Blog Slacker – Bad ME

blackcat.jpg Wow, I have missed two days now, that is not like me at all.  I mentioned in an earlier blog how I was sick with bronchitus and was down for like a week.  I swear I got more work done on my computer, website, blogs and other projects that don’t entail leaving the comfort of your down comforter, fuzzy slippers, and gentle ceiling fan blowing a breeze on you.  Now that I am healthy it’s like a bad nightmare game of catch up.  I spent last weekend catching up on my part-time at home job, and this weekend working on a commission.  Don’t get me wrong, I took time to take a ride in Ginger (our 69 Stingray that my hubby & I have) – and had some downtime the last two nights.  I have just spent the days of this weekend painting this 30×30 cat for a commisson which I am very excited to deliver next week.  Sorry I’ve missed blogging, I am trying to stay very loyal to it.  I am very excited about my Gold Star, YIPEE.  Seven people wrote to congratulate me, how cool is that!  Ebay people are so great.  I will have a new auction coming up tonight and staying in theme with Halloween I have “Black Cat” and I’ll run the cat cards and car cards just one more week.  These will be back, but as of this moment I haven’t moved this weeks cards so I am thinking of taking a break on posting those until right before the holidays and right after my Holiday shows.

Thanks for reading my Blog-It is a bold mouse that makes her nest in the cat’s ear.

Something is very wrong here

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September 27, 2007

You Can Run over a Child in Massachusetts

The facts for this story, but not the legal conclusions, come from a column in the Boston Herald on 27 September.

On September 26th, Antonio Montenegro ran over a child on a bicycle in a crosswalk, in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Montenegro is an illegal immigrant who has been driving without a license for eight years. Onlookers forced him to stop when he ran over 12-year-old Zachary Titus, who was on his bicycle..

Zachary suffered a broken leg, but is otherwise okay. What happened to Montenegro is what’s interesting. Original media reports that he was “released on his own recognizance” are false. It was worse than that. He was never arrested in the first place. He was given two tickets, one for driving without a license and the other for “failure to yield at a crosswalk.”

The day after the arrest, the Lynnfield police claimed that Montenegro presented a visa that showed who he was. This is contradicted by Montenegro himself, who told a local TV station he “could not get a license because he was in the country illegally.” He further said that he’d been in the country illegally for eight years, and that he’d built up a painting business, which owned the van that he drove over Zachary Titus and his bicycle.

The local police said there was nothing else they could or should have done. This writer has not curled up with the Massachusetts Criminal Code for an evening of light reading. However, I am fairly certain that it is illegal to run over a child in a crosswalk, even in the liberal bastion of Massachusetts. Breaking a child’s leg certainly qualifies as “great bodily harm,” a phrase that the common law – which Massachusetts follows – uses to draw a line between a technical harm, and one that is really serious.

The only reason why this man was not arrested, fingerprinted, and photographed front and side, is that the local police apparently thought it would be politically incorrect to arrest this gentleman because he was, after all, an “undocumented immigrant” who was “working hard to better himself.”

If there is reason and logic in Massachusetts – bear with me, this might somehow happen – Montenegro should be arrested on the more serious charge of running over the child. The Police Chief of Lynnfield should be encouraged to seek alternative employment. And the parents of the child should sue this illegal driver back to the Stone Age before he is deported.

Go here for this story on the Net: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1034352

The Victim is my Nephew Zachary, and I’m going on the record to say that whomever published this blog couldn’t have said it better than I. 

graphic confusion

I have been working with a semi-pro (could be pro if he wanted to be) photographer for some time to capture my work in it’s best light. He has a Nikon which is 10 Mega Pixels and all accessories to go with it. It doesn’t hurt that we both have access to a faux-photography studio with professional white lights and backgrounds and drops. He shoots my work and it’s amazing, but because I am looking for RAW 36-50 Mega Pixels, the files are almost useless for me to rework. I have Photoshop, but It’s an older version and I have had a hard time converting these files (not the originals, but a copy) – into a more user friendly format so I can tweak them a bit in Photoshop. Alass, I have found some (can’t remember name right now) downloadable format that seems to be just what the doctor ordered. It takes the raw image and turns it into a JPG so I can tweak it to the right size and make any color adjustments that I need. I am just int he process of starting to format my Holiday cards, but for this software, I am grateful! I learned about graphic arts in the early 90’s and I have to say I am not up to date with everything that is out there. My version of Photoshop is 7, I no longer have Illustrator, and I couldn’t remember how to use quark if my life depended on it, although I took a class in it. The only code I know is HTML. It’s probably why I have a Webmaster who is using god knows what to update my site. All I know is my Webmaster is a godess and she is worth every penny I pay her. I do like dabbling in graphics, but I know I am rusty and old school. Thanks for reading my Blog!

What’s new in the Studio & my latest auction

I have been continuing with my series of 8×8 cat paintings (oil and acrylic on canvas.)  At the same time, I have just finished two commissions which are being delivered this week.  I have three more on my plate, but just one that I need to finish in the next two weeks.  Other than coming up with Holiday designs, I have really just been focusing on the cats.  I am feeling the pull to return to the vintage car series soon.

 As far as my latest auction, Halloween Cat, I have really used a different style on this particular painting giving it a little more adolescence than my other work.  I would say this work is a quick study & has a very cartooned feel to it.  For the holiday I love the best, I have reduced a small series of works (Halloween Cats) – to $50.00 for a starting bid.  I have also posted Vintage Car Note Cards as well as Cat Note Cards on this weeks auction.

Thanks for checking out my auction and my blog.

New auctions on Ebay-Halloween Cat & More

A few of my eBay items - qsell

Vintage Car Note Cards Classic Car notecards Maine Art Animal Art Cat Note Cards Notecards Maine Art Cat Card Black Cat Art Painting Halloween Acrylic Canvas 8×8

Cat’s Pajamas

Cats pajamas

An adjective used by hipsters of the 1920’s to describe a person who is the best at what they do. Also used to describe another person who is genial and fun to be with. This term has been recently popularized by the movie ‘The School of Rock’. Synonym: bees-knees “Martin sure knows how to dance, he’s the cats pajamas, man!” 1920s Lingo describing someone (something) who is great, incredible or special. Usually indicating stylishness or innovation. Pajamas were a relatively new fashion in the 1920s. The term “cat” was beginning to be used as a term to describe the out going and unconventional jazz-age flappers. That girl wearing those Paris Hilton sunglasses must think she’s the cats pajamas. Those crazy rinestone studded platinum teeth are the cat’s pajamas! Personally i thought this term was popularized by “Cable Guy” (1996) not “school of Rock” the line is used by Jim Carrey Cable Guy to Lelie in a lisp “He thinks your the cats pajamas”

I have three new auctions coming up tonight at 10pm  on Ebay and three ending.  The Cat Notecards are only being offerend at a 1.00 start bid this week (for the last time) – future postings will not be below cost.  Thanks for reading my blog!

My model on Ebay-press release

Creating a niche’ as an artist is not as easy as one might think.  So when Portland, Maine artist Lori Rae Palumbo was looking for a niche’ product for her art business, she wanted to make sure it was a good one.  After a prototype was created – Lori Rae’s niche’ product was born. Using pictures from cat’s she has met, Lori Rae renders them in Acrylic or Oil on a high quality 8×8” stretched canvas.  Lori Rae is careful to paint on canvas that is stretched and back stapled, as not to interfere with the composition, which this artist continues on the edges of the canvas.  The paint is quality as well, using interactive acrylics & Holbein h20 oils.  The painting style is wet-in-wet and left to dry and build up on the work as if sculpture on canvas. Lori Rae has dedicated to creating at least one cat painting per week. According to Palumbo, It’s amazing the discipline that posting consistently on Ebay has taught her, the more she paints, the more her style evolves. She is painting more than ever, and it shows! Her marketing plan includes posting the work on Ebay for one week, as a way to expand her audience to worldwide.  She explains that just posting work on her website does not give her the exposure that posting Animal Art on Ebay.  After researching the market-place, and attending Ebay Live Boston 2007, the decision to market works on Ebay was one that didn’t take a lot of convincing.  Even when Lori Rae doesn’t sell her $65.00 Cat Paintings on Ebay, she is showing in a variety of summer outdoor shows & a cat show in her local area.  Normally pet portrait commissions pick up around the holiday season.  Palumbo is hoping to build enough of an inventory for people to have a bit of a selection by the time the busy selling season is upon us. So, what’s the niche’ – What makes these works different.  On Ebay, Palumbo is selling each Cat small art painting with a 10” Table Easel, wooden in colors like Black, Natural Wood, or a Mahogany Stained Wood.  Palumbo is also as green as Kermit the frog, using “Cradle to Cradle” Environmental shipping via the USPS Priority Mail.  All the shipping products are non-plastic, with fillers being recyclable rice paper and news print.  On Ebay, 10% of each of the works posted for Auction will be donated to FuRR (Feline Rescue and Rehome.) Daily blogging on Ebay, WordPress, and Myspace also help Lori Rae get the word out. She believes that no two artists are a like, her work is unique and she has created a saleable product in an affordable price point.

Working while you’re sick

When I’m really sick, I’m often not productive at things that are creative or require me to use my hands and head (like soldering.) I haven’t felt good for about a week, but started feeling really bad Monday of this week. I ate soup, slept, listened to a soothing narrorator tell a story through an audio book, took lots of hot bathes, drank countless cups of tea with honey and lemon & was bored to tears! I took two whole days off from working outside the home and a few afternoons cut short, and I was convinced I would feel better by the weeks end. Nope-still sick, but one thing that I started doing after I realized there was nothing more I could do to feel better, was worked on my art business. No, I didn’t go into the studio – well, I did, but not to paint, just to look for something or check on my drying commissions – I plopped up some pillows, tea by my side, cat staring up at me thinking my tea was the seafood soup I had earlier & I worked. I blogged, I planned out my remaining installs for 2007 & tied up loose ends for 2008-I designed layout for upcoming Holiday & Red Hat Cards & most of all I tweaked my production schedule for 2007. I have organized every future posting, auction, commission & product that will be for sale by my art business this year & the start of next. HAH, who said you can’t work when you are sick. I have a cough, my brain isn’t dead, I have little voice, but my computer spoke for me. The work I was able to accomplish this week over four days were things that I would have spread out over weeks. I did have to work outside the house today for about six hours but I am planning a nap when I get home & I brought tea and soup!

Thanks for reading my blog

Oils and Acrylics; they say it couldn’t be done

Holbein’s Duo Aqua Oils are genuine oil color for the professional artist, with the same qualities and characteristics as the traditional Holbein Artist Oil Color. Unlike most other water-mixable oils, each Duo Aqua color carries a full pigment load and has the mixing and tinting characteristics of a professional paint.

Duo handles like a professional oil color, yet it can be thinned or cleaned up with water. To make Duo identical in every respect to its traditional professional grade, Holbein developed a unique additive which works as a surface active agent. Any residue of this additive loses its effectiveness once the oil color is dry.

Mix Duo Aqua Oils with other media, such as watercolor, gouache, or acrylic paints. Experiment with mixing media for a variety of effects. For example, Duo can be mixed with waterbased metallic, pearl, and interference colors that are unavailable in a traditional oil palette.

Duo can also be mixed with traditional oil colors. It retains its water soluble characteristics with an oil mixture up to 30%. When thinned with water, a blend of Duo and traditional oil color permits delicate and fine hatching detail not easily accomplished with an oil color alone.

Duo dries much faster than traditional oil colors — in as little as 24 hours — and the colors dry uniformly. This makes it easier to plan for overcoating, texturing, and correcting. It dries without the solvent odor of a conventional oil paint. A cold environment does not affect its drying capabilities.

Duo can be used with the same brush and knife techniques as a conventional oil paint, and it preserves textures and brush strokes the same way that a traditional oil does. Clean brushes thoroughly after use, because paint left in the brush hardens permanently and cannot be removed with any solvent. Use only rustproof knives, because steel knives will rust. Use a plastic or aluminum palette, because a wood palette will warp.

Holbein accepted a more limited 80-color range for Duo Aqua, and eliminated heavy metal pigments to insure a non-toxic result.

Colors are packaged in 40 ml (1.35 oz) tubes, except Titanium White and Permanent White, which are available in larger sizes.

Note — Holbein’s five “Luminous” colors should not be considered permanent. They will degrade with exposure to ultraviolet light. The lifespan of such works can be expanded greatly if they are shielded from ultraviolet light.

Check out my Slide Show!