Monday Meet and Greet! :)

Wow! Not sure what was up with Blogger today but for some reason it wouldn't let me upload photos! And my Blog without Photos Seriously!!! :) So, better late than never, here we go! :)

From Time to Time I like to profile new to me Artists whose work I just love, and so, here is Brad Stivers.

I bumped into Brad in the forums on Etsy a few weeks ago and was immediately struck by his amazing Artwork.

He is an Artist/Muralist; here is the link to his Mural website http://www.stiversart.com be prepared to be blown away.

I asked him if I could feature him on my Blog. I sent him some questions so we could get to know him a little better but first here is a brief Bio :)

"I have a BA in Art with a concentration in Drawing from the University of Louisville. A year or so after I graduated I was still working in a bar and clearly not using my art degree so I started painting murals. That's become the main outlet for my creativity. I really enjoy working on the kid's murals, particularly when I am able to develop my own design, which has led to the children's paintings and then to the Etsy shop. I am married to a wonderful woman who has made it all possible and have two beautiful children".

and this is what he replied to the interview questions I sent :)

1). What do you love about being creative?

I love that being creative isn't easy.

2). What is your Greatest achievement?

Personally, my family. Professionally, still being self-employed after 8 years.

3). What is your idea of happiness?

Family, friends, making art, having what I need instead of getting what I want but it's probably just chemicals in the brain.

4). When do you lie?

On Mondays, Tuesdays, and every other Friday.

5). What is your Greatest extravagance?

Doughnuts.

6). What do you think is overrated?

Going to the beach. I'm not a fan of sand or saltwater.

7). What do you most dislike?

Can we all assume I don't like things like war, poverty, famine, disease and injustice and I'll just say migraines because I really don't like migraines.

8). Tell us 4 things about yourself that would let us peek into your world or that you think define you.

1. It is quite possible that I became an artist just as an excuse to be messy and disorganized.

2. I work alone and often have no other in person contact outside of my family for days or a week at a time.

3. I like music, here are some bands I like: Okkervil River, The White Stripes, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse, and Bruce Springsteen to name a very, very few.

4. I'm an incredibly picky eater, I mean really picky, annoyingly picky. I've tried to get over it but my taste buds can't help it.

9). What would be your dream life?

The life I'm living, just a little bit easier.

10). When you Die what would you like to come back as?

I'm not looking to come back but I've always felt like I would make a good monkey.

TOO FUNNY :) T.

Here are a few of the exceptional prints in his Etsy Shop right now;

Children's Wall Art Print - The Mariner and the Sea Monster (fits 8x10 frame)

Children's Art Print - The Sun Barely Contains His Excitement (fits 5 x 7 frame)

Children's Wall Art Print - The Mariner and the Squid (fits 8x10 frame)

So, I asked Brad if he would be interested in doing a Giveaway to go along with this interview and he was really up for it. So, here is the info.

The Giveaway is for any single print from his Etsy shop (no sets or cards), people have to be a follower of his blog and comment on the Giveaway post on his blog or on this blog to enter. The Giveaway will run until midnight April 7th EST.

Here is the link to Brad's Blog :)

Here is the link to Brad's Etsy Shop, go choose which print you would like to win :)

Good Luck to everyone. :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

FRIDAY FLOWERS! :)

Happy Friday Everyone :)


It has been very weird for me this week as it is Spring Break here in Oregon and for the first time in 22 years I do not have a kid in the local school system and so really had no clue until last week when Spring Break in Oregon was happening. I kind of feel out of the loop, it is usually posted on my calendar at the beginning of the school year when the new school calendar comes out but of course I didn't get one this year. I am sure I will get used to it. So, for now our Spring Break will follow our Ohio College student who's Spring Break was 2 weeks ago, confused, yep me too :)


So before I share with you this week's Friday Flowers I would like to say a big "Thank you" to Linda at Adult Indulgences for posting my Art Etsy shop PoppyPlace on her "Etsy Stores you must see" section on her Blog. Check out the spices in her shop they have great names like "Moroccan Madness" sounds intriguing.


And now for this week's Friday Flowers, which is the Beautiful Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree in our Garden. These photos were taken on a typical Spring day, one minute it is pouring with rain, the next sunshine :) I love working with that filtered half light on those days. The unpredictability of the cloud cover lends itself to creating pure beauty.

Can you see the little spider (I think sheltering from the rain :) and also the raindrop!

See the filtered sunlight, which I love, after a rainstorm and those glistening raindrops :)

This shot reminded me of a beautiful flowing layered wedding dress :)

And this shot made me think of the Tutus in Swan Lake :)

In these last 3 shots I love that half light thru the clouds before it starts to rain again, it creates beautiful and mysterious shadows and broad outlines.

And here is the Blossom Tree a few days later after a pretty intense wind and rain storm, looks a bit like it has been snowing :)

I hope you enjoyed this week's Friday Flowers :)

Hope everyone has a Wonderful Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Bright Red Poppies.

First off today I would like to shout out a BIG "YAY"!!!!!! I reached the exciting number of 300 Followers on this Blog and I wanted to say a BIG "THANK YOU" to everyone who is following, who takes the time to read and comment, you guys rock :)

I wanted to share some of the Artwork I have been creating recently. With all the Flowers I am surrounded by it is inevitable that I would be Painting a lot of Flowers. I am really busy preparing for a Gallery Show next week (those photos will be posted after the Artist reception next week :) But I am still creating pieces to go into my Etsy Shop too. So, here are a couple. You all know I LOVE my POPPIES, hope you enjoy these too :)

Bright Red Poppies

This piece I worked in Yellow and a couple of different Red Acrylics and drew in the centres with black ink.

Detail shot :)

On this piece I wanted a more playful background and so I played with a combination of inks.


Poppies :)

Detail shot.

Hope you are having a Wonderful Wednesday!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Willamette Falls.

On the Willamette River in Oregon between Oregon City and West Linn, just south of Portland, lies the amazing Willamette Falls. It is not far, maybe a mile, from our Home. I feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful State.

Hope you enjoy the photos even if the history lesson gets too long (He! He!)


It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is 1,500 feet (460 m) wide and 40 feet (12 m) high with a flow of 30,849 cu ft/s (874 m³/s). Located 26 miles (42 km) upriver from the Willamette's mouth, a canal and set of locks allow vessels to pass into the main Willamette Valley.

I Love the mix between the natural and the industrial. Their coexistence helps maintain life in the local area.

The Willamette Falls Electric Company (later renamed Portland General Electric) was formed in 1888 to build a hydro-electric generation facility at the falls. Four turbine driven dynamos were built on the east end of the falls. A 14 mile (23 km) long transmission line to Portland was built, becoming the United States' first long distance transmission of electrical energy. In 1895 P.G.E. built a second generation station on the west side of the falls. The newer plant, Station B, is still in operation with a capacity of 14,000 kilowatts. The old plant is currently part of the Blue Heron Paper Company.

The falls have been home to several paper mills beginning with the Oregon City Paper Manufacturing Co. in 1866. The Willamette Pulp and Paper Co. opened on the West Linn side during 1889.

View of the Falls from the West Linn side.

View from the Oregon City Side, looking towards West Linn. Below, is the view from Bridge over the River.

Native American legends taught that the falls were placed there by a great god so that their people would have fish to eat all winter. Many local tribes built villages in the area because of the abundance of salmon that could only pass the falls at certain water levels. Native Americans still harvest Pacific Lamprey at the falls each year in the early summer. Willamette Falls is a traditional fishing site for the Warm Springs Indians as well as other tribes.

It was first discovered by European fur traders in 1810. John McLoughlin established a land claim at the falls in the name of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1829.[2] Oregon City was established in 1842 near the east end of the falls. The town of Linn City (now West Linn) was founded on the western shore one year later in 1843. The two towns competed economically, vying for the lucrative steamboat traffic and the trade it generated. With the falls representing the end of the line for boat traffic, river boat captains were forced to choose a side of the river on which they would dock to unload their passengers and goods; some of which would continue their upriver journey on winding portage toll roads. Competition between the towns was fierce until the winter of 1861, which saw one of Oregon's worst natural disasters occur in the form of catastrophic flooding. Oregon City was inundated and badly damaged, but the unluckier Linn City was obliterated.

Navigating past the falls was not possible until the completion of the Willamette Falls Locks in 1873. During construction of the locks, channels were blasted from the very rocks that formerly supported the town of Linn City. Along with the locks, the modern city of West Linn sits on a portion of the former town site. The locks were sold by the Willamette Falls Canal and Locks Company to the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1915.

Last 3 taken from the Oregon City side.

Evening sun and spray, I love this shot. :)

All the text is taken from Wikipedia Thanks Wikipedia for being a great source of info.

On a side note, I would like to Thank Anna from Almost Precious and A Beader's Blog for purchasing Photos from me over the weekend at our new Etsy Photography Shop. :)

Hope you are having a Wonderful Day!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

FRIDAY FLOWERS! :)

Well, here we are, it is Friday again, already, so quickly, I have no clue where the week went. But I am really excited to share more Flowers with you. :)

But before that, I also want to share with you my first BOGO sale going on right now in my newer Etsy Shop http://www.photosbychipperfield.etsy.com/ I thought as I had booked an Art Photography Showcase on Saturday this might be a great time to have a kick off sale, kind of like a Grand Opening. :) There are 90 Photos on offer and I have some awesome shots of Spring Blossoms I will be adding later today. So, please, stop by sometime and check them out, I am sure they would be happy to see you :)

I also want to offer an exclusive to all my Blogger Buddies, an additional 20% off as well. This discount will be an on going offer, so anytime you are interested in purchasing any of the items in any of my shops (all listed at the head of my Blog) feel free to contact me :)

So, on to this week's Friday Flowers which are my Primroses. Spring came to the NW. rather earlier than anyone had expected and I think we were caught off guard, in a good way, of course. So, by the time I usually buy my Primroses they were on the tail end of their season and on sale. I really wish they would keep me informed of their plans (whoever they are, the Weather Gods, Season Gurus, Flower Fairies, I don't know :)

The freshly swept entryway looks great but once I looked at the photo I realized the Front Door needed washing, thanks HR photography. :)

I love patina-ed garden pots, they have a sense of being lived in, a history. These have had adventures. Also, in the entryway is Flower Girl who keeps watch, (now if only I could get her to water them too! :)

I love the colours on this one but it turned out a tad fuzzy, can't win them all :)

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's Friday Flowers :)

Hope everyone has a Wonderful Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Fireside Lady.

Oops! I'm a little late posting this :( ...........But one of our Photos is in a Treasury! YAY! Here is the link (expires in a few hours, told you I was a little late)

Thanks to Melissa at Vivianne Designs for putting this Treasury together and including "Logs on the Beach at the Oregon Coast"

So, I was sitting in front of the gas fire the other night (yep, it is still pretty chilly here in the Evenings but really any excuse to sit in front of the gas fire is awesome!) when I started pondering about the Fireside Lady. I made her in a sculpture class quite a few years ago and she has spent every minute of her existence on the hearth, Lucky Girl but really she does need to keep warm :)

I love working with clay, it is almost a spiritual connection working the Earth, molding by hand, a very similar experience to planting Flowers in the ground. :)

I love this shot.

The wonderful thing about this particular class was that we only got 5 mins. to work every angle. So, starting at the head, looking straight on, 5 mins and rotating from there. It is an awesome challenge, you have to stay very focused on the very specific part you are working on at the time and not the whole person but also keeping in mind that you are working to complete the whole and not just the individual part.

Of course, you are not going to create a Rodin in that time but I was very happy with the result and it made me realize a few misguided assumptions I had, and I think we all have, about the Human body and where things lie in relationship to each other.

I really miss working with clay and so, once I have finished my drawing classes, I am going to treat myself to some clay sculpting classes too.

If you could what kind of classes would you take?

Happy Thursday!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Beware of Scammers!

Good Morning Bloggers! :)


Mr. Keep your nose clean by T.C.

For those of us with Esty Seller accounts the thing that is second only to getting an Etsy Transactions email is an Etsy Conversation email, because this usually means that someone in the Etsy community is asking us a question about our shop items, is praising our work or maybe is notifying us they have put one of our items in their Treasury. These are, usually, all very positive and personal messages. They are a joy to receive and they usually make you feel good about what you are doing. I guess for me, these are like getting little hand written notes from Friends in snail mail :)

So, as I was scrolling thru my emails the other day, I saw a few "Convos" and was rather excited. A couple were from Buddies in the Etsy community and one was from a name unfamiliar to me. On opening this is what I read;

by lalala333

Dear Seller, I am interested in the immediate purchase of your item and will be make payment via cashier check/money order, my private shipping company will handle the shipping, but before payment will be made i need to be sure of who i am dealing with if you are going to be honest and sincere throughout the transaction. A certified cashiers check is cash-able the same day,there is going to be an excess fund on the check ,the excess fund is meant for the private shipping company who will come to your place for pick up of the item, so shipping is not a problem,will you be able to transfer the excess fund to the shipping company the same day you receive the check?. check would be sent to you so when you get payment you can easily cash it at any cashing point near you or deposit in your bank. You'll be sending excess fund to my shipper , which would be meant for shipping arrangement.if you agree, signify your interest by forwarding to me your Final Asking Price, Full Name & Contact Address and Tel #. I await your response soonest.Best and kind regards,email me to.........white.carl33 [!at] rocketmail.com

Wouldn't you know the item they were interesting in "Purchasing" was one of my higher end art pieces.

Of course, I didn't even consider responding, I immediately forwarded this to Abuse@Etsy.com and thankfully they took swift action in shutting down this outfit. They also forwarded a link to a recent Storque article about scammers, which I thought was rather interesting and especially the comments that followed.

So, I just wanted to share this with everyone, these people are out there. I have received many of these over the years thru my email accounts and usually ignore them, it doesn't bother me, it is just an irritant but this just seemed a little more personal because it was thru Etsy and I think they are getting more devious. I know they are everywhere and so I am trying not to be paranoid about this (Taking a Deep Breathe, realign my balance, no more swear words, calm, peaceful, positive thoughts)

And now I am off to read my emails :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

FRIDAY FLOWERS! :)

Hi Everyone, I apologize for neglecting my fellow Bloggers this week. It has been very busy at our house. My Son has been home from college for Spring Break, YAY!!! It is an absolute joy to see him and spend time with him and I feel very fortunate that he would want to spend time with the "Old Folks", I am enjoying every minute of it. :)


I am also busy prepping for a few up coming shows and gallery hangings. Our lives have been so busy the past few years (with 2 going off to college and all that that involves) that I stopped hanging big shows in late 2007. So, now after a 2 year hiatus I am realizing, again, how much work is involved in the prep for a show. Let alone applying for future ones. Ah well, it is always fun once the work is hanging and people are admiring :)


I also wanted to mention in passing that this is my 100th posting on this blog :) (Party!!!)


So, on to this week's Friday Flowers which are my Daffs. They started coming up a few weeks ago and look gorgeous, OK, they did up until yesterday when it started to chuck it down with rain and crazy wind. :(

I love the colour of these ones, white with a gentle creamy yellow.

Thankfully, I cut these before the rain came :)

Such a sweet face, with the grape hyacinths in the background.

These grow in between the lavender which, incidentally, we had to plant to stop the Deer from eating the Roses.

The double bloom ones haven't opened yet, maybe in a few weeks, so I will post them then :)

Over the past 10 years I have plants thousands of bulbs, I love spring bulbs :) But as I have been documenting I am in a constant dance with keeping them alive, with the moles and the snakes burrowing I lose some into the abyss. The squirrels love to dig them up and eat them, I am wondering what they don't eat in my garden?! Plus the above mentioned Deer. Then the slugs and bugs, seriously, they have no manners and don't care whether I want pretty flowers in my garden or not they just eat 'til there little bellies are full, how rude, go to Safeway like the rest of us. Bloody free loaders!!!! (OK, venting at the little critters is over (He! He!) I know they are a fundamental part of the eco-system, so I am trying to live peaceably with them all.

Have a Wonderful Weekend. :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.