About the Art work for Praises. I love to paint and work on Adobe Illustrator, not Adobe Photoshop. This wild Cherokee Rose Wreath with Mourning Doves was done entirely in Adobe Illustrator, and will soon be available as a greeting card or a print with the poem. Let me know if you're interested. Email me at anne.shoemaker@cox.net There are other Floral Wreaths with birds that I will post later for your enjoyment. There are also many original pieces of art work in collections we have done you can use for news letters, scrap booking, family recipes and many more applications at www.jellybeanstock.com. Check it out and have fun. There are also free treasure maps for your kids, and an Annabelle Certificate of Bravery you can send to some one who is worthy of praise for being brave, or wise, or smart. My God son Joshua earned the first certificate of Bravery. He earned it by jumping in the pool with all his clothes on to save his little brothers life. Things worthy of praise happen every day in all our lives. Keep living the good life, and being honest, faithful, and true. Life is too short for us to waste it. Have a good day, and write when you get work! Annie

Praises

Praises is a poem for you, oh gentle reader of Blogs, or you worn out frazzled down to your last nerve mom, or you unappreciated taken for granted dad, or you neglected and ignored child of no one. Praises to you for being good, keeping on the right path, working at the tasks put before you. Praises to you for being kind instead of mean, helpful instead of cruel. Praises to all teachers who take the extra time to praise instead of ridicule, explain instead of scold, and make the extra effort to uplift and encourage the heart of a child. Praises to the men women and children who don't abuse drugs, drink, or each other. People who come home to their families every night, and work hard to keep their families together. Praises is for people who don't stomp on other people, beat them up or intentionally hurt anyone or anything. Praises is for people who stop at traffic accidents, don't hit and run, don't rob or steal, don't drink and drive, but watch out for their fellow man with the care they would give to a babe in arms. Praises is for teenagers or young adults who help out their parents, do the best they can in school, work hard, earn their own money, and care for their brothers and sisters. Praises is for all people young and old who simply choose good over evil. Praises is for everyone who needs a little encouragement in life.

Praises

This poem is for the millions

Who are never lauded,

Never feted or praised

Cheered or applauded

You just common folk

Who go to work every day

Slog through life's mud

For minimum pay

A poem just for women

Who clean, cook, and dust

Vacuum, and fold

Pay bills and bus

Men who work daily

For Family and home

Take out the trash

Clip, mow, and don't roam

For this silent Majority

I offer a toast

Words of praise, much respect,

And a moment to boast!

You are the movers, the builders,

The rock solid base

For the vocal minority

That laughs in your face.

You are the force, quietly building,

And growing

The sustenance necessary for all

To keep going.

Your bodies may bend

And wrinkle with time

But with fortitude, strength

You will weather the clime

This Prayer is for you Oh,

Great unlauded masses

Who work hard every day

While time simply passes

May God Bless you and keep you

Give you warm loving spouses

Pay off your mortgage

So you eternally dwell in warm, cozy houses

Give you good friends to laugh with,

and children who care

Grandchildren to delight you,

and bounty to share

May every day blessings

Parade through your life

May your troubles be small,

And there be little strife.

May your dog always bound

Or lay by your side

May your problems recede

With the outgoing tide

May you live long with laughter,

happiness, glee, and delight,

And pass to God's arms

At peace, in the quiet of night.

Copyright:Anne E. Shoemaker-Magdaleno House of Chabrier April 10 2008

All Rights Reserved

Thank you Mankind for all your hard honest work every day of your life.

A special thanks to my husband, and all the other devoted husbands in this world!

Email this to a friend you want to thank or praise with my blessings. Annie

Artistic Consistency

Is an artist's style determined by how the artist paints over a life time, or by the subjects they choose to paint and draw? Is it determined by the surface they paint on or the medium they paint with? Is an artist defined by the way they apply paint to a surface or what they apply the paint with? Is success measured by the amount of money, fame, exposure an artist receives, or the words of praise or ridicule heaped upon them? If there was no audience for your work would you still keep working away making art? I don't know about the rest of you, but I will paint, draw, carve, etch, and sculpt in whatever medium I choose without regard to fame, fortune, audience or reward until the day I die. Probably not sensible, but producing satisfies my soul. I don't think anyone wants a painting of a lizard, tarantula, spider, frog, or snake on their wall, but for some reason I like these critters and I like to paint them. I also like to paint roses, but I don't want to be confined to painting flowers, fruit or still life's all my life. Today I worked on a Moonlit Chameleon and it is almost finished. It is in Gouache, and I had a great deal of fun painting it. I love the patterns and raised surfaces that defines a reptiles skin, the glossy reflective shine of a Turtles shell, and the pattern on a Leopard Frog. I have been painting frogs for 40 years, and for some reason even sculpted a Frog Prince waiting to be kissed. I guess I'm a foolish romantic in a cynical shell. Hopefully other people in this world will like seeing some of God's less lauded creations, and will enjoy their perfect, simple elegance. Keep working, painting, and enjoying your creative life even if it sometime is a struggle or financially unrewarding. Remember, if you have your tools, your skills, and a surface to work on you are a rich Artist indeed.

Mom's Doodlings

My son's call my pen and inks my doodles. I usually just start out with a pen some ink and start drawing and one thing leads to another. That's how this older doodle came to be. Now what's different since 2004 I have learned how to draw and paint in Adobe Illustrator, and in this particular illustration I combined the two. The doodle was done with a different face on the mermaid and I've been experimenting today taking photographs of my own work, and adding the copyright info in Adobe Illustrator. It worked out fine so then my brain said why not get that pen and ink and make the mermaids face more to your liking. The before picture she has a kind-of vacant expression which I was not happy with, but it was done in ink (hello no erasing in that department you get what you ink)! So one of the things I worked on today other than the second Giraffe, and an Annaconda devouring Joshua's mom while Joshua and James tried to ride the snake (My after school dramatic drawings for boy who like adventure and blood), is this Mermaid picture. I don't think you can tell anything was done to the drawing, and now I'm happy with it. The great thing is I can print out the new version as a print, but the original is still unharmed and unchanged. Try Adobe Illustrator I think you will just love it. All the drawings at http://www.jellybeanstock.com/ done by Annie and Granny are done in Adobe Illustrator. And do not tell me it's too hard and complicated, Granny is 81 and I'm turning 60 this year, if two old ladies can learn this program so can you. Remember Robot Bobs infamous saying from Disney's "The Black Hole" In life there are the Wills, The Won't, and the Can'ts. The Wills accomplish everything, The Won'ts oppose the Wills, and the Can'ts don't even try. Be a Will -Learn, Accomplish, Do and Grow. Keep painting, drawing, writing, making music films or doing things that improve the qualities of the human condition! Happy doodling!

Changing your Mind

I usually have a vision of what I want the finished piece of art work to look like, but in this painting of a Giraffe I changed my mind and painted in a blue sky and Acacia Tree. I completed the painting Saturday evening, and then washed it off Sunday morning. I teach art on Sunday morning, and I wanted my student to realize it's ok to change your mind and wash off a board. I then proceeded to rework the background to an old golden parchment look, and reworked the Giraffe. I still want to work on his head a little more, but for now he will talk to me as he leans against my dining room wall. I am showing both versions so you get a sense of how sometimes the same image can become quite different by changing backgrounds or other elements in the painting. I also wanted to paint in the Giraffe's long blue tongue, but I have still refrained for the moment. My friend Wendy went to Africa, and I have some lovely pictures of her on a beautiful lodge estate with the giraffe peering in the dining room window. She rode horses with other guests on a horseback riding safari and shared her pictures with me. She designs interiors of Private Jets, and used me to carve, paint, etch, or design different elements withing the interior. She is a fabulously dynamic woman with a great sense of adventure and stamina. Thank you Wendy for great pictures of Elephants, Giraffes, and Kudu in the wild. Plus the landscapes are incredible. Thank you for sharing.

I will be working on the second Giraffe tomorrow, and making the companion piece for the first.

I already have the frames thanks to the Aaron brothers 50% off sale which I happily took advantage of. The frames actually called out to have the Giraffes in them. Sometimes I paint without regard to the final destination, and other times I know the subject matter, the Medium, the Surface, and the Frame before I even get started. It still is work and a great deal of fun at the same time. Let me know which version you like best. I'm not going back to the blue sky, but it's interesting to hear your opinion

Poetry Musings

When I get to thinking about life, and loves, and the losses we all experience over a life time I take up pen and ink. I have drawn with pen and ink since childhood, and love the medium. I love poetry and books, and enjoy reading and writing. This poem was written last year while I was drawing pen and ink erotica, and are the thoughts and musings of a very sexually experienced Satyr over the span of a life time. Perhaps they are also relevant in today's culture?

Who knows? The Satyr was done in virtual reality on the computer in Adobe Illustrator, and the border was done in reality reality in actual pen and ink on Bristol board. Enjoy and you can share, but please respect my copyright, and give credit where credit is due. None of my poems or pen and inks have ever been published but they would also like to see the light of day. If you would like to see more of my pen and inks and poems let me know. I have designed many Ex Libris Book Plates and love black and white illustrations. There is a life time of art work haunting the halls of this home. Keep pursuing your dreams even if they seem nebulous and out of reach. Aim for the stars you just might land in the tree tops.

Yesterday I worked on two Giraffe paintings, and added Acacia Tree Leaves and thorns to the painting, and this morning I washed off the illustration board to take out the leaves and branches. I just didn't like the image anymore, and wanted to go back to my original concept. The leaves were just too much and detracted from the Giraffe. The great thing about Strathmore illustration board is you can rinse it off under the sink, wipe it down with paper towels, and the surface isn't marred or ruined. It's 100% rag and very sturdy. If it ever bubbles the surface just wait and it will all return to normal. I first started using Strathmore Illustration Board when I attended LA Art Center, before it became Pasadena Art Center, and became so expensive. I love Arches Watercolor Paper, but for tight Gouache illustrations I prefer the Strathmore 1/8" board. I know every one likes Kolinsky Sable Watercolor brushes, but I have found a very inexpensive, durable, and high quality watercolor brush at Aaron Brothers that I now use for Oils, Alkyd, Gouache, and Acrylic. They hold their points and their shape through numerous paintings, and washings, and don't fray or fall apart. They are called Simply Simmons, and no matter what size of brush you buy they only cost $2.99. That is $2.99 for a size 1 Liner Brush or a 1" wide wash brush. These brushes are great, flexible, good snap and a joy to use. Go check them out. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Today, because I didn't finish the Giraffe I will share another Emu Picture. The Painting is 15" x 20", and I photographed it, loaded it into Adobe Illustrator, added type, and turned it into a Birthday card for Granny. The other card I sent is also an Emu (I told you I like these creatures), and is also just as silly as the first. I will share some more tomorrow when I am further along with the 4 paintings I'm working on. I take pictures as I proceed to record my progress, and one of these times I will show the evolution of one of these paintings. Have a great day, and keep painting and following your dreams!

Yesterday I worked on a Giraffe and a Chameleon, and will keep working on the two separate paintings today. I also drew up some Mexican Food for http://jellybeanstock.com/ and will probably draw up some more today. Granny demands output at all times.

The painting I'm sharing today is titled "Grizzly Bear" Pushed to the Brink. This is a bear from the San Francisco Zoo, and he would stand up and wave so that people would throw him treats. Back in the days of my youth, when it was still ok to feed the bears, I would bring a bag of apples to the Zoo, and throw him and his companion apples. I finished this painting last week. It is 15" x 20'' done in gouache on Strathmore Illustration Board.

I drew it up in 1987, and it's been in a portfolio waiting to be finished for years. I'm sure the bear is happy to be let out into the moonlight once again.

"Grizzly Bear Pushed to the Brink " Copyright Anne E. Shoemaker House of Chabrier 2008

The other paintings I've been working on are Cassowaries and Emu's. Our neighbor around the corner has some Emus (they lay dark Green Eggs), and my friend Lee has a Emu living with their goats. For some reason I love these strange birds, and I love to paint them. Their feathers look like hair, curly, punk rock, frazzled, and fluffy. They move in a jaunty rocking side to side motion, and their faces have very intense expressions. The Cassowary is one I photographed at The San Diego Wild Animal Park, and was completed except for the background. Now he is done, and in his frame. I am getting these paintings finished to my great satisfaction.

Cassowary Portrait - 20" X 30" Gouache on Strathmore Illustration Board Copyright: Anne E. Shoemaker House of Chabrier 2008

Emu Portrait - 20" X 30" Gouache on Strathmore Illustration Board Copyright: Anne E. Shoemaker House of Chabrier 2008

I am going to go to work now, and finish some paintings that have been lingering too long with out those final brush strokes. I also have to go draw on Adobe Illustrator ( a program I just love) for http://www.jellybeanstock.com/ Keep painting out there fellow artists, and write when you get work.

These are Vulturine Guinea Fowl I first saw and photographed at the San Diego Zoo in the walk through Aviary. I love these birds. They are so bold and colorful, and a brilliant combination of stripes and dots. Who wouldn't love them with their bright orange hair dos and blue faces and necks. This painting is done in gouache which is an opaque watercolor. The painting is titled Gaggle of Guineas. The Rhino is an Indian Rhino and titled Twilight of the Rhino. It also is done in Opaque watercolor, as is the painting of colorful birds. The bird painting is titled The Crown Jewels. The watercolor of flowers is another painting that has been finished up in the last week, along with a number of watercolors of my Grandmothers' teacup. I will show some of those tomorrow. The paintings are now in their frames and residing in my living room, and are just a couple of the 60 paintings completed and framed in the last couple of months. I hope you enjoy seeing them, and I hope to hear from fellow blogger because I am 1AloneArtist painting away all day in my solitary pursuit of excellence!

Painting Zoo Animals

I have been finishing up all the art work I ever started, and framing it so that the art work of my life is no longer lingering in portfolios. I as always am trying to get the art work out of my house and into someones elses world. I turn 60 this year, and it seems unfair for my children to have to clean up my life sometime in the unknown future. We have been subject to fires (California Wild Fires), is there anything known as a Tame Fire?, Floods (faulty plumbing), and I'm just waiting on the pestilence and plagues. Does the economy count as a plague? Anyway I am working on cleaning up my own act, which is the only thing I have any direct control of, and with the help of the Rancho San Diego Arron Bros staff am framing all my watercolors.

They have been most helpful in organizing all my watercolors, and the frames and mats I purchase so all I have to do is return home, photograph the art work, assemble the mats and paintings, and then put into the frames and add the hanging hardware. They also most kindly help carry all purchases to my car. I have never experienced such kindness and service from anyone else in this day and age. They have made it easy to frame 60 pieces of art work so far, and we still are working on more. I have all kinds of watercolors and oil paintings already painted and framed, but these are the items stashed or interrupted by commercial jobs theat brought in money. It's my personal art work, not the public professional stuff. You can see examples of my professional art work at: http//HelloSanDiego.com/Art/houseofchabrier.cfm or go to jellybeanstock.com to see some of the digital work I do with Kim and Granny. I paint and draw every day so I still have a great deal of finishing on paintings and framing to do.

The other thing that is occuring as I frame and finish paintings is that I get inspired and paint new paintings that require framing. What is wrong with this picture? The whole idea was to finish and complete; not start and begin more! The goal is not to add more to the overflowing plethora of art work in my portfolios. By the way with the encouragement of my artist friend Lee I joined an art association of Contemporary Artists, but have not been accepted into any of the shows. For all those fellow rejects out there, what can I tell you, I don't think we are "Contemporary Artists ". One has to keep ones sense of humor, and I figure I'm just an old artist. I paint what I am interested in and what I love. I love animals and plants, and painting portraits of people and dogs, flowers and still lifes. I love Impressionism, realism, book ilustration, and fantasy. I can't paint to please others or to fit a current category of art when I am doing my personal art work. Pay me money, and I will create whatever you want with a great deal of pleasure and zeal to the very best of my ability. I love creating artwork for oher people, but when I'm painting for myself I like to go where my heart leads me. Subjects speak to me, and I listen. Some of the work I am finishing was started in 1987 from photos I took in the 1970's. Which shows how life, living, and working to keep home and hearth together sometimes gets in the way of doing what an artist dreams up. Soon I will be selling the originals, retaining all reproduction rights, and selling prints I've made up of some of my art work. This is deemed necessary because the California Wild Fires came so close last year, we were evacutated, and the only picture I removed from the house was a painting my son had done of my husbands grandfather. That left hundreds of paintings to be devoured by flames that came racing over yonder hills, and that is why I have come up with the plan of completion and sell.

I will start uploading a painting or more a day, and hopefully some unknown gentle reader of blogs will find some piece of art work worthy of their home and coin. Hopefully fire, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, dust storms, and all other devestations that life can throw at us will avoid your home as it avoided mine. I would enjoy hearing from other artists or just art lovers. Keep painting all you artists out there, and don't worry if you get rejected. We all need to continue to pursue the dreams we envision and the images we desire to create.