Author: Shelly

Crankypantsing, Photography

Faucet

Shelly

100_5750

Disgusting, isn’t it? I wish they would put this sink in a trash bag, if they aren’t going to clean the built up grime off it.

And that’s about all I have today. I had a two-hour customer service training workshop this morning, which was just about useless. The cranky it inspired is still bubbling away. An adult beverage might help, and maybe a couple of House re-runs. (Seriously. The woman running the workshop made a big production of going around and shaking hands with everyone. Aaack! I nearly turned around and left, when I saw her barreling over toward me. I don’t touch strangers. Period. And I really don’t appreciate them touching me. The whole thing was kind of ironically funny, in retrospect. That sort of overly aggressive sales job is guaranteed to lose me as a customer for life.)

Anyway, about the only good thing I can say about this day is that it’s nearly over. Oh! And I got some doodling done during the stupid workshop.

Teh Enb.

Art, Paintings

Another Progress Shot

Shelly

IMG_0135

IMG_0124
Pears (in progress)
oil on canvas

Please ignore the bad flash. I do have a tripod, but there’s still not enough light inside to get a decent shot. The way things are going, by the time I finish this, the weather will be warm enough to take outdoor shots of it.

These are the two flanking pears. There’s a Bosc pear between them, but that one is only blocked out at this point, so there’s nothing to see. The two red pears are by no means done, but they are progressing, at least.

Hopefully, I’ll remember to shut the studio door, so the cat will not be able to lie against the bottom of the canvas while it’s still wet. The last one I was working on needs some cosmetic surgery, because Pandora smeared the paint around. That’s what I get for leaving a towel on the table in front of it. She thought it was a nice bed, I’m sure.

Pets, Photography

Miss Brown

Shelly

IMG_0100

I forgot to buy cat litter the last time I was at the store, so I stopped to get some on my way home from work today. Boy, was that ever a mistake! Not being any kind of sportsballs fan, I didn’t realize that tomorrow is Superbowl Sunday. Target was packed. I figured that, since I was having to fight my way through the barbarian hordes, I may as well make it worth my while. The pet supply section was relatively quiet, so I hunted around for a new toy for Harriet. I also picked up a new collar for her. It’s purple, though you can’t tell in this photo.

Photography

Tomato

Shelly

IMG_0069

Tomatoes were US$2.49/pound at the grocery store, which is out of control. But, since there were a few that still had green on them, I bought them anyway, so that I could have fried green tomatoes. For breakfast. Mmm. Much better than oatmeal!

This one was almost too ripe to fry, but it turned out fine. I actually like them better when they’ve started to turn a little pinkish red than I do when they’re hard and green. The semi-ripe ones get soft when you fry them, but the flavor is wonderful.

I just slice them, dredge them in a little bit of flour or flour and cornmeal mixture, and fry in olive oil until they’re brown. Then just salt and serve.

Photography

Gesso Brush

Shelly

IMG_0082

I’ve been doing a lot of gessoing lately. The brush I use is an old one that I bought when I was in school. I think I probably paid US$1.99 for it 15 years ago. It’s a horrible brush (and I’ve obviously not treated it nicely!), but the plastic bristles don’t shed, so it’s perfect for gessoing canvases.

I stretched and primed another canvas this morning. The second coat of gesso is almost dry. Tonight, we paint pears!

Photography

Blue Day

Shelly

100_5305

I took this yesterday (yes, I’m cheating again), before heading out to hunt down a memory card for the new camera. I think my little Kodak knew that something was up. I am a shameless Photoshopper, but I did absolutely nothing to this aside from resizing and editing out a little bit of the deck overhanging my patio. It was a breathtakingly beautiful day, and I couldn’t have asked for a better photo.

Today was not so pretty. The weather guys been threatening us with Icy Death from Above. So far, it’s not materializing, which I guess is good, though I was kind of looking forward to having a bad weather day off work. If it ever does attack us, we are well prepared. The road crews were out this morning, spreading salt on the roads. It was mostly swept to the sides and centers of the roads by this afternoon, but when I came home from work, I saw that more salt trucks were out to replenish it.

Another thing that’s making me grumpy is that my Lensbaby arrived, but it’s the wrong mount. I emailed the vendor and will have to send it back to exchange for the correct one. Hmf.

Photography

Comparative Silver

Shelly

IMG_0053
Canon Digital Rebel XT with kit lens

100_5251
Kodak EasyShare DX4530

I used this example, because when I took the bottom photo last weekend, I had a hell of a time trying to capture the crackled and flaking silver on the back of this piece of mirror. Both images have had some Photoshopping, but there is not enough editing in the world to make the bottom image clearer. The top image even shows some of the rust-colored corrosion that’s forming around some of the flakes of silver.

Edit: The coppery smears on the lower sections of the bottom photo that look like oxidation are actually just dust and grime on the surface of the glass. For some reason, the Kodak camera was unable to see past the gunk, so that it looks substantial even though it isn’t.

Photography

Testing 1-2-3

Shelly

I had to go to four stores before I found a CF card. Target, Kmart, and even Staples were out. On a whim, I stopped at CVS, because you never know what sort of weird crap you’ll find at a drugstore. And, besides, I was out of aspirin. They had one CF card in stock

IMG_0025

IMG_0028

IMG_0040

These have had some Photoshopping, because I’m shameless that way. I also turned on the EXIF display in Coppermine. I’ve always used Photoshop’s “save for web” function, which strips out the EXIF data, but I think I’ll start using “save as,” instead, so that it’s preserved.

I have a feeling this is going to be a steep learning curve.