Tag: beach

A Dog’s Walk On The Beach

Last week, I took my dog Bella for a walk on the Dunedin Causeway, not far from where I live. It’s a nice beach area with kayak and paddleboard rentals, and a nice view of the gulf. Bella is a black lab my family got from a breeder back in 2006, not long after our other dog, Zoe. She brought laughter and joy back to us in that time of grief. She was also a terror when it came to tearing up furniture, and playing manipulative games to get her way. As I type, she is now at the ripe old age of 12 years, with gray hair and arthritic joints. Knowing that she may not have very much time left with my Mom and I, we try to make her happy with little things that a dog enjoys. New toys, treats, bits of food from our own meals every so often, and love. She loves pizza crust, but it’s given in limited amounts. When I take her for walks, sometimes I’ll sit in the grass with her where she likes to roll around, and kick her legs in the air.

I’ve noticed that in the last few months Bella has become more affectionate, and clingy. I have the sad feeling that she may be aware that she has limited time left, and maybe is trying to savor it with us. She had a vet visit a few days before this trip, and she has some masses around her abdomen, along with little bumps all over her body. They are common in older dogs, and often are fatty tumors, but they can also turn into cancer sometimes. The vet wasn’t really able to tell, and considering her age didn’t want to do anything invasive. If it were cancer, we wouldn’t want to put her through chemo, since she is already advanced in age, and has other issues affecting her. She has been put on anti-inflammatory and pain medication to help her deal with her arthritic joints, as well. The main objective is just to keep her comfortable and happy. When there comes a point that her quality of life is drastically reduced, we will know it’s time to let her go. For now, we want for her to enjoy life and be happy.

With these things in mind, I decided to take the camera with me when at the beach. I want to save memories of her when she was happy. Remembering that she had happy times will help us later on when she has passed.

Miss Bella bein' happy at the beach. Plenty of new smells to get into.
Miss Bella bein’ happy at the beach. Plenty of new smells to get into.

Miss Bell Bell

Looking straight down the beach, palm trees in view.
Looking straight down the beach, palm trees in view.
A little island offshore.
A little island offshore.
Down toward the very end of the beach is the entrance to Honeymoon Island.
The land visible to the left of the image is part of Caladesi Island.
One of the interesting things about walking on a beach is finding what washes up during low tide. Plenty of shells, rocks, old bottles, dead things, etc.
One of the interesting things about walking on a beach is finding what washes up during low tide. Plenty of shells, rocks, old bottles, dead things, etc.
I always see tons of these little black snails during low tide. I have no idea what they're called.
I always see tons of these little black snails during low tide. I have no idea what they’re called.

 

Thanks for reading. I am working on some new projects for the site, so those will be posted soon as they are ready. Keep your eyes out!

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Last Week’s Event & More Site Updates

Last week’s 3rd Friday went well again, though the turnout was a bit less on account of rainy weather. Sold about half my stuff, and still made decent cash. Instead of going nuts with the small canvases each month, I’m planning to have other products with artwork printed on them for each event, and to expand my overall base of sales. Going to try small quantities at first to see how each product type does.

In the meantime, here are photos from that evening. They are a bit low quality due to glare and my phone.

My table setup
My table setup
Bunch of canvases.
Bunch of canvases.
Card sets.
Card sets.

I have also done some updating to the pages on the site. The Pricing & Shipping page now has information for the canvas paintings, commissions, shipping, etc. The Portfolio page has been edited to reflect my best paintings, and a new page (Color Pencil) has been added for information and examples of my color pencil work.

I have to get busy painting, and figuring out the other products, costs, etc.

I’ll post again soon. Thanks,

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Safety Harbor Arts & Crafts Show, Dec 14, 2014

Here is the much delayed post of the last art festival I attended. Holidays and other activities got in the way of making more posts.

As usual, the festivals held in Safety Harbor stretched down the length of Main St with many tents and booths offering food, apparel, local charities, and various types of artwork. I went walking with phone in hand to capture some of the spots I found the most interesting. I collected cards with info on each artist or vendor, and asked permission before photographing the work.

I had the pleasure of tasting a few samples of beef jerky from a local vendor. Very good stuff, and jerky is one of my favorite things. I recommend it!  –

Redneck Steak – rednecksteak.com

walking crowd

One tent had small mosaics of different sea creatures and other animals. I have read about the making mosaics, and it takes a lot of hard work to do even small pieces, let alone large walls or murals. I really like the brightness and style of these pieces.

Jean & Rick Summers

Phone – 941-493-7667

kylieandfriends2@verizon.net

mosaics2 mosaics1

Karrin Lubisco Melo is an artist who offers beautiful handpainted murals, and “stoneimals” which are lovely. She has a shop over on Etsy. Many of the stone animals are listed there. Note: Images were taken from Etsy page, I didn’t take them. I’m just posting them as examples of the artist’s work.

– https://www.etsy.com/shop/MeloArtGallery?ref=l2-shopheader-name

turtle rock leopard rock frog rock

Allen & Kelly DeMichele have created gorgeous sculptures from sand, often depicting sea animals and scenes from the beach. Rich in texture and detail, it’s very hard not to be mesmerized by this kind of work.

– www.islandsandsculptures.com

seaturtles sand sculptures mural piece seahorse

Jimel Arts – Sierra Studios creates both sea bean jewelry and oil paintings. I talked with the artist about the different paintings and the places they depict, and about traveling there. They definitely look like places you want to be. The paintings are gorgeous and vivid with color and depth. I could stop looking at them.

Email: hd2d3d4d@aol.com

oil painting4 oil paintings3 oil paintings2 oil paintings1

Unfortunately, at this leg in my walk, my phone died on me. So the last few places I couldn’t get any photos. I ask that any readers please visit the artist’s site to view their respective works. It is well worth the clicks!

Mungo Key Designs has an amazing array of artwork. Wall art, cutting boards and coasters are offered in bold colorful wildlife artwork. They are mixed media paintings by artists John Rymer & Kevin Ritter.

– http://shop.mungokeydesigns.com/main.sc

metal pelicans

Some metal pelican sculptures on my way out.

desert rose tree

Interesting Desert Rose Tree. Very pretty.

That’s all for now.

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