Had a Chance To Airbrush

Had a chance to do a little bit of airbrushing.

I think the pieces look better than the pictures, my photo skills are seriously weak.

I was asked to do a shirt for a Christmas present.

A banner for some pin the nose on Rudolph during my class Christmas party.
Finally, a few pieces for some deserving students.
I award tickets in class for good behavior that can be redeemed for candy, trinkets, or if they save enough a small banner.

The kids loved them, and I think that seeing some well behaved students receive these may spark a little more interest from other students to behave in class.

Disney

I got to spend a few days in Disneyworld with my family over Thanksgiving break.

I decided to share a few of my favorite photos out of the 400 or so we took.

Not your usual castle shots or Mickey, although there were plenty, but a few that give a glimpse of how blessed I am to have such an awesome family.

Waiting in line....Isn't that why you go to Disneyworld?

My Beauties and the Beast.

Notice Carly is perfectly happy and content next to the Beast, this will change later.

For some reason the camera took a few pictures with a blue tint, kind of cool I think.


My second favorite picture of all.
Camryn the Blonde, Viking Princess!

And finally, and you may think less of me after this one, my favorte Disney picture of the trip.

STITCH ATTACKS!!!

He was actually covering his face in shame at making her cry.

I don't think she was feeling the aloha spirit.

It's not funny because she cried only that this is not the typical reaction you get from Carly. She was so cool and calm for every other character we met, even the beast.

I did notice she was on guard after this encounter.

Carly D's First Birthday Party

My youngest daughter, Carly, will be one on November 3rd

We had her party a bit early.

It gave me a chance to do a little airbrushing, painting, and cake decorating.

A banner for the wall

A cover for the high chair

The CAKE.
Only four boxes of cake mix and 6 pounds of powdered sugar

instead of face painting we opted for a tattoo shop

And of course the beautiful birthday girl

She does love to eat.

October

October stinks.
It was six years ago this month that we lost our daughter Maddie P.
Every year since then the regular stresses of life take on extra power during October.
Maddie was born with an AV malformation in her brain. She stayed in the NICU at Woman's Hospital for eight days until we had to choose to remove her from life support, She was not going to recover. Maddie was our second child. We have had two more since. We try to keep Maddie's memory alive in our oldest daughter's life, as well as make her a part of her younger sister's lives.
We talk about her and celebrate her birthday every year. This Sunday we will spend another Maddie Day remembering our little one who now resides with Jesus.

We miss you Maddie P.
We can't wait to see you again.

Madelyn Paige Moore
October 11 - 19, 2004

Before and After

I never know when to quit,

but I should have never left this one alone for so long.

I thought it was okay looking, a little dull, but okay.

I think it is much better now.

A little brown and gold went a long way.

Almost looks like a different piece.

Glad I didn't let this one go so easy.

Now I have to hang it in the house somewhere.

I bet my wife can find a good spot.

The Band is All Together

Finally finished what should be all the pieces for above my piano

...but first the opening act,

My oldest daughter Cassidy's first painting on canvas.

My middle girl, Camryn, is working on one as well.

Both will hang in the play room.

Now that the horn section is complete, I put the whole band together.


Now for a solo for each musician,



And finally everyone is jamming together

I still need a lot of help with a camera,
my photo skills are majorly lacking

Working on the Horn Section

I felt like I needed a good horn section to round out the band above the piano.

As soon as these guys are done, I will create a collage of sorts on the wall above Carly D's favorite instrument in the house.

Still have a long way to go with these fellows.

Marsh People + Gator Hunting = One of the Coolest Days of My Life

I got to spend a day hunting alligators in Hackberry Louisiana.

Much love to the Lowery family for allowing me to join John on this expedition.

I have known John for five or six years, because we go to church together.

What I did not know was that he is a wild man when you get him in the marsh where he grew up.

We spent the morning boating through the marshes of Southwest Louisiana checking rotten chicken baited hooks for bid lizards, it was stinking awesome.

John has been doing this his whole life, and I can see why.

He had two tags left for the season, and he easily filled them this day.

I also got to learn a lot about the struggles that the people in Hackberry, and all of Cameron parish had after hurricanes Rita and Ike. John is a well of knowledge on that region. I guess you don't hear too much when its not New Orleans, just ask the people of Gulfport after Katrina.

We got two nice alligators.

The one I am holding in the first picture was 7 feet and 6 inches long.

The other was 8 feet and 1 inch long.

Thanks John for a really cool experience

Bluesman Complete

Alright, he is finally finished.

Signed, dated, and ready to hang.

Decided, with a little nudge from my smokin' hot wife, to paint the background red.

She is a wise woman, I am very pleased with that color choice.

Next up is a horn section for the band above the piano.

Bluesman Continued

I feel like I might have gone off the deep end on this one, but that is usually where I spend my time.

The photo is terrible. I need to do a little research and upgrade my camera skills.

At this point I have no camera skills.

Anyway,

I am still a long ways off from being happy with this.

I am trying to decide whether to stain the remaining wood, leave it light, or paint it a whole other color.

Leaning towards the stain, but who knows what this will turn into.

The photo at the bottom is another piece in the bedroom that is above the bed.

This one will hang on an opposite wall.

I think the two together will be kind of interesting.

A Work in Progress, In Progress

Started a new one this weekend for my bedroom retreat area.

My favorite subject, bass.

This one is similar to a piece over my piano.

I call these guys blues man, but my wife says this one needs a name, any ideas?

I started with a rough sketch on a 24 x 48 sheet of birch plywood backed with furring strips.

There is usually no long thought out plan when I paint, I just go with what feels right.

After adding a little detail I take a break.

I find that I do better work when I step away for a few minutes.

At this point I am just trying to lay down a base to give me direction.

Here he is with a little more detail.

I could go on forever, I never know when to quit.

I walk away again take a little break, and chase after Carly D, my baby girl, who is trying to eat a tube of paint.

This is where I am now.

Still needs a lot more detail, and I am struggling with what to do on the background.

I hardly ever start with a background.

I like to let whatever ends up on the painting dictate the background.

In this instance I want to match the bedroom, so definatley blues and golds.

Any ideas for a name for this cool daddy-o?

Now That's Some Expensive Meat

Got the estimate for the van today, $6,200. The guy said that he would probably find more once they started taking it apart. Now that is some expensive deer meat.

Sorry if you were grossed out by my last post, but life happens and sometimes it ain't pretty.

I will say thank you Darcie and Craig for teaching me some game cleaning skills, much appreciation goes your way.

I did get to sketch out a few canvases, and do a bow holder for baby girl this weekend. I'll post those later.

Now I'll show you what a deer can do to a Honda.

Even after all this drama

Life is good

Oh Deer, Poor Van

Well it seems that hunting season has started a little too early.

I nailed this little fella with a Japanese missile, aka Honda Odyssey.
The sad thing is the van is really messed up, had to be towed.

I just got it out of the shop for nailing another vehicle in a parking lot.

I am not looking forward to the headache of insurance, body shops, and rental cars.

The good news is, back strap baby!

My Airbrush Area

Here are a few shots of my airbrush "studio"

I have a little room in the backyard dedicated to tubs of girl clothes, did I mention I live in a house full of females, and a spot for me to work.

I cannot airbrush in the house because I am very, very messy.

My little room provides an excellent place to spray away.

My easel is an old kitchen table I cut, the other piece is on the adjoining wall used as a workspace.

I hang my homemade stencils and idea sketches using baby hangersHere is a closer shot of my work area. Right now I only have one brush working. Our recent displacement as our house was finished led me to leave the rest in a bit of disrepair. I hope to have the other three that I have up and running soon. It is hard to get really bright colors when you have to switch colors on the same gun, you never can get it quite clean enough. I went back and chose a few of my favorite shirts to share with you.
And a banner I did for my mother in law's birthday. Thankfully she liked it. We placed it in her front yard the night before her birthday. Did this on a bed sheet.