Ascender Rises Above

Detail of: Flocked, California Style; Acrylics, Watercolor, Pen & Ink, Perspective Rendering. Fresh Perspectives - available this summer in Tiburon.

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Nothing is plumb, level, or square:
the studs are bowed, the joists
are shaky by nature, no piece fits
any other piece without a gap
or pinch, and bent nails
dance all over …

Love Song: I and Thou by Alan Dugan

I thought I would take another look at the earth shaking in California. I last did this in March when California was being hit by a series of quakes up and down the state. The most recent earthquake activity map shows a little less activity. (Here’s United States activity as a whole; and world wide)

There was a different kind of shaking in downtown San Mateo with Music In The Park.

Last night we were shaking it up with The California Cowboys.

Line dancing, California style. Over a dozen line dances were created during the 1980s for country songs. The 1980 film Urban Cowboy reflected the blurring of lines between country music and pop, and spurred renewed interest in country culture, and western fashion, music, and dance^. “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” was choreographed by Bill Bader in October of 1990 for the original Asleep at the Wheel. Billy Ray Cyrus‘ 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart, helped catapult western line dancing into the mainstream public consciousness

Line dancers performed to the 1999 version of Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Dwight Yoakum. Line dance now has very traditional dances to country music, and not so traditional dances to non country music.

The most well-known is the grapevine (or vine for short), which is usually a three-step movement to the side, with the fourth step added to complete the measure. Other steps include applejack, botafogo, butterfly, coaster step, heel grind, hitch, jazz box, kick ball change, kick ball step, lunge, mambo step, military turn, Monterey turn, paddle, pivot turn, rock step, sailor step, scissor step, scuff, spiral turn, stamp, stomp, sugarfoot, swivet and vaudeville.

Child dog pile

Flocked, California Style; Acrylics, Watercolor, Pen & Ink, Perspective Rendering. 6 1/4″ by 8 1/4″ - framed and ready to hang. Purchase.

A Fresh Perspective… acrylics, watercolor, colored pencil and pen and ink with a light coat of protective Golden gel. I am continuing to work mixing my Interior Design background concentrating on a watercolor perspective rendering and combining it with a looser fine arts acrylics style. Fresh Perspectives available this summer in Tiburon.

Nesting Instincts; Photo. More Ascender’s Photos.

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I wish I could find that skinny, long-beaked boy
who perched in the branches of the old branch library.

He spent the Sabbath flying between the wobbly stacks
and the flimsy wooden tables on the second floor,

pecking at nuts, nesting in broken spines, scratching
notes under his own corner patch of sky.

I’d give anything to find that birdy boy again
bursting out into the dusky blue afternoon

with his satchel of scrawls and scribbles,
radiating heat, singing with joy.

Branch Library by Edward Hirsch

This guy comes every night at about 6:00 p.m like clockwork. He is a screamer, walking along the rail screaming. He drinks. He bathes. He screams again. Occasionally when he is finished he will scream and the female will arrive, drink then bathe.

At first I thought he was a bluejay; but doesn’t look like the photos. Anyone know what he is? Perhaps if I can find him the right kind of food he won’t scream so much…

Handmaiden of the Nest; Illuminated Tile. Illuminated More Ascender’s Illuminated Tiles. See more of this tile and read what others have to say here. Original tile also available at the Tiburon Arts Festival

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Need more of my birds on wires? Check out these:

(Hitchcock) Bird On A Wire I,

(Let’s Talk) Bird On A Wire II,

(Leonard Cohen) Bird On A Wire III

(Heard It From A Friend…) Bird On A Wire IV

(Water Soaked) Bird On a Wire V

(Tangled Up) Bird On a Wire VII

(On Edge) Bird On A Wire VIII

(Twitter/Tweeter) Bird On a Wire IX

(Uninvited Guest) Bird On a Wire X

(Let’s Do Lunch) Bird On a Wire XI

(Birds Of A Feather) Bird On a Wire XII

(High Wire) Bird on a Wire XIII

(Bird Over A Wire) Bird On A Wire XIV

(Bird On A… Post) Bird on a Wire XV

(Bird On A Branch… and off) Bird On a Wire XVI

(Blessed By A Bird) Bird On a Wire XVII

Blessings From The Sun, Photo. Purchase. More Ascender’s Photos

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When you come right down to it, all you have is yourself. Yourself is a sun with a thousand fires in your belly. The rest is nothing.

Pablo Picasso

The sun has truly been blessing us here in California; triple-digit temperatures expected again in the Central Valley; many spots topping out 15 degrees above average: Wear sunscreen and eye protection, Stay hydrated, Replenish electrolytes and calories if needed, stand in shady areas and sprinklers, shift your work schedule…

I have always liked this Picasso quote and used it an acrylic piece earlier this year:

A Thousand Sun Rays In Your Belly; Acrylics, Watercolor, Colored Pencil, Pen and Ink. 2 feet x 3 feet; Paper Mounted On Foam Core, Unframed, Signed.
Purchase though PayPal, includes shipping inside the U.S. Or purchase at my booth at the Art’s Festival in Tiburon. More on this piece

My present body of work combines my love of creating perspective renderings while working on a fine art degree in interior design with techniques acquired working in other mediums (Acrylics, Watercolor, Colored Pencil). Returning to a larger format, the basis of each painting will begin with architectural details and/or renderings created by hand off of perspective charts. While working for her Fine Arts degree in interior design, I was vice president of the student American Society of Interior Designers then went on to spend ten years doing contract and residential perspective renderings. Fresh Perspectives collection.

Move Aside; Coming Through; Photo. Purchase. More Ascender’s Photos

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I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

Queen (You-Tube)

There was much honking of horns at the Music In The Park in San Mateo; last Thursday.

Today I am zipping into San Francisco (by car, not bike) in search of tiny little easels for my tiny little ACEOs (available in Tiburon).

Honk The Horn; Two-Sided ACEO; Faux Encaustic Collage (front)

Honk The Horn; Two-Sided ACEO; Faux Encaustic Collage (back)

A new (two-sided!) (original!) (one-of-a-kind!) ACEO. 2.5″ x 3.5″Sealed in an encaustic-like manner, Signed, Dated.

text reads:

honk the horn

More Ascender’s ACEO’s will be available.

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What are ACEOs? In the simplest of terms, ACEOs are small format, miniature pieces of art - amazing little canvases. . They are paintings, drawings, collages, handmade prints, altered art, assemblages… in most any medium, in any style, from anywhere in the world.

Art cards can be dated back to the 16th century when artists created miniature portraits. The modern version was born when Swiss artist M.Vanci Stirnemann producing 1200 art cards by hand in 1996. One of those in attendance of the exhibition in Zurich was Canadian artist Don Mabie, who brought the movement back with him to North America.

If you want to read more on ACEOs - check out this ACEO group on ebay with over 3,000 members. Nino, ebay staff member says:

… working in the limited area of an ACEO format provides exciting challenges to artists… here’s a lot of cross-over from artists specializing in miniatures. Likewise, collectors of miniature paintings are also drawn to ACEOs. In fact, a whole new collecting industry has sprung up around ACEOs. Collectors are beginning to store and display their ACEOs in several unique ways… It’s a limitless canvas. (read full article)