I haven't been writing here because I have had the flu. My Annual Flu Festival. My annual Get-All-Bronchial-And-Have-Trouble-Breathing Event. Whee! But I don't think I'll need to go to the doctor. The vitamins I sell have really helped me. This is the one I take, morning and night. It's for women, but they have them for kids and men too.

I am feeling a bit better but haven't really been able to rest at all. Today is DD1 and DD2's birthday (11 yr old twins) - in the past, I would bake one cake and lay out the layers separately so we wouldn't have tons of cake, but this time I decided to make them EACH a two layer cake, and things have not gone according to plan (do they ever??)

I put the 15 mo. old DS down for his nap, and the City of Snellville Public Works guys came out and started tearing up the drainage system by our house, banging noises, diesel trucks, all kinds of noise, so he napped for 10 minutes and then he was up again.

So I have baked two cakes with a toddler hanging on my leg. So much for the nap and shower that I wanted to get for myself! But maybe I will be able to get one this afternoon. It has been nutty :)

I blew up some balloons and DS really had fun with them (NOTE: never let yunguns play with ballooons unsupervised, but hopefully you already know that) ... he had a ball with them, and one popped and he found out that you aren't supposed to bite on balloons. They are TDS Telecom balloons if you care :) They are leftovers from my father in law's former job - kind of sad that I haven't been out to the store to get decent balloons, but I hung them just right so the logo is at the back...and no-one ever need know, keep that on the hush-hush, okay?

What is up with the frosting packages downsizing the contents? Use-ta be that I could take a spoonful out of the frosting container and 'test' it, and there would be plenty for the cake....but not these days. One cake had chocolate chip frosting and the other cake was to have plain milk chocolate, and I had to do a spackle job to cover up one cake. I guess my dipping-into-the-frosting days are over.

Thanks for stopping by!
Darla

I've found a couple of great sources for Santa Letters for kids. These are great fun. The second link even has a kit so you can 'fake' it totally and make it appear as if Old Saint Nick himself has been to your house! Very cool.

Get a personalized letter from Santa

Pencil Portrait of American Bald Eagle Print

My eagle portrait, completed on September 11, 2001.Fine art, 8x10 prints are available - they are $50 on my site, but I have them on sale for $25. Throw me a message here or email me at darla.dixon@gmail.com
if you are interested.

Wyanne came over yesterday. I showed her the bull portrait and told her about how I'm having trouble drawing the bull's head and how it's now messing with my head. Wy says that if I just do a little more 'landscaping' drawing in the forefront, it will work. She thinks it's fine. Maybe I am just too hard on myself.
I trust Wy's judgment.[ She's an artist...she's really good. Go buy something. ]

I worked on the re-do of AC's aunt's portrait. They changed their mind which photo they wanted me to use as reference. My artwork was okay, but I think they just had second thoughts once they saw the pose. It's not a problem, I want it to be totally right for them. They get one 're-draw' for free. I don't get my feelings hurt about it, as even photographers do retakes, and I'm drawing by hand. It's a very reasonable request.
So I worked on that until about 11 pm last night. Needs some more work. The sunglasses are overbearing on her face. I will need to darken the skintone. I am doing a textured background so her skin will look like real skin and smooth, in comparison with the texture of the background. The background will help her stand out in the piece. I am liking it.

It looks like I will be drawing about 23 portraits of children for a group of adoptive parents. They all adopted older children and need portraits that show their children as babies (most of their adoptedchildren are from Russia). Situations come up where they need pictures of their children at a younger age, so these are age-regression portraits. I know that my own children have had several school projects in which they have needed to bring in baby pictures. I'm their birth mother, so of course I did have the photographs, but if I had adopted them at age 8, there would be no baby pictures! So my artwork will simulate that, and I will scan each of them so each family will have something digital they can print out as needed. It's going to be a big job but lots of fun! I am extremely flattered to have received these commissions.

I will be drawing a portrait in color of a university campus for a client in Florida. We want to give it the real Palm Beach look, with lots of (Miami Vice? LOL) colors and palm trees. That is going to be very fun. I'm going to do this one in early February, because it's not for Christmas.

I have been giving some serious thought to taking the month of January 2005 off. Totally off. Just be a mommy OFF. I don't want to get burnout, although I am loving that things are getting busy. I wonder if I am capable of being 'off.' I do need to paint the living room. Oh, it hasn't been painted in 10 years, do you think I should?!? LOL!

Seems like there is more to post, but I need to go get some artwork ready to mail out while DS is sleeping.

Thanks for stoppping by. Please drop a note in the comments area just to say you were here!

Darla

By my daughter (Dear Daughter 1 [DD1]), age 10 -

During the month of November, I’m thankful for these things:

I’m thankful for my family, and especially my new little brother. He is 15 months old and he’s funny and very playful. He makes me smile. He has cute little chubby cheeks. He can already throw a ball and kick a ball very well. Sometimes he has tantrums, but they don’t last long. He has a good sense of humor. He runs up to me, and hugs and kisses me, without me asking him.

I am also thankful for my two uncles. My uncles are named Kelly and Daniel. Uncle Kelly lets me ride in his new truck, it’s huge and yellow. Uncle Daniel is quieter than Uncle Kelly. He is funny and kind of shy.

I’m thankful for our heroes. Our heroes are firemen and policemen. If we didn’t have them around, our lives would be harder, and more people would die from fires and violence.

I’m thankful for simple pleasures, like chocolate milk, toilets, and mittens. I’m also thankful for good movies, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins.

I’m thankful for electricity because without electricity, there would be no light at night. There would be no clean water for showers.

I’m thankful for adults, because if there were no adults, we would not be alive right now.

I’m thankful for dogs and cats because dogs and cats keep us company, and they’re our companions.

I’m thankful for clean water and clean air because without clean air, we would be breathing our own air, or carbon monoxide. Without clean water, we would be drinking or bathing in dirty water and we would become ill.

I’m also thankful for teachers like Ms. Barker, and Ms. Vance because without teachers, kids would not learn proper English, or know algebra.

These are only a few of the things I am thankful for. The rest of it would take 400 pages!

A very small portrait of a cat, this is only 5"x7"
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Technology has kicked me in the shins again. I sent several emails to clients in the past few days, with art previews attached to them. I thought it was strange that I hadn't heard back yet from them, so I decided to access the earlier emails and re-send. Problem is, the entire 'out' box of the email account is missing. Gone, vamoose, non-existent....history. It's a Eudora email account and it's been acting weird lately. Microsoft wants us to download Service Pack 2, but we had that before and it caused us a host of problems, so we had to remove Service Pack Two. Another problem I'm having is that sites that have a lot of Javascript cause my computer to half-freeze up. It is getting to be a real pain. Luckily I have been able to email those clients again, because I set up a folder for each client with their contact information written on it. So maybe I can get back in business. To have enough income to have someone else handle the durn tecknokolly sure would be nice!

I get asked often about whether it's a good idea to spray pencil artwork with fixative.

My artwork is un-treated (ie not sprayed with fixative) most of the time.

Framers generally want it to be sprayed with fixative, to protect against their smearing the work while they are framing it. Usually as long as the framer knows it's un-sprayed (untreated) then it is fine, because they arejust more careful.

I don't spray with fixative anymore for two reasons: Health risks of me breathing the stuff; and the fact that nobody knows definitively what the fixative will do to the artwork over time. I think it darkens and yellows the paper prematurely, especially when an artwork gets warm. I also fear it will make the paper more brittle years down the road. To best protect it over time, it's worth paying the extra dollars to have it framed with conservation materials (acid free, lignin free matting) - keep the artwork from directly touching the glass (that is the reason for mats), and then hang it somewhere out of direct sunlight.

If you decide you want to spray it with fixative, then don't let the framer charge you a big fee for it - you can buy an entire can of Krylon Fixative from any arts and crafts store for about $6 and just give the artwork a good sprayabout 12-15 inches away, using a 'z' type of arm movement from top to bottom (and make sure you're outside). To make a long story short (ha! too late, huh?) I just don't think it's worth it for the health hazards and notk nowing what it's going to do to the artwork over time, so I recommend not spraying it.

Darla

Today I have been working on my long 'to-do' list. I did a lot of scanning of both photos and artworks.
I emailed previews to clients. I will hopefully have some new art to show soon. It is an understatement to say that this book - Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil by J.D. Hillberry has really helped me have a miraculous change in my artwork quality! I am more than thrilled! I can't believe it took me this long to discover chamois as a blending tool, DOY!!! (it's frankly a bit embarrassing to share that, to tell you the truth)...but no artist is an expert, and I have learned almost everything through trial and error and experimenting. It is really inspiring to learn that that is how J.D. Hillberry learned, too!

DS actually sat still for about 10 minutes in my lap while I was watching the Carol Duvall Show on HGTV.
We ate nearly a whole roll of saltine crackers together - it's probably the crackers that kept him snuggled in my lap. He usually won't sit still for very long, too many things to explore since he's 15 months old. It was a sweet moment. I am trying to remember not to be so hyper about trying to get everything "done," but to enjoy the small wonderful moments in life. Later on in the show, they had a couple who makes beautiful mosaics - KaleidoImages.com (Judith and Tom Durden) .... so beautiful and inspiring! The website just does NOT due them justice - no insult intended to the webdesigner of their site, but I think their kaleidoscopes are just something that needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Very talented!

Well I hope you are having a good day and thanks for dropping in.

Darla

I stayed up really late again working on AC's aunt's portrait. I should be able to finish it up tonight.
I really need to get a nap, I am feeling frazzled, especially after 15 month old DS locked himself in a room and I had to practically break down the door (cracked the doorframe) to get him out. He can lock himself in but can't turn a doorknob! I felt muy macho but I sure didn't want the door to hit DS as I put my shoulder into the door. Oh what the hey, I'll write the whole story in my other blog: Humor In Everyday Life so you can hear all about it you nosy little thing you. Who needs sleep? Ok give me a few minutes to type it and then check it :)

The portrait of JC's bull still needs work - I have been doing the color on it, but I'm still not happy with how the head looks. I might have to just draw it with its head down. I really thought I could accomplish the re-positioning of the head for the portrait, but it's just not working - partly I think it's the bull's pose, but mainly my ignorance of bulls. It is really driving me crazy. The landscape is looking good, the bull's body is fine, but it's the bull's head that's the problem. I can't stand not having closure, and this one has taken way too long. My client is a saint!

DD2 has been gone to Carrollton GA for the weekend. She is getting back today. She went with LF (Little Friend) to LF's grandparent's farm. They always have a lot of fun there. I'll be glad when she gets back!
DH is off to his brother's house to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers game. I'll be glad when he gets back too!

I have been trying to just stay focused today on cleaning. Yes, isn't it boring? Cleaning. Laundry. Washing sheets, bed linens, trying to get a foot-up on all the housework. I figure I'll spend today doing that, and then I should be ahead of the game the rest of the week and I can totally focus on just doing art...like a madwoman!

The rest of the week I'll just do general housework upkeep...which is a lot in itself when we're talking about 3 kids! I do get the kids to help, but probably not enough. DS just turned 15 months, and even he will help me move the clothes from the washer into the dryer. He is so determined when he does it too - that lower lip juts out in concentration, it's very cute. He can even close the dryer door. When I bag up the trash and set it down, he will drag a heavy trash bag to the front door and point that he's ready to go! I let him do as much as seems reasonable. I let him lift the outside bin's lid off, and I throw the bag in, then he shuts it. He is quite proud of himself, and we are proud of him!

A smart business move would be for me to hire someone to come in and do the cleaning and upkeep.
I guess it's partially the 'good mother' gene in me that I feel that I should be the one to do it, as if I'm not taking care of my family if I don't...comments? Recommendations for good housekeepers in the Snellville GA area?

Darla
http://darladixon.com/

A picture of our family in 1994 or 1995, when our girls were the age our baby (DS) is now!
Posted by Hello

Today I have been working on the portrait for FM of her toddler-aged grandson.
I will be adding his name and 'Christmas, 2004' to this portrait.

When I have permission, I will share it here. I don't share things without permission...
He is such a cutie! Such beautiful eyes and I don't like to brag on myself, but I think I did a great job on his luminous eyes. His bib even has an applique on it, and I think it was portrayed well too. I will be very excited to show this new portrait! I have emailed a preview and can't wait to hear back from FM.

A new photograph by my father in law Jerry Dixon. Isn't this just gorgeous? This is the view from their backyard in Florida. He has a new digital camera and he's having a lot of fun with it. He has been a talented photographer for years.
Posted by Hello

After starting a new diet I altered my drive to the gym to avoid passing my favorite bakery.
I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and as I approached, there in the window were a host of goodies.

I felt this was no accident, so I prayed: "Lord, it's up to you.... if you want me to have any of those delicious goodies, create a parking place for me directly in front of the bakery."

And sure enough, He answered my prayer: on the eighth time around the block, there it was!

God is Good

Thanks to Sherrill of Daughter of a Rose Gift Baskets for sending me this one!

Last night I did the finishing touches on FB's portrait of grandson...I still need to add his name to it. I should be able to do that today. I worked on the portrait of AH's mom. It is a very tiny photo but all we have to work with, because her mother is deceased and while she was alive, she hated having her picture taken. I hate having my picture taken too, but this makes me realize I should have more pictures taken, even if for family history. I am still also working on the bull portrait. There is something about moving the bull's head into a different position that has stumped me. It still doesn't look 'right' to me, something is off. Something about the neck and shoulders? I'll continue to obsess over it until it's right.

I have a new digital camera. I can't even remember the make/name/model. My father in law gave it to me. It also shoots video - actually, maybe it's mainly a video camera and does the digital pics on the side? I haven't even had time to thoroughly examine it or figure it out. My work is hampered because of that and because the scanner hasn't been working. DH re-installed the program for the scanner, so hopefully I will be able to get it to work today. The more I know of technology, the more I like my pencil.

I had a teacher conference yesterday and another one today. Teacher sez: DD2 is a wonderful, artistic kid who can yak too much to her best friend. Gee, I wonder where she got that from?!? ;-)

Darla

A recent picture of DD1 (left) and DD2 (right) in their Halloween costumes.
Posted by Hello

The Tradition Continues: PoopFest 1994 was indeed memorable (our twin daughters 'discovered' the poopie content of their diapers and fingerpainted all over their room, and by that I do mean ALL over their room).
So in that great tradition, DS yesterday found the contents of HIS diaper and played in it. Just a little. It required some damage control and the phoning in of the Hazardous Materials team, but it was okay. Not quite like PoopFest 1994 but still qualified as PoopFest 2004. No, sorry I didn't take any pictures.

Where did Monday go? I used to hate Mondays, now I don't even see them!
I just received an email from my father in law, one of those personality test or quizzes that ask insightful questions like, "Peanut butter - chunky or smooth?" and
"What's your favorite month?" I guess quizzes like that CAN help people get to know one another better, but... (insert your own but here). :) Then the email wanted to know what I did last night. I was surprised the Internet had enough room for me to tell all the stuff I did last night! Helping DD1 with 4 pages of math homework, and just the feeding, cleaning and washing of DS took up several lines. Something tells me I'll never get another one of those emails again. (insert evil laugh here).
I wanted to mow the back yard and get some drawing done, but both of those goals went by the wayside. DD2 was out sick from school yesterday. I am exhausted! I keep taking my vitamins though. I will finish the portrait of the little boy today though.

I spent most of today at my kids' school fall festival. I had a lot of people interested in my artwork. As usual, I never know how 'good' a festival is until much later. Some vendors know immediately because they sell on the spot. Mine involves getting in touch with me and ordering later. But I think it went pretty well.
Harbour Oaks Montessori School in Snellville also had a fall festival, they call theirs Saturday Shop. I really wish I could have been in two places in one day, but it's just not possible! I wanted to support my kids' school too.

I met a lot of interesting folks, here are some websites to check out.

http://www.facetsinart.com
Jewelry made with fused glass, crystal and silver, also decorative art made of kiln fired clay.

Mary Ann Deignan of Loganville GA makes some really beautiful notecards. Vibrant colors and really fun designs (no website, sorry world!) but she can be emailed at ann.deignan@comcast.net I thought they were similar in type to Flavia and P.S. I love you (PSILY) cards, but frankly in my opinion, I prefer Mary Ann's artwork to those!!! Five packs of her decorated (inside blank) cards with envelopes - all occasion, are only $5! I would have bought some right on the spot, but I intentionally left my checkbook at home so I would not be tempted. These are a great buy, what great items for nice gifts to have on hand!

I tried some neat European breads from http://www.danishdelightbakery.com/
Site's not fully active yet, so email them at dkdelight@bellsouth.net
Wonderful breads and sweet desserts. A family business, the first floor of their house is all bakery!

I really liked Stephanie Rice's items from http://www.just4them.com/ - she sells personalized stationery, return address labels, etc. Very cute stuff! Her table was hopping.

Edwards Embroidery and Monogramming had some beautiful pieces there. Good prices too! They'll do custom monogramming for all occasions. Towels, shirts, hats, sportswear, blankets. No website, so email them at pclady98@yahoo.com

Pampered Chef was there too, with the usual fantastic goodies. I just love all my Pampered Chef stuff!
It is great quality!

With great food in mind, also check out The Homemade Gourmet.
All kinds of easy mixes to make your holidays a LOT easier (and tastier).
Check out the site for items but please email my friend Michelle Taylor to order: mtaylo99@bellsouth.net

GOURGEOUS gift baskets from Mini Masterpieces.net My friend Lynn will set you up with whatever type basket or custom gift you need sent!

I'm sure I'm leaving out someone else, but there was so much great stuff there. I tried to get a business card from everyone, but I may have left someone out. I apologize. I'll catch ya next time, I swear!

Well I am really beat. I need to get out and work on the yard (mowing) a little bit. This may be the last time it needs to be mowed in 2004! We are now getting the crisp weather and the leaves have been changing for some time.

Adios,
Darla

I stayed up late watching the news anchors play a guessing game. I worked on some art while they fiddled with numbers. I drew a variety of daffodils on some dark blue paper. It's kind of like reverse art...light on dark. That was fun and made staying up until 1 am almost worth it.
But I wake up, and there is still no clear presidential winner. I want you to know, this is a primarily non-partisan blog. I don't believe in hitting other people over the head with my political views. I'm kind of Libertarian/Centrist with a Conservative chaser. I vote just like you'd expect a white, married mother in Georgia to vote....but I'm an artist so that throws the whole Conservative thing off.
Oh darn...lol I was tempted to do a write in vote for Bill The Cat.I just think it would be fun to have a president who spits up hairballs and says "oop" and "ACK!" a lot.
I didn't do any writing in. DH reports that he did in fact do a write in vote for Terry Bradshaw, rather than vote for John Linder, who was running unapposed.

Well that's it for this morning, DS is up and DD2 is up, but DD1 (the one who always wants me to wake her up early) is still sleeping. No surprises there.

Maybe it'll be a couple days before we know who our new President will be. Boy, it is obviously so close! No matter who wins, the losing side will be accusatory and suspicious. Lawsuits! Insane. I'll tell you right now, if you're going to run for President of the United States and you lose, deal with it....set an example ....be a graceful loser... sheesh. [Update: John Kerry WAS indeed gracious].

Ah, voting day. It seems like it's too early doesn't it? I didn't get a recorded phone call from Barbara Bush like I did 4 years ago. I hardly received any automated phone calls from candidates at all. Most election times, I'm afraid to pick up my phone. It hasn't been that way this time. Maybe they have clued in that people don't like solicitation calls, after the Do Not Call Act passed.

My daughters are chowing down on Halloween candy, at NINE THIRTY A.M.!!!!

I am ready to go vote, I have been sugar-free for almost 24 hours now.
Can't wait to stand in the lines, just so my husband and I can cancel out each others' votes. I question the intelligence of us voting, since we'll cancel each others' voice, but we decided we just like the adreneline rush of the possibility of having Jury Duty later.

I worked some more on the bull portrait for JC last night. Now that I have my questions answered about how to draw in his ears, I am hopefully good to go. I have been working a lot on the background, as it's full colored pencil. Doing some nice fall foliage, I think it's pleasant. Now to work on creating the depth and shadows to really give some perspective to the piece. I will work on it every night until it's done.

DS (14 months) has discovered the Casio keyboard. He really loves it. It has drums and all kinds of features built in. He knows how to turn it off and on.
He had rice cereal with milk and fruit pieces for breakfast and he's napping now. It's a glorious time. DD1 and DD2 are out of school today because their school is going to be used as a voting place. Hence the ceremonial celebration of the eating of the massive amounts of candy. I hate to spoil their fun. Let them get their own high risk for diabetes when they're older, it's only fair.

Can you say CANDY rush? Oy vey! I have had WAY too much sugar in the last coupla days! I can't believe I ate the whole thing! Plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief...ok I'll shaddup. I'm giving MYSELF a headache.

You know, most artists would have a hangover from hard liquor or drugs. Then there's me. Sugar addict! I really shouldn't have had ANY sugar. You name it, practically everything I ate or drank yesterday had sugar in it. Sweet tea (this is the south after all), Pepsi, apple pie, small piece of chocolate cake, miscellaneous candy pieces here and there, fruit juice, barbequed beans (brown sugar or molasses in them I'm sure)...even the ketchup had sugar in it. I'm surprised I didn't have sugar induced nightmares last night. I can visualize little sugar cubes chasing me.
Time to visit the insulin bar.

There were a lot of Halloween logistics questions this year. Yes, really! People actually emailed me asking me what we were going to do. Maybe all over the country people were confused because Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, but especially here in the "Bible Belt," people were worried that it would be sacreligious to trick'o'treat on Sunday. I feel that Halloween is on October 31st...period....and if people think Halloween is insulting to God or that it's worshipping the Devil, then they shouldn't celebrate Halloween or trick'o'treat any day of the year. So it's pretty much a non-issue for me. Seems to me that are finding some kind of reason to remove any cause for a party or celebration. Celebrations, parties, and get togethers used to be part of the fun of America. Now everyone is so set to be insulted about something. Am I getting insulted about people being insulted? Or maybe this is just the candy talking! :) Man, I am sooo confused. Maybe a piece of candy will help me think clearer....

I just sent out my very first HTML newsletter through Bravenet.com . Oh the confusion. Argh. Argh again I say! I made the HTML part, got it all set (I thought) the way I wanted it to be, then I hit the button that said 'continue' (wait, actually it doesn't say continue, I had to read it hee hee) but then it wanted me to enter the plain text version of the newsletter. Done. Glad to give them the plain text version. Then it wants a title, so I titled it "plain text version."
So what do I and all my subscribers receive? An HTML newsletter that's titled "plain text version"! Argh! And Argh again, I say! Also some of my images showed up in the preview but they did not show up when I received the newsletter. So I have a lot more to learn. No surprise there I guess. It's a learning experience, the next one should be better. It was fun trying to figure out between DS's nap-times. Considering all I'm up against to get anything done, I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished.

The FedEx truck was just here and they brought me my new business cards from Colson!
Whoo Hoo, Wes has come through again. He is awesome. I recommend them to anyone needing printing, but especially art or commercial printing, they are the best!

Darla
http://darladixon.com/