Saturday, September 25, 2010

epic train nerdiness


ok, so as many of you know, i love train travel. to me, it is one of the best ways to travel, period. for the next month or so, Amtrak has added a really neat dome car to the Adirondack, the train which travels between montreal and nyc. it stops in plattsburgh, so today gammer and I stopped by the station, conveniently at the exact time the train was due in. ;) this is the dome car, with some spiffy advertising. I am absolutely DETERMINED to take a trip in this car within the next month. it's a necessity! :)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

oh sheldon...


I love the big bang theory. but most especially jim parsons. he's magical. :) there's not a whole lot else to say. :)

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

skeeter


he loves this ball. it's his favorite toy in the whole world. sometimes he carries it around, through the house and outside, and even if he sits down he keeps hanging on to his ball. if you can get it from him, he'll chase you across the lawn and leap into the pond after you throw it for him. he's super cute and sweet. :)

Sunday, September 5, 2010

evening in alaska


last may, my parents and I went on our second trip to Alaska. we're pretty besotted with the 49th state; our first trip there was in may 2008 and after we got home that time I don't think there was much doubt we'd be returning! this time, we had a balcony on our ship (this trip was part cruise, part land tour) and were able to see some amazing sights, right from our cabin. this is a painting from one of those moments, as we sailed south from Haines, en route to Juneau.

Friday, September 3, 2010

If I had a hammer


have you heard the cool story about the apollo 12 tv camera? on earth, when A12 commander pete conrad and LM pilot alan bean were practicing their procedures, they used a block of wood as a stand-in for the camera. up on the bright, sparkling, atmosphere-less moon, bean had the job of setting up the camera. after taking the lens cap off, he inadvertently pointed the camera in the direction of the sun for a mere moment. unfortunately, that moment was enough to pretty much fry the innards of the lens, resulting in the camera being almost entirely useless. at the time, however, neither the crew nor the ground staff knew what the problem was. so the funny part was when bean, trying to get the damn camera to work, hit it with his geology hammer. he still has the hammer and the camera is still on the moon. :)

someday we'll vacation here


europa. lovely, lovely europa. it's amazing. it has hidden secrets! the colors here are, if i am honest, a bit off. but I think it's a far superior (and better shaped) effort compared to jupiter. :)

p.s. in case you are wondering, here's what the REAL europa looks like!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/solarsystem/moons/europa_(moon)

ugh


we're going to chalk this one up to a learning experience. but learning is good. :) a HUGE part of the problem (which I think is funny, because jupiter itself is huge...what? i'm a nerd!) is my utter inability to draw a perfect circle, arc, or anything else remotely similar. i'm shape-drawing impaired. :p

neptune arrival


I'm trying to get away from simply creating paintings based on photos and be a bit more creative. I really, really love this painting, because although it is very simple, I think the colors are beautiful and it seems to be very alive, unlike the painting of jupiter i'm working on! ;)

live from the moon


how awesome is it that when men landed on the moon everyone all over the world got to watch it on tv? an author who has written about the television coverage broadcast from the moon and the technology involved asked me to create a few paintings for him, specifically involving the tv cameras on the lunar surface. ergo, the apollo 11 tv camera!

challenger


when I painted bruce mccandless' EVA, he was so tiny I had to use a magnifying glass to paint him. when I painted the Apollo 17 lunar module, I didn't have to use a magnifying glass, but it was an exacting process just the same. it was difficult to get the colors right and some of the smaller details, such as the flag, were very exacting. yet all in all, i'm pretty pleased with the end result. :)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

ode to beano

I love alan bean. he's cute, funny, and an amazing artist. i painted him on the moon and unfortunately, he looks a bit like a toddler (big head, short body) on the moon. :)

singing on the moon

one of the best, most delightful things to have happened on the moon!



*video courtesy NASA history division website celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing

peeeeeete!


pete conrad was an amazing astronaut. I've been super lucky and fortunate to be able to meet a number of astronauts, including Pete's Apollo 12 crewmates and friends, alan bean and dick gordon. when you hear funny stories about apollo, chances are the story might involve pete. his favorite saying was, "if you can't be good, be colorful."

out of love for the fun-loving, all-navy crew of Apollo 12, I did a painting of Pete unfurling the american flag on the surface of the moon. the perspective is imperfect, so he looks a bit short and squashed. poor pete. :( i think the other aspect is that when you paint the moon you have to acquaint yourself with eight gazillion shades of grey, which I was still adjusting to at the time. ergo, his boots basically blend in to the lunar surface and he looks shorter. another good learning experience! :)

itty bitty astronaut


my first painting in a loooong time, basically since art classes in high school. also my very very first painting based on a space theme. well, at least since that painting of the earth I did in middle school, which was copied by another girl and we were both questioned about who copied who. the fact that my stars were white dots and hers were these big yellow pointy things should have been a hint, but I guess it wasn't. we have to bear in mind I went to a school where an English teacher told me not to request research info from NASA because they only know how to put people in space, so they don't know anything about space itself. umm, okay. ;)

anyway. here's a tiny painting of a famous photo of astronaut bruce mccandless orbiting the earth, using the manned maneuvering unit.