Like Walking in Deep Sand

It was a glorious sunny morning, so my husband and I decided to forego our indoor ice skating plans and instead head for the woods.  We weren't in the mood for too much company out there, which means we headed to Baltimore Woods.  I had hoped they would be renting snow shoes since my husband doesn't have any, but their office is closed on Sundays.  So, in solidarity, I agreed to walk with him instead of snow shoeing myself.

Ow.  We did not get as much snow here as folks in New England, but there is probably about a foot on the ground at Baltimore Woods. And while it's been traveled and packed down some, it's still fairly deep and squashy. It turns out that walking in such stuff is a lot like walking on a beach through deep soft sand. Your feet kind of slide out every which way, and it's absurdly laborious. I WORKED for the three miles we walked!  Given that I went sledding on Saturday and can barely move my arms after all the effort to keep myself on the inner tube, I figure by tomorrow every inch of me will be in agony.

But I admit it was absolutely delicious to be out in sunshine today.  It was warm enough that all I needed was a light jacket, and at times that was too much.   For the first time in months I was really in the mood to use my camera, because there's little that gives better contrast than sunshine in winter.  I simply love all the shadows on the snow, contrasted with the almost blinding whiteness.  The textures of the snow are amazing too.

I also love how incredibly intense the few flashes of color are.  My eye just gets grabbed by the little bits of color, because they seem magnified by being surrounded by whiteness.

 

Anyway, it was a lovely if laborious walk, with good company and my trusty camera.  Sunshine, it was so nice to see you!

Read more...

New portrait

A new bit of commissioned artwork.



That's Sadie and Lola.  I love the gleeful leap into infinity.

This piece was one I struggled with mightily.  I am an animal portrait artist... and not good at landscapes.  And while there are two dogs in this, there is a lot more scenery than dog.  I'm not thrilled with it, but it was certainly good for my skills!  It made me do studies of light and value and color that I usually just skip right over.  Boring to do, but very worthwhile, I grudgingly admit. 

I hope my next commissioned piece is a nice close up of a dog, cat or horse face, though!

Read more...

A little texture in the woods

I am in the midst of my midwinter blahs.  I want snow (lots of it) because it's still sort of fun.  The fun factor will wear off before too long but not yet.  At least you can DO stuff with snow, like snowshoe.  But unfortunately it's been warm and melty and all we're left with today is some ugly clumps of snert.

Without snow, I am left just being SO SICK of the interminable gray skies of winter in Central New York!  Our summers are spectacular here, but we sure pay for it with woeful lack of sun in winter.

So, on Saturday, I saw the sun pop out from between the clouds for a few brief stints, playing peekaboo.  I grabbed my camera and rushed outdoors.  Because I'm me.  My shots were certainly not spectacular, but I did relish the ability to capture at titch of sunshine and the remnants of the snow, however briefly.

And also because I'm me, I found abandoned farm equipment in the woods to photograph.  I gravitate toward it.  I loved the laciness of the leaves, and the texture of the tire, and the brief sprig of life balanced precariously on rust.

I love textures in all seasons.  This moss was particuarly arresting since it was so bright surrounded by all the snow, dirt, and brown trees.  But I loved the texture of the snow, too, and leaves and grass in suspended animation in the water. 

I am hoping for more snow and colder temperatures in the forecast. Slightly colder. I'll probably get a lot colder. But so long as it comes with snow, I'll take it.

 

Read more...

Codependence

My poor dumb Basset hound has clearly made the transition to relying on his new buddy Phoebe, the way he used to rely on his sister Lucy.  Which is great!  Mostly...

Now Simon and Phoebe sleep together and romp together much like Simon and Lucy used to.  I'm glad he has a buddy during the day when we're gone, and his anxiety levels are as low as they can ever be, for a supremely neurotic dog.  (Sorry about the poor quality of the pics, folks - these are just from my phone.)

Typical evening on the couch in our house:

Or on the futon in the attic:



They get into trouble together:


Are always underfoot together:


And this is what we tend to find a few minutes after we've gotten out of bed in the morning:


On the whole, I am vastly relieved that our having chosen Phoebe worked so well for our sweet nutty Basset hound, who cannot even begin to function as an only dog.

But Simon is getting old - I think he's 7 now - and he has classic Basset hound back problems that prevent him from romping as hard as he used to.  And that leaves us with a pent up hyperactive 2 year old Phoebe on our hands, which frankly isn't pretty.  We have actually been known to pay one of my husband's marathon runner colleagues to come and take her for 8 mile runs, because my pathetic 3 mile jogs don't even begin to take the edge off of her energy.  In short, she drives us NUTS.

Recently, however, we have discovered a new playmate for Phoebe in our next door neighbor's hound mix puppy, Boone.  We puppy sat for Boone on New Year's Eve and discovered he's cute and awful, as all puppies are.



He's just as hyper as Phoebe, and they adore each other.  The two of them can WWE wrestle for HOURS on end.


We have now begun taking Phoebe next door to our neighbor's fenced yard for lengthy play sessions.  After a good romp and wrestle, both we and our neighbors appreciate a little quiet time while our hyper dogs snooze.

But here's the problem.  When we take Phoebe next door to play with Boone and burn off some energy, Simon has to stay home so he doesn't get injured.  And while Phoebe has a GREAT time, poor Simon is pathetic about it.  This is what Simon does the whole time his Phoebe is gone:

Sigh.  I feel guilty every time he does it.  I guess there's only so much we can fix in our poor codependent dog.

Read more...