My sister and I went to a nearby outdoor antique show last Sunday(the 17th). It's usually our favorite, but we were somewhat disappointed this year, as there was less on offer this year and some of the items were more of a flea market variety than antiques. The organizers had mixed a number of crafters in with the other vendors and that filled out the field much better than usual, but there just wasn't as much stuff to tempt us. My sister didn't buy anything at all, which was really unusual, but I bought a few little things as you can see in the photo above. The collie is a ceramic planter and the insulator on the right is a Whitall, a rare kind from one of the first glass makers in the U.S. The postcard is signed "Waterloo, 1907" and I liked the horses on it. There was a book about tropical fish called "Life and Love in the Aquarium" that I thought about getting, it was from 1934 and in perfect condition, but the font was small and I worried I wouldn't be able to read it.
The weather, though hot, was not as humid as it often is on the day of the show and there was a nice breeze to keep it cooler. After we left the show, we walked across the street to a park, where we sat on benches by the duck pond and watched the dragonflies buzz over the water. The ducks must have been on shore in the shade, because we didn't see any, though we saw a couple of Canada geese on the opposite bank before we left for home.It was a calming end to a pleasant afternoon.

One of the few good things of having to stay in due to health issues, was that I got a lot done on my art projects. I finished 3 pictures in June, two were started previously, but I put the finishing touches on them last month.
I had put the marsh picture aside in May, because even though I knew it lacked something, I couldn't figure out what, so I didn't look at it for weeks and when I returned to it with fresh eyes, I saw how to fix it. Since I was imagining the scene in certain Southern states, I named it "Carolina Marsh".

The Italian wall lizard took steady work and lots of shading, but I was pleased with how it came out. This idea was one I'd had for years, so it had plenty of time to simmer. This is one of the few pictures I've done that has man made objects. An early Genesis song provided the title, "The Conqueror".

The last picture to be completed was an indigo bunting on branches of flowering dogwood. I had a lot of trouble with the dogwood flowers, even though those were one of the first flowers I learned to draw. They eventually worked out though. The bird looks a bit darker in the photo than it does in real life, and was a species I'd never painted before. This one is called "Blue Note".

The two bird pictures have been entered into a local juried exhibit, along with a drawing from last year.Hopefully, the judges will allow at least one into the show. The lizard will be going to the Cold-Blooded Creations Show in Florida with a wood frog that I did this past winter. Both exhibits are in August.

Happy Independence Day!

My sister has to work and my elderly mother doesn't really like holidays, so we won't be celebrating as a family. I did get some potato salad at the grocery store and there are turkey hot dogs in the freezer, so I'm planning to have a festive supper myself.
I'm starting to feel somewhat better, so I'm hoping this marks the start of summer activities for me and maybe doing some fun stuff. This coming week, I'll be sending my entries to a local juried art show in hopes of at least one picture being accepted. I'm also making repairs to one of the pictures for the Cold-Blooded Creations Show for next month and deciding on what project to do next.
Hope everyone who is celebrating our national holiday has a safe and happy day.