take me down another pathway. I want to experiment with odd shaped borders like maybe a trapezoid and see if I can create a Haiku design within that. Don't know if this is something that we could consider to be an oxidental trait in culture or art, but it's worth exploring.

MY STUDIO

Here's an early panoramic photo of my studio. The only changes made were putting the other computer on it's own table and freeing the drafting table. Oh yeah, and the conspicuous trash bag to the left is gone as well. Anyone else care to post a photo of their studio?

NIGHT TIME HAIKU FANTASY

"I shook my net where whitebait seemed to thresh;
a shoal of moonbeams slithered through the mesh."
-OTO

Aside from several blisters and redness my hands seem to be back to normal to where I finished this rather simple illustration today. I love watching the stars and pointing out constellations, planets and galaxies to children who tend to understand illustrations like the one above. Not that they understand it, but that they would love to be able to look up in the sky and actually see the pictures of the constellations in the stars. Growing up destroys that joy for most, but for the artists and children, they are as real as it can get.

THE EXCITEMENT NEVER ENDS

Today was just one of those days. My 81 year old father who moved in with me 3 years ago to "take care of me" decided to prepare dinner this afternoon. Nothing special... baked potato, string beans and a steak for each of us. I was down here in the studio and heard him and his walker go into the dining room. A few minutes later the smoke alarm went off and I ran up the stairs to find my kitchen on fire. He left the stove on and began a grease fire. I got the fire out in time before it really did some damage, but not before I burned both of my hands. The insurance agent will be here monday morning to access the damage, I have my hands wrapped in gauze (making typing difficult) and WE ARE HAVING PIZZA TONIGHT! The old gentleman is pretty tore up about it all but that's life. I only asked him to spare me any more excitement until after the holidays. :-) I'm able to move the mouse around - haven't tried cutting anything with an xacto knife yet - but if anything I will still be able to produce studies like the one above about a maid servant checking the weather before venturing out with her umbrella until a couple of days pass and I'll know how bad it is. Guess what? I've forgotten all about my missing tooth hurting.

SOMETHING TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME

"The spring thaw brings on a flood of children."

Well... you saw the study and now here's the painting. By far this was the most difficult piece of the bunch on many levels. While finishing the painting up this morning today's face and jaw were swelled up in spite of the easy follow thru with the extraction of yesterday's tooth. Even so, I felt my obligation to my blogger friends and to myself to see this one thru and post it. If I wake up feeling a little on the dull side tomorrow as I did today, I will give myself that day off. Here's hoping everyone has a productive tomorrow.

RECUPERATING

Because my dentist is so painless I don't have any apprehensions about going to see him. The extraction of the offending tooth went without a hitch yesterday. But because of my large teeth, those that I have remaining :-) once the novocain wears off it's a nightmare. This time was an exception and I'm working pain-free this morning. Also looking forward to eating some solid food later on today as well.

But once again, I wasn't able to meet my deadline yesterday for obvious reasons. Instead of a painting to show or even a sketch, I thought I'd show everyone the area of the studio in which I do the vinyl illustrations. This is only about one fourth of the drawing table in which I cleverly cropped off the other three quarters because it looks like a disaster. Ergo, out of the chaos comes order. :-)

AND BACK TO A MORE SERIOUS TONE

"Visting the graves... trotting on to show the way... Old family dog"

What I like about Haiku is that it only uses what is most essential in bringing a profound point across. The same pertains to illustrating the Haiku. Initially I had drawn in the family members and realized that they really weren't essential to the painting, only the dog was necessary. And here he is, old faithful going to visit his friend.

Today's mission will be going to the dentist to get a painful tooth extracted. Too much Halloween candy I'm afraid. And the constant changing of the weather doesn't help either. So if I don't get back today with another finished work it's because I've passed out in bed from lack of sleep. :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE MIRANDA

YOSEMITE SAM AND SAL

Today is my buddy from down under's birthday and what says Happy Birthday better than a sort of portrait. I have one without the cartoon as well but will save that for next year's birthday :-)

Happy Birthday, Clairabelle. Now tell us about that book your brothers got you.

A STUDY DONE ON PHOTOSHOP

"The spring thaw brings on a flood of children."

or something like that. Must remember to bring down my notes (cough). This is a preliminary study for a future Haiku vinyl painting. I needed something a little festive for the Spring season and who can usher in the freshness of Spring better than a horde of screaming and laughing children. Tonight's blog will be in honor of our friend Claire Miranda's birthday. She wanted to know who Yosemite Sal was and tonight she shall find out. he he.

AN AFTER-HALLOWEEN TREAT

"Deepen, O cuckoo in the wood, my mood
of mutability, my solitude..."

In spite of yesterday being Halloween and domestix day, I managed to get three nice studies done including the finished 3M painting above. I was working on depth for this piece and think I got some headway with the idea.

Now that today is the day after all the excitement (and too many Harry Potters and Oz's Dorothy to number) I will relax today and get a couple more studies done. Tomorrow's painting is what I hope to be a crowd pleaser. We'll see.