Where did Spring go?

I have been practically bragging about how spring like it has been here but look what I found on my poor lilac yesterday! Yes, that is some soggy wet snow! Poor little lilac buds. I think they will be okay though. Today it rained all the live long day. That's okay. That's normal for here.

I love standing in this bundle of maple trees and looking up through the trunks. Almost dizzying.

When Rocky and I went for a walk, the neighbor dog, Sudz, decided to come along. Isn't he handsome?

I love the way some trees grow straight up out of the earth. Like a hair out of my scalp. Look at this big ol' tree, just sticking up out of the ground so straight and tall. Sudz is impressed. He thinks there might be a squirrel up there.

I want to welcome a follower, a fellow Oregonian, Tam Hess at http://artinflight.blogspot.com/.  Thanks for coming by Tam, hope to get to know you better.  She is a mother of 3 and yet she finds time to make some very creative and whimsical art.  Check her out.

Today I have been listening to a new album by Anais Mitchell titled Hadestown, she calls it a folk opera. I am infatuated with it. She has a lot of guest singers helping her out such as Greg Brown (the reason I bought this album) Ani D'Franco, BonIver and others. I need to find out more about the basic story so I can understand this opera better. Greg Brown as Hades is magnificent, and Ani D'Franco is Persephone. Excellent music.

Be well.

Rocky

Here is my tough guy Rocky. He is a Pit Bull. See the poor little teddy bear in his vicious jaws? Rocky likes to take his teddy bear on walks, carrying teddy all the way to the river and part way back. I usually have to bring teddy home. Once I left him in the woods where Rocky had dropped him and the next day he was gone, never to be seen again. I think a coyote took it. Maybe that teddy is in a coyote den somewhere, entertaining the pups.
Be well.

The Laughing Dog

Let me tell you a little secret: This is my first blog post on my own blog. After posting once or twice on friends blogs I realized how simple it is to start one and after being urged by those friends to do so, well, I have finally succumbed to the temptation. I can’t imagine that anyone would want to read it but I decided to create one for my own pleasure. I will use it as a personal journal to record my journey as an artist and a human. I guess it won’t be very personal if anyone in the world can look at it, but I won’t be writing or showing anything terribly private.
So, what photo should I include with this first posting? A recent piece of art I have created? A nature photograph? My Laughing Dog? Yes, I believe I will post a Laughing Dog photo, since this is where my name comes from. I love all dogs, big and small, but have really given my heart to the bully breeds, Pit Bulls in particular. I have raised five of them but only have one right now. The dog I named my studio for passed on a year ago and I miss him badly. I still have his brother, Rocky. Pit Bulls have the biggest grins of just about any dog out there, and this photo sums up my dog’s personalities very well.
I hope to keep this mainly as an art and nature journal and not take it too seriously. If you would like to peek into my journey now and then, you are most welcome.
The photo is of Sierra, my Laughing Dog. He was a boy, btw. I named him Sierra because of his color.
Today is the last day of 2009, a good day to start a blog, don’t you think?
Be well.
Jan