Three Generations

My Mother-in-Law

My Daughter

My Wife

It’s almost here and there’s not much I can do to stop Christmas from getting here. I have one more MUST DO commission, and then I can enjoy the holidays.

While I am not exactly finished with my Christmas shopping, I know everything that I want to get, and then I have the list of the things that I can afford to get. Luckily this year the list is about the same.

While I would love to have a little snow, the cold weather has not always been my favorite.  I seem to always be cold, even when its not cold outside. Go figure. But at least this Christmas we have new horses on the ranch, and they are incredibly sweet.  So if everything works out, we will be riding on Christmas day, once all of the presents are open and the giggling and laughing has died to a low roar.

Here I am with my favorite new mare on the ranch, Hope.  Stay alert for my new drawings. I have several with her in it. I haven’t posted them yet, because I am waiting to unveil them for a solo art show in February.

Next year already promises to be wonderful with all of the anticipation of new opportunities and ideas.  I should be posting several new landscape drawings, as well as the aforementioned buckskin, Hope.  Also, some new graphite drawings of a few dogs.  And maybe a few surprises here and there.

For all of those who have followed my artwork, my blog, or my website and somehow landed here, Thank You for coming into my life and sharing it with me. I hope your holidays are warm and wonderful, and filled with giggling and laughter.

Buffy is my latest drawing, just in time for Christmas! Buffy, a yellow labrador, is super sweet, and apparently very thoughtful.  She never allows anyone to arrive without a gift. When I came over to Buffy’s house, delivering the final drawing, she had to run off and came back with a house slipper. She wouldn’t stop whining until I picked it up and thanked her for the present.

So the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn has it’s own little place on Facebook now.
Weird.

Well, if you’re a canal it’s weird.

But I guess the purpose is good. It’s just another way of the Environmental Protection Agency to communicate with it’s public audience. They list basic information about the canal that has been made into what’s called a “superfund”. Something about cleaning up all the toxins blah blah blah with more money than I could ever imagine holding in my lifetime.

It’s all fairly tame and boring, the information on the face book page etc.
You won’t find much gossip on this facebook page.

Like how last month, two warrior werewolves, let’s just call them Freki and Geri, seemed to use the Gowanus Canal as a means of transport and hideout whilst terrorizing the boroughs.

If you didn’t hear about this, then that’s a good thing. Believe me. It means for the most part that between the NYPD and the Breukelen Pack, they managed to contain things, you know, to an acceptable level of…loss, as it were.

But it shouldn’t be all that surprising that I think about it, that Freki and Geri used the Gowanus Canal. Given how ‘particular’ those two hell hounds really are.

They’re not like regular werewolves. Hell no.
They’re more like, well I guess you would call them, pure breeds. The closest thing to the real deal and they’re, let’s just say, not “from around here”.

They’re old, like ancient old.
Stuff of legend, that none of us Breukelen even knew about.

I guess sometimes history gets buried as much as some of it gets reported. Brooklyn has a lot of history, that sure makes for an interesting read if you can get your hands on the ‘real’ version of events. Or if you know the right elders who still remember what the truth of the time was.
Whoever controls the information, has the power and all that.

That’s why it was so damn hard to find anything on these uber-werewolves, when my brother Aksel asked me to.

There just wasn’t any.
But somebody knew something, enough to bring them to my hood.

Yes people, there was a time before the internet and even, the written word.
Makes you wonder what that was like doesn’t it?

But I did manage to make one connection.
An odd connection, and yet it makes complete sense which in itself is scary.
Because it means things, implications to me and my kind. I think.

Plum Island Animal Disease Control Centre is apparently undergoing $40 million dollar “upgrades” at a time when the centre is being sold off to make way for a new facility, not on Plum Island.
Confused? Curious? – me too.
Anyway, after digging around a little deeper on this odd bit of information, it looks like some of this funding for upgrades is actually going towards some sort of virus research in their bio-weapons, animal division. With something called Othin.

Othin if you know your Latin names and Greek gods, is the formal name of the Greek god, Odin.

Odin having two favorite pet hell hounds.
Guess what they’re names are?
Yes, bienvenido to my world, Freki and Geri.
Creepy really.
Hell hounds of a god, that are like the pure bloods of our line?
Which then got me asking, what would Plum Island be doing with this Othin virus research? As well as exactly, how watered down a version of werewolf are we contemporaries?

We (my brothers & sister) got this answer in an even creepier way.
Short version is this: Othin is virus designed to protect humans from lycanthropy.
You know, so if a non gets bit by a werewolf, you get injected with Othin and instead of going all furry a month later, you remain, the fur-free human that you’ve always been.

Of course, none of this is really common knowledge in the wider community as such and as far as we’re aware, there’s only been one test subject for this. (How do you think we found out?)
It’s all a bit Montauk Monster-ish really and gives me the wiggins.
But hey if a Canal can be social networking on Facebook, anything is possible.
Truth.

Wondering what to do during Thanksgiving weekend? Ready for some shopping but don’t really want to fight the Black Friday crowds? Why not come to the Palm Deserts Art Show?

I’ll be there with all of my favorite artwork, including a new piece of artwork especially for this show. Can’t say much about it because I would love for it to be a surprise, but I will say it has color in it. That in itself is HUGE!!! I don’t do color, and not sure I will continue with color, but I thought it would be challenging to do something so different that I would have something new and exciting to showcase.

If you’re in the area, come by and visit! I would love to meet you and show you my artwork face-to-face!!!

Il giudice del lavoro De Marzo, ieri ha emesso i primi 128 decreti ingiuntivi contro l’azienda Answers (gruppo Omega) a seguito dell’istanza avanzata dalla Cgil su mandato dei lavoratori del call center; sono attese per i prossimi giorni le decisioni su alcuni altri centinaia di casi

PISTOIA.

Il sindacato proseguirà la sua iniziativa legale attraverso un’istanza di fallimento dell’azienda, strada che può consentire un rilancio della stessa attraverso nuovi soggetti imprenditoriali. Ieri è anche svolta per le vie di Roma, la manifestazione degli oltre 10.000 dipendenti del gruppo Omega di cui anche Answers è parte.

Alla manifestazione hanno partecipato anche 150 lavoratrici e lavoratori di Pistoia, accompagnati dal presidenti dei consigli comunale e provinciale Marco Vettori e Silvano Calistri e alla presenza di dirigenti nazionali del centrosinistra tra cui Pierluigi Bersani, Antonio Di Pietro, Paolo Ferrero, Cesare Damiano e i parlamentari pistoiesi Vannino Chiti e Lido Scarpetti. I lavoratori hanno chiesto per l’ennesima volta l’impegno diretto di Palazzo Chigi e del governo in questa complicatissima vicenda.

Durante la manifestazione, nella quale ai lavoratori è stato impedito di raggiungere sia Palazzo Chigi che piazza Venezia come era stato concordato alla vigilia, una delegazione guidata da Susanna Camusso, della segreteria nazionale della Cgil, Gianni Rinaldini segretario generale della Fiom e Emilio Miceli segretario generale della Slc, ha incontrato il sottosegretario alla Presidenza del consiglio Gianni Letta, che ha promesso la convocazione di un tavolo con l’azienda per la settimana prossima (il 27 novemnre alle 18, ndr) non escludendo l’attivazione della legge Prodi bis sulle imprese insolventi in caso di ulteriore manifesta indisponibilità al confronto da parte dei responsabili del gruppo Omega.

Proseguono intanto le iniziative di solidarietà con i lavoratori; stamani alle 9 sarà in visita in azienda l’assessore regionale alla salute Enrico Rossi, candidato unico alla presidenza della Regione Toscana, che vuol far sentire la vicinanza dell’ente e sua personale ai lavoratori del call center pistoiese. Venerdì 20 alle 9 ha annunciato la propria visita nell’azienda di Sant’Agostino il vescovo di Pistoia, monsignor Mansueto Bianchi.

Sempre venerdì alle 20.30 al circolo Arci di Bonelle, è prevista una cena di solidarietà organizzata da Rsu, Arci e la sezione Soci Coop Pistoia che ha messo a disposizione i prodotti. Parteciperanno anche i dirigenti della Pistoiese a partire dal presidente Fondatori.

Anche il consiglio comunale si è occupato della vicenda Answers. Berti, consigliere dei Comunisti Italiani, ha invitato l’aula ad integrare il fondo di solidarietà mettendovi anche i gettoni di presenza riservati ai consiglieri. Elisabetta Querci, capogruppo di Sinistra per Pistoia, ha subito devoluto il suo. Geri, consigliere dei Verdi, ha chiesto al Comune di farsi promotore presso la media e la grande distribuzione di luoghi di raccolta di prodotti da consegnare ai lavoratori in stato di bisogno. Daniela Simionato, capogruppo della Lega, ha chiesto al Comune di fare in modo che non vengano interrotte le utenze di acqua, luce e gas a chi ha perso il lavoro o non viene pagato.

1 Stardollar kampanyası uzun süredir devam ediyordu. Ama kampanyayı bir anda bitirdiler. Şimdi Superstar olmayanlar günde 5 stardollarlık kampanya ile idare etmek zorunda. Bu benim içinde kötü birşey çünkü bende Superstar değilim Günde 5 stardollar hiçbirşeye yetmiyor… Bu yüzden 1 Stardollar kampanyası geri dönsün diye bir çok grup açıldı. Çoğu kişi bebeklerinin gözlerine göz yaşı koydu. Hatta geçenlerde bir kapak kızının gözünde görmüşsünüzdür….

On Wednesday, I leave for an Invitational Art Show in Death Valley.

I know… Death Valley???

But much to my surprise, its actually nice in November! The weather is absolutely wonderful, nice and warm, with a cool desert breeze late in the evening.  This will be my 3rd time of being there.  Of all of the art shows I have done, I really enjoy this one. It lasts for 3 and 1/2 days, beginning on Thursday, and ending Sunday at noon.

ART SHOW

During that time, of course they have the Invitational Art Show, which will be celebrating its 60th year.  Many fantastic artists will be there.  The comraderie between all of the artists is truly what makes this show so enjoyable for me to do. 

OTHER EVENTS

Besides the Art Show, they also have a host of other events going on throughout the rest of the week. To check out all of the activities, including information on the art show, check out this link: http://www.deathvalley49ers.org/art_show.html

Here is a picture of Carl Seyboldt and I during the Artist’s Breakfast on Sunday, when art is donated and auctioned off. 

My latest posting I am incredibly excited about.  The lady I finished this for owns a dressage horse who is absolutely magnificent.  I probably say that about all dressage horses, and with good reason.  Most of my life, I have only been surrounded by Arabians, Thoroughbreds and Paint Horses.  Standing next to Arine (or Peaches as she likes to be called) takes your breath away.  She is HUGE in comparison to most horses. She is so muscular that I am completely blown away by her stature.  It was an absolute pleasure to draw a unique perspective of this horse.

Unfortunately, this picture did not get the minute details that are in the original graphite drawing, but I think you get the idea.  Let me know what you think…

One of the best things of living in the country is all of the animals there are, just sitting right outside your door to view.  Several months ago, a red-tailed hawk decided to set up his perch just outside our back door.  From his vantage point, he could see all of the ground squirrels busy gathering food. On occasion, he would even catch a squirrel.

I stumbled upon a really cool blog about alpacas. Now normally, I don’t get excited about alpacas, because I really don’t know much about them.  However, if you get a second, check it out! Her alpaca sight is relatively new and she could probably use some support.  And the pictures are really cute!!!

Her blog is titled Alpacas of Baragon. 

Daha iki gün öncesine kadar çalışan bilgisayarınız ne oldu da birden çalışmamaya ve hata vermeye mi başladı? Daha önce kurulu durumda bulunan bir donanımınızı bilgisayar artık tanımıyor mu? Tüm araştırmalarınıza rağmen sorunu bulamadınız veya çözemediniz mi? O zaman uğraşmayı bırakalım, biraz geriye dönelim. Çoğu zaman bu uğraş yerine sorunun olmadığı bir tarihe dönmek kesin sonuç verecektir, eğer zaten sorununuz bu şekilde de çözülmüyorsa daha farklı sorunlarınıza hoşgeldin deyiniz..

Windows işletim sistemlerinde yer alan Sistemi Geri Yükleme özelliği kolay tanımlanabilen geri yükleme noktalarını otomatik olarak oluşturur ve sistemin belirli bir saatteki veya tarihteki haline geri yükleyebilmenizi sağlar. Sistemi Geri Yükleme özelliği verileri veya belge dosyalarını eski haline getirmez, dolayısıyla geri yükleme işlemi sırasında çalışmalarınız, göz atma tarihçeniz ve sık kullanılan dosyalarınız bile kaybolmaz. Yani bilgisayarınızın sadece ayarları ve sürücüleri geri döndürülür.

Nasıl Geri Yükleme Yapabilirim?
Başlat/Programlar/Donatılar/Sistem Araçları/Sistem Geri Yükleme kısmından sistem geri yüklemeyi başlattıktan sonra:
- Sistem Geri Yüklemeye Hoş Geldiniz sayfasında, Bilgisayarımı önceki bir zamana geri yükle’yi (zaten seçili değilse) seçin, sonra da İleri’yi tıklatın.
- Bir Geri Yükleme Noktası Seçin sayfasında, Bu listede bir geri yükleme noktasını tıklatın listesinde en son sistem denetim noktasını tıklatın, sonra da İleri’yi tıklatın. Sistem Geri Yükleme’nin yapacağı yapılandırma değişikliklerini listeleyen bir Sistem Geri Yükleme iletisi görüntülenebilir. Tamam’ı tıklatın.
- Geri Yükleme Noktası Seçimini Onayla sayfasında,İleri’yi tıklatın. Sistem Geri Yükleme önceki Windows XP yapılandırmasını geri yükler ve sonra bilgisayarı yeniden başlatır. Eğer yükleme başarılı olmuşsa “başarıyla yüklendi” şeklinde bir mesaj alırsınız. Eğer yükleme başarılı olmazsa başka bir gün ve denetleme noktası deneyiniz.

Eğer dönmüş olduğunuz tarihten memnun değilseniz ve eski hale dönmek istiyorsanız yine Sistem geri yüklemeyi çalıştırıp, Son geri yüklememi geri al’ı tıklatın, sonra da İleri’yi tıklatın. Sistem Geri Yükleme’nin yapacağı yapılandırma değişikliklerini listeleyen bir Sistem Geri Yükleme iletisi görüntülenebilir. Tamam’ı tıklatın. Geri Yükleme Geri Almayı Onayla sayfasında, İleri’yi tıklatın. Sistem Geri Yükleme özgün Windows XP yapılandırmasını geri yükler ve sonra bilgisayarı yeniden başlatır.

Bilgisayarınızdaki Sistem Geri Yükleme özelliğini, masaüstünde Bilgisayarım simgesine sağ tuş yaptıktan sonra Özellikler kısmına girerek, Sistem Geri Yükleme sekmesinde yer alan Bütün Sürücülerdeki Sistem Geri Yüklemeyi Kapat şıkkını işaretleyerek tamamıyla durdurabilirsiniz.

For those that don’t know me, I am married to a wonderful man, with many hobbies.  With him in my life, I am blessed with the opportunity to enjoy many things in life I doubt I would have been able to do. Recently, we went to the desert to watch my stepdaughter participate in an off-road race, Cure for Cancer, a breast cancer fundraiser.

Nicolette & Torey

I have one step-daughter, and two step-sons. In the picture, is my step-daughter just prior to the race.  This was from last year’s race.  Still waiting to proof the photos we took a couple of weekends ago.

The grandest of all trees, the Spanish Oak Tree.  The California Central Coast is peppered with these trees all over the golden rolling hillsides. 

The Spanish Oak

Looking for a unique gift?  Browse through my new section featuring all of my limited edition prints.  I have many to choose from, including my newest piece, “Over the Ridge” that just won 3rd place in a juried competition this month (October) in Gallery Los Olivos, Los Olivos, CA.

One visit to my print section will have you looking at all of my favorites, as well as some of my prints that are becoming limited in availability.  I can ship anywhere you want, and I can use PayPal, which is always a safe and secure method of payment.   If you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to contact me or leave a comment, and I will get back with you immediately! My email is geridunn@aol.com.

The Spice Girls might reunite very soon to go on another world tour. Short on cash? Maybe, but Geri Halliwell is really into bringing the band together and Melanie B and C jumped on the bandwagon. Emma Bunton took a little goading but she caved in. So, now we have the four spices. Geri Halliwell said once that a can driver told her that it doesn’t have to be all of you, to be the Spice Girls. She learned that the hard way with Forever.

Anyway, Posh is being a wifey-wife and not going on this gig at Spice Enterprises. Kind of sad, she is the one with the least talent but with the most star quality right now. We  have nothing against her, but musically, she would come in last. She should just jump on the bandwagon. We always felt that she was the reason why the South American and Asian dates of the concerts got cancelled and we never got to see our favorite girl band. At any rate, at least there’s more spice in the way…

Pris:  10 Kr.
Titel: Spice Girls – One hour of girl power
Medvirkende: Victoria, Emma, Mel C, Geri, Mel B
Vægt: 251g
Pris For Porto: 37 Kr.
Sendes som: Maxibrev
Beskrivelse:
Join us for the adventure of a lifetime, spicing it up all over the world! This isn’t just our first four fantastic videos, it’s a sort of film diary of the last year. there are loads of interviews, behind the scenes footage at hte video shoots, pilllow fights and general spicey madness!!!

We don’t only talk babout girl power, we live it. Just watch!.

Featuring full length versions of:
~ WANNABE
~ SAY YOU’LL BE THERE
~ 2 BECOME 1
~ MAMA

Plus an exlusive version of  WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE.

Primarily, I work at Nazarene Theological Seminary as Development Assistant (doing marketing/fund-raising/alumni relations) 20 hrs/wk. This summer, Nathanael and I decided it would be helpful for me to get a second part-time job, because I’m taking a break from grad school and he is beginning nursing school and working a bit less. I checked NTS’ job board, and found an advertisement for a part-time housekeeper. Cleaning and organizing are tasks I enjoy–especially because they translate into order, being at peace, and hospitality. I inquired, and met up with my potential employer, Geri, in July.

She and I clicked. She wanted not only a housekeeper, but a home manager, and someone who brings happiness and peace into her home, etc. She hired me, and now I spend 14 hrs/wk in Geri’s home, helping her space become more and more a place of peace and refuge. It’s been a fun and rewarding job. At the end of my days there, I can see my progress. I’m also grateful for a second job that helps me be more active. It’s neat to have a job in which I can use my gifts to enrich someone’s life.

What’s your favorite or least favorite household chore? My favorite might be laundry. My least favorite: dishes!

Holly

I just finished a commission for an old cowboy.  Super nice man who spent his whole life running cattle, training horses and mules. My first impression was that he would have a “cowboy” dog.  You know, maybe a black lab, maybe a border collie, but something loud and big. Wow!!! How wrong I was.  Out came the star of the show, wearing her jewel-studded collar.  Holly was this sweet old beagle who loved to have her ears rubbed. I guess that showed me not to judge someone by their lifestyle.

Here’s a close up of the drawing around her eyes and nose. The original has so much detail, but it never comes through in any of the pictures…

Close up detail

Hope you enjoy my drawing…let me know!

First Day of Work

Working the yearlings is never an easy task.  Here is one being worked in the round pen, showing lots of attitude.

Arabian Eye

While working on a piece of art that later became titled “Aragon” I took a picture of the finished eye.  When working on a drawing, I always start with the eye.  If you think about it, it seems to make sense.  If I can’t get the eye to look right, it really doesn’t matter how well the rest of the drawing is.  Below is the finished piece.   

Interestingly enough, most people fail to understand how difficult it is to draw a white horse.  But think about what few tools I have to create my artwork.  Paper, Pencil, and Eraser.

Paper is simple enough, but it has to have archival quality. It also has to have some “meat” to the paper, so that the graphite from the pencils will stick. 

Pencils are easy too.  But even with that, there are some pencils that are my favorites. 

Erasers sound simple enough, but that’s where you can go wrong real quick. The wrong eraser can chew up the paper really quickly. The wrong eraser can lay a glaze on the graphite, making it difficult to work on top of the graphite, and create layers of graphite. The wrong eraser may not even erase the graphite at all.  With all of that said, you can’t go in and erase and erase until you get a white horse. You have to keep the paper clean, and make definitions in and around the horse, and add shape to make the white horse come alive. 

Aragon

Here is the link for the recently posted story behind Aragon.  http://geridunn.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/aragon-the-arabian/ Enjoy!!!