Rear Window

A Night in the Barn

A big bright moon shining through a window is a recurring theme in my children's work. I can't help being fascinated with the orb.  Especially when it is full. I have a whole series of moon photos that I call The Moon of My Life  (from Game of Thrones) over on my photography blog. And I'll keep painting our bright light in the sky for many, many more moons....

Window is the theme for www.illustrationfriday.com

Beloved Beasts

click to enlarge

May the spirit of the season fill your hearts with joy.  And may your beloved beasts always bless your life.  They are our constant companions.  And most faithful friends.  Their gift to us is  unconditional love.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

My kind of trees.

click to enlarge

A long time ago in a far away place I did a little thing called the Fiction Project for Art House Co-op.  I wrote and illustrated my own little journal with the theme Over the Top.  I filled it with illustrations and story observations about my beloved vacation destination Costa Rica.  And called it, There's an Iguana on my Roof.  These three illustrations have eluded my blog until now.   

But with the www.illustrationfriday.com theme tree I thought it was the perfect choice.  Palm trees are close to my heart.  And if there is an Iguana on my roof and it is 90 degrees outside, even better.

P.S.  To see all the illustrations and Costa Rica love stories click on the fiction project icon in my side bar.

The Loser Files...

I have an uninterrupted losing streak over at Joan's blog  She has a monthly photo contest.  But at least my photos are winners to me!  Because they are my photo memories.  Especially my cat Akua.  He's my baby after all.  The theme was cats and dogs.  

 A leaf for a Fall theme.

Cows grazing for a food theme.  They are food (gulp) plus they are eating.  Poor cows. 

 White flowers for a White theme.

A Green parrot for a Green theme.

 A snowman for a Christmas theme. 

 This is one of my favorite travel photos.  We are sitting at the top of a Mayan ruin at Tikal in Guatamala. Do you see the other pyramids peeking over the jungle in the background?  Seeing Tikal was an amazing experience.  Calgon take me away right now!  I wish I was on a new adventure as we speak. Oh, and this was for a shoes theme!

A weathered and worn mailbox for a mailbox theme.  There were only 3 entries so I thought I might have a chance.  But no winner was selected!  My bad.

Beautiful Spring trees for a tree theme.  Loser.

But you might be a winner.  Have you read my toemail post below?  O.K.  I know these blog awards are kind of silly.  But I played along and forwarded the good, the bad and the lovely.  Are you feeling lovely...Punk?

For more winning photos visit Sunday Best!  

  

Hibernate

It is Friday again already. And that means it is www.illustrationfriday.com day. I picked an old illustration from my story, Sidney the Unstoppable Squirrel. I thought it would be perfect to follow my last chipmunk post. In my illustration Carmen the chipmunk is popping out of her hole to say hello to Sidney the squirrel. I sure gave Carmen a weird hole to hibernate in. All it needs is a manhole cover and she could be on the streets of New York. I'm sure that the chipmunks in our yard have been much more selective with their den placement. I know our little friend from my previous post put hers underneath our deck. And with all the corn she has stored up for Winter it must be huge! I don't think chippers actually hibernate so much as they sleep for long periods and then wake up for a snack. Kind of like a teenager I guess.

Mysterious...

This illustration is mysterious http://www.illustrationfriday.com/ because it is just part of a larger piece. I'm working on my first book with author Ivan Jensen. You'll be able to find these characters and more on pages 3-4. But what makes this book even more mysterious is that it is a work in progress. So even I don't know how it turns out!

And if you want to see another new illustration visit http://www.isaacgracelily.blogspot.com/ Aaron had a really fun challenge for his artist followers. He posted some fun kids art and challenged adult artists to do their own version. It's really a hoot so check it out. Look for the hilariously scary bunny and you'll see mine!

Asleep

All of the characters in this illustration should be sleeping. But only one is. Can you find him? Of course you can. Asleep is the http://www.illustrationfriday.com/ theme today. I used this illustration for my last promotional postcard. And I better get crack'in on my next one. No rest for the wicked artist. (that's me)

The fiction project...is almost due

Here is the 2nd set of Costa Rica illustrations for my fiction project journal http://arthousecoop.com/users/sharonrwagner I've already posted #3. The Blue Morpho from a previous post. And I even figured out a way to connect this storyline to my last post. The story is about a cat-tle egret. Ha! The due date for my fiction journal is this Saturday. But art house extended it to June 5th. That sounds good to me.

A Night in the Barn

I just finished, "A Night in the Barn" I can honestly say it was the hardest painting I've ever done. I put off starting it until the deadline of my upcoming show, Imagination, Exploration and Creativity loomed before me. It opens next Thursday night at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. It was the lighting that proved so difficult in this particular piece. And don't even get me started on that Owl. But I can happily report that I love it now. (click once or twice to enlarge) My favorite part is the Moon, which I actually painted separately. I cut out the window and will mount the Moon about 1/4 of an inch behind the painting. It creates a window you can see through. And it takes real bravado to cut through a painting. Let me tell you! I'm in the framing process right now. The MCBA show runs from April 8- June 20. And it's a CBIG show. http://www.childrens-illustrators.com/ So there will be plenty of great artwork to see.

Sidney the Unstoppable Squirrel

I'm posting another Sidney the Unstoppable Squirrel illustration in honor of Lille Diane and her blog ...This Time Tommorrow... http://www.woodstocklily.com/ She gave me the "One lovely blog award" Along with some of her other favorite new blogs. She enjoys the antics of her many Squirrel friends. ( you either love them or hate them, right?) But her latest post is about a day at the Zoo with some great shots of the king of the jungle. One of the elements of the award is to pass it on to other blogs. Which I might wait to do for a surprise attack later on. Today's illustration shows Sidney sneaking up on his friend Carmen the chipmunk. Here's a caption...Sidney knew he needed to find the red fox. So he headed straight for the nest of Carmen the chipmunk. She was sort of the forest know it all. Sidney tried to be quiet as he approached Carmen's nest. But he stepped on a big Orange leaf and CRUNCH...CRACKLE...CRUNCH! Carmen's head popped up. "Is that you Sidney the squirrel?" Sidney giggled, "Yes it's me." The end. Editor's note...that's not really the end but it is for now!

Cows in Costa Rica

I feel like today's post might not be of alot of interest to whom ever might be reading this. But I'm determined to keep going with my themes as much as possible. And an Orange Cow is a difficult subject! Although if I was posting another illustration I do have a Purple Cow one. So in order to add some interest to the photos I'll tell you a little bit about them. I happen to love the photo of the Cows and the billboard. I have no idea why really. I took it on our drive between the Orosi Valley and Puerto Veijo de Sarapiqui. But the other photo has a little more of an interesting story. This year we just about had the drivers side mirror taken off by one of these herding trains. We were driving to hike at Cabo Blanco Nature preserve and a whole herd came barrelling towards us on the road. Just a typical days drive in Costa Rica! But this particular photo was taken on a drive from the Rincon Volcano last year. We endured one of the most horrible roads, only to discover that the National park was closed on Mondays! So we never did see the volcano, but we did get caught behind one of these Cowboy herding drives. And I do like my Cows. (or bulls I suppose)

Along for a ride

I'm posting Along for a ride today because it's up for sale on http://www.etsy.com/. (sharonwagner) But don't all rush there at once! Is there anyone out there that likes Orange Cows? Maybe. Who knows! I posted three paintings and would have posted more, but to make an irritating story short. I was having some difficulty with the posting process. So if there are any goofy Alpaca lovers or Purple Cat people...hold on your painting may turn up soon. It just occured to me that I'm painting Cow horns again. But if you remember my post from last week (or want to take a quick scroll down) This painting couldn't be more different, huh?