FoxVox

Broken Vistas

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:13:14 GMT

THIS Broken Vistas has nothing to do with Microsoft however - HAH. It's a triptych of photographs that I took during the rainy season here in Central California.

There was just such a nice contrast of the fresh green grass, the blue sky, and the cross section of tan land where the sides of hills had given away over time. These photos are actually taken along Panoche Road in Paicines, in the same vicinity of Pinnacles National Monument, if you've heard of it.

(You can click the image to get a framed or unframed print in my Imagekind Gallery.)

Celtic Clockwork

Thu, 01 May 2008 18:57:27 GMT

Recently I tried out something a little different with my Celtic artwork. A sort of abstract black and white piece with all different kinds of spirals. I called it Celtic Clockwork because it reminded me of all the gears inside a clock. You can see the slightly different versions that I put on t-shirts, versus greeting cards, etc.:

I also have framed and unframed prints available through my gallery at Imagekind:

Hope you like it!

Wild Kingdom Around Here

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:34:36 GMT

First it was the boar and boar piglets (see previous posts for video links), but then last night there was a coyote dodging around here, and this morning, a bobcat! I got a few quick photos - the coyote was elusive and the shot isn't great quality but there's the added bonus of getting a scrub (blue) jay in the shot as well, which I didn't notice until later. (The old bathtub in the field is actually in a cow pasture and is for the cattle - heh.)

The bobcat photo was much better - he was just sitting on the hillside watching us. Seems like he waited for me to snap a photo and then jogged away.

I'm pretty happy to draw the line at animal close encounters with that. I did actually see a mountain lion (cougar) here a number of years ago, but those are really big and I'm not so much interested in seeing one of those close enough to get a photo, even with my zoom lens.

Boars and Piglets!

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:46:39 GMT

Recently, a number of wild boar have been coming down the hillside to root around for food. Luckily they aren't the HUGE ones, just mid-size, and they scare away easily. But the other day when I was watching them, I saw this small rust streak under the boar and I realized there were boar piglets running around too! I wasn't too successful with getting good photos at first, but then yesterday, the whole mini-herd came down and started rooting around and eating the fallen walnuts under the black walnut tree by our house (on the OTHER side of the fence, I'm happy to say.) And I was able to get some reasonable videos of the action - big boars and little colorful piglets!

Keep in mind that these videos were taken through the window screen, so they aren't as sharp as they could be, and there's really no sound, but the piglets are so cute - heh. Also, most of the clips are under 45 seconds long. Click here to see the videos. Enjoy!

New Sneaks!

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:53:38 GMT

I had been shopping for some new casual shoes/sneakers, but found nothing that I liked, or was in my size or price range, even at the outlet mall - sigh. I'm also pretty picky about what I was looking for, in a mundane sort of way - something normal, but passably interesting, comfortable, and definitely no plastic colors or gold lame' - LOL. Then, John happened to mention that people at work often buy shoes online at Zappos, and that they had free shipping both ways. (I'm probably the last person in the online world to have heard of Zappos, but I'm so NOT a fashionista - LOL.) So I dove into their web site and after just a bit of clicking around I found just what I was looking for - a cool suede sneaker from a maker called Simple Shoes (See photo at right.)

Although the ones I bought weren't from their extreme-ecological line, they have a great philosophy and some wonderful casual shoes with a focus on recycling and sustainability - check them out! Also, although I opted for the free shipping, Zappos expedited my order and I got my shoes in no time. They're comfy, a perfect fit, and they don't make my feet look at big as they really are - quite a... ahem... feat! (sorry!)

Leaf Mosaic

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:07:38 GMT

I'm still playing with the idea of angles and lines through shapes, and ended up creating what I'm calling "Leaf Mosaic" - another colored pencil piece. (The original is done on dusty blue-green charcoal paper, so no 'white' showing through.)

I've got it in my Gallery at Imagekind, and you can click the image or click here for framed or unframed prints.

I also have versions of this design on t-shirts and gifts and such, as usual - heh. Some samples:

[Tags: art, t-shirt, prints, colored pencil, leaves]

Cosmic Ribbons

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:34:26 GMT

I bought a set of 48 Prismacolor colored pencils and am already quite along the way of wearing them down to nubs! :-) One of the first pieces of art I did with them was this really colorful work called "Cosmic Ribbons" - I think I tried out at least 75% of the colors for this one - heh. The original is 14x10 on watercolor paper.

(Click the image above for prints via Imagekind.)

I've also got Cosmic Ribbons on stuff in my shop, for example:

(Click any of those images to see all the 'stuff' - includes things like mini buttons and refrigerator magnets - turn your fridge into an art gallery - LOL!)

The River's Back!

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:28:14 GMT

Just 36 hours ago this streambed was all dry and rocky!

And just 36 hours ago the locals could have easily driven even a low-ryder through this road that goes through the stream bed. At the moment though, I wouldn't even try it with a big jacked up truck:

In any case, we're very happy to be seeing the stream again (it didn't get this big at all during last year's rainy season - no big storms to speak of), so I thought I'd share these photos with you all today. Happy Rainy Sunday!!

Fixing the Roof

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:40:08 GMT

We're having high winds here this morning. In fact, one of those tin roof panels flew off this morning, so John went up there to reattach it and nail the neighboring roof panels down more tightly as well:

We're also expecting some heavy rain the next few days (another reason to fix the roof right now!) Maybe the next few days of rain will get the stream flowing - that would be a welcome sight again!

More Black and White Photographs

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:51:36 GMT

I must have walked by this tree a thousand times, but it never struck me as wild or alive as it did the day I took this photo:

It was set between two huge old Live Oak trees, and maybe the contrast between their deep evergreen leaves and the dark naked branches that reach both up AND down was finally enough to wake me up. I called it the Witching Tree. Spooky, powerful, different, and lone.

I also caught another photo while out and about:

This is called Barely a Fence, for obvious reasons. It's more of a visual barrier than anything else, because if a cow (or a rabbit for that matter) so much as breathed on it, it looks like it would just disintegrate! Ahhh, rural decay.

[Click on a photo if you're interested in buying framed or unframed prints - you can also see larger versions after the clicks too.]

New Year, New Look

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:00:55 GMT

I've done a somewhat minor redesign on my weblog at foxvox.org (of which this is a mirror). So if you want to see, just click here - read the latest post there for more details. Happy New Year!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:56:11 GMT

Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope to post a little more frequently in the future, but just in case I don't get a chance this week, click here to see our online greeting card for all you guys, from John and me. (Make sure you have javascript enabled for the full effect.) And I hope 2008 is spectacular for each of you!

New Photographs in Gallery

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:30:59 GMT

I have a few new photos up in my gallery, all pulled from local scenery. VERY local. Our backyard local - LOL.

The first one is "Lunar Hilltop" - I loved the way the moon was hanging over what seems like a bald spot on top of the tree-covered hill! I chose to do it in black and white because I thought the golden-orange of the hills here at sunset was actually a bit much. I like the way the black and white looks much better!

The second one is a triptych of photos of our bare walnut trees against a cold sky. I altered the blue sky tones for each crop in photoshop, and I liked how the grey frame completed the cold, bare, wintery look.

The third image is just kinda kooky. It's a picture of some metal letters hammered into one of the telephone poles here. I'm guessing it's for the phone company, but loved the 'half' added here to the numbering system. Plus it looked so rustic in black and white.

Prints are available by clicking on the images if you're interested, but in any case, thanks for looking, and Happy December!

Temples of Damanhur

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:59:10 GMT

The Temples of Damanhur are amazing cave creations secretly built into the Italian hillside, by a 57-year-old insurance broker. Click the link - you've GOT to see these photos!! Wouldn't it be amazing if this kind of passion and art was put into all modern architecture? Just wow. Reminds me of the amazing Wieliczka Salt Mines in Poland - once they'd mined out the salt they used the space to create gorgeous opulent rooms.

Art of FoxVox Holiday Newsletter

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:39:49 GMT

I just sent out a holiday newsletter for my Art of FoxVox Shop. The newsletter includes highlights of the new Celtic porcelain ornaments and Christmas (and Yule/Solstice) greeting and note cards sets, the Celtic & Funny t-shirts, sweatshirts and other cool products offered (we have new keepsake boxes this year - very nice - lined in white velvet!), as well as an excellent coupon discount code! To break the suspense (which I'm sure is keeping you on the edge of your seat), instead of me repeating everything I just wrote, just CLICK HERE to read the online version of the newsletter if you're interested.

Infinite Potential

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:49:57 GMT

A recent black and white photograph I took (chrysanthemum flower), which I titled "Infinite Potential" because it looks like the petals are constantly unfolding from the center. (The original flower was part of a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums and purple and yellow irises that John brought home on Friday.)

You can click on the image to get a framed or unframed print, or to see a zoom of the photo.

New and Updated Web Sites!

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:40:19 GMT

The last few weeks I've been really focused on building a couple new websites, one of which required dusting off my old programming skills and learning a bunch of new ones as well.

Wine Taster Tees - This is a collection of wine designs that people offer on t-shirts, sweatshirts, keepsake boxes, ornaments, and other gifty type items. There's wine humor, wine snob designs, and tees for specific kinds of wines too. So if you're a wine type or know one, feel free to stop by and browse.

Art Up Your Walls - This site will feature one new art print every day or so, but also has browsable categories of artist, genre, and subject. (I'm particularly and geekily proud of this site since I had to learn how to create a database, import a datafeed into it, and then figure out how to access that information from web pages using php - google was definitely my friend - LOL. I also found a cool script for displaying zoom images of the prints in the category results - swanky!) This site is mostly focused on popular and classical artists, so there's lot there you might recognize. Also, all the prints are purchased and printed through Imagekind, and they do fantastic quality prints! Anyway - this site is just one of my ways of bringing a little more art into the world.

Winter Holiday Central - This is actually a site I created last year, but updated to include new holiday greeting cards and ornaments (including Yule/Solstice and Hanukkah themes), and new Christmas-y type links as well. (I have my traditional Christmas Cookie recipes there too.)

So, yeah, been a bit busy and very intensely focused the last few weeks. I think I need a break from squinting at the screen for so long!

Celtic Trinity Knot

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 00:20:58 GMT

This is my latest - just a simple Celtic Trinity Knot in golds and greens with knotwork accents. It seems very peaceful and goes along with my 'green' thing I've had recently - LOL.

Click on the image or click here to get the trinity knot on t-shirts (just the knot, no background) and gifts like keepsake boxes, cards, etc., or click here for unframed or framed prints.

(I also did a red and green version of it for things like Christmas Cards, etc. - you can see that in my Celtic Christmas shop!)

Green Future

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:31:38 GMT

I happened to acquire a number of 16x20 canvases on sale the other day. They were just sitting there by my art table for a while until I had this strong urge to paint something GREEN. We don't have much that's green around here at the moment - the hills are all brown and beige, the live oak trees are all a DARK green, but not a LUSH green, and the leaves now falling off the black walnut tree out front are all yellow. So, I couldn't wait for the rainy season to start and bring everything back to life - I needed green NOW - heh.

The title seemed to be Green Future - in the optimistic ecological sense, but also in the immediate "the rainy season is coming" way. I like how the abstract style can really highlight color schemes and not distract with left-brain-recognizable objects.

Oh, and click on the image to buy framed or unframed prints from my gallery at Imagekind!

Parabolic Mirror Lives!

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:15:00 GMT

After much time off from posting to his site as a personal blog, John has rebirthed his domain as something he's been wanting to do for a long time. Actually, he originally bought the domain name, Parabolic Mirror, (many years ago) as a sort of spoof of things like the Daily Mirror tabloid, but the original idea for it didn't come about right away. Creative ideas have their own schedule, apparently!

In any case, it's now officially a site for news and political satire! Not just making fun of politics and news, but creating parody stories that step sideways while still incorporating the actual news in funny ways. :-) He's got a few posts there already, so stop by if you'd like a good chuckle: Parabolic Mirror. (Also, the Legend of the Green Dragon text-based rpg is also still available at the site - just click here - same place it was before!)

What Have I Been Doing, Anyway!?!

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:23:45 GMT

So, since I haven't been posting too often, I thought I'd at least make a random list of all the things I've been doing lately, because I know you're all dying to know....

I made homemade brownies.

We purchased, assembled, and am enjoying using an Elliptical Trainer. If you want to find out how compatible you are with your partner, try assembling a large machine with a gazillion parts - LOL.

I have been working on ALL of our websites, getting the shops ready for the holidays, cleaning up old/bad code, adding new products, etc. (this is the biggest time user in the list of course)

We had a small sendoff for our friend Tom (he's going to be in Africa again!) that involved Italian food.

In moments of insanity, I send John text messages at work (on his cell phone, from my computer), with really stupid comments.

I occasionally have sessions with dogs that involve me tossing small dog treats in unexpected directions.

I bought three new 16x20 canvases to do some acrylic abstracts - on sale!

I finished the final Harry Potter book. Everyone dies. ;-)

I've been trying to get used to a radically (not) different hairstyle (parted on the right instead of the left.)

We take our laptops into town some weekends to download cool internet radio shows on free wi-fi (we're still on SLOW dialup).

I've been serenading the rabbits, squirrels, and blue jays with my conga drums. So far they haven't called the cops on me.

Working on a couple different book ideas, one fiction, one not, nothing to talk about yet though.

So that should sort of bring you up to date, although in a less than eloquent fashion, but at least there are words!

Solomon the Cat

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:06:44 GMT

My sister and brother-in-law had to put their cat Solomon to sleep today. A number of years ago they had started taking care of him when he was basically being neglected by his original family and just roaming around the neighborhood all the time. Finally, my sister asked the original family if they could just adopt him completely and they said yes, so Solomon moved in!

They gave him a really good home and lots of wonderful attention, which I'm sure Solomon really appreciated in his own crazy cat way. Cheers, Solomon!

One More 2008 Calendar - Pacific Ocean Views

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:58:11 GMT

I had been planning on putting together a calendar of Pacific Ocean Photography (from Pacific Grove, near Monterey Bay, in California) and almost clean forgot about it with everything else I had on my plate - D'OH! But I finally got the calendar together. The photos are mostly cool, blue shots of waves crashing on rocks with variations including birds, a sailboat, etc. I think this calendar might be the perfect thing for ocean lovers that happen to live inland at the moment, like me! Just cool Pacific Ocean photography without anything in the way of specific coastal landmarks, so you can pretend it's anywhere you want it to be. :-) Click the image to see all the monthly pages (and if you want to buy). Again, thanks for looking.

2008 Wall Calendars

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 19:38:19 GMT

Yay, the 2008 Wall Calendars are now here! (It's really fun putting together a calendar of all your art - I highly recommend it to any visual artist!) Anyway, I have four calendars available - two Celtic calendars with totally different images in each one and in different formats, a California Wildflower calendar (photos John and I took that year we had the wet spring and flower explosion!), and I've now added a Watercolor calendar to the lineup as well. I made the edges of each watercolor image look like deckled watercolor paper - I think the effect looks pretty neat.

Click a link below to see each calendar, and then you can also see which image is on each month...

Celtic Wall Calendar $19.99	Celtic Art Squared Vertical Wall Calendar $21.99
California Wildflower Wall Calendar $19.99	Watercolor Wall Calendar $19.99

Thanks for looking!

Lunar Eclipse (August 2007)

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:26:53 GMT

John and I set the alarm and dragged ourselves outside at 2 a.m. to watch the lunar eclipse. It was very cool and turned quite orange-red! I made a grid of four photos that seemed to come out the best, representing various stages of the eclipse as well as various camera settings. The bottom two really show why it looks like the moon is dripping with blood - too bad this wasn't Halloween - LOL.