Mean people suck..

I know that as artists, we have a lot of thinking time on our hands, especially when painting boring things like fur or grass. Our minds drift and we feel compelled to talk about where those thoughts took us. This is one of those moments. I was listening to the Rent soundtrack and heard the song, Seasons of Love. (525,600 minutes...how do you measure a year?) It got me to thinking about how our life is made up of these minutes, and like it or not, we only have so many and then we are done. I think giving our time to someone is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Those are moments that we will never get back, so wasting them seems really wrong. (There are a few really bad movies out there that owe me 1 1/2 hours back, by the way.) Having friends and family around you is a special thing, you love giving them your minutes and sharing theirs. But what about mean people? How many moments have we all wasted on mean people, or even just unpleasant ones? How many moments have we all wasted worrying about these people and their affect on us? My Fall resolution this year is to stop wasting the minutes that I have left on this planet on not-nice people and put them to better use. I raise my life clock in celebration to my dear friends and family and promise to dedicate more time to listening to you and laughing with you. And for the mean people, you will have to find someone else's time to waste.

The Artist Ride 2006

It seems sometimes I spend all my time waiting for the next Artist Ride. The AR is an event sponsored by the Shearer Ranch in South Dakota and run by Jim Hatzell and his great group of volunteers. It is a chance for 50 invited artists to gather together and take photos of not so common events. We camp by the Cheyenne River and wake up first thing at sunrise and start taking pictures. This event would not even exist if it wasn't for our wonderful models, so I have to take off my hat to them. They put up with us, wear hot clothing while we figure out what we want, and never complain. We have the opportunity to photograph working cowboys outfitted from 1800's to present day, Native americans from all over the US, Mountain Men recreationists, you name it, it is there. I thought I would share a few photos from this weekend, but I give a gentle reminder...these are copyrighted photographs and it is illegal to download them or use them with out my permission.

The only thing that could limit us is our lack of imagination. A great artist who attends every year said to me, if you can't find it here, you aren't looking hard enough.

Very wise man.















I abused Amber and Todd the most. Going through my photos, I could not believe how many I took of these two. Expect to see them pop up in my paintings...a lot!

Thanks for all your help guys.










Moses is probably one of the most popular models we have. We wait in line to take his picture and he is a pro. So photogenic and handsome. You will find a painting I did of him in my back blogs.








The cattle and longhorn roundup in the hills is one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. My pictures could not do them justice.













The native american models are just magnificent. Beautiful and stoic, they make the job of painting easy.








I would feel remiss if I did not mention Ross. This young man, early teens, got on this horse twice for us. And he fell off twice, hard. Not enough money in the world could get me up there. I am happy on the ground with my camera.

At the end of the day....

While I shot away and made my trigger finger sore, my loving husband was back at camp...tirelessly working on the next meal and making sure that all was well when his tired, hot wife came stumbling home.

Well...I must be honest, he did reset up camp after a storm blew away my best efforts and did have breakfast, lunch and dinner ready every day. I couldn't have done it without him!

The Anoka County Game Fair

I had heard about the game fair, but never got a chance to go. What a great time. There were dogs everywhere (heaven for me). Booths and demos, I hardly knew which way to go. Needless to say, I never stopped taking photos. This is a little springer that was too pooped to pose...

A local kennel had pointers doing demos. These are just pups, and already know the ropes.

Then there was the long jump!!! I had the best time here. Not exactly what I will be painting, but fun to catch on camera. They all had there own style!

Uptown Art Fair

The Uptown Art Fair was held this last weekend. Now..I do not usually do the outdoor art fair market, but I have heard that this is one of the best in the country. In fact, it is the number 4 art fair in the country. I have to say that this did not disapoint. The show draws about 350 thousand people in three days, and I think I saw 325,000 of them! It was a great show and a great opportunity to meet my fellow Minnesota'ns.




This is my booth. We had great weather, and beautiful breezes! It could not have been a better weekend for an art show.










My favorite part of the weekend was 'dog-watching'. I think that John and I saw every breed there is to see this weekend.

This is thank you to all the dog owners that let me take a photo of their new pups.