Thursday, April 30, 2009

Juicy Goose

Since moving into our rental house while ours is being repaired, we've had the educational experience of watching a pair of Canada geese that hang out on the grassy area next to the river adjacent to our house.

I started studying about them and discovered that they mate for life, unless for some reason they're unable to reproduce with their partner.

We've studied our pair since January, and have seen them watch each other's backs while they feed, chase away other geese if they come too close, and make friends with the little ducks that consistently come into their territory to feed.

When the female was ready to lay her eggs, they evidently found a hiding place for their nest somewhere in the brush across the river. The male would come back to our side to stand guard, and the female only returned twice a day to feed. When we didn't see her all day the first few times, I got worried, so I started reading about them. I learned to watch for her return in the early mornings and evenings, and sure enough...

I've read that it takes about a day for her to lay each egg, and that she'll come back to see her mate and eat during those days. When all the eggs have all been laid, she doesn't come back over. That's what's happening right now, I think.

For the past few days, I've only seen her once. She'll stay on her eggs until all of goslings have hatched, then the male will join her full time again, and help care for the babies. The babies can swim from day one, so hopefully we'll get to see them before we move back home. Can't wait.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

I'm a Person with too Much Time

I've been goofing around with making wire sculptures.





Here's a replica of my hand. I started this by wrapping wire all around my hand and fingers.









I'm still trying experiments with fabric on canvas board. On this one, I painted the face with acrylics and then fused fabric pieces to it.

Monday, April 20, 2009

What a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood







I'm happy!

The day is happy!


The view from our deck makes Oregon seem happy.









The ducks on the lawn are happy.
Phoebe tiptoes by the tulips, so she's happy.
Happier!
















Happiest!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Belated Blog








Not a lot of blogging time lately. It's been crazy busy.

Here's a shot taken yesterday from the new balcony off our bedroom. It's just about complete.



I decided that while the washer, dryer and freezer were out of the utility room (because of the tree damage repair), it was a good time to slap on some paint. I decided to go a little wild. Here's the result with one of my quilts auditioning for the wall space.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Try Try Again





I'm still goofing around with image transfers and using fabric as "paint" on canvas board.

I haven't really decided if this is something I like or not. It's fun to do, but I don't think I've quite found the best technique yet.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Covered in Gel





I'm experimenting with doing mixed media, using mostly fabric pieces.

For this one, I used Golden gel medium to transfer an image to a piece of canvas board. Then I made a bajillion little pieces of fabric to use as my "paint," and filled in the rest of the canvas with the fabric pieces, gluing them on with the gel medium.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should cover the whole piece with some sort of varnish type stuff, and if so, what I should use.

Who knows how this'll turn out. Maybe I'll post photos again when I get it finished.