My Friend Andrea!

My friend Andrea and her dear Darius came over today to walk with Nikita and I. Dan made breakfast for us all! We love it when they come over. :)

Winter Morning & the Moon

The moon managed to make herself barely noticable yesterday morning. She was actually quite large and nearly looming.

The sky was beautiful blue, pink & violet.

Little Changes on the Greenberg Portrait.......

I made a few minor changes to this portrait. If you look at Jon, you'll see that I've added a little more color to his face and helped define him a bit more. I think I'll take a few minutes this week to finish it up for good and begin a new "Finnish Fairy" portrait.

Happy mid-month everybody!

Tuesday's Mourning Dove...........

Here's one of our regular little visitors.

He/she's all puffed up for the cold weather. We've had a little precipitation; snow, sleet, rain - but it's mostly frozen outside. The usual desert yummies are few, our birdseed bell is lessening quickly and our birdseed house, is empty. Slim pickin's for hungry birds! Time to go to the store. I've been in bed sick that last few days but hope to be up and around tomorrow as I am to start working again.

Ms. Prarie Falcon makes an unscheduled appearance!

Here is Ms. Prairie Falcon. She came to visit in our neighbor's yard this morning, which happens to be right outside my studio window!

I wish that these pictures were a little clearer than they are, but I am happy to have been able to get them at all. I opened the blind and startled her a little bit, but she held her composure long enough for me to snap a couple of photos.

Alice and Jon, my mother & father-in-law....

Here is portrait which does not do them justice, but is something I recently almost completed just the same. One portrait has a lot less eye definition and color in the faces than the other. I had some corrections to make. So, if you see them either one above the other, or side by side, you can see that there have been adjustments. I will probably further define Jon's face with deeper color & shadow. Check it out, see what you think! It's important to see the products that come out really well, and the ones that have left us challenged. They're all worthy of acknowledgement. Just like in life, things aren't always pretty. It's been said that pain is the touchstone of growth. Painful paintings, drawings, writings, creations - lessons. We learn from them. Others learn from us. The "tooth" of this paper is extreme. Loads of texture; difficult to draw on, therefore, leaving really thick lines - plus I used a heavy stick of graphite. All lessons, all learning. Here's Jon & Alice.

Raven.......(a poem)

Caw-caw raven
Jagged overhead
Teasing me with questions
Where you goin' - where you been?

Seriously laughing
Looming uncomfortably close
Waiting for the shoe to drop
As winds maniacally blow

Gathering her minions
Crows, coyotes & snakes
Not asking for opinion
She corrals ones, others forsake

Eyes keen, beak pert
Messenger from the other side
From a place I can't yet see
Or, recognize

Raven are you callin'?
Callin' me to dream?
Callin' me to cloud filled days
To a shadow read?

Raven are you callin'?
Do I hear a dare?
Daring me to jump the fire,
To take my wings to the air?

Raven are you callin'?
Me, to the other side?
Giving me a ticket to....
Where another world resides?

Tellin' me you care.
Daring me to dare.
Let my ego die.
Callin' me to fly!

Here I am Raven,
Raven, I am here.

Susan Lowery 12/2007

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

We had a fabulous time at a beautiful party last night in Corrales. Wonderful people, fun dancing & awesome food! May the light guide us all year long & keep us safe. As my sacred friend Angie stated, "Let it be great in 2008!"

Namaste.....