May I Have the Envelope, Please...

Sorry I've left this so late, but it's been a full and fun and busy day, and I just couldn't quite find the time to get onto the computer.

If you haven't see the poll over >>>>there on the sidebar, it was a really close vote this week. Emory one by one single, solitary vote. Sooooooo....

I'm going to put prints of each (Emory and the flower girls) into the shop, and the winners this week can choose which one they want.

On to the winners...

First out of the Random Number Generator was...












Where 3 equals Vicki Holdwick

Second was...











Where 38 equals Karen Hargett!

Congratulations, ladies - send me your mailing addresses, and I'll get your prints in the mail right after October 1!

I'm going to wait to put up the next poll until Sunday night - this weekend is just too jam packed with stuff...
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For example...

I'm heading out tomorrow for the 24th Worldwide Sketchcrawl, hoping to meet some local artists. We're meeting up at the fountain in DuPont Circle, for what should be a gorgeous day of sketching. Any DC area artists are welcome to meet up with us - I'll be sure to update tomorrow!

Wait...What Day is it Again?

Lord.

I've been off all week.

I don't mean "off" as in doing nothing, but "off" as in mentally unaware of ANYTHING.

On Tuesday, while walking back from the grocery, I asked the boys what day it was. They looked at me as if I were an idiot, because, DUH, Mama, it's Tuesday. Later, we went to the Talky Beer Place, so I thought it was Wednesday, because that's when we go to the Talky Beer Place, but no...it was still Tuesday.

Yesterday, Dr. SmartyPants brought a smarty pants friend over for dinner and I was pretty sure it was LAST Friday or something, because when he mentioned he needed to call a cab for the morning, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about as I was pretty sure he wasn't going to Texas until next week, but no. That would be today that he left to go to Texas, and this is, in fact, THIS week.

Mercy.

Help my children.

Whew...

I'm exhausted.

It's been a long day.

A good day, but long. Nothing traumatic - nothing chaotic - nothing profound. Just full and active and busy and, well...

You know how it goes.

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We were in DC on Saturday, when the Tea Party Movement marched on Washington. And you know what - I was proud.

It doesn't matter one lick what your politics are - the fact that these people, thousands and thousands and thousands of them - were able to march, incident free, for what they believe in, is a beautiful thing.

There was little police presence - and really they were just there to make sure traffic didn't get too bogged down. There were few hecklers. People stopped and watched and read their signs and took photographs, but there was no ugliness that I saw - where I was - about halfway along their route.

The boys were curious about all these people, walking quietly with their signs held high. I tried to explain to them, about taxes and healthcare and government and party politics, but it sailed clean over their sweet little heads.

Finally I told them that it doesn't matter what it is about - not really - what matters is that you are watching people pick up their constitution - exercising their right to free speech, and doing so in a calm and peaceable manner. What makes it so wonderful to witness is not necessarily what they are saying, but the fact that they are able to say it without fear of repercussion - without fear of a police state - without fear of reprisal.

I'm Just Not That Flexible

But this guy certainly is.

He was a dancer we came across at the Arts on Foot Festival in Penn Quarter this past Saturday. He was Puck, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and impressed us all with his expression and his bendiness.

Oh, and his blueness.

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Don't forget to vote and comment in this week's contest!

Happy Friday...

I've got a new set of paintings to choose from this week. I'm also trying a different poll style than last week...It's over there, on the right...in the sidebar. It's just a list of the names, so here are the pictures to remind you of each one. You can click on the names below the photo mosaic and go to the Flickr image, if you want to see a larger photo of each one...

The winner this week will be the second print to go into my Etsy shop...so pick wisely, grasshoppers...

1. Digby, 2.Emory, 3. Cawley, 4. Quinn, 5. Adele, Carly and Faina

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So here's the deal this week...Vote for your favorite and leave a comment here to tell me what you chose, or what color your eyes are or what kind of snakes you like to handle, and you'll be entered into the weekly drawing for one of the prints. I'll select two winners next Friday from among the comments. Want to add to your chances? Okay...here's what you do...

1. Leave a comment here - that's the most important thing - you're not entered into the drawing if you don't leave a comment.
2. Friend me at my Facebook Fan page and/or Follow me here on Blogger. My friends and followers always get an extra entry!
3. If you Twitter, use the TweetMeme button below to tweet this post. Make sure to add @diahn to the tweet, so I can find it easily to give you credit for the Tweet!
4. Blog about the giveaway on your own blog or on Facebook. Make sure you link back here, and send me an email or mention it in your comment here, so I don't miss it!

That's it! Easy breezy, lemon squeezy. You peeps are awesome for helping me out like this!

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And on to this week's winners...the random number generator spat out these numbers...

What does that mean? Well, it means that fellow snake handler, Ann of Blue Bird Hill (#7) and Elena, the French Toast Girl (#44) will be receiving a print of Abner after the 1st of October, when they go into the Etsy shop!

Congratulations Ann and Elena! Email me your snail mail addresses and I'll get you your print!

Have a spectacular weekend, my friends...I'll be having one, too!

Falling Up

The foliage is dropping over in the shop. Better grab 'em before the street sweepers do.

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I've closed the poll - Abner was an early leader and constant front runner. He'll be inaugurated as the first print in early October. Thank you for all your commentary and contributions. I'll be letting the magic random number generator pick a couple of names tomorrow and announcing the winners of the prints!

I'd do it tonight, but I'm way too sleepy.

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I do have to share a quick story, though. The boys finished their book work early today, so we ate lunch and headed over to the park to practice their mad soccer skilz before the rains started. After they got nice and sweaty, we walked to the library so I could bother ask the librarian about a book I had when I was a kid that I can't remember the name of and could she please find it anyway.

So - she's typing away on her mystical library computer device, when a lady on one of those wheelchair/scooter mobile things came zipping up to us and parked about 3 inches from our toes, effectively pinning us against the library circulation desk.

I turned and smiled at her because I'm a nice southern girl and that's what we do. We can't help it. She could have rolled over all six of our feet and I would have turned and smiled. It's in my DNA.

Anyway. She pulls up, I smile, she pins me with a piercing glare and says, "Are you all skipping school?" Not in a nice, kind of wry, cute happy way. But all serious - like she's with the truancy office. "No, Ma'am." I reply in my sweet southern way. I turned back to the librarian to offer up a pitiful clue at the book I'm looking for.

"Didn't school start already?" she says, behind my back. I turn again. "Yes, Ma'am. We're having school right now. We homeschool." I flash my big grin that says, "Everything's fine here...move along..."

"I thought school started already," she repeats. "I heard about some people who keep their kids home and act like their teachers." The tone of her voice rankled. She might as well have said she'd heard that people keep their kids home and train them to be snake handlers.

"Yes, Ma'am. It's called homeschooling. That's what we do. We're just here at the LIBRARY looking for a book to supplement the educational process. We're in school. We're not skipping school. We're in it. Right now. Here. AT THE LIBRARY." Smile. Smile. Smile.

The librarian is fighting back guffaws - I can see it behind her eyes. She continues looking for my non-existent, made-up, imaginary book.

"Don't you have to let 'them' know when you're in school or not?" Says she of the mobility scooter.

Sigh. "Yes, Ma'am. I keep it all recorded. It's all legal."

She glares at me LIKE SHE DOESN'T BELIEVE ME. Because we are so very obviously hooligan school skippers - the three of us. Me, in my capri pants and the boys in the sweet matching soccer uniforms and angelic faces. Okay - me, I could understand...I have pink hair and a nose ring, but sweetness and light over there? Please.

The librarian gets a lead and jumps up to go find the book. We follow, just to escape the prying eyes Mrs. Mobile Truant Officer. It wasn't the right book. Dang.

We did manage to get back out of the library and to the house before the police arrived to haul us off to family court. And it's a good thing, too.

We weren't quite finished with our snake-handling lesson.

Sweetness and Light

Here's a little taste of the personalities that I deal with on a daily basis. How can you get too serious when this is what you look at every day?

Mercy.

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I finally figured out my contribution to Lens.Us.Together:Abandoned. Go see! Go see! Go see!

Um. You know. If you want to.

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And don't forget to vote for your favorite painting - I'll be closing the poll at 10 pm on Thursday night, and I'd just hate it if you didn't get your say in the matter. I take my responsibility as a blogger very seriously.

I'm all about representing the people.

Flat Out

Finlay watched Abner take off and wondered what the hurry was.

Abner has the lead in the polls, but Xanthus is making a strong showing...if you haven't voted, please do! It so interesting to see so many different opinions.

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I'm featured in another Etsy Treasury, which is very exciting - if you have a chance, please click over and have a look - then click on some of the shops - it helps the treasury move up the lists and gets us more exposure...

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The ladies at Lens.Us.Together are doing a brilliant job of interpreting the word of the week - "Abandoned." I'm still mulling it over and haven't quite figured out what my photo or subject is going to be...dang it.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the day, I can tell it.

Laborious Day

Edgar has been searching all day for crustaceans and mollusks, laboring over his task. He'd rather eat crepes with blueberries, but they are harder to come by than sand fleas, so he resigns himself to having a few dozen before heading to the local Starbucks for a discarded mocha and a crust of lemon poppyseed bread.

We've had a busy Labor Day around here, as well. Dr. SmartyPants was off work, but working at home, and we started school - which went very well. I'm excited about our year and what wonderful things it holds. Let's just hope the good attitudes hold up all around.

The polling is going well - lots and lots of votes - and there's a pretty clear front-runner. If you haven't voted yet, please go here and do so! Let me GET YOUR ATTENTION RIGHT HERE, THOUGH...

The poll has a place for comments - which I didn't realize when I set it up - and I'm afraid there has been some confusion over where to post your comments in order to be entered to win a print.

PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS IN THE BLOG COMMENT SECTION, NOT IN THE POLL COMMENT SECTION!!

If you've already posted in the poll comment section - don't worry about it - I'm accepting those this week, but I'll have to find another solution for the weeks to come. The main problem is that I'm not sure who everyone is in the poll comment section - it doesn't record your information like Blogger does.

SO - if you have posted in the POLL comment section, and there's no contact information - PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU CHECK HERE ON FRIDAY FOR THE WINNER. I'll post the winning names, along with their comments, so you can tell who you are.

Sorry for the mishap - my bad - mea culpa and all that. We'll work it out.

Shadow Shot Sunday...

...the motion picture...

Shadow Shot Sunday from Diahn Ott on Vimeo.

The way the leaves danced across the pavement was too captivating for a simple photograph.

You just have to experience the movement.

So - while this doesn't exactly qualify as a shot - I'm posting it anyway. I hope you'll understand.

For other, more photographic shadow shots, visit Hey Harriet! and click on the links!

Fridays in September

First things first...this is new in the shop!

Now - on to the Friday thing. I mentioned, earlier this week, that I was going to need everyone's help today. Thank you all for volunteering. You're so very kind! I promise you'll be rewarded for your time and effort.

I'd like to put some prints in my Etsy shop, but I'd like for you all to choose which paintings you think will make the best prints. So - I'm adding a poll below, and I'd like for each of you to choose your favorite of the five for this week.

I'll be adding a different group of five every Friday in September, and with the results, I'll add the winner of each week into the shop as a limited edition print.

Easy peasy, right?

Right. As a reward for this difficult task, I'll be picking two names each week from the comments and they'll each receive a print of the winning painting! That's right...TWO names. Four weeks. THAT'S EIGHT PRINTS, PEOPLE.

I'm feeling a bit giddy.

All prints will be mailed out to the winners during the first week of October.

So - make your selection in the poll below, comment IN THIS POST about your selection, or what you ate for breakfast, or how you feel about the treatment of puffins by polar bears, and your name goes into the magical random number generator.

If you happen to be a member of my Facebook Fan Page, you get an extra entry...just like that! You can join now, you know - just click right here and then click on the "Become a Fan" button. If you're already a fan - you don't have to do a thing (except comment on this post). I know who you are...

I'll close the poll on Thursday, September 10, at 10 pm Eastern Time, and announce the winners on Friday when I post the new poll.

(By the way - larger images of all of these can be found at my Flickr site...)

The poll is closed, peeps! Thanks for voting!

Where the Magic Happens

I spent the afternoon rearranging and reorganizing our studio/schoolroom/office. I do this about once a month, it seems, and I never seem to make any real progress. It looks good for a week or so and then it just all falls apart.

It may be the fact that I have a studio/schoolroom/office in a 9x9 space.

It may be the fact that I am organizationally challenged.

No. It's the space. And the desk. And everything except for me.

In any case - it looks nice now. I'm hopeful that it can stay that way through the end of the first week of school.

The computer space, AND my painting space. Unless I can't make that work. I think we may be desk shopping this weekend.

The school space. Much better.

For now.

Give it a week.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow! I've got a new challenge coming up and I need your help. There will be rewards...

Berried in Paperwork

A new ACEO in the shop!

I'm getting ready to start school here at Ottwork Academy, and the paperwork is piled high on my combination art desk/school desk. It's a mess.

In fact, it's so much of a mess that I walked upstairs, took one look, and considered public school for a moment.

Then I had a vision of a day without my monkeys and I curled up in a ball on the couch and cried the rest of the day.

Okay. That's just a big fat lie. It was only for 10 minutes, and I'm not flexible enough to curl up in a ball.

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And HEY - this is exciting. I'm now a contributor to a lovely bloggy project called Lens.Us.Together . It's hosted by Char, and is a weekly themed photography blog. Go have a look, put it on your blogroll, make it your friend - there are some really talented photographers in the group - you may even recognize a few of them! Thanks for letting me play, Char!

September Steps Up

And you all know what happens then, don't you?

In the shop.

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Keep an eye here this week - I'll be asking you all for some input on the next items to go in the shop, and there will be a giveaway to go along with it!

The input will come in the form of a poll that will be posted on Friday, and the giveaway will completely depend on your participation. Hey - what fun's a party if I'm doing all the talking, right?

August, Decreasing

Last year, on the day after my 40th birthday, I posted about my sweet family and what they did for me to usher in a whole new decade. It included a self portrait in the side mirror of my brand new (to me) Mustang convertible. I thought it only appropriate to revisit the side mirror self portrait on what my friend Cyndi calls my 1st Anniversary. (Could it be that life begins at 40? Hmmm)

See - now, I'm not one to obsess* about my age too much. I'm 41. It's awesome. I've never been healthier, happier or more content. And being 41 is so much better than the alternative. I'd always rather have another birthday, know what I mean? I was talking with my Dad on my birthday, and he wished me a Happy 29th, with a sly grin.

Okay - he was on the phone - but I could hear it in his voice.

Anyway - I quickly corrected him and said that I wasn't 29 - I was 41, by golly, and DANG proud of it. This unhealthy obsession with being young is a detriment to all of us. I went through way too much to get here to want to go back again, people. WAY too much. I wouldn't trade one wrinkle or saggy tricep wiggle for the amount of wisdom I've gained in the last 20 years.

Sure - I dye my hair pink on occasion, keep it blonde to hide the grays, and have an occasional piercing done, but that's not because I want to BE younger. It's because I HAVE EARNED IT, my friends.

With every gray hair.

With every misstep.

With every poor choice.

With every push up.

With every lap around the track.

With every triumph.

The secret to staying young forever isn't to never grow old. It's to get your nose pierced embrace those things that have brought us this far and to realize the lessons we've learned are the things that make us who we are today...and love that person.

*shut up.

On a Hill

This house sits high on a hill, overlooking the river in Knoxville. The owners rarely come out, but when they do, it's always alarming. The man has wild, white hair and a canny gleam in his eye. His wife is small and sharp, like the edge of a table. The grow a garden of heirloom herbs and are said to cast spells around the town on moonlit nights.

Okay. Not really.

It's really a kind of dilapidated house with a ubiquitous FOR RENT sign hanging on the front porch and a couple of old beer kegs lying forlornly on the front porch - near enough the university to make it a popular place to live while going to vet school.

But that's just not what I see when I look at it. I see the next great NaNoWriMo novel...

November is still a couple of months away.

But it is looming, my people. Looming...

Clinch Avenue Lady is in the shop. Feel free to purchase to fuel your own novel writing adventures!

Emory and the Last (random) Day of Summer

Emory is going into the shop. He likes to eat blueberries. They make him feel indulgent and reckless.

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We went to the pool today for what will likely be the last time this season. There's a front brewing and the temperatures will be dropping over the next week - into the mid 70s, which is entirely pleasant and exciting - but when you have a kid with 0.2% body fat...it doesn't make for happy pool days.

I could go in the pool and stay warm just fine. I have my layer of blubber to keep me warm.

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Do you remember when you were a kid and summer just stretched out forever until *poof* one day it was just gone and you were wearing stiff new Levi's and the whitest Keds imaginable and shuffling to the school bus with a kind of dazed expression on your face, holding your Scooby-Doo lunch box with the smooshed peanut butter and jelly sandwich inside and wondering what the hell just happened?

Maybe that's why I homeschool.

Although, given that that was quite possibly the longest run-on sentence ever created, I shouldn't.

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We'll be back in our little schoolroom on Labor Day. ON LABOR DAY? (I can hear you shouting) And the answer is yes. Dr. SmartyPants is off work that day, so we'll have a ceremonial school day in the morning and then go do something fun and completely educational in the afternoon.

I like to start things on Mondays. Partial weeks throw me.

I never recover from them.

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I'm reading the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke. I started speculating today on sending someone evil into a book where 99% of the people die, in order to dispatch them from my world, and what would happen to that person if I did. I determined that sending evil people into evil situations only squares the evil and evil squared is really evil, so I shouldn't do it. (Even if I could...)

Dang.

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Enjoy your last days of summer, friends (or winter if you happen to be south of the equator). You never know when someone will read you into another story...

Quinn

In the shop.

Ocean City

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you had as wonderful a weekend as we did. We headed east as far as we could go without dropping off the continental shelf, and perched our weary bodies upon the Ocean City, Maryland, beach.

The waves were spectacular, thanks to the brewing of Hurricane Bill, out in the deeps. The lifeguards weren't allowing anyone in at all on Saturday. With the 10 to 15 foot waves and the seriously strong undertow, I don't blame them. It was almost enough to pull us off our feet just standing in the swash zone, and in fact we did see that happen to an unsuspecting lady. Total face plant.

On Sunday, they allowed people in, but were constantly whistling and waving at people venturing too close to dangerous areas. We watched as one lifeguard swam out and rescued a girl who had gotten too far out and had underestimated the pull of the currents, and her ability to swim against them. He had to work extremely hard to get her back to shore. Heroically, even.

The boardwalk was active and lively and colorful and loud. We wandered aimlessly toward the arcades and rides - enjoying the ocean breezes and the completely different flavor this beach has than what we are used to...

For my readers who are familiar with the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee...it was strangely reminiscent of Gatlinburg, except without all the bears.

We ate Boardwalk Fries and had ice cream for lunch.

We saw the most #1 famous world famous only gallery like it in the world gallery. Ahem.

We gulped it all in and savored it, as the light faded to spun gold, storing it up in our treasure box memories until summer comes our way again...

When

When he was a baby, I had the hardest time getting a picture of him in-focus. He was so soft and radiant, the camera couldn't read him properly.

Now that he's 8, his lines have become a little more angular. But he's still pretty radiant.

When he was little, he was constantly frustrated because he couldn't do everything immediately. Like walk and talk and ride his bike like the big kids. Or stay awake all day.

Okay. He still has a little trouble with that.

When he was younger, his brother was his best friend, and they did everything together.

They still do.

When he was 7, he was my baby.

Now that's he's 8?

What, are you kidding me? He's still my baby. Always and always and every day.

Happy Birthday, Junebug. Mama loves you.

A Taste of Things to Come...

It may still technically be summer, but I can already feel the change in the air, can you? Sure, it's 95 degrees with 843% humidity, but that doesn't mean it isn't coming. It's just around the corner.

Every year I do a great big happy dance when spring rolls around. Really - it's kind of embarrassing when I go back and look. Like here and here and here and here. From all that dancing, you'd think that spring was my absolute favorite season, but while I adore spring and all its showy, flowery goodness, it isn't my favorite season.

Without a doubt, it's the fall that stirs my heart the most. I love the changing light - the way the sun lingers in amber liquid, lighting up the golden leaves. I love the smell - a caramel-y, smoky shimmer in the air. I love the way the temperatures start to drift downward, slowly becoming crisp and cool without moving all the way to chilly. I love the dusk, as the light fades on the horizon and the sky turns indigo blue.

I'm looking forward to this fall - my first in the mid-Atlantic region of the US. In the deep south, the fall tends to be slow to start and long to linger - the months changing before the temperatures and leaves begin to fall. I don't know what it will be like here, but I'm looking forward to finding out. My scarves are ready and waiting, my knitting needles are looking at me with a sharp desire to be useful...

...and my paintings are moving from the birds of spring and summer to the golden leaves that start to flutter in the breezes...keep an eye out here and in the shop. In 30 days, fall will be here...you're not going to want to miss it.

Front Page!

I made the Etsy front page this evening!

For you non-Etsy folks...that's HUGE. Do you know how many GAH-jillions of Etsy items there are for sale? Me neither. But it's MANY.

That's my Thaddeus, column 1, row 3.

A nice ending to an otherwise incredibly BLAH day.

What an oxymoronic statement...incredibly BLAH. I can't believe I wrote that. I really can't believe I left it, but I'm just trying to be real here, peeps.

I do it all for you.

Lil' Abner and the Randomness of Tuesday

>

We had a gorgeous, hot day here in the DC area, and so we had no choice but to spend it basking like lizards on a rock, only without the rock and with a swimming pool in which to cool ourselves. This was the first day we've gone that the pool wasn't overtaken with day camp kids - not sure where they were, but I can't say we missed the extra crowds.

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It's also the first day since July 31 that I haven't spent most of my waking moments endlessly obsessing over whether or not I was promoting my shop enough - twittering and chatting online with hot babes all day, except without the hot babes.

Or, I guess they could be hot babes.

They are excellent artists and crafters.

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In any case - I spent the day reading and soaking in the sun and watching two little water bugs learn all about buoyancy and how that means that little bugs can lift big bugs and "throw" them in the water.

Gosh, I love homeschooling.

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I did do one bit of work by listing Abner in the shop. I painted him last night while watching Soylent Green - perhaps the finest bit of work in which Charlton Heston ever had the opportunity to star.

Ahem.

It's people.

Spread the word.

Ewan

Have you ever watched a bird while it sang?

How it opened up its mouth and the song just poured out, unashamed?

Have you ever sat motionless in a meadow and closed your eyes?

Allowed the swell of sounds to envelope you?

Have you ever stood in the quiet, amber, morning light?

Have you ever heard the song your heart sings?

Ewan is singing over at the shop today.

And he's been featured at Tiny Theatre (Now Showing: Birds of All Stripes), a blog by Susan Sanford. You can catch Susan's own work at her personal bog, ArtSpark Theatre. Thank you, Susan!

Scooter Shadow

My big boy and his shadow... scooting across the pavement in the afternoon sun.

For more shadow fun, visit Hey Harriet! and click on the links!

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In other news - I've had my first feature in an Etsy Treasury - please click here to see it! How nice to be included with such lovely items!

Have a restful Sunday evening, folks - I'll be back tomorrow with some more paintings!

The Offspring

Doodlebug's Cardinal

Kindly note the official "Ott" signature...his idea...not mine.

Junebug's sandpiper...also with the official "Ott" signature. I'm thinking of registering it as a trademark.

It's funny - that signature - the way I sign all my paintings. It's completely nerdy. In an artistic way.

It's a circle. And pi.

'Cause that's just the way we roll.

Thirsty Fun

Back in 2006, Linda and I went on a sketchcrawl of Knoxville, and we both drew a little run down place called "Toddy's". The sign in front of the building proclaimed it to be "Knoxville's Fun Place to be Thirsty," which struck me as rather odd. I mean - if you're thirsty IN the bar, doesn't that mean that your bartender isn't doing his/her job? Maybe it means that even though the service is really bad, you'll still have a good time?

I don't know. I never actually went inside.

I drove past there about a month ago and saw that it is no longer called Toddy's. Another bar has taken its place, although they hung onto the tagline, strangely enough.

So I thought it needed be immortalized as it used to be. The Toddy's that Knoxvillians knew and thirsted over - the best place in town to not get a drink.

It's newly listed in my Etsy shop - feel free to purchase it to hang in a really dry part of your house... SOLD

It's a Baby!

Well, not really. Just a tiny little painting. I thought I would try my hand at some ACEO sized birdies and put them in the shop. This is the first.

The second didn't work out quite so well. Could have been the distraction of the TV. I'll try again tomorrow.

And no...you don't get to see the second one.