Totally Fauve

Totally Fauve is a good description for this one! The "Fauves" were the "wild beasts" in French art who slapped paint about with wild abandon and great exuberance. That pretty well applies to my dog and her "nose goob", especially when the wild beasts are in the yard! I get crazy with the colors, after she's had her fun on the windows.

We survived the 4th of July (and the 5th) in our bunker in the guest bath downstairs, with the radio blaring to block out the fireworks noise. Cassie went to sleep (!) and I sat there in that tiny claustrophobic space playing games on my cell phone until it was safe to come out. Only for the love of that dog.

We also survived another hit by Thor's Hammer! There were storms for several days in a row, including the 4th, but now I can't remember which day it was. You sort of get "shell-shock" after a while! Anyway, Cassie was doing her usual roaming and destruction routine and I was watching her, when there was a tremendous POW. I saw fire as I blinked from the jolt; since I was still alive and the power was on, I figured my neighbors got the worst of it. Then later during the heavy rain I looked out at the back yard and noticed a dead tree with an orange stripe running down the trunk! The lightning had hit it and knocked bark all over the place. Whew.

One reason I haven't posted lately: we now have an online store! Visit us at

http://www.cafepress.com/airedale_art . I'm adding more items ASAP - hope you will like what I've done with some of our work.

Wild Blue

Wild Blue has almost all the colors for the Fourth of July! Count the white background, and we look patriotic. Actually, I always dread this week, because Cassie is terrified of fireworks. Two years ago she got physically ill from the stress from one of our neighbors' two-hour extravaganzas. Last year I dreaded it so much that I got sick from the stress of trying to keep her away from the noise. We wound up having a good time anyway, walking around Davidson, NC, and visiting Ben and Jerry's while the neighbors had their blast. Got to come up with a plan quick for Friday (and Saturday).

Cassie didn't use to be such a jellyfish about noise, until 2003 when we took a terrifying hit from lightning. It struck a tree, jumped to the barn and set it on fire, then traveled through the wiring to the house and knocked everything out here. It was so loud I could feel it in my dental work! We had to get out of the house until the fire department got here since there was electrical smoke (from a blown switch, it turned out). It was sort of funny: the volunteer FD got here fast and were checking the attic and house, and one of them asked if we had a crawlspace. I told him it was around back, so he went to check it and came tearing back yelling, "The barn's on fire!" Fortunately there was no occupant at the time. The guys got it under control so the damage wasn't too bad, but Cassie was really traumatized (me, too!). I'm supposed to reassure her now that storms are OK: not easy to do when I want to curl up in a fetal position in a dark place and suck my thumb until it goes away. Two jellyfish, here.

For the record (anyone listening out there?), fireworks are illegal in NC!!! Yeah, I know, there aren't enough cops to arrest everyone - but there's a stiff fine if you do get caught. Something to think about.

Primary Colors 2

This is one of those images that won't come across on the web anywhere near what I'm seeing on paper here. I am well aware that anyone with the right technology can make a passable version of anything I post here, but keep in mind the concept of "artistic vision". You won't actually get the real thing unless it comes from me. So there. Oh, yeah, while I'm on my soapbox - since each of my prints are done individually on demand, even though there may be 50 "copies", there are bound to be variations which give them uniqueness. Lose a pixel here, change a color there, but each is lovely to look at! Trust my eyes to give you the absolute best.

Cassie is back at work on the windows again. It's been so hot here that most of the wildlife is hiding, but last night a lone deer strolled around the edge of the woods and she went into full-blown red alert, roaring through the house from window to window and really raising Cain, while my mom was on the phone. Bad timing.

Getting Behind

"PiCassieO" is still working, but we've been busy helping a canine friend of ours find a new home with one terrific human (you know who you are!). I am having a dickens of a time trying to do these posts, so just enjoy the art and forget the boo-boos.

My camera tends to go out of focus when the batteries are failing (or maybe it just gets tired after taking so many shots). I couldn't resist playing with the really fuzzy ones; the top one is tentatively called Fuzzy (duh!) and the bottom, Primary Colors. At some point I need to have a "Name the Art" contest, because I'm running out of good titles. Untitled #1234 is just too confusing.

Gone Wild!

The colors in "Gone Wild!" are incredible in print - I don't think web color is anywhere near the real thing. The "PiCassieO" work has been an on-going learning experience for me; I'm now taking a second look at some of the earlier stuff and exploring it further. This particular composition came from "Six Deer on Monday" (in archives). Wow - what a difference! Cassie is continuing to provide me with new material, too. I think if I'd move my dry-docked boat she would be more inspired; right now it's blocking her view of the pines on the east side (the view from the blue chair). She still goes into cracker-dog mode when the bunnies are out there, but there's nothing like a full-blown deer alert.

"Where the Snow Hides"

This was one of the first "PiCassieO"s, but it's still one of my favorites. Not exactly seasonal around here, though, since yesterday was in the 80's. There was a turtle cruising by the back yard this morning, so Cassie should be having some fun at those windows soon! I'm not sure what it is about those critters that makes her so crazy - probably they're just so slow they stay in view longer.

Anyway, there is a story connected with "Snow" that departs from the usual. A friend of mine was getting work for an art auction at her church. It happened that the study for the month was on the book of Job (in the Bible). The challenge was to match some of my dog art to an appropriate scriptural reference from Job. Not so hard, really, since there are so many passages about nature, including one about "where the snow hides". A perfect match, here.

Serendipity Strikes Again!

During the late fall Cassie was working that west window a lot. She sits on the back of the couch and looks down from the second floor to the yard and woods, and yowls at the squirrels that have invaded the shed near the bird feeder, so the markings were pretty heavy. Then the weather finally turned really cold, which made the windows sweat. It created a great effect on her work as the condensation ran down the window. It looked like water lilies or some other floating plants after I worked it up. Odd that something so tranquil could come out of my wild dog's rantings and the freezing weather.

Before I forget, thanks a bunch to Scruffy, Lacie, Stanley, Noah, Randi, Blue, and the others who responded to our article in Sunday's Charlotte Observer. It can still be viewed at www.charlotte.com/cabarrus ; it appeared April 13th, so it will probably be in the archive section by Thursday. It was a fun experience, although Cassie decided to take a nap in the middle of the interview! She's hard to impress.