EXAMPLE OF JULY DRAWING CHALLENGE BY A MASTER!

Here is a most exquisite example of what can be done with a paper cut. I don't plan to do anything nearly as complicated as this image. Thank you, Marilyn, for sharing. The following is the e-mail I received along with this beautiful image.

"This is a life size paper cut done by Xiaohong Zhang. She is a professor at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She is originally from China.
I wish I could find her web site for a better image of this paper cut, this photo only shows the top part. The rest includes the legs,, with the veins being tree branches. She learned paper cutting from her grandmother. Her art is combining the western art with her Chinese art.

Marilyn Fuerstenberg"

Today I managed to get the NWS painting "Put Your Dukes Up" reframed and completed the paper work. This is the John Wayne image I did on Tyvek when we were working on starting with a grid.
There is a small window of 5 days when someone will be available to receive it, so I will wait until Monday to ship it off. The wooden frame required that I put the wire holders on by screwing into the frame. In the past I have often had to enlist the help of my husband because I didn't have enough strength in my hands to accomplish the job. Today I decided to manage the task myself. When I went looking for the electric screw driver I found 6 different ones (including 3 that looked exactly alike to me....two of these still sealed in their plastic packaging)!!!!!!!!!!! And I thought artists were compulsive about their insatiable desire for supplies. I decided to appropriate one of the three clones for myself. It is nice and compact, not very heavy and has about 24 different tips. I was very happy with my efforts...the wood didn't split and only one of the 4 screws is slightly askew. Next time absolute perfection!

I also spent a little time figuring out how to use my new mini printer connecting it to the computer. Before I just put the photo card in the slot. I printed out a few images, so now I will sit down and start my cut paper style drawing. Hopefully, I will have something to share tomorrow.

MY PLEIN AIR SET UP AND PAINTING IN YELLOWSTONE PARK!

Today we went back to Yellowstone for our last day of the trip. We spotted a bull moose feeding in some water and a bull Elk with a large rack among other animals. Someone stops along the side of the road and everyone pulls over to see what is happening.

We stopped for a picnic and I set up my painting supplies. I was actually working from a photograph I had taken in Yellowstone the previous day trip of the incredibly beautiful thermal pools. This one was particularly chromatic. I wasn't thrilled with the painting, but it was a gorgeous day and sitting outside in the sun and fresh air was delightful.

I brought a very light weight chair that folds up. I particularly like this one because it has a back. I also have a small camp stool (also very light weight) that I used as an easel. I put it under the picnic table so it wasn't in harsh sunlight. I had the water etc on the bench of the table. I could have sat at the table to paint but this was more comfortable and I had all this stuff with me. The chair and camp stool were purchased at REI sporting good store. I think I have seen this chair in a few of the art catalogs.

The portable printer that I brought works fabulously!!! Beautiful prints relatively quickly and very easy to put together and use. It is by Canon the Selphy CP740. I think the CP750 has a few more features which I would have preferred but they didn't have it in stock and I wanted it immediately.