Happy Holidays!

From my house to yours...

Red Squirrel

I'm fascinated by the way they run. While ground squirrels scurry around in a frantic manner, the Red (and the Gray) seem to glide along weightlessly, as if riding some kind of invisible wave.

Egret in Rice Paddy

An egret will pose along side a road and let you drive by him all day long. But just slow down a little bit and he's all threatened and just takes off.

This time he didn't go far and I snapped this picture. Interesting feather action--- may be a good subject study.

Gopher Snake

This photograph that I took of a gopher snake brings to my mind some American Indian beadwork that I've seen. But, of course, there are so many amazing patterns and designs in nature that it is truly overwelming!

Gift Shop News

There is now an alternative style to some older images on the coffee mugs. Some now have artwork on both sides of the mug, with a short descriptive name and my signature.

(watermarks do not appear on store items.)

White Barn Update

This project is near completion!
Now it's just clean-up and some issues with the windows.

2008 Calendars Available

I have a created whole series of 2008 calendars and other new items that are now available at my online gift shop.

Below is a small sampling of the new calendar designs:

There are designs to compliment nearly any home or office, they also make nice gifts for your favorite nature lover; and they are very economically priced at $5.99.

Garden Update

My friend's garden in Yolo had a magnificent abundance, but is pretty much done for the year.

However, the potatos have re-seeded themselves, and they were very good!

Oh, and the greenhouse appears to be under attack.

Hungry Hummingbird

I had an interesting interaction with a Rufous hummingbird yesterday. It has been very dry around here recently, and I was beginning to fill the backyard bird bath when an excited hummer buzzed down and lit on the edge of the bath.
I was thinking " yeah, I bet he's really thirsty", but he just sat there and stared at me.
Then when the bath was filled I began to return to the front yard, whereupon he took off and zoomed past me out to the front.
When I got to the front there he was hovering about his empty feeder, as if to say "Hey! don't worry about the bath, let's take care of the important stuff!".
Well, I got the message and, albeit belatedly, I refilled his feeder.

Drybrushwet Gift Store - Updated!

This week the Drybrushwet Store at cafepress.com was upgraded to include a much wider product selection featuring many new designs. I do hope that you will take a moment to stop by and check out the items we have added for your enjoyment.

Urban Vultures

On my morning jog through the neighborhood I noticed that a group of turkey vultures (or buzzards as they're known locally) had set up housekeeping on a tree above a neighbor's house.

In the past I've only seen them far from urban areas. Verrry interesting!

Calipepla californica

I never tire of observing these prima donnas; they always seem to be posing for the next photo shoot.

Dancing Blackbird

I observed a strange thing recently. I was stopped at a red light and a male blackbird landed beside the vehicle and began to perform a bizarre little dance. Then, just just seconds after he began, about a dozen or more of his group appeared and began to feed on some grain spilled on the roadside.

He was, apparently, telling all the gang about his "find". I didn't find anything online about this type of blackbird behavior; and it's left me wondering if anyone else has seen this and written about it.

Clouds

With watercolor sometimes it is fun to just free-form some clouds, and see where it goes.

Open Edition Print Calendar: Persimmon Harvest

This scrub jay and mockingbird are just a few among the many characters who are partaking of this last gasp of the persimmon tree. It's really a great opportunity to get some terrific photos.

The Last Supper

Would you like to see da vinci's Last Supper at 16 billion pixels ? It can be seen at www.haltadefinizione.com.

Rice Harvest

I was out looking for something to photograph the other day, and there was a big north wind blowing hard. I should have known better, nothing was out in that wind except me and the rice harvesters.

More Raptors

This red-tailed hawk was having quite a time trying to keep several turkey vultures from stealing his lunch.

Accipiter striatus?

Here's a little hawk that hunts in the walnut orchard everyday. This behavior plus it's size and tail markings leads me to think that it's a sharp-shinned hawk. But I'm not sure. My raptor identification skills leave something to be desired.

Canvas?

I just received a sample pack of professional fine art papers. They present a lot of possibilities; however, what really interests me are the canvas samples. Hopefully they will not be too heavy for my purposes.

Bugs!

Recently, I've been looking at some possibilities of painting a variety of local insects. I've always liked insects: as a boy I was an avid collector.

Spiders are great too, but they seem harder to draw for some reason. I'll try to do some tomorrow.

Cache Creek Clean Up

After a large section of one of the main structures fell into the creek, the "Friends of Cache Creek" volunteered to remove the debris. They came out early on a Saturday morning and removed all the metal roofing material.

It looked like quite a chore -i.e., hauling it up the side of the levee on their backs!


Thanks!

Watercolor Art on Greeting Cards

I'm starting to do some greeting cards, and today I explored the capablities of the printer. It's a sneaky device, but I think I know what it wants from me now!

Mysterious Bobcat Behavior

I used to see this bobcat patrolling the creek from time to time. A little before I actually took this photograph I heard a cat screaming very loudly from a distance. A friend and I began to approach the area where the cat was crouched in a tree, hoping to get close enough for this picture.

We came very near and still he didn't move. We were there quite a while and I made attempts to encourage him to move in order to get a better photo shot. But to no avail; he was not going anywhere!

It was very uncharacteristic behavior for a bobcat. He seemed healthy, and there was thick cover beneath him. It appeared to us that there was something much more frightening to him than a couple of humans.

Some weeks later we got a report from a neighbor, about a half mile up the creek, that she had a surprise meeting with a mountion lion in the heavy cover along the creek. Obviously enough, that appears to be the explanation for our mysterious bobcat behavior!

Sumi-e

Since many of my paintings borrow, in a general way, from the oriental tradition, a friend presented me with these oriental painting tools. I am definately intrigued, and am eager to learn more about the specific techniques along with the cultural background. It should be great fun to pursue this further.

Victory Garden

I know. My garden has not met up to expectations. However, here is a lovely little specimen that will be included in my salad this evening. It may be a volunteer, but I have high regard for this delicious kind of heroism!

More Turkeys

I just had to share this picture. A couple of Toms were making their way down the creek, and the sunlight was magnificently accentuating their iridescent and varied coloration.

Just Thinking Out Loud

Still exploring a new series on local landmarks and other points of interest around here. Should it be a single, generalized series, or maybe something more specified like: rural, city, barns, historic structures, homes, etc? Maybe I'm overthinking it, and perhaps I should just let the drawings themselves determine the direction I take. I think so. Perhaps.

Drybrushwet launches MySpace Page

I have just set up a new page on MySpace.com . If you are a reader of my blog, or a purchaser or my artwork and you are on MySpace - give me a holler!

The New Garage

I don't think that I've posted the new garage before. Here's a couple of shots of the rejuvination.


BEFORE

AFTER

When I am NOT Painting

Volunteers

I haven't been very conscientious about reporting on the progress of my vegetable garden. I suppose that's because it has, once again, been somewhat of a disappointment. However, I do have a volunteer. I think it's a cantaloupe; it must have come from the compost pile. Anyway, my faithful Garden Rex is on duty, as always.



The Morning Glory is also a volunteer.