Abraham Lincoln

If you're returning after reading my book review earlier, welcome back! If not... hello there!

I wanted to post some pictures from today's work, which has SOLD!!! But, if this is up your alley, you can visit me on Facebook and let me know. I don't have a listing for commissions at this point on the Etsy shop, but I'm happy to take requests. This one was a special request from Facebook, in fact.

My Dad has always been a huge admirer of Abraham Lincoln. So it wasn't all that surprising when he suggested doing a portrait of our 16th president. It was also quite fitting, as I made a clay relief sculpture of Abraham Lincoln for him during art class about eighteen years ago! So everything comes round full circle, you see.

This is the finished project, along with a few different detail angles.

 

As you can see, Zino was a big help in the process. He has invented a game, wherein he tosses his slobbery Kong into my box of paints, under the easel, etc. and then I have to find and throw it without toppling everything over.

 I ought to be off to bed right now, but I'm sort of on a roll with painting and listening to Men at Work, so I'll probably end up staying up deciding on the next piece. Thanks for checking in, see you tomorrow, and don't forget to visit Etsy if you haven't yet. :)

Book Review: The Girl With All the Gifts

 
I should start by saying that I am very much over the zombie craze. I have been for awhile. Zombies have never been my favorite horror fixture, and the theme has been done to death over the past few years. (Pun intended). So, honestly, I am not sure what made me pick up this book. I am just exceedingly glad that I did.

The book begins in a warped sort of academic/residential setting for young children. We are not told exactly why these young students are housed in cells instead of dormitories or rooms, nor why their daily routine includes all four limbs and head being strapped into a wheelchair before class. Throughout the book the author employs such vague and perplexing situations, revealing one puzzle piece from the left upperhand corner, two from the lower right, one from the middle, and so on, compelling the reader forward to figure out just what in hell is going on.

We eventually learn that a pandemic has struck, wiping out a large portion of society, and creating a subspecies of "Hungries." I feel I can tell you that without giving anything away, since the global disease model is fairly standard zombie fare. I won't elaborate any further, however. The less said on plotline, the better. Carey maintains a level of suspense not only about events and back story, but also with the characters. From one chapter to the next, you will not know who is good or bad, who is pulling the strings, and who is being manipulated or to what end.

The book is also emotionally absorbing. We are not given stale archetypes of heroic scientists, fearless warriors, and mindless droning cannibals. (Ok, there might be a few of the latter. But just a few. There is much more to Carey's Hungries than one might think.)

I hope I have intrigued you enough to have a look at this book. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Late night update

 

Hello readers. :) Just wanted to post a few updates before I head off to bed for the night... or I guess morning at this point. With two paintings finished in as many days, I would say it's been productive around here. Can't make any promises for tomorrow, because I have a ten hour shift scheduled. Monday, on the other hand, will be a different story.

I chose two rather different subjects this weekend. The first one I'll show you is the one I just finished the details on. If you don't recognize the face or the quote, it's probably because he was someone who made many of his creative contributions from behind the scenes: Jim Henson. I ran across one of his quotes the other day, and knew I had to paint it. "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending." Doesn't that sum up his work perfectly?

The next painting was for fun... it's The Stig, from the British motorhead program Top Gear. If you don't know who The Stig is or what Top Gear is, get on Netflix and watch it right now. Even if you aren't very much into cars, the program is ridiculously entertaining.

Marley and Zino are both giving me the hairy eyeball for still being up instead of in bed, so I'd better get to it. I hope you like these latest paintings, whether you're a Muppet fanatic or an auto enthusiast, or both! That's all I have to share at the moment, but stay tuned. For other excitement, "like" us on Facebook and check out the Etsy shop. Good night!

Catching Up

Hello there... I have certainly let a lot of time elapse since my last post, apologies! I will try to be more diligent from here on out. We have had some very high and some very low points, but as always, we keep on trucking and see where the road goes.

Nate's battle buddy, Zino, finally came home to stay, after 33 months in service in Afghanistan. Now he is enjoying retirement. And the couch. We lost Jade in March to a rapid onset pneumonia. It was very sudden and extremely painful but we were lucky enough to have the support of our friends, especially Natasha. We miss our little Bug terribly but we are so fortunate to have had her in our lives.

We brought home this crazy little girl about a month ago. Her name is Lola, and she is absolutely hysterical. She doesn't really talk as of yet, but she likes music, flying in circles, and stealing shiny objects. We are hoping to welcome a new furry family member soon, one of Zino's Army peers. I can't elaborate on details since I don't have any, but fingers and paws are crossed.

We are also looking to move in the near future. We really want to be near downtown, and think we may have found "The Place!" Again, fingers and paws and feathers crossed.

Lots of good books to update you on, but that's for another post. I went back to school in December to pursue my Bachelor's in Creative Writing. It was finally time! Thus far I am focusing on one course per semester, so it's slow going, but I am so glad to be studying again, polishing up old skills, and learning new ones.

Finally, I have launched a small venture on Etsy called Something Wicked Art. Right now I only have a few pieces posted, but I am spending anywhere from two to ten hours on any given day working on paintings to add. The revived October Country blog will still talk lots about books and I will keep you up to date on my latest cross stitch adventures, but I hope to bring you along on this art journey as well. We do have a Facebook page as well, so please check out the shop and "like" the Facebook page if you want to see more. Nate has been trying to sell me on the idea of Instagram, but I haven't quite figured that out yet. Here are a few sneak peeks at some of the paintings... click the links above to see more.

Well, to anyone that's made it this far through the post, thank you for visiting and reading! And stay tuned for further updates!

-Carolyn