Holy smokes . . .

. . . who the heck turned winter on?!!!  With the snow on the ground this morning, I'm glad I've got something with a little heat to show you.

This lovely pooch belongs to my daughter, Rochelle - check out her page; you're going to love it!   I've been working on towards this piece for weeks months.

Daisy

The original photo shows a wee bit less colour, as you can see.

I'm a rabid fan of Dean Russo's work and have been trying to create a stencil of Daisy for a long time.  This side by side of Dean's pooch was approximately where I wanted to go.

So from the time I started up til now, I've burned nine stencils, printed around 15 of them on gel prints, and created a massive pile of no-goes!  It can take dozens of hours to even get a start on a new technique, right?

So now that I have a reasonable stencil made (above, left), I can create another painting any time at all...Rochelle might be getting a new one every year for Christmas.  Can you hear her cheering???

And yes, I promised you a video this week that takes the book folding a little further, so here is the process for turning the basic folded book into a wacko 'Expat Offspring'.  It took ages - in my world that is - to video just one page tear, and to do the original Expat from Arcturus took that x about 150, so be warned.  It is not a fast process!

You may wonder why the 'Offspring' has googly eyes and so few tentacles when the parent (is that male/female/androgynous?) is eyeless and heavily tentacled.  

'Expat Offspring' © Win Dinn  Folded Book Sculpture 2018

You may not have known that on Arcturus, only babies under 25 years have eyes - the fully matured adult sees through their third, invisible, inner eye.  Each year, they grow a new tentacle and when they reach 25 they start to shed an eye per year.  Aren't they are brilliant?  By the time they reach 162, they are truly stunning.

'Expat from Arcturus' © Win Dinn  Folded Book Sculpture 2017

Whatever planet you're from, I'd be delighted to hear what you're up to...your comments keep me on my toes and creating!  Sending tentacle-y love from my planet to yours! 

It's chaos here...

...and fun to boot.

With Rochelle coming to stay with us for the summer as she joins the staff at Creston Veterinary Hospital, our household has doubled in size, if not in humans, as of yesterday.

Rochelle's two female dogs, JoJo and Daisy, are making themselves at home while Opal the Wonder Cat (can you see her in the photo?) struggles against all odds to train the additional staff.  She's a trooper!

Being of sound mind and body myself, I immediately got out of town to join Laura and Eileen a good way up the mountainside for tea and the beauty of nature.  The company was outstanding,

and the view was amazing.  A favourite hiking spot of Eileen's, it was a terrific vantage point to see valley bottom from a different angle.

A lovely break, it was a welcome re-connection with Mother Nature's glory.

Always it's a treat to come home and do the same in the back yard.  Today was a harbinger of hot summer days, and the garden was a great 'Ta Da' of anticipation.

Some of the tulips are in full bloom,

others are pregnant with possibility.

The forsythia is paying homage to the sky,

 and who says that pansies are quiet and retiring?  These ones look blatantly showy!

 Even the lowly dandelion echoes the sun on a day like this!

Oh, and somewhere in there I managed to sneak in some time for fun foam plate construction,

and even finish some.

So welcome home, Rochelle, thanks for the respite Eileen and Laura, and blessings on you, Mother Nature, for always showing your truly extraordinary colours!