been a while

So it has been a while since I last wrote something. As an update to the fawn, I did see it again just a week or so since the first time I saw it. Oh and the mother was just inside the woods this time. I could see her but could not pick her up in the small phone camera. The pictures are included below. Oh wow....I just found myself typing how I write emails at work. GRRRRRR CORPORATE AMERICA!



Friday, was our company outing at the Lookouts game. Is it a surprise to hear that I was an hour late because I stayed in the office to finish a design package? =P I still managed to catch the end of the food and the setting of the sun just before the game. One thing that I still wonder about is the picture that this man took of a coworker and I. Here we are standing at the right field foul pole (probably in the perfect light) and I am explaining how to read the scoreboard. A man down below is taking pictures with a pretty fancy camera...even better than my new one! lol He turns around and see us standing there and takes a few pictures. I made sure not to look directly at him but I did catch it out of the corner of my eye. This whole time, I have been asking why. Was it the cultural diversity that was being shown or was it simply a great photo opportunity for the ball park? And another thing....how many lick does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll lollipop?

Monday, my dad was in town for a conference just like last year. I was invited and happened to enjoy it thoroughly. This year, some people from the Chattanooga Aquarium gave a little presentation while we all ate Sticky Fingers. Before the presentation, they drew numbers from the 20 or so people in the room to win prizes. I was the first winner and actually won two tickets to the aquarium! Now...who to invite...... At any rate, it was nice to involve myself in such an informative evening. As for right now, I really should be getting to bed. I have yet another busy week ahead of me.

fawn

This morning, I walked to my truck as usual to go to work. Because I mainly wear my glasses to drive, I store them in my truck. Just as I was opening my door, I looked 20 yards up the hill toward a fence corner at the edge of the woods and noticed what seemed to be a little head poking up, staring back at me. I thought "hmm, someone's dog is out roaming around." Just then, it lept out of the weeds and skipped right up to me (withing 15 feet). It was the cutest baby fawn you will ever encounter, and it didn't even seem scared of me. As I sat in my truck with the door open, I simply watched as it was walking around and listening to dogs barking. These dogs were several hundred yards away on the other side of the woods. I, too, listened and noticed that the dogs were not the only ones making a noise. Amongst the dog barks, one could distinctly make out the sound of a mother deer as she snorted and weezed.

Deer do this for three reasons. First, deer will snort if they smell something they do not like (dog, human, etc) or if they have been scared by a noise. Secondly, deer will snort if they THINK they saw something that looked suspicious. This is usually accompanied with a foot stomp to try to get that "something" to move and give itself away. Lastly, deer will snort as an alert to other deer in a way such as tracking. I think this mother doe was snorting and weezing for a combination of reasons. Sure she was scared of the dogs, but I could tell she was alerting the baby as to her location. Every so often the fawn would look in the direction of the mother's weezes and edge closer. Eventually I was becoming late for work and had to start my truck. This was a definite signal to the fawn to hide but at least I was able to take a few pictures with my camera phone. I hope to post a few of them later. This would have been an EXCELLENT time to try out my new canon xsi camera......DRAT!

Lowe Mill

So this past weekend I visited some friends of mine from college in Huntsville, AL. My friend, his wife, and I all had birthdays that week so we met to celebrate. Do I have to say how awesome it was? Good food all weekend, partying, and....art? Yes art. Apparently there is this awesome place called Lowe Mill. Some rich guy bought the old mill and turned it in to studios for artists. Every Saturday, artists come together and sell things from jewelry, vintage clothes, and books to various art pieces. While that is all nice, I preferred the upper levels. The 2nd level had some nice sculptures of women, glass work, and neat cartoon art while the 3rd level is where the actual studios were located. It is actually like window shopping. You can walk by each studio, look through the large windows, and see the artists' works. If you are lucky, you actually get to see them working. It was really neat seeing just how different each studio was. What a blast! I cannot wait until the next time I go. Anyone need a ride?

wonderful starting image? check.....no color? check.....problems with proportions? check.....failed to capture her beauty? check

Ok, so I said I would not draw her. That was until I came across an article about her from a few years ago. In it was a lovely picture that looked as if it was straight out of a French book. Then there was this photo. It was that image that compelled me to draw her. I sooo did not want to fail. *sigh*

At first glance, you might not think this drawing is that bad. (You also cannot tell who it is either.) But when compared to the original photo?.... Thankfully, I will not post the photo for comparison for fear of copyright issues (yeah yeah...that's it! lol). Otherwise, my failure would be even more evident. In short, I will simply list the major flaws with this drawing:

1. head and neck are too small
2. face is smushed
3. a board is missing below her arm (did this on purpose to correct a different mistake)
4. too much palette is showing (wrong angle)
5. arm is too high (causing me to elongate the items below)
6. eyes are too open (I failed to capture her look of solemnly appreciating the small things in life, like putting her brush back in its place.)

So I probably went in to too much detail with those flaws but I call'm like I see'm. If only I could see them BEFORE I GET 50% COMPLETE! lol

Ah well...and without further adieu (yes I know it is ado but I gotta practice my french at some point lol)...here is the attempt at drawing.

choice

I saw this article today about an artist with a tumor that hindered her sight. Despite her troubles, she continued to paint and now she is said to be a modern "Picasso." She is refusing surgery because she does not want her art to be affected. She is also selling her painting for $7,500 now. My question is, what would you do? Money vs better eyesight.....

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06022009/news/regionalnews/tumor_turns_everyday_painter_into_an_art_172129.htm

Old Art

Ok, so today was exciting! Wonderful artist Mia Bergeron painted my portrait today. As a request, I have included a link to old art work that I have created. Mia, if you are reading this....you may be sorry you requested to see these. lol

Andy's Old Art

(And yes the address is from an old joke website of mine so don't make fun) :-P