Wax on, Wax off

Howdy, Well tomorrow is the start of try-outs at Mt. Spokane for ski school instructor. The process takes 4 days and spans 2 weeks. By the end they have who they want and cut who they don't. I'm excited to move forward with my certification and will be shooting fr a level two within the next couple of years. I also have a short vid of a new waxing technique I have adopted since moving to the colder region of the pacific northwest. First though let's take a look at Boba Fett, my current acrylic piece I've been plugging away on for the past couple of months. Here is a current shot of the piece as of this morning

I have been enjoying working on this one. I am learning a lot more with color mixing to add different depth and lighting to the armour. Yes, I still have to start his rifle but as I stated this one is going kinda slow. My sessions on this piece are about 30 mins to 1 hour at a time as there are quite a few details in the armor and lighting. This will probably be my last update on this piece then I will move on to the next adventure with art. I will say that I am glad I have art as an outlet. Sometimes life hands us a big old pile of crap and says 'enjoy.' When times are tough it feels great to be able to head into the studio and shut the world out for a while even if it is 30 minuets. America has lost it's color, literally. As a member of a federally recognized tribe it's sad to see the hate and destructive actions set fourth by our current administration. So, to escape into the studio means everything especially since I had nothing for so long. I don't ever take my talents or 'things' for granted. Never forget your roots. Okay! SKi talk time. I spent a couple hours yesterday waxing and tuning my Mindbenders for tomorrows start of tryouts. I have a short vid with a description of my newly adopted method. I pretty excited to be working on the mountain. I am also stoked to be learning something new. I have skiied my whole life. The last thing my father and I did together before having his heart attack was ski Mt. Reba (Bear Valley). I feel close to him when I ride the mountain. I know it probably sounds corny but it's true. This blog is also my journal. I have no kids to carry my story, so I guess leaving a blog as my testimony is as good as it gets for me, folks. I appreciate you reading my spillings. I will post my finshed Boba Fett piece as soon as it's done. I feel like I have another month or so, but we'll see. I will also take a couple shots from the mountain tomorrow and I can update with those from tryouts as well. Take care, and happy holidays.

Holiday Squeezin!

Here we go! we are now a couple weeks away from Thanksgiving and about six weeks from Christmas. I can't belive how it crept up on me this season. I've really had my hands full with the future jobs I have on my plate right now. It looks like I will be working/managing a local nursery in March of 26'. I'm pretty excited to be able to have somewhere to stretch my 'horticulture chops'...as it were. I stopped by for the interview a couple months ago and was pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of the property as well as organization of the nursery. I think once things move forward a bit more I can post shots, and talk more about it. Until then though, let's talk riding! I also recently attended Mt. Spokane's Job fair. It was November first, and quite a few people turned out. I arrived just prior to 8 am, with the lot already filling up. I circled a few times, had a cuppa joe, and checked out the job sections. I applied as both an instructor level 1 and to work in the rental shop. I would like to gain a certification in mounting bindings, and increase my knowledge of 'fitting' gear for new students. I figure tuning, and fitting clients for classes is a good way to move forward. I should be getting my new mounted/ready Reckoners back this week sometime, and I can post a finished shot of those beauties. Okay! how is Boba Fett?! I'll tell ya. Actually, here is a short vid of the piece as of a couple hours ago. This piece (as most) has been a challenge for me. I'm trying to stay close to cannon with this, which of course has a lot of detail. I don't know how long this one will take as it seems to be taking quite a bit more reference and time than usual. Like I said in the video, I had to cover some of the piece up bcause I felt the colors weren't 'vibing'. Too many colors really, so we cover and try again. I just finished applying another coat of green to his armor, here is the most updated shot I have.

Next session I will start re-working his cape, and start adding laser holes/blemishes on his armor. I tell ya, painting in real life is exactly like using photoshop, it's all about layers. Of course there's no comparing painting to digital art but the layering effect works in both realms. I drove out to one of the local reservations this morning to get some dental work done and it was such a quiet beautiful drive I thought I'd pst a couple shots

Yes, some of the roads are still unpaved on the 'rez', but it's just one of the many reasons I enjoy being out there. We are too plugged in, and I am including myself here. I love video games, movies, and watching stupid fail vids. If we just look out the window insted of looking at our televisions, we invoke a sense of adventure. This is also a big reason I love being on the mountain and riding. I guess what I'm saying is; turn off your 'programs' and go outside once in a freakin while. Here is a shot of the actual facility.

Things sure are a bit quieter here than where I'm from. I enjoy that feeling of calm.

Boba Fett N' Bananas!

Hello! I am back with a quick update on my new Boba Fett acrylic. I also have a special treat for you today! I had to divide my Musa basjoo before the winter smacked us with snow up here in the inland empire. So, I'm gunna focus on something a lil' different...horticulture. One thing about me that I don't really mix up here on my personal journal/blog/vlog is my background in horticulture. I have been working in the horticulture industry for well over 25 years. You name it, I've probably done it. I maintain an instagram account by the name of Hort_Thirsty. I usually don't mix the two online personalities, but today, were gunna. I went ahead and inserted a link above if you want to check out my 'other life'. The photos I have compiled on there span about the last decade of my 25 plus of hort experience. Most of the shots are from various nurseries I have had the pleasure of working for. First off, let's talk painting. I have a shot of my current working piece. The going on this one is a little slower than expected, but I have been a lot busier with winter coming on. The job fair on Mt. Spokane is right around the corner, and I am stoked to have access to two resorts this year.

The piece is still really flat as I am still in the blocking phase of the painting. I need to finish with the color blocking, then I can start to add layers upon layers to create different lighting and depth effects. I started on October 6th with this piece, so we can see that I'm just over two weeks in. I would say the amount of hours put in thus far is approximately three to four. I am excited to see this one grow as each piece teaches me something new about art, as well as myself. OKAY! Let's talk Bananas, primarily the Japanese Snow Banana. The Musa basjoo as it's knows to plant geeks like myself has always been one of my favorite ornamental tropical plants. When we lived in Portland OR. I had many in our backyard. The heavy rains were perfect for them. If you've ever been in or around these plants in heavy rain you know how awesome and amazing the sound is. It reminds me of a jungle paradise, particularly the movie 'Romancing The Stone.' I have video of our previous backyard in a heavy rain back in Portland, I will see if I can drum it up for a future post. For now though I want to walk through the steps to divide an ornamental banana, so, I will stop my mental walk in the park and get down to some plant business!

First I get all my poop in a group moved close together. The plant is about to go through surgery and we want to make its transition as easy as possible. I have my mother plant/the plant, I have my additional containers of which I need two, I have available fresh soil which I'm just gong to pull from my veggie beds here in the background, and I have my cutting tool which should be very sharp. You will also want to water all plants immediately to help with the transition.

At this point I like to add soil to my new containers. This prevents the plant root ball from resting on the bottom of the new container. We want the root ball completely surrounded by soil. We can tweak the amount later but for now I fill em about two thirds full. Okay, next we want to nest or plant the new root ball into its new home. As I stated earlier create a pocket for the new root ball so all side are covered by soil. This is a shot of how much of the root ball I felt was enough for a successful transpanting.