When you last saw this gentleman, he was nearing completion but still needed a few finishing touches here and there...
"The 8-Legged Man" acrylic and antique newspaper on hardboard, 11x14"
He's finished now! Framed up and ready to roll (err--I mean, swim). I think my favorite part in this piece is actually a barely-visible snippet from the antique 30s newspaper in the background:
It's hard to make out here, but it reads: "Yes, Whale Eats Sea Serpent". I crack up every time I glance at it.
I also slipped through an antique store this week for the first time in quite a while. It felt good. For a couple dollars I picked up some fab 1950s/60s colorful Italian buttons (the aqua ones are my faves):
And then on the way to purchase said buttons, I spied this amazing vintage lucite crabby paperweight hidden on a shelf:
Needless to say, he came home with me as well (for only 5 bucks). I don't think the lady who rang me up understood the sheer awesomeness of this piece, but goodness, how can anyone object to little crabs suspended in plastic? Not I.
It's a beauty. Perfectly entwined twigs and grasses, with remnants of leaves and flower blossoms tucked inside. It's still pretty damp from the rain so I currently have it in the garage drying out a bit.
Someone, though, had to check it out for herself.
After a lot of sniffing and prodding, the nest has passed the cat's inspection and all is right with the world.
I also found some great little mushrooms out back that made for a perfect day of sketching and studying.
These little ones are very small and spindly--the caps measuring roughly the size of a fingernail.
Back to the pencils and paints I go! Happy Friday and enjoy your Halloween festivities, folks! I'm hoping to trek out to my favorite old movie theater for a night of horror film classics, candy, and costumed frivolities. Can't wait!
Fall is my favorite time of year and I just can't get enough of it. Unfortunately, in the Pacific Northwest it lasts a very short few weeks (if that) before the gray and gloom and drizzle of Winter sets in. The trees right now are alive and vibrant in shades of red, magenta, and electric yellow.
All of these pictures were taken earlier in the week right in my own backyard. The Japanese Maple looked like a flaming ball of red leaves, all a'glow even at night.
And the cherry tree was a massive trunk of golden yellow. 
A few windy days later and now most of the leaves are on the ground, leaving me with a view of bare branches for the next 6 months...
In-between admiring the trees, I've been adding bits and bobs to my curiosity cabinet. This small rock crab shell spent an hour at my work table for some TLC and varnishing to fix some cracking issues. He's all better now and living it up with his (dead) shellfish friends on my mantle.
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