As promised, I'm posting some of the artwork I did last year.I did a lot of small 5x7 inch paintings that I simply mat & sell at craft shows for a low price, but this post will contain the larger "official" pictures that I frame and enter into other types of shows as well.

"Arctic Profile:Musk Ox"

The first one is a musk ox portrait done in Prismacolor pastel pencils on grey toned paper.It has a limited palette of greys, browns and black. The flowing hair was so much fun to do and I'm pleased it turned out so well.

"Fall Oaks Sparrow"

Another picture done in Prismacolor pastel pencils, only on orange toned paper. A species of sparrow that lives year round in my area and makes a nice contrast with the brighter leaves. The color of the leaves was intended to be darker, but I couldn't get a brownish red to look right, so it's not exactly botanically accurate. It's part of an ongoing series of sparrows, which are overlooked little birds, but pretty in their own way.

"Rock Topping"

I was trying various kinds of newly discovered mediums in 2014 and this is one of the results. It's water soluble graphite pencils, they look and act like regular pencils, but you can also add water to them to get an inky effect. The rocks were perfect for experimenting with these new pencils and the lynx is just a focal point. The setting can be any time of year, but I imagined it as late fall, when the lynx is a teenager on his own, looking for new territory before winter snows set in.

"Purple Doze"

While this is in acrylic, a type of paint I've been using for decades, it's a slightly different size for me, a long narrow canvas allowing a rectangular composition, which was perfect for the subject, which are painted turtles. I know a lot of people do turtles on logs, which is a common activity for them, but I thought the purple flowers added something more exciting to the idea.

"Gently Down the Stream"

This is a long-tailed salamander, a species native to eastern North America and I thought the fall leaves would highlight the vivid color of the amphibian. It was my first try at using Intense watercolor pencils, which take a completely different method of working than I'm used to. I don't feel it was as successful as I'd hoped, so I need to learn more about what they are capable of.

There was one more picture that I did last year, of a skunk in a forest, but I haven't photographed it yet, so I'll save that for another post.

Last week, Dora was having some off days where she didn't eat much, this would be followed by a couple days where she was back to normal. On Tuesday, Jan. 6th, she was extremely mopey and hunched over, so I took her to the vet to see what was going on. X-rays showed that she had a bladder stone, and crystals in her kidneys & other areas. Because she's quite elderly for a guinea pig(she's almost 6 years old, the equivalent to an 80 yr. old human) surgery is risky, so the vet gave me strong pain meds, an antibiotic and special nutrient rich food. It was very upsetting news & I am having considerable difficulties adjusting to the thought of losing her.
However, on Wed. and Thursday, she was very lively, eating & drinking a lot & active, even throwing her oat box tunnel around.This morning, I took her back to the vet's office to have subQ's done, that's where they inject special fluids under the skin. They gave her some, but told me that she wasn't dehydrated and as long as she was eating and drinking well, I didn't need to bring her back unless she got worse.
Though I'm still having crying spells at the thought of what might come, I realized that she is going to have good days and bad days and I'm just going to have to make her as happy and comfortable as I can and enjoy whatever time we have together.