Art Stuff

I did not realize that I had not blogged here in such a long time. Just a quick up-date. Over the Summer, I participated in an "Art Battle". This is a competition of ,in this case, twenty artists. We were to finish a piece of work in just three hours. It was quite a challenge for me, as I have not ever finished a piece in such a short amount of time. The good news is , I finished! The not so good news, I did not win. I will say that any of the people who were involved with the challenge could have easily won. Very talented people,including, my son. The weather was no help either. We were out-doors, in a tent. It was at least 85 degrees. Then it started to pour rain. Then we had thunder and lightning. Then torrential rain, leaking tent, running paint. My Husband arrived halfway through the challenge to point out that I was standing in a river of rain, and my roll of paper toweling was soaked! I guess that you could say that when I paint, I kind of have blinders on. I had not even noticed! I will say that it was a wonderful opportunity to meet many new people, all with an interest in Art.
As a result of being involved in this event, I will be having a new showing of my work. I will be participating in the First Thursday Art Walk in Bay City. The date is December 4th. I will be at "Dive and Glide". It is located at 707 Washington. I will be there between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00. This business is a perfect match for me. Not only because I enjoy painting marine life, but also because the owner was my instructor for scuba! So I hope that you will come out and see me. I will have some of my works there for sale. Maybe you could get some early Holiday shopping done. Bay City has experienced a revival in recent years. It should be quite nice, all decked out for Christmas. See you there!

Stone Cottage

 

I am torn between telling you about Stone Cottage and not. After all, there are only 52 weeks of the year to rent it. I am tempted to keep it to myself!
Guess that I will let you in on the secret. Stone Cottage is a gorgeous little villa on the cool North side of St. Thomas. It is small, only enough room for two people. Sherri and Jeff, the owners, have done a beautiful job of building and decorating it. The cottage is set into the side of a hill, with lush tropical trees and flowering shrubs all around. There is a wrap around balcony that provides you with a stunning view of Inner Brass and Outer Brass Islands. A nice plunge pool and lounge chairs make for a lovely, private area to enjoy cocktails. If you choose to cook, there is a kitchen, complete with stove, fridge, and many pots, utensils, even herbs and spices. The decor is Island cool, with rattan furniture and refreshing citrus colors.
As this was our second time visiting Stone Cottage, Sherri and Jeff made us feel like we were returning home. Sherri met us at the airport and escorted us(in our rental car) to the cottage. She gave us a beautiful welcome basket, complete with goodies and snacks. We chatted for quite awhile. If there is anything that you need while you are there, from a masseuse to a nice bottle of wine, Sherri can hook you up.
If you enjoy just relaxing by the pool, walking to the beach, reading a book, and cooking your own meals, a car is not absolutely necessary. I highly recommend renting a car, though. Driving is on the left here, which can be a challenge(that is why I always let my Husband drive). The vistas and views are absolutely stunning! Shopping at Havensite is world-class. St. Thomas is a destination that provides so many things to do,and also the best of relaxing on the beach. We only ate out a few times,but every meal was excellent.
One night, Sherri and Jeff called us to invite us out to dinner, what a delightful surprise! We went to Tickles, a restaurant at Crown Marina. Tickles is a nice little restaurant with very good food. The atmosphere is friendly, with equal share of locals and "Yatchies". We had a wonderful time with Sherri and Jeff. They told us more about themselves, great stories about St. Thomas when Jeff was growing up there, and Sherri's stories of arriving there as a young woman from upstate New York. The evening flew by quickly,and it was so nice to feel like one of the "locals". Sherri and Jeff are a fantastic couple,very down to earth and funny! We could not ask for a better end to the most excellent vacation that we have had in a very long time!

Hull Bay Photo

 

This is a Photo of Hull Bay. In the backround are Inner Brass and Outer Brass Islands. This is one of my favorite(non-fish) things to paint!

St.Thomas

My vacation in St. Thomas was so excellent that I will have to break it into several blogs. St. Thomas is not known for its' diving, I realize that. I feel as if that reputation is undeserved. I saw many healthy corals, and thousands of juvenile fish. I love that macro stuff, and there was much of it. I saw several fish that I had not seen before,including a Redlipped Blenny and a Juvenile Dusky Damselfish. The Damselfish couldn't have been more that an inch long, but it was a little orange and indigo gem. I am starting a painting of him today, hope to have it available on my web shop soon.
The only wreck dive that my Husband and I went on was to visit the wreck of the Cartanzar. The Cartanzar was a derelict freighter that was moved from Amalie Harbor and set by Buck Island Cove. It was then broke into three parts by Hurricane Hugo. It was an interesting wreck as an illustration of the force of a hurricane(even under water). We saw a moray eel,and a cleaner shrimp. The dive master held the shimp up to pose for the camera, pictures were taken. I guess that little guy is famous in someone's photo album! Although it was a nice dive, the boat was just packed. If you've been in this situation, you know how it goes. Everyone mobs the divemaster with their cameras each time she discovers something new. I know that it can't be helped, but we made certain that our next dive was a shore dive!
Hull Bay is very close to Stone Cottage, the place that we stay when we go to St. Thomas. I can't wait to tell you about it and it's owners, Sherri and Jeff( but I will). Hull Bay is a very small cove, with a few boats moored right in the bay. We started our dive from the boat ramp, which made it very easy to unload our tanks. Most of the interesting stuff is to your right as you face the water. It is a very shallow dive,less than 12ft. This means we had a least an hour bottom time. This is my favorite thing! Lots of time to explore all the little nooks and crannies. So many baby fish! Shoals of Silversides and really healthy coral. We were told that there is a drop to about 40ft. at the outside of the reef, but we never made it that far because we were so interested in everything that we were seeing at the shallow depths. One word of caution: the boat ramp is slippery with algae( found this out the hard way). Hull Bay Hideaway, the bar at the beach does a decent bar-burger. The Locals tell me that I was lucky to have such a calm day, many people enjoy Hull Bay for Board Sports because there is quite often a chop on the water. Either way, I will always look back on this trip as the one where I fell in love with shore diving!

Webcams

http://www.bonairewebcams.com/TheWorks.php
This is one of my favorite webcams. You will almost always be able to see fish at the dock in Bonaire. Enjoy!

Ready for Vacation

You know, I should know better than to get all excited about going on vacation. The last vacation, I caught a terrible head-cold on the plane and couldn't do the shark feeding dive. Lucky for me, I had done that dive before. I did have a nice time anyway. I had the opportunity to get to know Vivian a little better. While sitting on the boat, waiting for my husband to finish his dive, we chatted extensively. Vivian had lived and worked in Ft. Lauderdale before coming to work for Stuart Cove. I love Ft. Lauderdale, it is the place that feels like my second home. As it turned out, she knew many of the people and operations that I have been diving with. So, although I was sad to miss out on my dive, I have made another friend through diving.
I guess that I will stop thinking about what can go wrong. I suppose that will always find a way to enjoy the journey, no matter what happens. Maybe I will make new and interesting friends, or find out-of-the-way places. In either case, I am certain that it will be warmer than MI! Wish me luck, I am St. Thomas bound!!!

Link to Webpage

Come visit my store on CafePress!

We will just call him Toby

I had to make a trip today to visit my local aquarium store. No surprise, I have a marine tank. It is a very small tank(13 gallons), called a Nanocube. I thought that it would be a good way to get into the salt water end of the hobby. I have had fresh water tanks all of my life. While I was at the store, I happened to ask the owner, Kirk, if he was familiar with the tank at The Center for the Arts. Certainly he was, as he had put it together. I now know that the offical name of the fish in my photo is Naso Vlamingi, or the Vlamingi Tang. Either way, I think that he is beautiful, and Maybe I will just call him Toby.

Fish Photo

 


I just couldn't resist take this one's photo at a recent trip to a local Art Museum. They often have a beautiful salt water tank on display. I don't know what type of fish this is. I think it is a file fish. If you know, please let me know. I am considering painting this for the web-page! If I have time before I go on va-ca.

New Webpage

With the help of my son, who is a graphic designer, I now have some of my designs available on-line. Please visit: www.cafepress.com/oceanfish. I have my designs on tee-shirts, tiles, mugs, clocks, etc. I will be adding to them on a regular basis(problably more often than I post here)! If you have any feed back, or fish that you would like to see, please e-mail me. Currently, I am working from the photos that my husband and I take while we are diving. Looking forward to a vacation in St. Thomas next month. Hope to find new fish to paint!
Best Fishes,
Mary

working too hard(or maybe just too much)

I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post. I guess that I have forgotten how time consuming the act of writing is. Seems as if I either have time for painting or writing,I usually choose painting. I so admire those who write, I may not have time in my life for that{at least not for awhile).

This year has been a very stressful one. Almost a year ago , my 83 year old Mother had a very bad fall. She had been visiting my Sister, and fell on the concrete steps in her garage. She had a very bad compound fracture of her upper right arm. They put the arm back together in surgery. She spent about a month in the Hospital. She also suffered a bump on the head{ which she had injured in a previous fall}. While in the physical rehabilitation hospital, they discovered a fractured pelvis. The Hospital wanted to put her in a nursing home. I just couldn't stand the thought of that. I volunteerd to take care of her at her apartment. I suppose I could go on and on at this point. If you have ever been in this position, you already know how stressful it can be to care for a loved one. If you haven't,I guess that I would have to write a book to explain all of the emotions that you go through during this process.

I think that the best phrase to sum it up is "if it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger". Suffice it to say that it hasn't killed either of us,so far. My Mom is a very strong person. She has fought a huge battle to come back from barely being able to turn over in her bed, to useing a walker, to being completely able to walk on her own.
I suppose, because of her strength, and the way that she,and my Dad, raised me,I have always thought of myself as a strong person. This year has truly been a test of that. I am going to be having a birthday this week. Despite all that has happened this year, I still remain optimistic for the future.

My Son and I are working on a project. He is helping me to use the "web" to market my designs. It is a big learning process for me, I am so lucky to have people in my life who help me so much.

I hope to be writing more,too. I am not going to make promises, mind you, but I will try.