In case you noticed I haven't been around... my computer decided to die. I had a 5 year old Dell and even they weren't sure if it was the power supply or the motherboard. I decided to rebuild; using my existing sound and video cards as they were practically new. The rest I replaced. Took about a week and a half to decide what to get then have it shipped then have it rebuilt. Still some quirks in the bios but it's working great!
I want to thank certain family members for putting it together and certain computer savvy friends who helped with the other issues. Yes: I promise to never go into the bios again unless you're with me :)
I'm very glad that I've had most everything backed up on an external hard drive so I didn't loose anything too important.
Though; if you are one of the people that I correspond with via email you might send me a message so I can get you back into my address book :)
So... I'm back!
Garden update:
This was also the week of the earliest Blizzard apparently in known history for Massachusetts. We've had snow; even heavy snow earlier but I think it's the first blizzard. The picture above is out the back window looking over the back yard, garden and woods and hills beyond.
Fortunately I'd gotten the greenhouse bedded down under it's plastic row cover and winter blanket. Unfortunately I still have to dig up my Celeriac and a few other things, if they've survived the foot of snow and temperatures in the low 20s. There were even still some beans on the vines I didn't get to on time.
The hard part has been for the trees. They still have their foliage and the weight of the snow can snap not only branches but trunks. The Japanese Maple out front has been particularly stressed and so we had to go out in the storm and knock the snow off with a broom.
Studio Update:
At the time of the crash I was working on 5 canvases of Ravens. I think I may have gotten Ravens out of my system but we'll see. :)
You can see them below with descriptions.
I've mostly been puttering in the studio as most of my free time has been reloading the computer with all my programs. I did do some painting; I'm just putting the finishing touches on so I'll post that next time.
I'm not giving myself a Challenge this week. Aside from trying to do something creative everyday. I have my oncology appointment on Wednesday following a Pet Scan to check on the anomalies found last Spring; aside from the two liver tumors that were removed (and discussed in a previous post). I'm a bit nervous so I don't want to put any pressure on myself.. beyond that. Even fun ones like the Challenges.
So here is the report from the last one; better late then never:
Raven Challenge:
(all are 9x10", acrylic paint and pastes, collage, oil pastels)
This and the next one are the first two I did and my favorites. I love the colors and general feel/mood.
The second is fiber paste rather then the usual molding paste. I found it neat but not sure if I like the texture.
This one was a bit different as I didn't use any acrylic pastes. Just paint, inks and oil pastels.
These next two I tried a different color palette. I'm not as happy with them as the first three; particularly the first two. But they are nice I think: particularly the last one.
That's it for today. As I said I'll post that other painting I did last week. A rather nice abstract on 4 6x6' canvases.
If you're in the North East USA; stay warm!
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