new years eve

we can prepare today for a new beginning. tonight people will declare new resolutions. they will swear off bad habits...some write their resolutions on paper....some write their bad habits ....sins of 2008 ...or resentments.... on bits of paper and cast them into the fire. it will remain to be seen how many will actually change their ways... make amends for their sins...forgive their enemies. surely each of us has some area in our lives which would benefit from change. change is hard sometime but we would do well to after an honest look at ourselves to really put out some effort to affect positive change in our lives and in our interaction with others. im going to try.
***"All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness.the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives." Dalai Lama
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the painting is a small [ 5x7 i believe] watercolor. she is the primal mother. we still have access to her as we are and always have been a part of the whole with no separateness of our 'selves'. a whole which has always existed in the moment.
********
from forbes.com : "Dozens of the world's wealthiest lost billions in recent months"
".... His [david ross] fortune, which we estimated at $1.4 billion in March, is now worth about $150 million........."
"...a fortune [Oleg Deripaskawe's] estimated to be worth $28 billion. ............now estimated at $10 billion. Or less..."
**
this is the financial news and concern. not much said about the "fortunes" of most of the people of the world including me and most likely you as well. their losses require lots of zeros....mine put my "fortune" much closer to zero. that is the financial news that is important to me.
what is the difference in the plight of the american worker who lives ..sometimes barely..from paycheck to paycheck...and the proletariat of communism? the difference unquestionably narrows as the gap between the haves and the havenots in america widens.
*********

From the promise land in Lipscomb Alabama
Where golden eagle table syrup and buffalo rock
Flow freely
And the train whistle blows

something isnt right

there are people, real people, living under ground..in tunnels..and in cardboard boxes.
living there..for years.. not just spending the night.
not in india nor in brazil
but
here in the united states of america.
something just isnt right about that.
eliminate if you choose the drug addicts and alcoholics..those there by choice..those who dont want to work
and
there are still people, real people, living underground..in tunnels..and in cardboard boxes.
here in the united states of america
people who just cant find their way out.



From the promise land in Lipscomb Alabama
Where golden eagle table syrup and buffalo rock
Flow freely
And the train whistle blows

ebbie and the plan

"He who has a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

the plan is to begin to aquire the parts....mainly wheels...to build a cart for ebbie to pull.

oh..you dont know ebbie?

ebbie is my dog.....pyrenees mix. she is the off spring of a rescue dog. we got her from olivia who always has a pack of rescue dogs. she is particular where they go. her mother is great pyrenees. her sister libby weighed like 80 lbs when she was 8 mos old. ebbie is 2 mos shy of 2 years and weighs around 70 lbs. she is well behaved but that is because she chooses to be... she is a faithful companion to me but is very independent. she sleeps in the house at night but would just as soon be out in the cold rain. it doesnt bother her a bit and she loves it outside. my studio is up the hill from the house and has a small deck/porch on the front of it. that is her favorite place. she can sit up there and survey almost all of her holdings. pyrenees are guard dogs for farm animals..sheep, goats, alpacas etc. they protect against all intruders from butterflies to grizzly bears and wolves in the pyrenees mountains in france and spain. they also are used as draft dogs hence the cart for her.

she got her harness in the mail on saturday and didnt mind at all that we put it on her even tho we fumbled around quite a bit untangling and figuring it all out. she doesnt mind at all walking around the chicken lot with it on ..traces and a singletree dragging behind her. by the time i get a cart built im sure she will be more than ready to pull it. she acts as though she was already trained for it.

they have been bred for it for years.

maybe she can pull a float next year in the christmas parade.

carol took her running yesterday for 2 or 3 miles. she loves that.

good fortune to all for the day.

From the promise land in Lipscomb Alabama
Where golden eagle table syrup and buffalo rock
Flow freely
And the train whistle blows

block prints

these are 9x12 linoleum block prints

mother teresa was done from a painting i had done

the christ was done from the mother teresa

the similarity is intentional

a few copies have been sold

From the promise land in Lipscomb Alabama
Where golden eagle table syrup and buffalo rock
Flow freely
And the train whistle blows

christmas

merry christmas

to all

ted & carol & the dogs

the card is brush and ink
sumi-e

















From the promise land in Lipscomb Alabama
Where golden eagle table syrup and buffalo rock
Flow freely
And the train whistle blows

christmas eve

this was our entry in the lipscomb christmas parade. kids loved it. did you even know that lipscomb has a christmas parade? my jeep which we used to pull it is pretty ratty looking to pull a christmas train like this so carol wrapped it in christmas paper and garland and greenry and gold balls with a big red bow on it. brenda renzs grand daughters stood in the back of the jeep and smiled and threw candy and just had a generally good time spreading christmas cheer. carol rang the bell and i blew the whistle. when we got home we just left the train in the front yard as part of our outdoor decorations..which we were late getting up this year.

we wish everyone everywhere a merry christmas

From the promise land in Lipscomb Alabama
Where golden eagle table syrup and buffalo rock
Flow freely
And the train whistle blows

wasteland and pant

i noticed yesterday that we use a lot of paper plates and paper towels. now it really doesnt make a lot of sense to me. cut down a treethat took some years to grow..cut it down..make some paper..use the plate or towel for usually only a few minutes...throw it away. i wonder how long it takes to throw a tree away? doesnt sound right does it. so...yesterday i used neither paper plates nor towels..but in the stead i used 1 knife, 1 fork, 1 spoon and 1 plate, 1 bowl, and 1 glass and a cup all day. that reminds me of a story. anyway we shall see how long the paper saving lasts.

the story: [this is true ]:

years ago living in tarpon springs we were preparing to move from shakey flats to an apartment..carol and the kids [3] and myself..on banana street. i decided it would be in our favor to limit our selves to each person 1 each..knife,fork, spoon, plate, bowl,glass, cup. so that is what we took with us. this served us ok. months later for thanksgiving we invited a herd of people over for dinner. in time we realized there was no tableware for the guests so we contacted each of them and advised them to please bring their own. so without another thought they did. they each brought his own tableware and we had a grand thanksgiving. when they left alas most of them left their utensils so since then we have been back to a drawer and sinkful of kitchen stuff.

this painting was started in florida but i recently finished it up here. it was at first a more idyllic scene but i changed it to be more truthful. most of the condos remain unsold or are in forclosure as a result of greed. just up the street from our house here is a creek which shamefully looks a lot like the one in the painting because of nothing other than thoughtlessness.

the painting is mixed media 16x20 on canvas. it drew a lot of attention at avondale and was displayed at my brothers annual christmas party but remains unsold..as do countless others.

panting: this morning carol said that ebbie's panting made her want to go back to sleep. im not sure i understand that but i did realize that pant is one of those words that i like. pant. doesnt it sound nice? and you would almost know what it was just from the word itsself. say it. panting.

enough ..im headed for the bank and the library.

good fortune

in the beginning

first day of the new blog. i will try to publish daily or at least semi regularly. i will be posting images of art..mostly mine, rants, raves, views on the news and news, items from lipscomb al and more.

feel free to comment . try not to be a jerk. i like comments on my art positive or negative but dont go into a full blown critique.

about this painting: it isnt me. it was painted last year and sold at the avondale art in the park '07. 16x20 acrylic on canvas. a streetcorner busker or a symphony violinist?? ...cant judge books by .....

it will be interesting to see how the blog goes.

tis the season