It is Good to Look at Flowers...Intensely

Flowers......so mysteriously beautiful

Young Girl from Afghanistan

I used a grid for placement of the features (the grid that I had made earlier) and used a pencil. Then I continued my drawing with a few pens (Pigma Micron, 005, 01, 03) I was very frustrated with some of my mistakes.Today I corrected her left eye a little. Also I used the wrong color for the highlights on the nose but this does not show up much.. I need to move on......
After a photograph by Steve McCurry.

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You....

Here is a glimpse of the sketch I was working on lately....

In the Village of Los Ranchos...The Cacti are Cold

But the soup is warm.....well, it will be....later on! Back from my workout at the gym early this morning I could not help but stop and commune with one of the horses in the field close to our house. They had grown a nice thick coat of hair for the winter and as I was petting him, he did not seem to be bothered by the near arctic air....as I was! Then I saw this awesome cloud looming over in the west. And the cacti looked shriveled by the chill. Brrrrr....15 Fahrenheit...it is warming up a little now. The sun is shining...as it does over 300 days of the year in the Land of Enchantment.

Now for That Exquisite Orchid

Colors are very difficult to get...somewhere in between the darkest one and the others.
There was no name so it is our mysterious exotic belle. I never have been able to keep an orchid for very long, way too fussy in spite of what some green-thumbed people have claimed.
I am watering it about once a week, a little more in this dry inside climate with mineral water making sure that not one single droplet falls on a leaf.....fun for someone rapid and impatient.....there is a slight fragrance sweet/spicy not entirely wonderful...don't know why...reminds me a tiny bit of ......................the odor of a corpse.......ok, I can see you guys.....even hear you perhaps....

Recovering...

Rested during the morning and then met with my mentee Norma for lunch with Mike, another mentor.
When she told me that she had to see her dentist immediately after lunch I drove her there because today was the day when she was going to "get her smile back" and she was very nervous. I stayed until she was done and then drove her home.I myself got back home around 3:30....only to semi collapse.
Took pictures of an amazing orchid that Steve offered me and sent many E cards for New Year, drank plenty of tea, continued working on a drawing started before Christmas.
Watch for a more interesting post tomorrow!

The Day After....

Rest!!!!!!!
Since I have had a cold for the last 5 days I am rather worn out. We had a beautiful day yesterday even though Emily sliced her thumb on our mandoline....fortunately nothing fell in the bowl underneath...just kidding...It was not a pretty cut but she is doing fine, did not need the emergency room!...Brave girl.
The roast was very good but not as delicious as it looked since we kept it in the oven for...hours before dinner..
The gift exchange lasted several hours......we are all happy, you can see me deeply inspecting my new gym bag.
Coconut was found hiding under the coffee table immensely bored by all the brouhaha. Oh, and you can see what my feet were wearing on that festive day.....and I do not want to forget le "Pere Noel" who did visit, overlooking our naughtyness.all year long! LOL...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my SON DAVID

Born 34 years ago at 8:80 am, The BEST Christmas present EVER!

Merry Christmas to All My Friends and Beloved Family far Away

First and most important, the fundamental reason for rejoicing at this time!
Then on to some details of the past 15 hours or so:
Yesterday we attended our version of Midnight Mass........at 7pm.
Then took a picture of our neighbor's farolitos (New Mexican Christmas lights) and back home to our little "reveillon": foie gras, bubbly, escargots en brioche, tiny crab cakes. Here is Diablo enjoying his meager, according to him, tidbit of foie gras.
We exchanged 1 gift each, the rest for today.
This morning I took our aged rib roast out of the fridge about 2 hours before browning it on all sides until just perfectly colored with tones of caramel, gold, sienna, umber.....yes, just like the titles on my Golden acrylic jars.
Salt (the large crystals), pepper and in the oven for....hours....Compare with the picture posted earlier.
More presents to wrap....table to dress...

Spotted...Somewhere Around New Mexico....

And everywhere else around the globe....

More River of Lights

Challenge #10 Jen Worden : Finish an Old Project

As stated in my earlier post, a while back, my podiatrist taped the soles of my feet and when the tapes came off a week later I really liked the end results (other than the fact that my feet felt better) so I wanted to preserve those little sculptures and I started collaging onto one of them. I used my hand-printed- and- painted papers (tissue-like paper). Just finished it today!!!Yeah!

The Annual River of Lights....Magical display

Yesterday evening we went to the annual River of Lights organized to benefit the New Mexico Zoological Society: Hundreds of thousands twinkling lights forming anything and everything (well...almost) from a giant praying mantis to elephants, zebras...and airplanes...even a huge beehive with busy little bees all around...and flowers of course and cacti and coyotes and aquatic creatures and.......a gigantic scorpion.....yuck!

Welcome Winter!

I had a bit of a hard time typing my title. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, I am appreciating good old winter with its silence, the beauty of its delicate hues, the serenity offered to my eyes. All the time I am comforted by the knowledge that in the midst of the stillness, nature is at work always: there is life.....and things are growing...at least inside!