Hummingbird Feeding Frenzy

This is a video of some hummingbirds that swarmed the feeder my sister-in-law Donna hung up outside their camper trailer while we were camping up in the Big Cimarron area of the Colorado mountains last weekend. These little guys seemed to be REALLY hungry. We sat and watched them that evening for an hour or more. Enjoy.

Shadow Box Framing

I just love these types of jobs. These are some antique "chain mail" purses a customer brought in to get framed. The colors and designs are little pieces of what appear to be baked enamel that are attached somehow to very small chain links. I think they date to the turn of the century (1900's) or so, maybe the 1920's. I stiched them in place with monofilament fishing line, letting them hang naturally, onto a piece of suede mat board. The insides of the frame are lined with black suede mat board. Great stuff.

Makin' the Catch

A couple of posts back I posted this photo from the Will James Ranch Rodeo I was at a couple of weeks ago. I felt that this shot would make a great watercolor. I wanted to capture the feeling of the motion, the running of the horse and the heifer, and of course the lariat sailing through the air, rather that paint a static, frozen in time version as captured in the photo. The question I submitted was whether to paint it as is, "A Miss", as in the photo or to help the fella out a bit. Here's the result.

I figured the best way to get the feeling of motion was to blur things a bit and to make it a bit more sketchy. I think it'll do for starters.

With all of the shots I took I have a lot of material to work with so I'm just going to keep on trying. Below is another attempt. I think this one turned out better.

I'll keep posting them as I go and we'll see if they continue to improve.

Sorry About That

My apologies. I left you hanging there after my last post. We did manage to escape a torrential down pour, sprinkles only. However we were treated to a spectacular light and sound show with all of the lightening and rolling thunder. We sat there in the comfort of our camp, with cold ones in hand and had a great time. No cover charge.

A bit later in the evening, we strolled across the street to the Cafe Diablo for a fantastic supper.

I can't describe what an oxymoron this is. Such a great place to eat in such a little out of the way place as Torry, UT. If you get a chance, you really should go there.

We've probably been to the Cafe Diablo 6 or 8 times and never once have we sat inside so I can't really tell you what that is like. That's two of the three of us on the far right (somebody had to take the picture). The gardens are beautiful and they make maybe the best Margarita to be had. Good thing all we had to do was walk back across the deserted highway to our camp.

The chef is award winning and the menu is a real surprise. Go to www.cafediablo.net to find out more. We'll be going back.

The next morning, Sunday, we headed home. On the way we stopped at "Blondies", well known for their milk shakes and burgers. Another little gem out in the middle of nowhere, this time at Hanksville, UT.

This a great stopping point for many boaters on the way to and from Lake Powell. You'll also find bikers there who take a break from roaming the back roads of Utah. That's my wife Kathy and I. It was only a two day get away but a great little ride.

Torrey, UT

Here we are I'm In Torrey, Ut. It was a beautiful ride here and we managed to stay dry. In fact it was rather warm to hot in places. Things change on short notice however. As you can see, we stand to get our 40% chance of rain. We've been watching this storm from our campsite. A fantastic lightening show going on. We may have to retreat to the bar across the street to wait this one out. Stay tuned.

Just A Miss

I finally got done processing all of my photos from the Will James Roundup I was at a couple of weeks ago in Hardin, MT. I took about 400 photos and have been busy converting them all to something useable, selecting the best, cropping, enlarging, etc. After making one initial pass through the results, I have 77 photos right off of the top I can use for reference for some great paintings, in both oil and watercolors. I also plan on doing a series of pen and ink sketches of many of these images.

The trick here is going to be to to capture the fluid motion and not just make an accurate illustration of the image. Drawing an accurate rendition of the image is easy. I want to create something that depicts the motion. That'll be the hard part. There are some great action shots and I really need to experiment with some technique to pull it off. I'm thinking kind of loose and sketchy with just a hint of detail.

I'll start with this one, titled, "Just a Miss". Because I'm only using the information presented to do the art, it would be very tempting to move the loop a bit so it is a "catch". We'll have to see what I decide to do.

Rainy Day Sunday

I've never been so wet riding in the rain with the sum shining at the same time as I got yesterday. It was crazy.

Left son Glenn's in Ranchester, WY a little after 8:00 yesterday morning and 630 miles later arrived home wet and tired, a little after 8:00 in the evening. A great riding day none-the-less.

I thought this shot was befitting. I took it just coming into Delta, CO.

I want to thank every one who followed me this weekend. I'll get a couple of photos posted from the rodeo as soon as I get them processed.