Where the Bee Sucks…

Shakespeare – Ariel, from the Tempest, anticipating being granted his freedom.
Ariel sings

Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

Good enough, even though it’s a daffodil and not a cowslip’s bell which apparently is a primula (primrose) beloved of faeries.

Always loved this. Ariel is one of my favorite characters. And it makes a beautiful haunting song.

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March Arts Marathon 2023 Day Thirty One!

Last day!

Thank you all so much for following along with me, encouraging me with your comments, supporting CVRAN with your donations. What a ride it’s been.

I happened to be reading about ducks today. The ducks are arriving in droves on Sodom Pond by my house right now; some to stay for the summer, others just passing through on their way farther north.

Birders divide them into two “tribes” – Aythini – divers or pochards; and Anatini – dabblers or puddlers. The divers go way down to look for their sustenance, (vertical swimmers). The dabblers tend to stay near the surface and just dunk their heads in (horizontal swimmers).

Aythini
Anatini

It was noted of course that dabblers will sometimes dive and divers will sometimes dabble. No categories are totally clear cut.

I think maybe artists can be divided into those two tribes as well. Do you think you fit somewhat in either category?

I’m definitely a dabbler as you can tell from my posts, a little bit of everything. I am that way in the rest of my life as well. Though maybe these categories are more important vis a vis waterfowl than us humans anyway.

At any rate, I am me. Participating in the March Arts Marathon has definitely helped me to reiterate that in a positive, confident way and I am so grateful. Maybe you’ve seen this before but here it is again…a fitting ending I think.

Here is the link if you would like to make a sponsorship donation to CVRAN again or for the first time:

https://cvran.org/a-post-pandemic-book-of-days-for-the-month-of-march/

If you want to keep receiving posts from me (don’t worry they won’t be daily and clog up your email) go to my WordPress blog at:

http://www.coppsky.com

and become a “follower”. You will get a link to whatever I post on my blog.

And who knows you may all receive something from me tomorrow on April Fools Day, my favorite holiday.

Thanks again. Love to all and Fare thee well!

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March Arts Marathon 2023 Day Thirty

An Odd and Whimsical Creature

Today I’ll tell you a little about my process –

I saw a burnt out old tractor in a neighbor’s farm field. It intrigued me so I took a few photos of it.

Here’s the one I liked best.

When I looked at it again the tractor had morphed into a sort of fantastical sea creature something between a lobster and a crab.

Photo with background removed.

I transferred the photo minus the background to a new Pages document where I could use my trusty Apple Pencil to draw on it.

And added a little crab from a Google image to my Pages document.

Look at that cute face. The crab doesn’t look little here but wait, you’ll see.

I then used an old photo I had of the seashore to make the background of the picture.

I arranged the images in the Pages document so that some were in the foreground, some mid ground and some in the background.

After a little more detail work with my Apple Pencil I took a screenshot of the Pages document and went to work on it in Photoshop Express, editing it for colors and mood and a frame of sorts.

I saved that photo to my Photos app on my iPad and imported it to my WordPress post here.

And VOILÀ!

She doesn’t know quite what to make of this creature…and neither do I!
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March Arts Marathon 2023 Day Twenty Eight

Decided to make a slideshow from my “My Dream” photos (Day Twenty One). Was thinking maybe I would use it for the end of the Marathon Gallery but don’t think I will. Anyway I made it so here it is:

If you have trouble seeing it let me know and I’ll send it to you a different way.
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March Arts Marathon 2023 Day Twenty Seven

Day twenty seven is going to be day twenty six plus. I don’t know what possessed me but here it is:

Yesterday was the first post where I used a MAM prompt. Thank you Lynn Wild.

The prompt was “LAMB”.

As in sacrificial lamb

Lamborghini Aventador- a very snazzy sports car

Rack of lamb. The dish my father loved to order at fancy French restaurants.

Or my favorite, Lambchops – Shari Lewis’s wonderful hand puppet, the first puppet I ever saw…on TV, not in person, alas.

Here is my lamb collage. It turned out a little gruesome which was not my original intention but I guess the sacrificial lamb and the rack of lamb made it so.

The rest is as it was. No harm in seeing it twice.

It is lambing season right now. I love visiting the newborn lambs and watching them gamboling in the fields. (Great word, “gamboling”, just had to fit it in somewhere in this post.)

Beautiful photo which I confess I did not take and can’t remember who did to give proper credit.
So Sweet!
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March Arts Marathon 2023 Day Twenty Six

Well today is the first post where I am using a MAM prompt. Thank you Lyn Wild.

The prompt was “LAMB”.

As in sacrificial lamb

Lamborghini Aventador- a very snazzy sports car

Or my favorite, Lambchops – Shari Lewis’s wonderful hand puppet, the first puppet I ever saw…on TV, not in person, alas.

And it is lambing season right now. I love visiting the newborn lambs and watching them gamboling in the fields. (Great word, “gamboling”, just had to fit it in somewhere in this post.)

Beautiful photo which I confess I did not take and can’t remember who did to give proper credit.
So Sweet!
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