Desert wonders

I have been working hard in the studio - so hard, in fact, that I haven't been sweeping the floor, dusting, cooking, or much of anything else. (this is unusual for me.) I haven't been very good at photographing everything I'm working on, either. But there will be an onslaught of photos soon, I hope.

Unless I have more days like today, where I worked and worked. Worked. Scraped away. Worked. Spilled wax on my favorite t-shirt, dropped a wax-filled brush on the floor - getting more wax where it shouldn't be. Then, I did a lovely jackrabbit drawing, transferred it to my encaustic painting, and then realized I had made it too small!!!! Aaargh......

Tomorrow is another day.

I did want to share with you the wildlife moment Pono and I had on our Sunday hike:

Yes, that is a roadrunner in the talons of this amazing hawk. I am not sure what kind of hawk it is. Cooper's? Red Tailed? Does anyone know?

Here is a  photo of a recent encaustic:

"Legs." (coyote) Encaustic, thread, twine and ink transfer on panel. 10 x 10 inches

I swear there will be more soon! I'm not trying to be a tease.

I leave teasing to the rain. I heard it poured in Yucca Valley - 6 minutes away. There was flooding in the lower desert. Here chez Pono? We got .02 inches. WIMPY!!!!!

More Desert Creatures

Pono and I had a magical encounter with a desert tortoise yesterday morning on our hike. I took a video of it with my phone, which I had hoped to share with you. However, I can't seem to get the video to upload. Sorry about that. Photos instead...

Today's morning hike was all clouds and drama. As usual, no rain.

The studio has been absorbing most of my time and energy.

"Talking Roadrunner." Encaustic, thread, and ink transfer, 8 x 8 inches. 

There will be more work to share with you soon.

Thanks for all of your comments and emails! I cannot tell you how much it means to me.

Saturday's Coyote

If you find that you are sick of trying to find something good to watch on TV or Netflix lately and really want to be inspired, I highly recommend this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAk4cwjvJ0A

I think you will LOVE it. I did. (With a shout out to Elena Ray for recommending it to me - thank you!!!)

Here's a new one from the steamy encaustic studio:

"Trotting Coyote." Encaustic, thread and ink transfer, 8 x 8 inches.

If you don't have time to watch the whole interview, I have cherry picked one of my favorite quotes from it:
"There is no creativity without vulnerability." ~Brene Brown

Sightings

The weather this past week has been as fickle as a teenager. It begins to get hot, and just when we are settling in to it, the wind picks up and blows the heat away. Today is cool and pleasant. It makes for nice walking in the morning. Here are some desert animal highlights, both from walks and from out-the-kitchen-window sightings.

Our friend "Bald Tail" returned for a drink of water. 

I would not have seen this coiled up rattler if Pono hadn't plopped down just 5 feet from it to get a drink of water from me. As I gave Pono his drink, I just happened to see it out of the corner of my eye. Effective camouflage!!! Once you see a snake on the trail, everything else for the rest of the hike looks like a snake! I call it "getting the slithers." It's good to be hyper aware at this time of year.

Another painting from the new series:

"Dissipate." Oil on canvas, 36 x 12 inches. 

The Bald Tailed Coyote

This morning I saw my first family of quail with scurrying chicks!!! It was so exciting that I stayed at the window for awhile to see if they would come closer. Slowly but surely, they were making their way closer to me and my camera when out of the desert comes a coyote, scattering the quail and causing quite a din! The coyote turned and I realized he (she?) was either recovering from mange or just beginning to get it. No fur on tail!!! I was able to snap two quick photos before the sight of me through the window frightened Ms. Bald Tail away. Just another day in the desert.....

I am kind of hoping this coyote was recovering from the mange, because I do always enjoy seeing a healthy coyote. I saw Bald Tail again this afternoon, while out with Pono, and fortunately I saw him/her before Pono did. (I was able to grab Pono the dog and prevent him from a good coyote chase.)

I am almost wondering if this is the same young coyote who visited the backyard last year with even less fur:

I also have a pigeon (I know, a PIGEON?!!???) that's been trying to take over a dove's nest under the eaves in the back of the house. Crazy bird!!! I have resorted to scaring the pigeon away with a broom, when I see her. I don't know why she thinks she can take over someone else's nest. And you thought only people were nuts.

In the studio, I am progressing on the new series with a new format:

"Convergence." Oil on canvas, 36 x 12 inches. 

I will be shipping three of the new abstracts to The Red Arrow Gallery in Nashville, TN tomorrow!!! How exciting!! (Thanks, Katie!)

Happy Mother's Day, to all of you Mothers out there!!!

It's life

M came home late on December 10th, after being gone since July. Two days later, he was in the hospital. It wasn't the homecoming either of us had anticipated. The good news is that he is okay, and today, he finally got to come home from the hospital. A big, heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you who called, emailed and prayed for him this past week. It means so much to both of us. We will make every effort to to follow up with each of you individually, but I thought this blog might be the quickest way to deliver the good news to all of you.

The Christmas cards might end up being New Year's Cards, and a few Christmas packages might be a little late, but those things don't seem so important to me right now. Not because I don't think of you who are far away, but simply because I know you will all understand that my priorities were elsewhere.

In other, desert-related news: our backyard has been the happening spot in the early morning hours, before the sun comes up. One morning, we had a bobcat, stalking a cottontail. It is the first bobcat I have seen in several years, and it was thrilling. A few days later, two coyotes had killed a jackrabbit. I managed only a few shots before a certain fuzzy dog noticed my interest and frightened them all away by running out his dog door, barking. A friend of mine asked me if it was hard for me to see the coyotes kill one of my beloved jackrabbits. I didn't really know how to reply. I've had a few days to think about it now, and this is what I have decided: I understand the relationship between life and death. All living things die, and when one creature dies so that another may live, there is a sense of rightness to that. What I really have trouble with is suffering.

You can just make out the jackrabbit in the coyote's mouth.

Our Feathered Friends

I still haven't totally figured out my new camera.  So I begin with an apology for my lack of really good photographs.  I never said I was a photographer.  Painter.  Painter.  Nevertheless, I still make my awkward attempts to capture things I see for you, my dear blog readers.  It was a bird-filled weekend for me.  Turkey Vultures soaring overhead.  I love to watch them - they almost never flap their wings.  It lifts the spirit, to see something soar like those big birds do.  A large family of quail, visiting the front yard.  They make the most appealing sounds as they forage.  I should record it next time.  Ravens, fluffing in a Joshua Tree.  I wanted a closer shot of them, but Pono thinks ravens need to be barked at, and they flew off.  (Can't blame them much for that.)

I also have to tell you that this morning, on our way to a favored running spot, Pono and I saw a coyote pooping.  Now, this is not such a momentous event, except that afterward, it scratched its hind paws in the dust just like Pono does!  Pono was transfixed until the coyote did the scratching-in-the-dust part (they do this to spread the scent), then, for some reason he went ballistic and barked furiously.  Which was unfortunate, because then the coyote ran away.  Now WHY didn't I have my camera???  No one knows, not even me.  John Nieto, an artist from Santa Fe, recently did a (very cool) painting of a coyote and titled it "God's Dog."  I would agree wholeheartedly with that title.  They are so much like dogs, those desert tricksters. 

Fresh off the easel:

"Dazzling Dusk."  Oil on Board, 11 x 14 inches.  ©Karine Swenson 2011

Backyard coyote

Today, Mr. Pono got a bath.  After the bath, he decided he needed to recline in the warm desert sunshine to dry.  While he was drying contentedly in the front yard, we had a visit from a neighborly coyote in the back yard.  I was talking to my Dad on the phone, but I told him I would call him back when said coyote got really close.  I hung up the phone and dashed for the beloved camera.  I swear this coyote behaved just like Pono often does.  There is no doubt of their kinship.

I normally have water in this saucer for the bunnies. 

When it began to yip in standard coyote fashion, Pono in the front yard finally discovered its presence and began to bark furiously.  It was at this point the coyote finally ran away.  I am so happy, because now I have some good material for drawings and maybe even a painting.  Maybe.  The desert wonderland never disappoints.

I have begun to list a few more monotypes on etsy.  Hop on over and take a look, if you care to see.

I am amazed that I have posted 350 times here on this blog.  Are you sick of me yet???  I love you all, my dear, dear readers. 

One day of life in the desert

Today was an eventful day here in the high desert.  It started out with a soggy walk with the dog and M.  Along the way, I spied a fairly large lizard, frozen still.  It was half covered in mud.  We weren't sure if it was alive, so I gently touched the end of its tail with Pono's leash.  That touch was enough to cause the lizard to come to life, slowly releasing itself from the mud.  It was still cold outside, so the lizard hadn't warmed up much; its movements were strangely slow.  It looked primordial, raising its limbs high to free them from the heavy wet sand.  M suggested we move it out of the road, so he held the struggling, curious dog while I carefully picked up the lizard.  I was wearing gloves, but holding that lizard in my hands was a special feeling - like the first time you picked up a snake or lizard as a child.  I gently set it down, out of harm's way - near a clump of Mormon Tea, but out where the sun could warm its chilled body.  Can you believe this happened the ONE DAY I don't have my camera with me????!!!!???  Dagnabbit.  I have so wanted to post a fantastic lizard photo, and I blew it.  BLEW IT!  At least I can describe it to you.  Very cool desert encounter.

Next, we had one of the ugliest, mangiest coyotes EVER come for a visit at the house.  I was blow-drying my hair when I saw its reflection in the mirror.  It was right outside the bedroom sliding glass door.  I made the mistake of yelling "Oh my GOD!" and woke up the sleeping Pono, who, in his haste to get at it, crashed into the sliding glass door, barking furiously.  Needless to say, the mangy coyote did not linger.  Once again, no camera.  (what is the world coming to???)

The under-painting for my next oil painting.

Into the studio, where I became engrossed.  Once again, the sky darkened and the rain fell.  Such an amazing gift, to have TWO DAYS of rain IN A ROW!!!  We have gotten just a little over 2 inches of rain in two days!!!  Yeee-haaaw!  I did find myself staring out the window at the rain, when I spotted another really wet coyote, coming down the driveway.  This time I did grab my camera, and was able to run through the house and meet the young coyote in the backyard.  (well, I was looking through the window.)  It was picking up a stick I had tossed for Pono hours earlier, and if Pono had been awake, I know he would have been VERY upset about that.  It tossed the stick into the air and then loped off.  It seemed so dog-like that I had to remind myself that it WAS a coyote, wild as they come.  Crazy.

Here are some photos of the aftermath of all that rain.  Enjoy!

You can see how the water has turned our street into a floodplain.

Thursday's coyote

This will just be a quick post, as I am quite tired.  Tomorrow, Tina Bluefield and I will climb into the vw van, which is packed floor to ceiling with art.  We will carefully drive to our hotel room in Camarillo, making a concerted effort not to stop or swerve suddenly.  The art will be carefully kept until bright and early on Saturday morning, when we will bring it out for display and sale in Ventura!!!  It is pretty incredible, to see so much wonderful art in our little "Gordita."  (For those of you who are new to the blog, Gordita is the name of our vw vanagon.)  I am excited, and nervous.  If you are living near Ventura, please do stop at the Ventura Art Festival and visit us!  Tina and I will be right next to each other.

I promised a photo of a new monotype.  I have others, still drying, which I am really excited about, but since they are still drying, I have not been able to scan them.  That means I cannot share them with you yet.  Sorry!  I will tell you that I had lots of fun printing them, and I wished they were dry.  I was hoping to take at least one of them with me, but I do think I have plenty of art.   This one is a brand new bird, and I called him "Once Over."  He is coming with me to Ventura! 

We've heard and seen many coyotes lately.  In fact, Pono and I were just at the window, looking into the black night, trying to see the one that was making such a racket, seemingly right outside the window.  It was too dark, even when I turned off the lights inside.  Oh well, I do have this photo of one we saw about a week ago.  I would have had more photos of this one, but Pono stuck his fuzzy head right in the middle of the lens of the camera just as I clicked the button.  So the other photo (which would have been fantastic, I'm sure) just looked like a black screen.  Darn dog! 

Oh, and don't worry about Mr. Pono this weekend.  The hubby has the weekend off, so he can take care of Pono while I am away. 

I wish you all a happy happy weekend!  I love you, dear blog readers!