Cairo camel market at Burqash

A thriving camel market can be found just outside Cario at the Burqash camel market.  Friday mornings are busiest.  The camels are brought up the road from Western Sudan by camel herders along the 40 day road, often driven long distances...some of the camels are quite emaciated by the time they make it to the market, and we saw a few dead ones on the side of the road.  They sell for about 400 to 1000 dollars and end up as meat for human consumption, or as working animals on farms or for transport.  Keep posted for pictures, coming soon.

100 paintings for 100 dollars.

So I am excited about my next project which is "100 paintings for 100 dollars." I have really enjoyed making the smaller format paintings for this project and think that I can reach people that otherwise might not be able to afford original art, while building a client base and some excitement about my work. At least, that's what I hope. It certainly won't be a big money-maker, but for now I can afford to spend my energies just building a network.

The tiny format is about the size of a postcard and working small is great. It allows me to work faster, and in the quickly changing weather and clouds here you've got to be so fast in order to capture the light or the composition and clouds. For example, the paintings pictured here will be a part of that show, and you might be able to get a sense of what I mean from the second painting - that cloudbank moved into the coast so fast, and before the painting was finished it was raining and completely overcast. The best part about this project has been getting out into the outdoors to do the paintings, no matter what the weather.

Fwd: A frozen graveyard somewhere in rural Wisconsin near Oshkosh

My dad and I found this graveyard dating from the civil war era in rural Wisconsin.  It lies adjacent to a farmer's field, and has been protected over the years by a stone wall, a twisted iron gate, an American flag, and lots of snow and ice.

Some recent portraits in charcoal

Painting en Plein Air in the Dunes at Scheveningen outside the Hague

These pictures are from the dunes on the beach at Scheveningen just outside of the Hague. This week, I've been biking out to the dunes to paint out in the fresh air. Although the temperatures have been in the 30s, it's been great. With the right gear I'm warm enough, and it's a joy to be outside rather than feeling cooped up by the weather, inside a cold house no less. Today's painting was done in the sleet and the rain, but the reward was great. Every day the water is a different color, and today it was a faded turquise. Turns out that the oil paint goes on just fine, even in sleety rain.

The pictures are from a couple of days ago in slightly better weather, and show the skyline of the Hague, the vista I painted, and the easel with painting.

grocery shopping in the states

When in the states, there are certain necessitites that just have to be bought for import back to Holland. Here's a picture taken of my grocery checkout during my last trip. The cans in the picture contain low sodium tuna for our cat - can't get this stuff in Holland. (Salt is bad for cats kidneys.) And you know, it's all about the cat. Well, with the possible exception of the two packages of Peanut Nutter Butters. And the Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Yes, and those are THREE packages of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese...the cheesiest.

My niece Natalia, the design whiz

I spent a week in Oshkosh visiting family, and came across some stunning design work by my niece, Natalia, age 10. She is making Valentine's day cards, and is making a unique card for each student in her class. She wakes up as early as 5:30 a.m., and uses this quiet time in her day before school to focus on making the cards. She took over a table in the attic which she has stocked with all the necessary art supplies including beads, ribbon, paper, and glue. The table is called her 'design studio,' and is a place dedicated solely to her design work.

Her artistic eye (and her awesome work ethic) just blows me away. Her attention to detail is demonstrated by the placement of individual beads on the cards, all oriented in the same direction to give a beautiful effect. Her patience and skill in carrying out her vision are beyond impressive. Her super creativity, as well as a wry sense of humor, is manifest in by the absolutely unique character of each Valentine. Beautiful job, Natalia!

Ice in Oshkosh

The state maintains a road across Lake Winnebego in Wisconsin, complete with markers (discarded Christmas trees) and steel bridges to get across the pressure cracks in the ice. The wind was blowing at about 20 to 30 miles per hour, and the temp was around zero when my Dad and I crossed the lake. Exposed skin gets numb after about 30 seconds in this kind of cold. The locals don't seem to mind this kind of cold, probably because they know that they'll warm up when the weather starts to change in May.