La Semana de los Muertos!!

....Translates to The Week of the Dead!

As always I'm busy...Mom is still going with the PT twice a week and not too happy bout it but she is going....so it cuts into my free time a wee bit but I'm enjoying the time off from Projects!! That doesn't get me completely off the hook tho...I stained the deck boards...

Just in time too...

cause with the 7 straight days of over 100 degrees, the afternoons turn stormy! 

I spent Wednesday inside out of the scorching 104 F temps all day working on that painting I told you I planned to finish..

and so it is 

Now finished!! Framed it up with old pallet wood!

My artwork has this distinct childlike appearance don't you think...lol 

(translates to a 5th grader could do better)  You know what I'd like to do some Andy Warhol type paintings just for the Fun of it!! I think mine are just a little bit more imaginative than a soup can.

a little bit fuzzy taken through the glass here is my lone friend Jane Doe, she visits my pasture every single day sometimes with her fawn but today I didn't see him.  She still has milk so Im assuming he is a-okay!

Thursday night we had one terrific storm!  70 mph gusts!  We have trees with the tops blown out, limbs all over the place and no electric for 18 hrs! And the heat was hitting the 100 degree mark...Mom had PT that  morning so we called they got their power back about 4 am so we went in, on the way home we drove the route our power line takes and found the down wire I phoned and reported it and by 1:30 that afternoon it came back on went out at about 7:00 ish the night before!

 All around us people had no power and had trees blown over and wires down! I got my battery operated fans out of the van and gave one to mom and I used one to keep cool overnight. And the storm had cooled the air off pretty good. SO I've spent nearly the entire weekend cleaning up the storm debris, what I can reach that is, some of it is still dangling like the top of this big Oak was a Y now it's NOT! 

how am I gonna get that down?

And this one the top of the entire tree was ripped off and tossed into the neighboring tree where it is now dangling but hopeless stuck there!! 

MISSING PHOTO

How am I gonna get this down?

Lots of big limbs hit the ground and a trillion small stix and branches..

MISSING PHOTO

these ones I sawed up into manageable pieces

Thank goodness My sis came to pick Maggie up today and she helped me with sawing these big limbs up into pieces I can manage to load on my trailer which is full already!! And we picked up all the stix and branches off Mom's yard, I picked mine up on Friday afternoon, and tomorrow I will start hauling to the dump weather permitting.   But some of our plants came out unscathed!!  

tiger lily

AND we had another windy storm the Friday night with gusts of 60 mph a few more limbs fell but we kept the power. 

feeling ripped off!

Meanwhile I took Saturday off ---NO work only play....my son and his lovely lady blessed me with a visit and It was a blessing... such a lovely couple of level headed but Fun Loving young people. This was taken on the 4th..   B! competes in body sculpting and y'all know my son used to compete in body building he no longer has the time to train since he changed jobs and is not a personal trainer any longer. 

an amazingly beautiful couple
(the photo I had here originally is missing, I have it but just can't put my finger on it, when I find it I will replace it here)

He is the spitting image of his Grandfather MY DAD!

I normally stick to Corona but needed a change, something  to cheer me up....was drawn to this...I kinda felt like a walking dead Zombie at this point of this week!! SO decided to give this Oculto a try..it's blended with beer made in barrels with the staves of Tequila! I like it and would recommend it--I love the graphic on the box too, B! told me it's a Sugar Doll head symbolizing La Catrina...and they are made and taken to the graves of loved ones during the Dia de los Muertos! SO come Nov 1st must celebrate with this spirit!! 

so after a week  like this one, Fearful Maggie, Reluctant PT Mom, Stormy Weather, and Beheaded Trees--- I'm in the mood for quiet and tranquil lazy dayz of Summer!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

 ...is that thunder I hear?? Must head to the store for more Oculto!

ENJOY!

HAVE A WILD N WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS

Wild Christmas 

PEACE

Once Upon a Time

Wow its been a while since I posted in this blog...time is not exactly my friend. I never seem to have enough of it! It's sort of nice to come back even after a short time and re-read your own words one reason I enjoy keeping a blog...my main blog is not here its at Multiply. But before that I was at Myspace, then Yahoo, and now Im at Multiply. Ive had this Blogger spot for a very long time back when they fist came out...but I never used it, I thought it was s bleak and lonely here and it is...I dont see anyway to have a friends list but thats why I chose this spot to concentrate on the art projects that I am working on. I dont necessarily want feedback, its more for me. Like I started to say its very educational to come back even after a short time and re read what you have written...and to see how much you have grown as an artist and as a person. Thats what this blog is about...growth. I wanted to post the rest of the pictures which I finished for the Unicorn Project. I sent the project off to one publisher but so far nothing. They said 4 months is normal wait to hear. Doesnt matter, for I was just thrilled to work with the theme Unicorn. While working on these I did some sketch drawings and then finished them in Photoshop and Paintshop Pro. These are the illustrations I made for the Childrens Story Once Upon a Time There Were Unicorns. ALL Artwork property of S. Hickman Designs.

Country Roads....

With spring upon us, it makes me think of growing things and most especially a garden. With that inspiration I added to my collection "Americana." This is the lead design, its called Down on the Farm, and what Farm would be complete with 

Mr.Crow to come stalking the corn field.

~Field of Dreams~

Note: all artwork is the property of S.Hickman Designs all rights reserved 2008. Although I would love to give my art away, there is the wee problem of food and shelter. So please dont copy, save or duplicate my art. Thank you. If you wish to purchase, or license my art contact me at dusteerhod@gmail.com

What do YOU see?

Expression through art means no words necessary. What is the message being relayed? This is what makes art great. No need to explain for several reasons. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, remember? I see it my way, you see it yours. There is no definitive narrative that goes with a piece of art be it an artists rendition or a photograph. Sometimes I think about the next thing I want to create all day long. A yearning deep from within, I guess you can call it a desire to create. Its like foreplay. I love to write. Writing is never complete until its read by another. Art is never complete until its viewed and the meaning deciphered. Its not easy to "explain" a piece. Take this one for instance... .....
When I asked someone "what do you see?" The answer I got surprised me. Maybe I see more, I'm into details. I stop to smell the roses whist others are more focused and more in step. I see the ladybug on the flower petal. I see the pink cloud created by the setting sun, I see so much with my eyes and my heart. So when the reply I got was "I see a big red moon." I was very tempted to say, "that's all you see?" Instead I said, "I see a setting sun, a full moon hanging low over a canyon pool... and I see a wild horse admiring his own reflection mixed in with all the heavenly bodies, I see a cloud whipped into a whirlpool, maybe its a night of cosmic display or maybe its an everyday occurrence in this magical spot, and its all in one night's end in a canyon somewhere."... That's what I said, then I asked "Do you see that now?" "OH YEAH I sure do. COOL." Note: all artwork is the property of S.Hickman Designs all rights reserved 2008. Although I would love to give my art away, there is the wee problem of food and shelter. So please dont copy, save or duplicate my art. Thank you. If you wish to purchase, or license my art contact me at dusteerhod@gmail.com

 Mystic Canyon