New Website and Blog !!

I would like to thank everyone who has read my blog here on blogger, it has been great sharing with you and receiving your support. I have a newly redesigned website and I have moved my blog to it. I do hope that you will come and visit my updated site at www.drybrushwet.com !

Thank you.

Cat'n'Rat in the Field

A Goose in the Grass

Sky Spiders

Tamarisk

The tamarisk is flowering along Cache creek, and is really spectacular! It's considered a harmful invasive species by some, but I like it.

Tomatoes from Seed

Yolo Sarge's tomato project is about ready to begin. Most of these containers are different varieties. He started them from seed, and they appear to be large enough to plant.

Downy Woodpecker

Here's a couple of my photos of the secretive downy woodpecker. I have a difficult time trying to get a decent photograph of these guys.

New Garage

Finally got a finish coat over the primer on the new garage.

Crow Stories

The other day I was driving through a parking lot when this imaginative crow swooped down in front of my vehicle and dropped a walnut directly in my path. The end result was a perfectly cracked walnut; dined upon by my feathered friend.

Four ACEO's

My latest ACEO attempts: Steller's jay, northern oriole, ruby-throated hummingbird, and emperor penguin. Practice, practice, practice!

Mother's Day is Coming

Mother's Day is coming soon! And at photostamps.com you can purchase real USPS postage decorated with your favorite photo of your mom! (or Grandmother, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Dog, Cat, etc!)

If you are an artist or a business, you can even purchase stamps featuring a piece of your artwork or your business logo!

Check them out - the quality is great and their customer service is excellent.

Vegetable Garden Prelude

Although I haven't started my vegetable garden yet, some of my herbs are beginning to bloom. I feel that this is a successful commencement.

The Mighty Oak

I just wanted to share this photo of a beautiful old oak in its new spring plumage.

Tiger Swallowtail

Here's my latest attempt at an ACEO with india ink and watercolor.

ACEO

This is something new for me. It's an ACEO: a miniature painting on a 2.5" x 3.5" card. I think that I'll try some more of this.

Rose

Here's my attempt using "wet on wet"

to paint a rose growing in the front

garden.

Wild Mustard

This "wild mustard" goes by many names, both common and scientific; but I think "Brassica rapa " is the scientific name for the variety found here in Yolo county. Whatever the name, it can be quite overwelmingly brilliant in full bloom.

California Poppy

Here's a road leading out of the Dunnigan hills into the Sacramento valley, with the Sierra Nevadas in the background. Spring is nearly here, as is evident from these golden beauties.

Tomatoes

Sarge's tomatoes out at the Cache creek ranch are now at the first stage. These are seeds from Totallytomato.com . We had excellent results from these seeds last year!

PhotoWorks

Well here we are, it is early March and the start of "family photo" season. As the seasons progress and you are collecting all those great photos of your family, you may want to start thinking about gifts for parents and grandparents next christmas - and I would like to recommend a PhotoWorks Calendar! Is there a better way to keep your family connected across the miles than a calendar with personal family photos on it that is seen each day? What grandparent doesn't like to see photos of their own kids and grandchildren enjoying life? Check out Photoworks - click on the image below and contemplate a very personal present for next christmas or for that upcoming birthday!

Bluebelly

It was a beautiful springlike day on Cache creek Saturday. Upstream, they were having the annual "Almond Festival". Downstream, some friends and I were just soaking up the sun; along with this young "Bluebelly", or fence swift.

Sketching

I thought I'd post some sketches that really aren't leading to any new paintings, but are certainly relaxing excercises.

Flickers

Here are a couple of flicker images that I've been working on. We used to call them yellowhammers as kids, and according to Wikipedia there's an interesting history to the name.

But, of course, these were the yellow-shafted variety as opposed to the red-shafted or northern flicker that I have depicted here.




Alabama Yellowhammers

"Under its local name "Yellowhammer", the Yellow-shafted Flicker is the state bird of Alabama.[1]
Alabama has been known as the "Yellowhammer State" since the American Civil War. The yellowhammer nickname was applied to the Confederate soldiers from Alabama when a company of young cavalry soldiers from Huntsville, under the command of Rev. D.C. Kelly, arrived at Hopkinsville, KY, where Gen. Forrest's troops were stationed. The officers and men of the Huntsville company wore fine, new uniforms, whereas the soldiers who had long been on the battlefields were dressed in faded, worn uniforms. On the sleeves, collars and coattails of the new cavalry troop were bits of brilliant yellow cloth. As the company rode past Company A , Will Arnett cried out in greeting "Yellowhammer, Yellowhammer, flicker, flicker!" The greeting brought a roar of laughter from the men and from that moment the Huntsville soldiers were spoken of as the "yellowhammer company." The term quickly spread throughout the Confederate Army and all Alabama troops were referred to unofficially as the "Yellowhammers."
When the Confederate Veterans in Alabama were organized they took pride in being referred to as the "Yellowhammers" and wore a yellowhammer feather in their caps or lapels during reunions."

Buy a Limited Edition Print, Support a Cause!

Now you can buy a limited edition print and support a worthy cause at the same time. Beginning today, when you visit DryBrushWet Studios on eBay you will find several prints sporting an "awareness campaign" ribbon or organizational logo. When you purchase one of these prints, 25% of the purchase price will be donated to the featured charity.


Charities include: Ducks Unlimited, Lymphoma Research, and Breast Cancer Research.

American Robins

A large flock of robins came through today. Here's a bunch having having a few drinks together at the "old" duck pond.

I am reminded...

I took this photo the other day, and looking at it I am reminded of the last lines of a poem by Robert Frost titled Putting in the Seed...

"...The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs."

Gila Monster and Coral Snake-experimental

I'm thinking of adding some new designs to my GiftShop based on natural patterns in wildlife. The gila monster and coral snake are two examples.

Cedar Waxwings

Here's my rendition of a waxwing; of course it may not do them justice! These guys are voracious! They'll come and strip every berry from tree, bush, or plant; along with every available insect species. Glory!

High Water on Cache Creek

Here's the old foundation of the "White Barn" that has been undercut by the creek.

And, as you can see from this second picture taken from the "White Barn", Cache Creek has come up a little since then.

We're just hoping that the rest of the "White Barn" might survive this episode!

Mockingbird

Here's a new piece that I'll soon be offering on selected items in my giftshop.

BootnStirrup

In the past I've done a few paintings with "western" subjects, and have been intending to do more along those lines.

This is a painting I've done recently in a slightly different style.

Oregon thurberi

According to a "reliable source", my snapshot of a chickadee is actually an Oregon junco; or as I often refer to it as Thurber's bird.

My thanks to http://www.paulnoll.com/ for these identifying pictures.

Chickadee

I snapped a photo of this little chickadee the other morning; and I found it slightly amusing how much the setting reminded me of a painting that I recently completed!

Snow Geese Arising

To my mind, an image like this of snow geese in flight silhouetted against the Sacramento valley horizon, has a kind of grandness that make you feel privileged just to witness it.

Gordon Slough Wildlife Sanctuary

This road has long been a favorite of mine. You can always expect to be surprised while venturing here. (County Road 20, near 94B - Yolo County, CA)