DSFDF Challenge - "Companion of Diana "

    This weeks challenge was very cool.     It gave me a chance to dust off some of my drawing skills.

It also got me back into the concept of planning out your design through the use of geometry, mathematics  and proportion.   It was easy, .......... thank God for erasers! 

But I had alot of fun diving into this project.  The intricacies of the shading, versus the opposing light sources was interesting.

I debated about doing a background with this, but didn't want to clutter up the space as I wanted to keep the focus on the statue, rather than my ability to fill up a background.

And I spent so much time on her in a Zen meditative state, I kinda want you to be looking at her!

Anyway, it was good to get back in the drawing saddle.  And it was cool to do an interpretive piece on a bit of artwork, that was in itself an interpretation of a live model.  A clear case of art imitating art, that is imitating life!  

 Kudos to Karin at  DifferentStrokesFromDifferentFolks.blogspot.com     for doing this challenge.

A Pause for the Cause of Painted Pet Paws!

This is a recent bit of artwork a friend asked me to design for her charitable work with animals.

The basic concept was to effectively bring to mind the idea of artwork being used to help raise awareness and or money to save shelter animals and find good homes for them.

I decided to go with a simple design of a paint palette with five paint dabs to make it resemble in a very clever fashion,... an animals paw.  And I was happy to help.

After all animals are loving creatures that give back to us in so many ways! 

The Joy of Spring and the Agony of Defeat

I love the coming of Spring, the warm weather, the sunshine, the smells of nature and other pleasures.  But what I enjoy the most is getting my bike ready for riding.

Every autumn I place my baby into a hybernated state.   I place fuel additive into the fuel tank, remove the battery, place the cover over it and roll her into her little corner of my friend Tony's garage.

When I made my final preparations last fall, I failed to notice that I had dropped something.  A something of great importance, though at the time, seemed of no consequence to me.

My pal Tony, had found a square nut, on his garge floor a few days later, and had the great forsight and prescence of mind to pick it up, and save it.  And for reasons I will divulge shortly, I am glad he did.

So the other day, I decided since it had gotten warmer and finally stopped raining, that I would go over his place, and restore my bike back to a rideable condition.  And I made sure to do two very important things, the first was to grab the battery and the second was to grab the little square nut, pictured above.

When I got to his place,  I grabbed the battery out of my car and walked over to his garage.  I opened the door and saw my baby sitting right where I had left her months before.  And I set forth to  make her road worthy once more.

I removed the cover,  and rolled the bike out of the garage into the sunlight, so I could see what I was doing with greater ease.   The part of the proceedure was to put the battery back in, and in order to do this, I had to remove the seat.

So I grabbed a set of Allen wrenches and went ahead and took the seat off, so I could get to the battery compartment.  Once off, I was able to access the battery box, and set the battery into place.

That done, I went to go attach the ground wire to it's terminal, and to my surprise I ran into a wee problem.  The bolt that holds the wire to the terminal, just kept spinning and spinning. 

Hmmmm.... I thought to myself this is not good.

Then I made the little "two watt light bulb connection".   I dug into my pocket and pulled out the little square nut.  And then I lifted the battery out, to see if the nut would fit somehow in the battery terminal.   Wouldn't you know it, it did!  Hooray!

So I put the battery into the bike, and decided I would tightened the other wire first, only to discover that the terminal was missing it's nut as well.   Oh noooooooo........ damn!!!

Quickly I removed the battery, yet again, and gave a quick look in the battery box.... ah... success!  The missing nut was at the bottom.  So I retrieved the pesky fixture and slid it into the terminal and proceeded to slide the battery back into the bike, again.

Of course Murphy was lurking near by, and as I did this , the nut slid out of the terminal as I tried to slide the battery in.  I was treated to the sound of it bouncing deep into the inner workings of the bike, not to be seen or heard from again.  Aaaarggggh!!!

I searched, and searched, and searched..... couldn't find it.  So I decided that this was a poorly engineered design.  And  just an irritating tragedy!    My plans to get my sophisticated, state of the art motorcycle ready and road worthy were brought to a crashing halt!

So I drove to the nearby dealership with hopes of finding a replacement.   But if you have ever had to deal with a parts department, you know already I was facing a wall of frustration, for two reasons.

The first being is that they are always horribly understaffed.  And secondly, they are not manned by the most well educated individuals.   I am sure each parts dept.  has at least one well learned expert, but that person is almost never around!

As was the case when I arrived.  Instead I got a semi-eager associate who meant well but was not savvy enough to help.  And in all fairness the part in question was not a standard issue motorcycle component, so much as it was part of the battery which is technically a peripheral part of the whole.

He did his best to help, which meant that he took the one nut I did have, and found the highly trained parts man in the back, only to re-emerge moments later to sadly inform me that he couldn't help me.   But this I sort of knew walking in, .... though I gave it a shot.

Not deterred I decided I would wander over to the service department, with the hopes that maybe one of the techs could help.   Having worked over the years  in the automotive industry, I knew that often techs, when repairing things, will  save extraneous things like new hardware and use the old ones instead.

Thankfully, this was the case, and I was soon presented with a little plastic baggy, filled with not one set, but two sets of shiny brand new nuts and bolts for my battery.  Best part is that it didn't cost me a thing.   Well a part for some time and effort,  that will never be regained once spent!

So I headed back to my friend's house, and managed to install the battery, finally, before the sun started sliding downward into dusk.   It was too late to go for a ride, but I decided I would at least turn her over.   And with one push of the starter button, the proud mechanical beast roared to life!

I was dissappointed that I couldn't take her for a spin, but relieved that she was back in service once again.  And I comforted myself that there would be other sunny days in which to ride.  So I turned my bike off and wheeled her back into the garage.

I stared at the lonely nut in my hand and laughed to myself about how ironic that such a small insignificant lump of metal could render such a marvel of engineering that is my motorcycle, completely useless.  It boggles the mind!    But I guess in a Zen kind of way, it is reassuring to know that even the most insignificant of things probably serves a more useful purpose in life, than you know!    And to always hang on to those extra parts lying around.  Junk drawers can serve a useful purpose, once and a while!   Hmmm... there is a life lesson in there somewhere! 

" I think he has friends out there! " says Capt. Ahab.

Different Strokes For Different Folks - A Creative Consortium.

This is a bi-weekly project my friend Sheila got me interested in. Basically you are given a photo to work from, and you are left to your own devices to decide what you will do with it!

I immediately fixated on the "fatherly figure" and how detached he seemed from his family. It gave me the impression of a sea captain like "Ahab". Then I started developing the concept of the lonely at the top commander with his disgruntled crew .

The father seems lost in thought as he scans the horizon, his family almost seems to be standing dejectedly by, awaiting his orders. So of course with my crazy imagination, I decided to do a Moby Dick theme. With Ahab, having captured his prize, much to the shock and horror of his family. As if you can almost hear his wife's silent thoughts " This is not going to fit in the luggage rack on the Volvo! "

The rest as they say is history. I will probably start joining this fun project and posting my designs on a regular basis.

Remain Vigilant - It's A Tough World Out There

Well, hello again fellow bloggers. Just feelingI am in one of those enlightened and yet, fatalistic moods!

I always muse that the internet aspires to bring the world closer together, and yet somehow, I feel it makes us more anti-social.

We no longer need to interact with other humans, we now engage screen names, avatars, and online personalities.

We don't even have to venture outside anymore to get our most basic of necessities. Groceries can now be purchased online.

So now compiled with online bill paying, it is conceivable that if you are someone who is completely agoraphobic or anti social, you don't ever have to venture outside ever again!

And since so many people are making their livings online with such websites like E-bay and Craig's List, it pretty much keeps the outside world, well.... outside.

And in this day and age, I am noticing that in the more fast paced urban areas, people are becoming less amicable towards one another. Road rage is on the rise, every one is fast becoming a disgruntled consumer in the check out of life.

Motor vehicles used to be the butt of every joke as far as waiting in line went. Now if you are at the supermarket, and the lines are longer that two people deep, it seems the gripers and whiners have a right to complain. Although for some strange reason banks are unaffected by this, you could still die of old age waiting for an available teller. But guess what they now have full service ATM's every where. ( Including super markets! Not to mention mini-bank branches.)

I think part of it is, we don't want to get trapped into banal conversation with strangers anymore! Chit chat and small talk have fallen by the wayside. People don't want to be inconvenienced or imposed upon, and because we are vastly losing the art of polite conversation with real live people. We are becoming jaded with the safety and security of talking to strangers on line! ;)

Because online if you don't want to talk to someone anymore, you just click off and ...poof... you are gone. And the great part, is that you don't need to apologize or come up with a neurotic Jerry Seinfeld style excuse..... oh I have a dentist appointment. Excuse me.

And unless you live in an area that is not being plagued with massive urban renewal or over development projects, you are just being squeezed into tighter more compact situations with a growing population of people.

It is no wonder we are becoming anti-social. And as a race we haven't changed in 30,000 years, we are suspicious of others, especially if you look and act different. And if we don't like you, our first instincts are to get as far away as possible. Or if you are less inclined to move, to nip the problem in the bud. Which is why we have gun control laws in affect! And a good thing too!

I guess as much as progress and technology are improving the quantity of life it is not exactly improving the quality of life. We can now get better, bigger, faster, delivered to our doorstep. But I think it comes at a price, and a sacrifice of values and ideals.

We are vast becoming a race of people who are programmed at birth to want more and appreciate less. And somehow the hubris of the old timers rings true, things might have been better in the good old days!

We are at the peak of our game, we are technologically advanced. But if you are able to pinpoint all the other races that were ahead of their time in there own ages, you fast realize that each and every one died out mysteriously without any warning!

So get your re-inforced home security system, and a better car alarm, and stop by the gun shop to get the latest in personal protection, oh .....and don't forget to update your virus protection for your computer.... but no matter how much you prepare for the worst, it's inevitable that the worst may one day find you.

So my advice is enjoy your life as best you can, if your fellow man ain't out to get you, something else is! No sense wasting time waiting for it, go out there and live your life to the fullest! And don't let paranoiya get the best of you! It's a tough world out there, remain vigilant! And have a nice day! :)

The Teacher and The Student

I have been on both sides of this relationship in life. As much as I love learning new things, I also love sharing them with those who wish to learn as well.

And this relationship is important as it feeds the hunger to learn more so that you can share more!

I have learned many things in life, some useful, some just entertaining. Over time, you learn so much that you forget many of your accumulated bits of wisdom. And it is not until someone starts picking through your brain, that you remember half the stuff you have stored away in boxes in the corners of your mind.

Which begs the questions, can you have a yard sale for all your excess life lessons? What is a memory worth on E-bay?

Welcome to Spring

I was hoping that when I woke up this morning I would be greeted by a "Disney-esque" view of Spring outside my window, brilliant rays of sunshine and birds chirping merrily in a tree. Nope, instead I saw large chunks of snow crashing down from the heavens!

Who says " Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor?"