Hello Friends! 😊😊
Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Rough Textures. Today I'm going for art that is a little prehistoric! I'm thinking rough textures of the Jurassic period! Do you recognize who Bugs is channeling today?? The late, great, Steve Irwin. The Crocodile Hunter. Crocodiles, (according to Max Stockdale, a Vertebrate Macroevolution and Palaeoecology, associate of the University of Bristol) from 200 million years ago look surprisingly like the ones we know today. Though they kind of scare me, I think they are fascinating creatures!
Here is my croc in ink and graphite. I actually started to draw Steve Irwin, but got very distracted by pets and couldn't finish it. So I opted to draw a crocodile instead. Steve Irwin was a passionate fighter for the conservation of animals; and of animal rights - especially those of crocodiles! So sad that he passed away too soon!
Another prehistoric rough texture critter was the dinosaur. Here is Dino Flintstone! This is for you my friend Dino from Ridge Tails Blog!
My latest art tutorials are up on my YouTube channel! Click on the images above or the links below to check them out!
Let's Draw John Travolta (time-lapsed)
Let's Draw A Crocodile (real-time with voice instruction)
Let's Draw Dino (real-time with voice instruction)
My latest video is also up on my Spiritual channel! If you'd like to see it, please click on the image or this link:
On the food front we are eating lots of cold meals, like salads and sandwiches. Corn is in season, yum! One afternoon of cool weather encouraged me to make a skillet Mac and Cheese (but I had no macaroni, so I used capellini!). I followed a recipe from Taste of Home that used Velveeta cheese. It was good, but I prefer my own cheese in the mix!!
I made a very easy strawberry shortcake. I've made it before with store-bought sponge cake. You just whip some cream, top the sponge cake, then add strawberries. I did add some rum into the cream before I whipped it, maybe a teaspoon, just for flavour!
Garden news! Give me a HIGH FIVE!!! SIXTY SEVEN bulbs of garlic are now harvested and hanging to cure in my basement! It smells like a diner down there! ☺ What the heck am I going to do with all that garlic???
I am finally getting some lettuce! I planted this in June...we've had so much rain, I wasn't expecting much.
The mint is growing like mad!
I've been working so hard outside lately, despite the heat wave. There is so much to do before winter. I moved 20 cinder blocks behind the wood shed...and I moved this entire pile of scrap wood from the front property to a place that edges the acreage.
This is the before and after. It took me 3 hours. Our intention was to burn it all, but with all the rain this summer, we couldn't keep a good fire going in the barrel. It'll sit in that pile until it either composts or we have conditions that will allow us to burn it!
The pets are all keeping cool and doing well! My daily walks with Charlie and Jack are the highlight of my mornings!
This week's highlighted artist/blogger is Heidrun from Soul and Mind and So On blog! Heidrun shares beautiful photos (like the one above), poetry and food for thought. Please visit her blog! 💗
LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOU MAY BE NEXT WEEK'S FEATURED ARTIST/BLOGGER!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more "Rough Textures" creations! See you soon!!! 💗 💗
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Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date:
September 2nd: Fine Art - Expressionism
September 9th: Fine Art - Minimalism
September 16th: Fine Art - Pop Art
September 23rd: Fine Art - Sculpture
September 30th: Fine Art - Surrealism
Click on the links for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).
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I have reservations about Steve Irwin but LOVE your work.
ReplyDeleteHi Rain! Lots of lovely art and photos again! Your garlic is fabulous, you can open a restaurant! Great to see the doggies looking so well! You did a lot of garden work, you get a lot more done than I do, that's for sure! Have a great day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteHello Rain,
ReplyDeleteLove the Bugs, the Croc hunter and Dino, well done. Your Mac and cheese look yummy, I made some this week too. I mix various cheeses in a cheesy sauce.
Jack and Charlie look like they are enjoying your walk, cute furbabies.
Love the pretty sunflower! Take care, enjoy your day!
Hello dear Rain, I have now learned a lot about Steve Irwin. He is not known in Austria, and when you mentioned that he died too young, I wanted to know more. A tragic and really very early death for an animal rights activist, and just as tragic that apparently fanatical fans took revenge on stingrays afterwards, mutilating and killing them. Steve Irwin would certainly not have wanted that.
ReplyDelete---
We are currently sad because we had to let our beloved cat Maxwell walk over the rainbow bridge - https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/08/rip-liebster-aller-maxwells.html
But life goes on. Fortunately we still have our black cat Nina, who comforts us.
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Your garlic harvest is really substantial. Maybe you should sell parts of it to Transylvania? ;-) You can also soak garlic cloves in oil the Italian way and preserve them that way. If you add herbs or some chilli to the oil, they will be flavored - and then you can use the oil later as salad oil or for marinating.
Hugs from Austria,
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/08/tagesausflug-in-die-wachau-von-romern.html
PS: Nice too see Dino Flintstone :-)
If I lived close by, Rain, I would come and shamelessly beg for some of that garlic! Ontario garlic has been good this year and I bought three bulbs for $5.00 from a Mennonite farmer the other day.
ReplyDeleteRain,
ReplyDeleteI recognized Bugs impersonating Steve Irwin right off. Your spin-offs using Bugs and other Loony Tune characters are great! Crocs are furious and dangerous. I'm staying away from those things. Dino, however, is loveable! All of your artwork is fabulous, as always, and your food...YUMMY! That strawberry shortcake looks good. :p I joined the party today and have worked ahead into next month so I'm ready to go. Hopefully, you'll have some dry weather soon to get that pile of wood dried for burning. Have a doodletastic day, my dear!
Hi Rain, I like the crock drawings today. I recognice Steve Irwin, but did not see much of his show. I thought he was kind of reckless. And if I am not wrong a crock killed him. But your drawing is great! I don´t find them fascinating, I find them boring!
ReplyDeleteThe wood, don´t you have an indoor fireplace where you can burn them next winter? When they are dry. Might work.
I rarely use garlic so I can´t advice you there. :)
I love your take on texture! Nice to see Heidrun featured. The food looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteCrocs freak me out. I have no desire to meet one in person!
ReplyDeleteYou've been eating well at Chez Rain! Both desserts and main, it looks like. That cappellini mac and cheese is a great idea but everything is better with "real" cheese. I'm still in awe that you make your own cheese. And your garden -- fantastic. It's in the 90s here. But I bet I could plant more lettuce as it will cool down soon enough. Rick's tomatoes are coming in. I see another caprese salad for dinner tonight!
Thanks for coming by! Happy week and weekend!
...I would just as soon stay away from your rough texture. I plants garlic for the first time this year and it was a complete failure! I'll be by in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWow Rain! It look so lovely and green there right now (very jealous!). Your improvements look amazing and congratulations on the garlic yield.
ReplyDeleteI like your crocodile. It looks like a visual representation of jazz music.
I absolutely adored Steve Irwin! The very first time I saw him wrestling a croc on TV, I couldn't believe what I was seeing and said "who the hell is this crazy Aussie sonovabitch?" I agree, he tragically died much, much too young. I'm off now to watch your tarot video!
ReplyDeleteI love the crocodile drawing :) Wow! Your all set with garlic for a long time! ~ The pups look very happy too. Enjoy your walk today ~ Love, Karen
ReplyDeleteHi Rain
ReplyDeleteGood Thursday, luv bugs😊 the croc hunter.
much❤lov
You are truly living the wholesome quiet life we all wish that we had. Love and hugs to you and yours.
ReplyDeleteSuch great work, Rain. Steve Irwin died way too soon. Your food pictures look fabulous! I love how huge your mint is, it does grow big and fast. Lol
ReplyDeleteWow you got a lot of work done around the house. It looks great. Congrats on the garlic and other goodies that are growing. Love you texture art today too. I will be over to visit the you tube later. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteThank you ❤️
ReplyDeleteYAY 🎉 for an abundant harvest and seeing your drawing of Dino made me smile.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing! I love the art and the food.
ReplyDeleteThat's hard work. We've a drought, so no burning around here. I am enjoying your new place!
Oh Rain, I knew right away that Bugs was Steve Irwin even before I read it. I cried when he died ... what a wonderful man he was and what a loss his death was. And, the way he died was creepy :( But, that said, Bugs did a great job being Steve and your Crocodiles (both of them) are stupendous. I also sat through your Spiritual Rain and enjoyed your comments and learned a lot about you and your strength of character. Perpetual Naiveté, oh what a beautiful way to describe self absorption. I think we all have experienced periods like that and hopefully learned our lessens. I was blessed with a guiding light (my Mother) who sewed seeds of positive thinking and love of nature in every day of my youth and I carried all of that with me and still have the passion of loving nature in all of it's forms. Somehow, though, I have not been really successful in passing it on to my children. My daughter has had learning problems and mental health problems her whole life and learning lessons seem to be beyond her grasp, while my son was born with a passion for motors that seemed to be powerful to him. He, to this day, lives with that power as his passion. He is a Heavy Equipment Operator and can run or understand any vehicle made. He is also the wise one, who learned from all of his experiences and thus is a kind and gentle man, but nature is not of interest to him. Oh well ... I love Nature ... even human nature and have spent my life finding ways to learn more and understand more about everything in nature. That is my passion ... Art is also a passion, but as my sister and mother were extraordinarily good artists, I have always been reticent to put my all into it because of the feeling that I could never be as good as they were. I think (thanks in many ways to you) I have found my way to art that is just the joy of doing and not looking for perfection. So I look forward to your next Spirituality post as I find it is opening my eyes to things that function beneath the surface in my life and to a greater understanding of self. It is about time I understood myself, right? So thank you Rain ... You are a bright light in the midst of dark times.
ReplyDeleteAndrea @ From the Sol
Great art Rain! I have finally gotten my craft/office area set up where I can work. I have been making some stuffed pumpkins, and painting on some wooden pumpkins. I have drawn out my Christmas card and when I can some of that stuff out of the way I am going to start painting on it. I also have a large painting drawn out (for over a yr) that I would like to get started on. Its for my bedroom. The work you did on the yard looks great. Its always something but the difference is, this is your place! Have you ever thought about putting some small boxwood bushes out in front of the house. I think that would look great. Glad you were able to get some things growing for you this yr. I know you missed having a garden when you first moved. Take care.
ReplyDeleteYour 2 photos of the house look so different due to the lighting. You do work hard on your property, all that heavy lifting and carrying and dragging. Wow! Watch your back, will you? As for the croc, it is beautiful. So green. I saw alligators in Florida in 2013, but they are not as pretty as crocs.
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of garlic! I think crocodiles have the most texture to them. Next might be the armadillo.
ReplyDeleteI’m liking that croc rain. You make him/her look almost harmless, perhaps a pet you’d like to have in the house.
ReplyDeleteI’m impressed by your garlic haul. I like to roast garlic as well as include some in most things I make (except breakfast) but sometimes Sue is not enthralled with my breath.
Happy Friday, Rain! I love your rough texture drawings. Crocodiles are fascinating creatures and very scary. You do amazing things with Bugs Bunny, and I always look forward to your drawing of him. I love Dino! I went for dinosaurs too ~ a duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosaur) jaw. Your food is always appealing, especially your capellini and cheese. We haven't had mac and cheese since Terry's heart attack. I just have to plan for it, carefully balancing the fat and salt, now that he's out of the woods. Your garlic is awesome. I use a lot of garlic when I cook, but it would take me a while to use up yours! I feel so sorry for people who have lost their ability to smell and taste because of Covid. Great job on the yard cleanup! The yard looks great. My grandmother had a trash burning barrel just like yours. Those photos bring back memories, for sure! Now for the fun of visiting around, starting with Heidrun. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteWell that's lots of garlic! You could roast it and we'll all of oil and smash it up and make a paste oh, great to put on top of bread. Really good for infections too. Are your garden looks great so green!. We're finally cooling down here and some of the smoke is dissipated in the garden is recovering a little bit from all the hundred degree weather. Our tomatoes are finally getting rape!
ReplyDeleteCrocodiles scare me too! Your drawing is really wonderful. The outside is looking great. Well done!
ReplyDelete-Soma
Crocs are not exactly my favorite creatures, but that goes for alligators as well, Rain. Wow on that garlic harvest and I wonder how long dry garlic keeps? Have you considered putting the bulbs in olive oil…but of course that would mean lots of time preparing them😕
ReplyDeleteThe cold meals and dessert looked delicious and easy meals are good with all the work you’ve been doing in the yard!
I love all the greenery. It's so hot and dry here, nearly everything is yellow and brown - well, except that we've gotten some rain yesterday and today, so I suppose it will green right up again soon. Would love to get a whiff of your basement. :)
ReplyDeleteYummy... I love this strawberry cake. Think of course on The Beatles: Strawberry Field For Ever.
ReplyDeleteThere are some interesting information here. Thank you for sharing. Wish you a very good week.
Hugs, Heidrun
Hi Rain, the house looks neat and tidy - if you have any old tubs to put your mint in, it will keep flies away and will be at hand for cooking placed near your front door to save slippery walks in the winter. You did so well to get garlic grown and the lettuce and mint too - my tomatos all got mould and had to be thrown out due to the damp air/rain we have been having. If you can get a poly tunnel set up you will get a head start for next year - I don't have space or would do that myself. Art this week is fun, I'm going to visit the participants now - have a lovely weekend. Betty
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post some great art and photographs here.
ReplyDeleteYour garden and it's harvest looks so good.
That is certainly a lovely lot of garlic :)
Have a great weekend.
All the best Jan
Rain - wow, that strawberry shortcake looks good - I need to do some "summer" cooking before it is over!!! Congratulations on all your garlic!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful draw Rain of the crocodile. If you like you may use photos of my dogs too for painting. Greetings Caroline
ReplyDeleteFinally got here - I've been spending very little time on the internet because the weather has been the kind that's good for lots of walking and hiking. I always love to see what you eat, and wow, you sound like me. We had an acre back in the day before we sold our last house and I would move rocks and make new sitting areas, etc...Lots of heavy outside work. You moving all those cinder blocks reminded me of that. Not sure I would want to do that now, my back would complain too much. Always love your characters you create.
ReplyDeleteHey Rain, I tried your tiramisu recipe and I'm posting about it on my blog tomorrow (Sept 1st). Don't worry, it has a happy ending, LOL!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much my friends for all of your comments!! I'll just answer a few here!
ReplyDeleteTraude: My condolences for Maxwell...I know what you are going through and it's never easy. Sending you ♥...I liked your Transylvania comment!! And thanks for the suggestion for preserving the garlic!
David: I would GIVE you plenty of garlic!
Monica: The wood is really very old and mostly falling apart. Our wood stove is very small and it would be too much hassle to bring all that wood in because it's so dry it'll just evaporate once we get a flame on it!
Tom: My garlic was a success because (I think anyway) it was a mix of soil and very rich compost!
Andrea: I cried when Steve Irwin died too. I'm so happy that you enjoyed my videos and my deep deep thoughts! ;) Your Mom sounds like she was a wonderful lady. I'm really touched that I helped you find your way back to creating art for fun. That's what it's all about, if it's not fun, it's WORK. I'm so glad you are a nature child like I am!!! We do have lots in common!! ♥♥♥
Pam: Thanks! Really that outdoor work is TOUGH. I have bruises on my bruises lol...We actually transplanted a bunch of small conifers from around the property, put them in containers in the spring before they started to bud. Our intention is to transplant them all around the front of the property so that (hopefully) in 10 years time, we will have a nice line of conifers for privacy!!
Gigi: I'm being careful!! ♥
Phil: I LOVE garlic breath lol...you made me laugh, a croc as a pet, but I'm sure some silly people have done that!!!
Louise: Your dinosaur jaw is just AMAZING!!!
Nancy: I have to say I'm envious of your tomatoes!!
Dorothy: I really don't know how long the garlic would keep, I guess this will be an experiment year and maybe each month I'll preserve more of it in oil when I go shopping, load up on the olive oil at Costco.
Betty: I don't know how things grew this year with all the rain we had. I didn't even water the beds ONCE. Thanks for the tips about the mint!! ☺
Debra: I will be over there tomorrow!!! I'm excited to know how it went with the Tiramisu!!! I'm going to make some this weekend!!!