Twin Cedars Drawing Board

Graphite Drawing

2009-10-11T13:45:00.003-04:00

Old Wheelbarrow

By: Lori Talbert

10/10/09

For some reason I have a fascination with old farm tools and machinery. Whenever I have a chance I take a photo or if I see a good reference photo I save it for future use. I found this photo on Morguefile where you can get royalty free photos. I pulled it out the other day and created this graphite drawing of it. It is 5x7 (the subject didn't seem to warrant a larger size to me) on smooth bristol board and I matted it. It took around 5 1/2 hours total to complete. It was fun to do and good practice for some future projects I have in mind. Just trying to get back to drawing and creating again after a summer spent not doing much art.

Monthly Sketch Project

2009-10-04T11:18:00.005-04:00

Apples

By: Lori Talbert

10/03/09

There is a blog called Monthly Sketch Project http://monthlysketchproject.blogspot.com/ and reference pictures are posted each month for artists to use. The idea is to see how each artist represents the reference picture. The different ideas and mediums that are used.

One of the reference pics for October was this photo Apples by Leslie and above is my work from that picture. It is soft pastel pencils, 5x7 inches on Vellum Bristol Board.

I haven't worked that much with pastel pencils and usually work in graphite or colored pencils. One of the things I liked about the pastel pencils was the ease of application. This work took about 2.5 hours and if I had used colored pencils would have taken several hours. The things I didn't like about the pastel pencils was that the colors are not quite as rich and it is very easy to lose detail because of the ease of blending. I may not have used the best surface though.

I haven't done any art in months so a big thanks to the Monthly Sketch Project for getting me going again!

Just A Pet Peeve

2009-10-02T14:40:00.004-04:00

Do any of you have children or other family members that get into your art supplies?

The other day I came home from work and found my color pencils all over the place. I asked my son why this was so and he said he had a homework project that he was supposed to color with colored pencils and he had used mine. I asked him what happened to the color pencils we had purchased for him before school started and he said they were at school.

Now I am not a stingy person and I don't mind if others use my things as long as they don't damage them, but I really expect them to be put back where I had them and not left out where they finished using them. That really bothered me.

Does this happen to any of you and does it bother you?

And The Results Are In!

2009-09-14T08:03:00.004-04:00

Well first of all my computer is on the blink and is in the shop so I am posting this at work which I am not supposed to do, but I did come in early.

I posted earlier about the two shows/contests I was going to enter this summer. I entered two works in the Central Carolina Fair. They were the same two works that were entered in the spring at the Randolph Arts Guild show. They did not place there, nor did they even take an honorable mention, but this time I received a second place prize for the drawing "Ready to Work" in the category of Pencil and I received a third place prize for the double portrait of my husband and son in the category of Portraits, Other medium. The money prizes were not that much but I do get to keep the ribbons which will be my first but hopefully not my last!

I was extremely pleased! I am so glad I did not let myself get discouraged by not placing at the other show. I had researched the judge of that show and she was an abstract artist. I noticed all of the ones that won, placed or received honorable mentions, with the exception of three works were all abstract. Just goes to show that art is in the eye of the beholder. I have learned not to be discouraged because the judge may just not like my type of art and to try again if I believe in myself. So..... if you are thinking about entering shows and contests please do and don't become discouraged!

The other contest was for a postmark cancellation. We have a town not too far from where I live called Star. This is a designated Christmas Town by the Post Office and they have a contest for local artists to enter a design. There is no money prize, just recognition and this will be the 23rd year they have had the contest. The requirements were: simple line drawing, black and white only, and certain words required in the design which were the address of the Post Office there.

I came up with a design and rendered it in pen and ink and got it ready to send off. I had not read the rules close enough because I remembered it saying must be postmarked Sept. 10. When I re-read the rules prior to mailing it actually said must be received by Sept. 10. I mailed mine on Sept. 10 anyway but I don't know if it will be considered.

I have been reading everyone's blog and I hope to get back into my art soon. I noticed I am not the only one that has slowed down in posting. I guess it is just the summer and having lots of other things to do.

Sorry no pictures! I had some but my computer is on the blink!

Art Appreciation IQ Test

2009-08-26T12:42:00.002-04:00

I just found an Art Appreciation IQ Test on the internet. It was fairly short and fun to do. The test would show two works of art (Most of them well-known) and ask you to choose by selecting on the painting which was bolder, more realistic, etc.

At the end of the quiz it would place you in a category. I was placed in the Master of Arts category and the quiz told me I was the first to be placed in this category out of thousands that have taken it. Don't know if this is true or not but it was kind of fun:

If you want to try your luck here is the link: http://www.goneglobal35.com/iq.html

Let me know where you placed!

Weekend Trip / Update

2009-08-18T10:06:00.013-04:00

My son in the Tweetsie "Jail"

My husband and son in the "crooked house" at Mystery Hill

Practice sketch with pastel pencils

Well I know I haven't posted in quite a while and I haven't been doing any art in quite some time but I thought I would just do an update in case someone is wondering where I've been.

My husband decided that we needed to take our son to the mountains of North Carolina to visit Tweetsie Railroad before he got much older. Tweetsie is located in Boone, NC and in case anyone is not familiar with it, it is a Western type theme park. There is a train ride that lasts around 20 minutes and cowboys and indians have a mock fight. All the kids on the train that have cap pistols they have purchased in the gift shops are invited to fire them at the indians as quickly as possible and make as much noise as they can. There are rides, shows, restaurants, gift stores with different themes, gem mining, gold panning and an arcade. In other words an exhausting day of fun!

Now, I have been to Tweetsie when I was a kid (and no, I won't say how many years ago that was). However, then it was only a train ride and some shops so it has really grown. My mother's ancestors came down from the mountains ages ago, I believe from around Banner Elk and my parents were always dragging the family to the mountains for weekend trips, etc. There are not a whole lot of tourist attractions in the mountains of NC or Tennessee that I haven't visited at least once. They also used to love to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very twisty, narrow road with lots of scenery. I personally just do not like traveling in the mountains. I would get car sick on the Parkway and my ears would constantly pop. I was reminded of this when my ears began to pop as we ascended into Boone. I told my husband, "This is not my country."

I don't mean to run the mountains down, if you like them that is great. They are just not for me. I would much rather travel to the ocean any day even though it is a longer drive.

Anyway I am glad we took my son to see Tweetsie. We should have taken him two years ago when he would have enjoyed it more and if we had waited two more years I don't think he would have enjoyed it at all. And you know what? I was downloading the photos I took at Tweetsie and I didn't even take one of the train! Well, I'm not going back just to get a picture of the train, I'll tell you that!

On the art scene I have done one small thing with my pastel pencils for practice. I saw a photo on the blog Nikon Sniper and I though it was great so I tried it in pastel. It only took around 10 minutes. Steven I hope you don't mind, it was just for practice. Steven has lots of wonderful photos on his blog.

I am also looking at submitting an entry for an art contest. No prize, just recognition if your drawing is selected. So I am trying to get ideas for that. I am looking at entering another art show with the pieces I had entered for the last one. I've read the rules and it doesn't say the work cannot ever have been in a show before just not in this show before.

Anyway, I hope to be back in full soon, and hopefully will be back checking in and reading your blogs soon as well as posting!

Until next time!

An Award From a Fellow Blogger!

2009-07-14T16:44:00.011-04:00

My good friend and wonderful artist Jan at Pets to Posies http://petstoposies.blogspot.com/ has given me this blog award. Thanks Jan, especially since I haven't been as active here the past couple of months. I appreciate it and love to get the blog awards and pass them on. If you haven't viewed Jan's blog please check it out.

I am supposed to tell seven things about myself and pass the award on to seven other bloggers so here goes.

First seven things about myself that I haven't told before:

1. I've gotten hooked on the cable show Clean House. I just love seeing houses that are more cluttered than mine. It makes me feel so much better!

2. I've told on here several times that I love the beach but I don't think I've told that I love to walk the beach and hunt for fossilized shark teeth. I try to beat the ones I have found before and am accumulating quite a collection!

3. I am terrified of mice and snakes. Apparently while we were at the beach for 8 days a mouse moved into our house. I spent most of Sunday night screaming and scaring it as bad as it scared me. I practically moved out of my house. Thankfully we caught it last night and none too soon. I think I was driving my husband crazy!

4. Spiders don't bother me at all.

5. I wish I had more time / motivation to do my artwork.

6. I really want to start painting again (I haven't painted in many years) but keep putting it off due to not wanting to deal with the mess. Drawing and colored pencils are so much cleaner.

7. I love to take Sunday afternoon naps.

Well, now that you know more about me than you probably ever wanted to know I will pass this on to other bloggers:

Jenna at Color Conscious http://color-conscious.blogspot.com/
Michelle at Following My Muse http://followingmymuse.blogspot.com/
Jill at Pencil Portraitworks http://pencilportraitworks.blogspot.com/
Robin at The Midlife Artist http://themidlifeartist.blogspot.com/
Teresa at Tresses Art Blog http://tressesartblog.blogspot.com/
Dave at Wildlife Art http://davelarsonstudios.blogspot.com/
Laure at Painted Thoughts Blog http://paintedthoughtsblog.blogspot.com/

These are wonderful blogs and artists that I enjoy very much. If you haven't seen their blogs please check them out!

Hopefully I will get back to my art soon!

Back from Vacation! I need another!

2009-07-13T14:23:00.004-04:00

Sunset view from my balcony.
View of resort from beach walk-over.

View of resort pier entrance.

My son in the pool! He was throwing a water bomb toy, and I was playing with the sports setting on my digital camera. It is supposed to make you able to take action shots without blurring.

My son walking on the beach. I love to take shots like this showing the subject having their back to the camera.

We returned from our vacation on July 3rd, and I already need another vacation! I have been slammed at work and playing catch-up to get all of my work done. We moved our offices around so I couldn't schedule any appointments for that day. I schedule at least 5 appointments per day for an hour each but I have so many drop-ins that I was not expecting that it is almost impossible to keep up.

On the artistic front I have not been doing anything as I am exhausted when I get home from work but I did take some reference photos at the beach and have many ideas.

I am also trying to get caught up on all of my blog reading, so if I haven't got to you yet I am heading there!

Vacation!!!

2009-06-25T10:37:00.003-04:00

Sorry for not posting in so long! Ijust haven't been in an artistic mood lately. I have a couple of projects in mind to start and everyday I think I will begin but after working and doing what I need to do at home (you know those house-wifely duties), I just never seem to get to it. I have been reading everyone's blog however and keeping up with what you all are doing.

My family is leaving for vacation tomorrow! 8 days of fun and sun at the beach so I have been doing a lot of preparing for that and getting things at work caught up so I won't be swamped when I get back. I haven't decided yet if I will take any art supplies with me or not. Past history has shown me that I usually do not do any art on vacation but I may bring them along. You know the old saying "Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them." I am trying to keep our luggage (read junk here) as light as possible because I hate to pack and unpack.

I will check in after we return and maybe I will have some photographs to show of our vacation.

I sincerely hope everyone has a fun, safe, and happy July holiday!

Juried Art Show

2009-06-03T10:47:00.002-04:00

Thought I would give you an update on the Juried Art Show that I entered. Each artist could enter up to three works for an entry fee and at least one work would be in the show. I selected three of my works and talked my husband into entering three of his paintings. The artist's reception and awards ceremony was last night. We knew we had not won anything but wanted to see how many of our works were in the show and who won so we went to the reception.

It was open to media of all kinds and all kinds were represented. There were oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, etchings, photographs, graphite (mine were the only graphite works), sculpture of all materials, mixed media, cloth (textile), and digital. There were wonderful landscapes, seascapes, lots of animal work, florals, still lifes, etc.

Some of the work just blew me away with the talent it represented, much of the work I just couldn't relate to as it was abstract. There was a wonderful landscape that looked like you could just walk into it and a still life of fruit that had grapes with moisture on them that looked like you could pluck the fruit from the canvas.

Anyway two of my works were hung; the double portrait of my husband and son entitled "A Good Time" that I marked NFS, and the work of the wheelbarrow and pitchfork entitled "Ready To Work" that I did place a price on. My husband had one of his paintings hung that was entitled "Nightfall."

It was time for the announcements and all artists gathered around. The gentleman making the announcement spoke of the juror and her work as a local artist. Her name was Tracy Marshall and I had previously checked out her website. He said she had two criterion for judging. 1. New, fresh ideas and an original way of creating art. and 2. Technique. There was 4 money prizes and 8 honorable mentions. All honorable mentions except for two were abstract works of art. The third place winner was an abstract wooden sculpture with nails sticking out everywhere. There was a cane bottom chair in the center with a broken jagged piece of wood pushed through the seat. The second place winner was a piece of pottery and that was a nice piece of pottery. The first place winner was an abstract painting and the Best in Show was a gourd sculpture painted with gauche. I have to admit that I just do not understand abstract, modern art even though I have taken a college course in it. The works that blew me away with their talent did not even receive honorable mentions.

After hearing the criteria and having previously checked out her website it went pretty much the way I thought it would go. If anyone cares to look this is her website: http://www.tjmartisticdesigns.com/index.html. I believe my husband was initially disappointed but I pointed out to him the work that was selling was not the work selected for the awards but the other, more representational, realistic work.

Anyway they said they had the most entries this year that they had ever had with over 100 works entered and approximately 70 works were hung in the show. (Iwas pleased with where my two works were hung, right above the visitors sign-in book). Also, the announcer said that in his eyes everyone entered was a winner because it takes a certain amount of courage to put your work on the line and have it judged.

I learned a couple of things from this experience. A lot depends on the juror and the type of art that appeals to them so I did not take it personally that I did not receive anything. A different juror would probably have different award winners. Also now that I have entered one I will enter more. All exposure is good exposure. Later last night I asked my husband if he would enter more shows and he said probably.

It was a fun, learning experience and our work will be on view for the entire month. Who knows what may come of that!

New Work Completed

2009-05-25T15:13:00.005-04:00

Red Wagon Wheel

By: Lori Talbert

5/25/09

8x10 Colored Pencil and Graphite on Bristol Board

Just completed the most recent piece I have been working on for the past couple of weeks. I found the reference pic on morgue file when I was browsing and saved it for future use. Something about this pic fascinated me and I thought it would make an interesting subject.

I started in in graphite and realized it would not be as interesting as I once thought completed all in pencil. So I decided to take a chance and add some color with the colored pencils. I chose the wagon wheel and then that stood out too much so I also colored the ground.

Its works pretty good for me. Not nearly as difficult as the last piece I completed but good to get me going on my artwork again.

Now I don't know which one to use as my third entry for the art show. This piece or the last one entitled Millboro Post Office / General Store. What do you think?

Right Brain or Left Brain?

2009-05-22T08:12:00.003-04:00

I found a link to this quiz for artists on another site to determine if you were right brained or left brained. It is about 20 questions and doesn't take long. It was kind of fun.

I scored 14 out of 20, with a score of 70%. My right brain is quite dominant.

Maybe that is why I am left handed.

Anyway here is the link if you want to try:

http://painting.about.com/library/quiz/blquiz-rightbrain2.htm

Just Checking In

2009-05-19T09:11:00.004-04:00

Hi. It has been awhile now since I posted so I thought I would just check in. After I completed the Old Millboro Post Office / General Store I was kind of drained. It was one of the most difficult works I have completed to date and I guess I have been recharging my batteries.

I did begin a new work on Sunday. Work is progressing slowly and I believe it will be difficult as well. Not sure if it will be something I will want to post or not. We will have to see how it comes along.

I have had some minor health issues and have not felt myself lately but I am working on those things. Stress from work is pretty bad so that is not helping either. However, this is Memorial Day weekend and I plan to do something fun with my family. Hope all of you can do something for the holiday weekend as well.

The juried art show is coming up and I have the works I want to enter framed but have to wire them for hanging. My husband paints from time to time and I am trying to get him to enter with me. Not sure if he will or not.

I caught up on my blog reading this morning. Everyone has some wonderful work to show so please check out the blogs I follow.

Well, that is the update. Hope to post some art soon! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Drawing Completed (For better or worse!)

2009-05-07T19:55:00.008-04:00

Millboro Post Office / General Store

By: Lori Talbert

10/07/09

I have completed the drawing I have been working on for so long now. I must say it was the most difficult project I have ever tackled. I thought the portrait of my husband and son was hard but this one really took the cake!

I was definitely out of my comfort zone! The foliage was extremely difficult for me and I spent a lot of time practicing it and finally decided just to go ahead and do it. The perspective did not bother me that much as I have taken a class on this in the past that was pretty involved. I don't remember all of the class but I do remember how to find the vanishing point to get the building angles correct. Even so I realized at one point my perspective was off and had to go back and correct it. This drawing is on the verge of being overworked and may possibly be considered overworked but I was determined to finish what I started.

It definitely tested my abilities and was a learning experience and I know the next project of this type will be easier and better for the effort.

The reference pic can be found in an older post from April if you want to look at it. This is 8x10 graphite on bristol board.

There is another juried art show sponsored by the Randolph Arts Guild coming up in June. The deadline for submissions is May 29th. For an entry fee of $25.00 each artist can submit up to three works for consideration. My plans are to enter this show. All three works can be selected, two works, 1 work or no work and you just lose your entry fee. I figure nothing ventured, nothing gained. The works must have been completed in the last two years. I hope to enter the double portrait of my husband and son entitled "A Good Time" and the drawing entitled "Ready To Work." Both can be found in older posts if you care to look or in the slideshow in the upper right corner of my blog. All work will be matted and framed.

Do you think I should also enter this work as my third submission? Would it be worth my while to do so? Please comment and let me know what you think. (Your family always tell you everything looks terrific).

Thanks guys!

Update

2009-05-05T15:21:00.005-04:00

Well I am still working on the drawing of the Millboro Post Office/General Store. The foliage is really proving difficult. I have practiced and practiced on other pieces of paper/bristol board and just was not satisfied. I finally just went with the best I could do and will hope for the best. I will post an updated WIP soon.

My idea on the blog award did not pan out. No one commented and collected the award. Everyone is just too modest. So..... I will list some blogs to collect this award:
Stephen Baird at Nikon Sniper has the most wonderful photos:
http://nikonsniper.blogspot.com/
Doreen at Dors Art:
http://dorsart.blogspot.com/
Martina at Pencil Love:
http://dreamsun-fine-art.blogspot.com/
Jan at Pets to Posies:
http://petstoposies.blogspot.com/
Teresa at Tresses Art Blog:
http://tressesartblog.blogspot.com/
Karie at Pet Portraits and Wildlife:
http://artbykarie-ann.blogspot.com/
Michelle:
http://followingmymuse.blogspot.com/

Please collect your awards and play along!

Blog Award!

2009-04-21T14:27:00.003-04:00

I was catching up on my blog reading with all of the blogs I follow and discovered that I had received a blog award from Who is Arthur Simo the Ousider Artist? This is a wonderful blog and Arthur has a great sense of color in his artwork. If you haven't seen it please check it out at:
http://simoartcorner.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much! I am supposed to pass it on to seven more blogs but there are so many wonderful blogs out there it is hard to choose. So...... the first seven people that comment here I pass the award on to you. Please leave your blog address in your comments so others can see your wonderful blogs and collect your award!

Work in Progress

2009-04-20T18:55:00.004-04:00

Reference Photo

Old Millboro Post Office / General Store

Well I was not able to complete my entry for the juried art show of a Randolph County subject in time for submision deadline. I do appreciate all of the encouragement I received from everyone to try. The reference picture is above. I have thought about this building for many years and when I heard about the show I drove out to Millboro to take some photos. I should have taken some when I was thinking about doing a drawing years ago as it is much more overgrown now.

I am going to continue to work on this and hopefully complete it. Buildings are not that hard as they are mostly straight lines, getting your perspective correct and shading. I believe the surrounding foliage will make or break this drawing. I want to include the broom sage growing in the foreground as I believe the successful rendition of this will give the drawing depth. I am not that great on foliage and have been studying some books. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

There is another juried art show coming up in a little over a month where three works can be entered by each artist and can be any medium or subject as long as they have been completed within the last two years. Hopefully I will be able to enter some work in that show.

More On Pastel Pencils

2009-04-13T16:38:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday! The weather is still a little cool here for this time of year. I hope soon it will be warm enough where the heat doesn't run at night.

In my last post I had a piece where I had tried pastel pencils. My set was only 12 so I was lacking many colors that I usually use. I have purchased a set of 48 pastel pencils from Ebay and received them Friday. Hope to put them to use soon and have something to post.

I heard yesterday about a juried art show for Randolph County artists at an Asheboro Gallery. The work can be any medium but must reflect a Randolph County subject. Unfortunately, works have to be submitted beginning April 16th and I don't have anything ready with a Randolph County subject that I can submit. I am debating on whether to give it a try to have something worthwhile ready. I am trying to come up with a good subject. There is a very well-known covered bridge here in Randolph County but many artists have used that in their work and there will probably be a few in this show. Oh well, wish I had heard about the show earlier!

Pastel Pencils

2009-04-05T13:45:00.003-04:00

Acorn

By: Lori Talbert

3/31/09

I have heard a lot about pastel pencils from others and decided I would give them a try. I have several pastel sticks or chalks and while I like the way they blend and the ease of application, I didn't feel I had the control for finer details as I did in graphite or colored pencils.

So, I purchased a small set of pastel pencils at Hobby Lobby and looked through my reference pictures to see what I had. This picture is from a drawing challenge on a forum I belong to. The challenge is long over and I cannot remember at this time who posted the pic. But I pulled it out and sketched it on a piece of 4x6 bristol board and gave the pastel pencils a try.

As with the chalks I liked the ease of application and blending, (colored pencils take a lot of work) but I was frustrated by the lack of colors in my set of 12. In colored pencil work I use the white pencil frequently to blend and to change the colors to what I want. I had no white in my set of 12 so I resorted to pulling out the chalks to finish the piece.

I enjoyed the experiment and was surprised by the ease and quickness of completion in comparison to my colored pencils. Colored pencil work for me takes a lot of blending. I generally use a colorless pencil for this frequently going over the entire piece with it and once I'm through my hand and arm are tired as it takes some effort.

I would like to try more with the pastel pencils but I think I need to purchase a larger set with more colors. So I will shop around for the best price. Do they make a white pastel pencil I wonder? Also any pastel pencil tips would be greatly appreciated.

Blog Award!

2009-03-24T16:31:00.006-04:00

I just received a blog award from Who is Arthur Simo the Outsider Artist http://simoartcorner.blogspot.com/! This is a wonderful blog, please check it out.

I am supposed to name seven things I love and pass it on to seven other bloggers. I named 7 things for another award I received so I'll try to name some different ones. In no particular order:

1. My family, 2. Spring, 3. Fall, 4.The Ocean, 5. My pets, 6. Sunrise or Sunset, 7. Creating my art

Now to the blogs I would like to pass this on to:

Teresa at Tresses Art Blog http://tressesartblog.blogspot.com/
Robin at Art and Animals http://artandanimals.blogspot.com/
Jenna at Color Conscious http://color-conscious.blogspot.com/
Rose at ACEOS by Rosehttp://aceosbyrose2.blogspot.com/
Teri at Teri's Painted Daisies http://painteddaisies.blogspot.com/
Laure at Painted Thoughts Blog http://paintedthoughtsblog.blogspot.com/
Teresa at Blueberries, Art and Life http://blueberriesartlife.blogspot.com/

Please check these blogs out if you are not familiar with them. They are worth a look. Congrats everyone!

Sunflower

2009-03-21T17:29:00.003-04:00

Sunflower

By: Lori Talbert

3/21/09

I've had some other things going on lately that maybe I'll talk about later if it works out, so I haven't had a lot of time for artwork.

However, I did manage to produce this. It is from a drawing challenge on a forum I belong to from a couple of months ago. I just had not gotten around to working on it. Flowers are not my strong suit but that is what a drawing challenge is about, getting out of your comfort zone and stretching your abilities.

I think it came out pretty good considering I don't usually do flowers. I wanted to do something colorful as I am longing for warmer weather and spring. Even though yesterday was officially the first day of spring it does not feel like it here.

It is an OSWOA, 4x6 colored pencil on bristol board.

Baby Orang in Color

2009-03-12T19:04:00.004-04:00

Baby Orang 2

By: Lori Talbert

3/11/09

I did an earlier version of this in graphite and posted it on my blog last month. At that time I said I would do a color pencil version and post it for comparison. I had a couple of things come up and had not done any art for awhile but I finally got back to the drawing

This is from the same reference pic in color pencil, 4x6 on smooth bristol board. Although I love graphite, for this drawing I would have to say the color pencil version is better. The nose was very difficult and it doesn't look as good on the scan as it does in real life, but for the most part I am well pleased with the results.

My son asked me why I made the background yellow. I didn't have a reason I could put into words so I just told him I wanted to. For some reason the drawing just seemed to call for a bright yellow background. I like the way it plays with the browns and it seems to make the subject "pop" for me. I think it works well anyway.

So this is the color pencil version of the Baby Orang. On to the next project and hopefully I will be able to do some art soon.

Birthday

2009-03-09T10:18:00.002-04:00

Today is my son's birthday and he is 11 years old. We stopped doing the birthday parties with children invited after his 9th birthday. Now he gets cake and presents and he gets to choose which restaurant we go to for his birthday dinner. It is more of an immediate family celebration.

He said he hated that his birthday was on a Monday this year since he had to go to school and I told him he was born on a Monday. He was kind of surprised by this and said he hated Mondays so he wished it was a different day. I told him that at 1:15 this afternoon he will be 11 years old, as that was the time he was born.

I haven't figured out why but every year whatever day his birthday is on my birthday winds up being on the same day of the week. So my birthday will be on a Monday this year as well. However I have no prejudices against Mondays.

Haven't done any art lately. I am feeling the urge but just haven't had the time. Hopefully, this week I will be able to get something started. We co-sponsored a Career and Education Fair last Thursday and had over 600 visitors. (I saw myself on TV!) We worked really hard on it last week and was exhausted when it was over. We were all dragging around at work on Friday and had a customer tell us it was great, when were we going to do another one? I think I heard a couple of staff members groan. It is great to do something for the community that is really needed like this but visitors don't realize the amount of work involved. We host a job fair once per year and start on it several months ahead of time. Anyway I am glad it was a huge success and hopefully some visitors will find jobs. I know already that one person did.

We have a plant closing down and we have to go out and conduct what we call employee sessions. This is where employees are given a packet and told of transitional services and assistance that are available to them as a dislocated worker. We have two tomorrow and three on Wednesday. Wednesday we have to be there at 6 am. I don't usually get up until 6:45 am so I will probably have to get up at 4:30 as it is a 1/2 hour drive. Our last session there will be at 5 pm so I will probably not get home until 6:30 pm or after. I am dreading that day but I am really sorry for the 200+ people that are losing their jobs.

Hopefully I will find some time for art and my next post will contain some. Got to get through these tough work days first!

Happy Birthday, son!

Winter's Last Gasp?

2009-03-02T17:58:00.005-05:00

View from my front porch

Snowman my son and I made

Winter's Last Gasp? I certainly hope so! Anyone that has watched the news has probably heard about the winter storm that started in the southeast and headed up the eastern seaboard.

We had rain starting Friday around noon, all day and night Saturday, all day Sunday and then it changed over to a mix and finally to snowfall. We wound up with around 4.5 inches. The largest snowfall we have had in 5 years! I know I had an earlier post where I was talking about the 3 inch snowfall and how that was the largest in several years up to that point. Well now we have this snowfall and it was beautiful waking up to a winter wonderland. We went out and had fun in it but it is super cold here and I have been longing for spring for several weeks.

We actually had some buttercups blooming but today they are covered with snow and I don't know how they will look once it melts. That will probably be around Wednesday. By Friday the temperatures will be around 70 degrees so I sincerely hope this is winter's last gasp.

I went out with my son and we built a small snowman and had a snowball fight. Later, we made snow cream which was nice and I told my son to enjoy it because hopefully that is the last snow cream this year.

Oh well, you know what they say about March, "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Let's hope they are right!

Prints

2009-02-18T16:42:00.003-05:00

I have uploaded some of my artwork to Imagekind and added a link on my blog. (See Link). I don't know if I will get any type of response or not but I did obtain a fan before completion of the upload of the second image. It may also be a good way to obtain prints of my work for myself if I need to. Anyway, I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Back To Graphite!

2009-02-15T13:19:00.003-05:00

Baby Orang

By: Lori Talbert

2/14/09

I have not done any projects in graphite lately and came across this reference pic in the image library of an artist's forum I belong to. I decided to do the drawing in graphite in the OSWOA format of 4x6. An OSWOA can be any medium just the size is required.

I learned that for me graphite (my preferred medium) needs to be practised frequently. With colored pencil I can sometimes rely on just the colors to show what I want but graphite needs to be more subtle using just different shades of the medium. This little guy took a somewhat longer than the other OSWOAs I have been completing but I was glad I tried it in graphite. I will definitely begin using graphite as much as color pencil in my work in the future. I want to keep all of my skills and continue to improve in them.

However I think I may also try this little guy in color pencil as well!

Better Than I Expected!

2009-02-08T14:44:00.006-05:00

This Little Piggy

By: Lori Talbert

2/08/09

I usually draw something, anything a few days per week to satisfy my creative urge. I don't have a lot of free time so the majority of my projects are small and something I can complete in one or two sittings. A lot of times they are simple and quick as the last OSWOA I created but sometimes you get pleasantly surprised when something turns out better than you expect.

When I get time I use the internet as one of my sources for ideas and reference photos. I use Morguefile a lot and look through the copyright free pics. When I see something I may want to use or is interesting, I save it to look at when I have more time. When I am ready to create I look through my references to see if anything appeals at that time.

When I saw a photo of a pig I knew it would be easy to sketch and possibly something to do for a quick, fun project. The pig in the reference pic was black and white and there was the edge of a wooden structure under it's head. I suppose it was a feed box, due to the pig's eager posture and food was coming at the time the photo was taken.

I pulled this photo out the other night for a quick, fun sketch, figuring I could complete it in less than two hours and satisfy my urge to draw. I quickly sketched the outline and then pulled out my colored pencils. I always start with the eye because if that doesn't work for me, nothing else will. Eye completed, nothing complicated there and then I started on the pig's ear. I felt large areas of black would not work so I changed to a deep brown color and I wanted to keep the underlying hint of pink skin showing through. Using the brown, pink and white I began to work. Something happened and I took as much time on the ear as I usually would on the entire drawing. I lay in my areas of color and use a colorless pencil as well as white for blending. I completed blending the ear and was surprised to see that it came out pretty nice. I put the drawing aside and completed it the day. I am very pleased with the results, it's always nice when something works better than you expect. It is an OSWOA 4x6, colored pencil on bristol board.

Art Blog Award!

2009-02-07T12:37:00.003-05:00

When I checked in this morning I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had received not one, not two but three! "I Love Your Art Blog" awards from fellow artists/bloggers. Laure Ferlita of Painted Thoughts Blog, Jan from Pets to Posies, and Teresa from Tresses Art Blog had all awarded this to me. Thanks to all of you and may I say if I had received it first I would have sent this award to each of you!

I am supposed to name 7 things I love and pass the award on to 7 other artists. So, first things first!

The 7 things I love:

1. Nature: I see beauty in all of nature. God is the ultimate artist; a sunrise, a sunset, an autumn day, he has placed so much inspiration all around us.

2. My family: My immediate family is most important in my life. I support them and they me; I rejoice in their accomplishments and sorrow with them when things are bad. There is no encouragement like that you can receive from your family.

3. America: Like the country song says; "This lady may have stumbled, but she ain't never fell." Our lady is definitely stumbling now and I hope and pray she doesn't fall. We still stand for freedom and in spite of our present difficulties many people would give anything to live here.

4. My Art: It is always nice to receive recognition and have others appreciate what you do but I create primarily for me. It gives me pleasure, relaxes me and a sense of accomplishment when I complete a project.

5. The Ocean: It seems to have the rhythm of life for me and I pilgrimage there at least once per year. I would live at the ocean if I could.

6. My Job: It can be frustrating at times and near impossible at others and I have had people tell me they wouldn't have my job if it paid a million dollars. But for the most part I enjoy it and I am very good at it. I am thankful to have a job at a time when so many do not.

7. A Good Book. The only way I know to take an adventure, live during another time or live someone's else's life without leaving your home.

There are many other things I love, a genuine smile, spontaneous laughter, the sight of a happy or sleeping child, but I guess the ones I named are my top seven.

Now to pass the award along: I am fairly new to blogging and am still discovering other artist's blogs. Upon checking this morning I see that many of them have already been awarded so I hope to offer a few new ones:

1. Jenna Whie at Color Conscious: a wonderful color pencil artist.

2. Who is Arthur Simo - The Outsider Artist? Arthur has autism and his mother creates the blog and promotes his art. He does wonderful work and has had many sales and some shows.

3. Blair at Blair Goold Art - a blog I just discovered. Blair does wonderful paintings.

Many of the blogs that I follow have already received this award but I would have awarded them as well. I will reserve my other four if I can to award as I discover more blogs.

Thanks again for the award!

Two Days In A Row!

2009-02-04T11:49:00.011-05:00

We had snow again last night. Shortly before 8 pm it looked like blizzard conditions it was snowing so hard. We thought we would really have a big snowfall and the forecasters were calling for 1-3 inches. Well, the snow didn't last very long and we awoke this morning to only a dusting. It is all almost melted now. It is only 27 degrees farenheit but the sun is shining brightly. The road crews were on the ball this time and the roads in my area looked clear but once again the schools were closed.The weather forecasters described it as "snow showers" and said some areas really had a lot so maybe that is why the schools are closed. So, here I am stuck at home, using up another vacation day. I didn't have enough work to do at the other location to last all day. Hopefully this will be the last snow/ice situation we will have. But we have quite a few weeks of winter left yet!

My son wanted to go out a play in it so I let him. There wasn't enough to make a decent snowball let alone a snowman. This snowfall wasn't worth taking a picture of but I finally downloaded the pictures I took of the January snowfall.

This is a picture of my son with all of the snow he can gather. He called it his snow mound.

Picture of my house covered with the snow:

Also last night I created another OSWOA (original small work of art). I called it Spring Bird. I found the picture on Morguefile and I don't know if it is supposed to be a baby robin or what. It only took an hour or so and is not my best work but I enjoyed creating it. I think it has a "painterly" look.

Spring Bird

By: Lori Talbert

2/03/09

Thank you to the individuals who are following my blog! I appreciate it and enjoy reading your blogs as well! Until next time!

A Little More Snow For Us

2009-02-03T12:06:00.005-05:00

We had rain last night that changed over to snow and made a mess. There was a dusting of snow on the ground (less than 1/2 inch) and what we call "black ice" on the roads. Schools were first delayed and then closed.

My work place was delayed 2 hours but we have a back-up location that we can go to on time and I decided to go there today so I would not have to use any more vacation hours. The weather forecasters were not calling for travel problems with this system so the road crews had not treated any of the highways. There was a wreck below my house with red and blue lights flashing so I decided to drive with extreme caution.

I took an exit ramp off of the freeway and felt one of my tires lose traction with the road surface. As I stopped at the top of the ramp and looked in the direction I was going to turn, all I saw was icy road! There was a bridge over one side of the freeway, a short distance and then another bridge over the other side of the freeway, and then a steep hill that looked straight up . I wasn't sure I wanted to try it but I took a deep breath and started out. I was driving very slowly and of course someone had to tailgate me and try to push me faster. I hate it when people do that! I didn't let it rattle me though and made it to work OK, only three minutes late.

As I said in an earlier post we get bad weather so rarely that southerners do not drive well in it. We just don't get enough practice. The children were all excited to be out of school today (I know my son was) but they will have to make the day up from their spring break. The weather forecasters say another system will be moving through tonight and may bring us another dusting of snow. Personally, I have seen enough ice/snow for this winter! I am ready for spring!

Difficult Week

2009-01-31T16:01:00.004-05:00

This past week it just seemed more bad news followed bad news. I work with individuals who are unemployed and looking for work and this past week around 200 people in our county lost their jobs. We also learned of over 50 more that had lost their jobs in the previous week that we had not heard about. January has been a bad month in our county.

Our unemployment rate for December was 8.9 percent and I wouldn't be surprised if it topped double digits for January. It is hard to hear all of the stories these people tell and very sad. We offer all of the assistance and referrals we can but what they need most is employment and unfortunately there is just not much available.

I know the entire country is being affected, not just our county but these are the people I interact with and am working with on a daily basis. I can only hope that things begin to improve soon but I fear that will be a long time coming.

With all of this going on it was hard to get into the mood to produce any art work but on the other hand I knew I needed to do something because creating art is good therapy for me. It relaxes me and improves my mood and I always feel better after I create.

One of the artist's forums I belong to had a drawing challenge for January. I selected a photo and used that. It is an OSWOA (original small work of art) 4x6, colored pencil on bristol board. It did not come out quite as well as I had hoped but it is OK.

I have become addicted to this form of art as with my busy schedule of working and raising a family I can complete one of these pieces in an evening with very little mess. I believe this type of art work is becoming more popular as more and more works show up on the internet for sale. When I first began researching this type of artwork, there would be around 90 works for sale on Ebay. Now there is continuously over 130 offered on Ebay at any time for sale and many more on other places on the web such as Etsy.

Anyway here is the latest:

Butterfly

By: Lori Talbert

1/29/09

I have also been searching for other artist's blogs on the internet, especially artists from North Carolina. I have made some new friends this way and have viewed some really great works of art. I hope to add links to these blogs on my site soon so stay tuned!

Recent Works / Snow Tonight!

2009-01-19T12:54:00.009-05:00

It has been extremely busy at work and when you work full time and have a family it is sometimes hard to work on your art like you want to. I haven't taken the time to post recently but I have completed a few things.

The first is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) for an exchange on a forum I belong to. The theme was the new year and after turning over many ideas I thought of the Chinese calendar. A little internet research revealed that 2009 was the year of the Ox so I decided to work with that. The first Ox I tried was a realistic representation but it didn't seem to work out that well so I went with a cartoon version. It didn't take very long to complete and although not a work of art I thought it was cute and decided to send it to my trading partner. I received my card from my partner and I felt kind of bad because theirs was very detailed and intricate and obviously took a lot of time. Mine took less than an hour to complete. Well, that is the fun of a trade, you never know what you will get and you are always surprised. My partner liked their card so that is what is important.

Year of the Ox (ATC)

By: Lori Talbert

12/27/08

I also completed a couple of OSWOAs (Original Small Work of Art) that I haven't posted yet. The first was a still life that I had originally done as a digital work. It came out very well in digital but not quite as well in this version. Some parts of it I am pleased with such as the glass vase the flowers are in.

Still Life with Flowers

By: Lori Talbert

1/01/09

I also revisited the cardinal sitting on the fence and completed another version of it as an OSWOA.

Cardinal 2

By: Lori Talbert

1/13/09

All works are in colored pencil on bristol board. The ATC is 2.5 x 3.5 inches and the OSWOAs are 4 x 6 inches. I am thinking about another larger work in graphite probably 8 x 10 and am turning over a couple of ideas in my mind.

On another note the weather forecast is calling for 1-3 inches of snow tonight and early tomorrow morning. That probably doesn't sound like a lot to many of you but here in our part of North Carolina we sometimes go all winter without any snow at all. If we get bad weather during the winter it is usually freezing rain or sleet which is no fun at all. When we do have snow virtually everything closes down as we see it so rarely southerners do not know how to drive in it and slip and slide all over the roads. I have a 4-wheel drive but I usually stay home as well because the 4-wheel drive does not guarantee that someone will not slide into me! My son is extremely excited! When he was almost 2 years old we had a whopping 13 inches in one night! We were without power or telephone for practically a week but he doesn't remember that. He will soon be 11 and has only had enough snow in his life (since the 13 inches) that he remembers to build two snowmen. He is hoping for the 3 inches so maybe he can build one.

Back To Work

2009-01-12T08:18:00.004-05:00

I had written that I had a long Christmas vacation returning to work January 5th. Well, I really paid for my vacation. I work in a non-profit assisting individuals that are unemployed or underemployed find employment, update skills, or retrain (through a grant) for a new career. Due to the state of the economy overall and especially in our area we have been swamped with customers coming in and the phones ringing off of the hook. The result is that I was exhausted last week. Friday night I could hardly wait for bedtime. It was a long busy week. I have not done any artwork since I returned to work as I have simply been too tired. I did complete another OSWOA before returning to work and have completed an ATC for a trade but have not had time to post them. I believe this week will be just as busy at work but maybe I will be more used to it now and not be so tired! I have many ideas for artwork but must find the time and hopefully some will be posted here. Until next time!

New Year 2009

2008-12-31T15:28:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Christmas holiday! My family's holiday was very quiet. My parents and in-laws are deceased and brothers and sisters are busy with their own families, etc. so Christmas Day was very quiet for us. We had our family gathering a couple of days after Christmas on Saturday.

It is now New Year's eve and tomorrow will be the first day of 2009! I really don't make new year's resolutions because I rarely keep them more than a few weeks. So I will just hope that 2009 will be a better year for my family than 2008. We have all had some health issues, job issues, and various other problems. I am going to begin the year with the positive mind set that 2009 (The year of the Ox) will be a better year for us in general. I know that there are many families that have had it worse with the state of the economy and the high unemployment rate. Our state of North Carolina has had the highest job loss in the country and predictions are that more jobs will be lost in our area. My husband lost his job last February and fortunately he was able to go ahead and retire. If I lose my job I would not be able to retire and I know it would be a difficult job search and probably impossible to replace the salary I presently earn. I am truly thankful for each and every day I have a job to go to.

I took a nice long Christmas vacation and do not have to return to work until January 5th. I had some projects I wanted to complete and have been successful so far. I cleaned my son's closet out and reorganized his room, going through all of his clothes and boxing for Goodwill the ones that he had outgrown. Believe it or not that took a full day. I then cleaned my closet out and reorganized it and boxed up clothes that I no longer wear and delivered both boxes to the Goodwill store last night. I have a couple of other projects I would like to complete and of course the Christmas decorations will need to be taken down and stored.

I have also continued working on my artwork and have completed another OSWOA and started on a new one. The one I completed is below:

Barnyard Friend

By: Lori Talbert

12/27/08

It is colored pencil on smooth bristol board. The new one I am working on is a still life. Until next time!

Merry Chistmas!

2008-12-22T14:06:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and safe Christmas! Christmas seems so hectic anymore, that we sometimes lose the meaning of the season. Please spend time with family and friends and enjoy the holidays!

This is an old drawing that I did for a Christmas challenge a couple of years ago and I wanted to post it here as a Christmas card for everyone:

Still working on the OSWOAs. Hope to complete several during the holidays. This is the latest:

Parrot

By: Lori Talbert

12/20/08

It is colored pencil on bristol board. I also have an ATC to work on for a trade.

Once again, Have a great Holiday Season!

Ready To Work

2008-12-17T15:19:00.004-05:00

I finished the piece I was working on. It is a different type of work for me. I usually do animals and this is more of a landscape. It was definitely a learning process for me as I had some problems to work out but overall I am pleased with it. 8x10 Graphite on smooth Bristol Board.

"Ready To Work"

By: Lori Talbert

12/16/08

First Sale!

2008-12-11T10:24:00.004-05:00

I have been creating artwork for many years but have never actually sold a piece. I have given many works away, created artwork by request, and have had people ask me what amount I would sell a work for, but something just stopped me from charging for my work. I would think of all of the hours of work I had in that piece and even if I charged minimum wage I believed they would be shocked at the price I would have to name so I just told them it was not for sale. Usually, I actually did not want to sell these pieces as I had put so much time and effort in them. However, it has always been a secret dream of mine to actually SELL something!

I discovered the OSWOA website a few months ago, read the rules, decided to create a few and put them up for auction on Ebay. The ones I have created thus far have been shown on this blog. The website recommended a minimum price of $9.95 per OSWOA so I decided to start there, put four of the pieces on Ebay and last night I sold one! Not a fortune but someone actually wanted to purchase one of my works! I am so thrilled! Hopefully I will be able to sell more as time goes on.

I am also currently working on a piece now that will take awhile to complete. It will be 8x10 graphite on smooth bristol board. It is of a stone barn with an antique wooden wheelbarrow that has a metal wheel standing in the doorway. There is a pitchfork with one of those incredibly long handles that books used to call "widow-makers" because the user would have to "heave his guts out" to use it. The photo came from Morgue-file. I will post it when complete if it works out as I want it to. I also want to work on some more OSWOAs.

Until next time!

And Again!

2008-12-04T10:52:00.004-05:00

I guess I have gotten on a bird kick as I have completed another OSWOA of a bird. This one is a cardinal. I keep working on something until I have it the way I want it and I am working on the colored pencils and bristol board. I experimented with illustration board but liked it even less. Anyway this is my latest:

Fence-Sitting Cardinal

By: Lori Talbert

12/02/08

More OWSOAs!

2008-12-01T08:26:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Holiday! I enjoyed mine even though there was the usual family drama that I won't bore you with here. It seems there cannot be one family holiday that there is not some type of drama occuring. However, I did find time to complete a couple more OSWOAs over the Thanksgiving Holidays. This is the first one:

Yellow Bird

By: Lori Talbert

11/26/08

I also was not satisfied with the Bluebird drawing I had previously completed. The bird faded into the background unless you were looking at it under very strong light. So I took another try at it and came up with this version:

Bluebird 2

By: Lori Talbert

11/29/08

I am more satisfied with this version. I made the bird a little rounder so it looks less predatory, darkened the colors of the bird and lightened the colors of the background. What do you think?

Second OSWOA Completed

2008-11-25T09:15:00.005-05:00

I finished my second OSWOA (original small work of art). It is of course 4x6 on smooth bristol board. I wish I could find another firm surface that accepted the colored pencil better. It almost comes out like watercolor. I cannot get the colors as dark and rich as I would like. If anyone has any suggestioins please let me know.

This is the piece:

Bluebird

By: Lori Talbert

11/24/08

Completed First OSWOA

2008-11-24T09:38:00.006-05:00

Definition: An OSWOA (original small work of art) measures 6" x 4" or 4" x 6" and fits into a standard 6" x 4" photo album sleeve or can be matted and framed and can be any medium.

Anyway I have been looking at some of these on various websites and wanted to try creating an OSWOA for myself. It would be bigger than an ATC but not as large as the last work I created.

This is the result:

Owl Portrait

By: Lori Talbert

11/22/08

It is colored pencil on smooth bristol board. I wasn't that happy with the bristol board. It made it really hard to blend the colors possibly due to the slick surface. However I wanted a firmer surface than regular drawing paper.

I am currently working on a second OSWOA and should complete it soon. Hope you like it!

First Artist Trading Card Exchange

2008-11-10T12:47:00.006-05:00

I recently participated in my first artist trading card exchange from Let's Make Art. An artist trading card is the same size as a regular trading card; about 2.5 x 3.5 and is supposed to be traded with another artist. Although many of them are sold on Ebay, etc. the original purpose was trading among artists and not selling.

Anyway, I created my first one and sent it off in the mail last week. It is colored pencil on watercolor paper. Since the recipient has acknowledged that they have received it, I will now post it here.

Fall Fruit

By: Lori Talbert

11/2008

Can't wait to receive mine and see who it is from! I really enjoyed doing this and hopefully another trade will begin soon. It would be nice to eventually have a trading card from all members of the forum.

Graphite Drawing Completed!

2008-10-28T08:43:00.006-04:00

Finished the graphite portrait of my husband and son. I put a lot of hours into this but I really enjoyed working on it. Just needs a couple of touch-ups, spray fixative, matting and framing and it is ready to wrap for Christmas! Below is the completed result! I'm satisfied with my efforts on this portrait and I believe my husband will like it also! Hope so anyway!

A Good Time

by Lori Talbert

10/2008

Finally Drawing Again!

2008-10-21T19:48:00.007-04:00

Well, I have finally started drawing something of note again. I have a photo of my husband and son that I love because I think you can really see the love between them. I planned to do a graphite drawing from it for my husband for Christmas last year but never got around to it. Portraits are not usually my best subject and I was a little afraid of tackling the project. I purchased a book by Lee Hammond "How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs" and studied it. I guess I have been drawing the portrait in my mind for a year and that helped. Anyway this is the reference picture:

I am still working on the drawing but this is what I have so far:

I am pretty pleased with the results. The scan didn't quite do it justice, a lot of the shading did not show up. I plan to mat and frame the portrait when finished and give it to my husband for a gift this Christmas. Will post the finished results!

Don't anyone tell him!

A Lost Classmate

2008-10-08T09:18:00.003-04:00

I wrote earlier about the high school reunion I attended where I learned of a classmate that had cancer. I had not thought of this classmate in years as I have not thought of many of my classmates in years. I do have some memories of her from that time and I had added her to my prayers after I heard of her illness. Yesterday I was sorry to hear that she had passed away. Although we were not close in school we shared years of the same history. My thoughts are with her family. Rest in peace, Carmen!

Neurologist Update

2008-09-29T12:01:00.003-04:00

Promised an update on my son after we visited the neurologist. We were told there was nothing physically wrong that had caused the seizures. All physical tests, CT scan, blood work, MRI came back normal. However, his EEG showed "definite abnormal" brain activity from the right front temporal lobe area. We had two options, to medicate or wait and see. The Dr. recommended not medicating at the present time and that is what we decided to do. My son asked him about having another seizure and the Dr. said right now he had a 60% chance he would and a 40% chance he would not have another seizure. If my son goes six months without a seizure his odds go to 70% he will not have another seizure and 30% he will. Every month he goes without a seizure improves his odds of not having another. If he goes a year without another one he will probably not have anymore because it is very rare for someone to go a year and then begin having seizures again. If he has another seizure we will begin medication and if he makes six months without one we will do another EEG and re-evaluate at that time.

Many people around the world are praying for my son and my family greatly appreciates all of the prayers and good thoughts!

High School Reunion

2008-09-29T10:06:00.004-04:00

I attended our 30th high school reunion on Saturday. The last reunion I had attended was our 5th year reunion and I had not seen many of my classmates since. As I pulled up to the location and saw people going in my first reaction was "Wow! Who are all these middle-aged people?"

I met a good friend of mine there and the first 30 minutes or so everyone spent in trying to figure out who was who. My friend told me; "We haven't changed a bit but some of them have really aged!" I guess our mirrors show us what we want to see and not what is really there. I do believe though that the guys had changed (aged) more than the women, but maybe they just don't try to cover it up like women do. I was really amused to see that the guys that had the long shoulder-length flowing locks that they were so proud of in high school turned out to be pretty much bald! Actually most of the men were bald or balding and what hair they had was grey. There were very few men that still retained a full head of hair. To me most of the women still looked the same, yes they had aged some and most (including myself) had put on a few pounds since high school but in the face they still looked the same as they did then. The ones I did not recognize were ones that had completely changed their hair color and that made it difficult for me.

I felt kind of out-of-place but I am glad I went. It was nice to see my classmates again, although many of the ones I was close friends with then did not attend the reunion. It was also nice to see that the old "cliques" were no more. The ones that we considered snobby while in high school because they did not associate with us were very friendly and spent a lot of time laughing and talking with us at the reunion. It was good to catch up and share news with each other and see what everyone was up to. Of course jobs, marriages, children and even grand-children were discussed and pictures were shown off. People made jokes about the tough times they had been through and was able to share some laughs about it, and as always when middle-aged (can I really be middle-aged?) people get together their diseases, surgeries, and ailments as well as prescriptions were discussed.

We remembered lost classmates and our class felt very fortunate to have only lost three (that we know of) with one of those in elementary school due to an accident. The other two were lost due to cancer, and news was shared of a classmate that is currently battling that loathsome disease and seems to be losing the battle.

Games were played, laughs and fellowship was shared, friendships renewed, contact information exchanged and promises were made to keep in touch, but most of us will probably get busy with our own lives again until we attend the next reunion where we will all look a little older and go through it all again!

Gas Prices

2008-09-22T08:02:00.006-04:00

Friday my family went to the Central Carolina Fair and were extremely surprised to see that the parking lot had so many spaces available. Once we went inside we saw that there were some people walking around but not many appeared to be spending money. The game attendants were extremely aggressive trying to get people to play their games and I quickly found the best thing was to avoid eye contact. I guess they were getting desparate for people to spend money with them.

Saturday as we ran our errands (got groceries and went out to eat), the grocery store parking lot was practically empty and when we went to the restaurant (Mayflower) they had no business as well. A whole section of the restaurant had empty tables when usually you have to wait in line. My husband asked the cashier as he was paying if she thought the gas prices had hurt their business and she said it really had.

Yesterday I took our son to Wal-mart to get some pants for the upcoming cooler weather. As we drove through our small town and stopped at the stop light there was not another car in sight. It was really spooky.

I guess people are really cutting down on their weekend driving and activities. For some families it is very hard to purchase groceries and gasoline for their vehicles to go to work with the high prices and non- necessities have to go. I'll bet the high gas prices have hurt the movies and other leisure activities as well as the restaurants. You can really see how things are a chain and how one link affects another.

Oh, while at the fair I spent $7 playing the lottery at their booth and won $27! That was pretty cool, but then I spent $7 more and didn't win anything. I believe you can win enough in the lottery to keep you playing but in the end you don't get ahead.

We go to the neurologist on Wednesday, will let you know what he says.

Why I dread September

2008-09-17T10:45:00.001-04:00

September seems to be a particularly bad time of year for me. It seems that many bad things happen around that time of year. My mother passed away on September 5th, 2002 unexpectedly. My family purchased and moved into her house and exactly one year to the day of her death our central air conditioning system gave out and had to be replaced. The next year during the month of September we found out we had to replace our heating system (which was separate from our central air) and the next year in September (Labor Day weekend) our well went dry and we were without water until December.

You are probably starting to get the picture now. In 2006 we had to replace a large portion of the roof on the house during September which was expensive and in 2007 my husband had a severe case of bronchitis that he had a time getting rid of also during September.

This year the day after Labor Day as my son was getting ready for school he had a seizure. At the time we were not sure what was going on but we called the paramedics. About 2.5 hours later at the hospital he had another seizure which was what used to be called a grand mal and was apparently what he had at home. All kinds of tests were done and we were told it was not anything physical but so far we don't have a reason. He stayed in the hospital overnight and we were told that if he had another seizure he was going to be transferred to a children's hospital. He was released the next day and we were told he could resume his normal activities. So far so good but it is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. We have an appointment with a neurologist next week and hopefully we will get some answers or have our minds relieved then. Will let you know on that.

So.......... every year I dread September. It just seems to be too many coincidences and many of the happenings take place right around the anniversay of Mom's death. I wonder is she trying to tell me something?