Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Mad Croc



I have been tagged and feel a bit like this Croc...just kidding! Just one of the left over candies from the calendar projects.

Here are the rules: 1-post these rules2-each person tagged must post 8 random(... hopefully interesting) facts about themselves3-tags should write a blogpost of these facts4- at the end of the post 8 more bloggers are tagged and named5-go to their blog and leave a comment telling them they're tagged. So, here I go.


  1. I once set a goal to run a marathon before the year ended. Due to an injury I missed the organized Marathon. To hit my goal I decided to run the marathon on my treadmill. I set it for slightly uphill and went a little farther than 26.2 and ran without stopping! 4 hours and 37 minutes. I also lost no weight between the training and the marathon! Not fair!
  2. Funnest vacation ever was a bicycle trip in 1995. My wife and I bicycled across Italy. It was hard to come home. If you are going to bike across a country, pick a small country like Italy!
  3. I have a hard head(In more ways than one!). When I was six, my brother and i were playing in a new home that was under construction. I ended up falling from the main floor to the basement, head first. I landed on the corner of a brick. A pretty nasty cut from above my eye to the top of my head. I think it really gave my parents a pretty good scare!
  4. As a new artist I joined the watercolor society. They had a week long paintout with a nationally famous artist. "teacher of the year". Paid my fee and took a week off work. All plein aire painting and I really struggled. The teacher gave me about 2 minutes worth of her time for the whole week. at the end of every day we had a critique. all critique and no positive for me. The last day I chose to paint for leaves rather than the creek and forest scene. turned out well. It is framed and hangs in my house today. I still think it is a good painting! Well, slammed again! It was years before I could pick up a paint brush. I am glad that is in the past. I have greatly appreciated every one's positive and encouraging feedback! You all are awesome!!
  5. I think that I have more art supplies and journals than I can use in a lifetime!
  6. I am a saver! I dread ever having to move! It is amazing how much stuff you can amass!
  7. Since Jr. high I have always been fascinated by pens. I now have quite a collection of fountain pens both vintage and modern, I am still not sure that I have found that "perfect" pen!
  8. Oops, forgot #8! I can't figure out how to post on EDM Superblog! Any takers on trying to clue me in?

Well there is my Quirky list. Anyone want to be tagged?

6 comments:

Africantapestry and Myfrenchkitchen said...

Nice to see a little fact behind the sketch!sorry for the traumatic pein air experience, but happy for you that it is behind you...
If I remember correctly, you email your site address to Michel Nobbs, asking him to put you onto the superblog and then that takes a short while and that's it. You can see the sites at the links on my blog....EDM, Everyday matters, and Michael's site...if you have problems, let me know and we'll try again..
good luck
Ronell

Karen Sandstrom said...

I, too, winced at your experience with the Watercolor Society's response. It reminded me of a writer's group I once joined, long ago. They didn't even TRY to be nice to the newbie fiction writer in their midst. (Fortunately, I found other writers who are.) Bottom line: I'm glad you persevered. Looks like that's a quality that has served you well.

Joan Y said...

Fun set of facts Brian. Ugh about the class experience. But I'm glad you're back at it and drawing to your heart's content. I think that's why we're all here! :)

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Hi Brian
well I certainly cannot help with the superblog as I've not managed to do it myself yet...and I've been trying for almost a year!

I feel angry about your Watercolour Society experience. It's that kind of thing that can put people off being creative forever!I hate the kind of snobbry that surrounds art sometimes. Who decides what is right or wrong? And who made them God?? I had a very similar experience in art college and I dropped out. Luckily my creativity was strong enough to overcome that experience. Otherwise I may never have picked up a pen again. I am now really proud to say that I'm self taught. I'm sure a great tutor can really inspire a student and assist them to go on to do wonderful things - but a bad tutor well...

Anyway, I for one am glad you are creating again. I realy enjoyed this post Brian.

iona said...

As for joining the EDM Superblog, Africantapestry is right, you can find the instructions in the menu on the right of the site (previously you have to be a member of the yahoo's EDM group ).

I haven't figured yet how to join in the EveryDayMatters Bloggers Blog though...

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry to hear about your class. I think all artists would admit to similar experiences at one time or another. The difficulty, I think, lies in separating technique from expression. An instructor should teach techniques, but often we are critiqued on the aesthetics instead and that's subjective. I had an life drawing instructor who didn't like the way I smoothed out my charcoal and he gave me a lower grade. I still think I'd beat him up if I saw him on the street.

Anyway, I'm glad you persevered because your work is wonderful. I'd hate to have missed it.