Hop To It!

This week has been busy, as has the rest of all the weeks so far this summer. Today, I managed to score some really good deals at the local nursery that allowed me to land 10 trees, four shrubs, and two pretty purple tree things:

Aren't these pretty? They're like half tree, and half shrub!

Of course, you have to plant the plants you buy. That means digging holes in the extremely hard clay. A lot of holes. Ugh.

I sunburned my face. I can feel every expression I make, and not in a good way.

Lily has been helping run errands:

She's looking for my daughter in this picture. She takes her job very seriously.

The wildlife has been popping in to say hello:

It's an itty-bitty Mr. Toad!

And I also decided to participate in a doodle auction on Facebook. If you are interested in participating or bidding, you just quickly apply to the group and then either add your pictures, or comment on the item you'd like to bid on. These two doodles I did are for the current doodle auction that ends mid-day on Sunday:

"Swim Close" 4x6" pencil on strathmore paper Starting bid: $3
The tone is actually balanced, my phone just took a funny picture.

"Sea Dragon" 4x6" pencil on strathmore paper. Starting Bid $1

The "doodling" has been interesting. Really, I've spent more time than I should have on a doodle. These are more like faster sketches (which still took a while.) They're not finished off like a professional sketch would be, but they're not super fast like a doodle would be. I may be incapable of doodling right now, but this is as close as I can come.

Sketching has been good, because I haven't done it in so very long. Years and years. I think since my children were babies, actually (they're 12 and 15 now!) I'm very rusty. I used to be able to sketch so precisely that it was almost photographic when I was finished with it. Granted, those sketches took as long as major paintings, and these sketches were quick. Still, I can feel how rusty I am. How the pencil doesn't go where I want it to. Use it or lose it, I guess. *sigh*

So, I need to sketch more. Having a place to sell the fast sketches somehow gives me permission to do them, even if they only sell for a $1, it's still... allowed, then. I don't know why I feel that there has to be some place for these (after all, I have paintings that will never go anywhere,) but I do. Even with my self-imposed restraints, this sketching has been freeing. Something I clearly need, especially given how rusty I feel.

I also managed to hit a fast, almost last-minute deadline for Thrice Fiction Magazine, and finished these two small pieces to be paired with stories (not by me) in the upcoming issue (plus an older work for the editorial):

"Snip" 5x5" Acrylic on canvas board

"Caged" 5x5 Acrylic on canvas board

I've been working with a new printer locally, and I finally have everything approved and I'm waiting on the final prints. I'm coming down to the wire on some things, because next weekend I'm going to be at a local fair (Vergennes Day), at which I have no idea if I'll do any business, but I'm hopeful. I'm signed up for three this year, and they're all small local ones. Even though I'm used to the bigger ones, this year I have let the bigger ones go. Maybe next year. It just seems like the prices are shooting through the roof for a booth (and when they want to charge $600-1200 for the booth, you really have to ask yourself if it's worth it.)

I've figured out that I'm not going to get any big paintings done until my kids head back to school. So, for this week I'm hopeful that I'll get all my booth issues solved in time, and that's about it (the rest will be back to school shopping and generalized panic.) School starts mid-week after that, and that is when I am planning on diving in head-first with my Queen of Hearts!

I hope your summer is coming to a nice finish (or a lovely lazy sort of finish!)