I had gone out very early from the research camp at Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve this past July and had settled down on a rock to see who would show up at the water hole.
I looked up and saw these two rams checking me out as they scanned their surroundings.
The sun was just hitting the cliff tops, so they really stood out against the morning sky.
For the painting, I wanted to give a sense of the landscape that they live in and how comfortable they are on tilted surfaces that would make most of us somewhat nervous.
Soon after I took this and some more photos, they came down onto the valley floor and joined up with some buddies for a drink and a graze.
I got to watch them for about half an hour.
And yes, after 2 1/2 years, I’ve updated the look of my blog with a new theme. I finally found one that I liked and that has new features and functions the previous one lacked. Let me know what you think!
My main hobby when I’m not in the studio is gardening. I love old roses and English style borders. It’s also really good exercise.
And it’s an art form, too, interesting partly because it adds the dimension of time. And also impermanence.
The orchestration of bloom through the seasons is fun and an on-going challenge.
I started this garden almost five years ago and there have already been a lot of changes.
What you’ll see here, with the exception of ‘Ispahan’, is the front “yard”, where most of the roses are. We killed off the grass in the middle a couple of years ago and put our vegetable garden there instead. The rose borders are coming along, but some plants are going to be moved this fall having already gotten too big for their allotted space. It’s hard to tell how a plant will do. Some never do well and some totally overdo it. The David Austin English roses are known to sometimes become vigorous climbers in California, but stay sedate shrubs elsewhere.
So here is an album of the front garden with photos I took day before yesterday, mostly the roses, but also a few other favorites.
Rosa mundi- a sport of Rosa gallica, ancientRosa gallica- The Apothecary Rose and the Red Rose of Lancaster, ancientRosa alba semi-plena- the White Rose of York, very oldLilac 'Sensation'"Leaping Salmon', large-flowered climber, 1960s; the closest to a hybrid tea rose you'll find in my garden'Ispahan'-which has formed a HUGE bush; damask rose from Iran'Golden Celebration'- David Austin English Rose Hardy geranium 'Splish Splash', which is happily self-seeding around the gardenDuchesse de Montebello- gallica from France, pre-1826'Crown Princess Margareta'- David Austin English Rose'Citrus Splash'- Jackson and Perkins'Abraham Darby'- David Austin English RoseThe vegetable beds- peas, beans, radishes, tomatoes, scallions, shallots so farBed with Charles Austin (David Austin English Rose) California poppies, orange wallflower, varigated maple, Citrus Splash rose, sisyrinchium striatum, backed by acanthus mollis
Siberian marmot in Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve, July 2009
Summer is here and I thought I’d present a photo essay on one of the most beloved foods in Mongolia….marmot. Say “tarvaga” to the average Mongolian and watch their eyes light up.
Unfortunately, the native Siberian marmots have gone from occupying the steppes in the millions to Endangered in just ten years, having experienced a 70% population drop. The major contributor to this decline was a demand for the pelts by….the Chinese.
Hunting is still allowed during August and September, depending on population numbers, according the species listing in the IUCN Red List. Hunting can also be shut down if bubonic plague flairs up. It turns out that marmots in Mongolia are the source vector for the bubonic plague that hit Europe in the 1340s. The Mongols know that if they see a marmot behaving strangely, then it is likely that plague is present.
Marmots in Hustai National Park, May 2005
The cooking traditions surrounding marmot in Mongolia is the stuff of visitor legend. A number of the travel accounts I’ve read have an account of the preparation of marmot, always with a “and you won’t believe this, but….” tone.
I finally had my chance to try it last year. Since this was a personal extension of hospitality to me because they knew I liked Mongol food, I will allow my hosts to remain anonymous.
(Important note: if you are squeamish or think that meat starts out wrapped in cellophane, you may want to stop reading here. This photo essay will show the whole process from beginning to end.)
Any Mongols reading this are invited to add comments, stories, corrections in the comment section. This is accurate to the best of my knowledge, based on what I saw and was told.
Stove heating up rocks and marmot carcass ready to stuffThe meat is stuffed back into the carcass, along with the hot rocks, which will cook the meat from the inside; the cook made sure that the carcass was stuffed with rocks all the way down into the hind legsPounding the meat and rocks down into the carcassClosing the neck opening with wireThen we all adjourned to this beautful spot by the river for picnic dinnerNow for the famous part: removing the fur with a portable torchA helper scrapped the singed fur off and also the fat as it came to the surfaceThe next step was to wipe down the carcass with bunches of grass and then rinse and scrub it with waterThe neck wire was removed and the juice poured into a cup, which was then handed to me. I drank it right down and it was quite goodThen the carcass was split open to get at the chunks of meat; I was also given the tongue and it was good, tooDinner is servedAs is traditional, the hot rocks were passed around for health and good luckWe also had cabbage salad, everything washed down with Mongolian vodka. We had been drinking airag, but my guide said that airag and boodog don't mix, so we switched to the vodka. Did I say I was having a great time?Not much left. I ate my share. Yes, it was good. Really goodNotice the back paw has four toes and the front paw has five; why this is true will be the subject of my next Mongolia Monday post
First Summer, Takhi Foal 18x24" oil hot off the easel
1. Suck it up and accept the fact that you are an entrepreneur and that you are running a business. Artists can handle business stuff. We are not, by definition, airy, fairy flakes. Get organized, get Quicken for financial recordkeeping, Evernote for keeping track of everything and make the commitment to nurture your career. No one else will do it for you or as well.
2. Create a marketing plan or you won’t have a clue about what to do. Without a context and the bigger picture, how can you know whether or not doing a particular show makes sense or if you should do prints or sign with that gallery? Not having a plan is throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping something (like money) sticks. Find your local Small Business Development Corporation office and take advantage of their free and low-cost services. I did and it’s really paid off. Literally.
Ready for North Coast Open Studios, June 11, 2011
3. Make social media work for you. Yeah, I know “but I already spend too much time on the computer (whine)”. Like it or not, online career-building is where it’s at now and has the major advantage is that it’s often free, unlike traditional advertising and promotion. These days you must have: a website that you can update yourself (I use Go Daddy. There are others that are probably simpler to set up but don’t offer the design flexibility; google “artists websites” to see what’s out there); a blog (This is a WordPress blog. Blogger works fine also, but the backend isn’t as sophisticated); a Facebook public page (easy to set up); a Twitter account (you’ll need to experiment to see how well it works for you); a newsletter (Constant Contact is the way to go); a LinkedIn profile (lots of artists there these days) and whatever else you find out there that can help get the word out about your work. It’s the synergy between all this that is what counts. There is no “one place to be”. The question is “how many places can I be?”
4. Always do the very best work you can that reflects your passion and point of view, NOT what you think the market wants. That way lies imitative, mediocre art that is always going to be two steps behind. Be the best YOU can be and then back it up with numbers 1 and 2.
Work in progress
5. Buy Alyson Stanfield’s book“I’d Rather Be In The Studio: the artist’s no-excuse guide to self-promotion” and check out her website and blog. She’s the best resource out there for ideas, advice and encouragement for building an art career. One of the things she emphasizes over and over is how critical your mailing list is because these are the people who are interested enough in what you do to let you contact them with news of what you’re up to.
Notice all the links? That’s no accident. Part of the purpose of this post and the links is to drive traffic to this blog.
Feel free to add any further thoughts and ideas in the comments!
I’ll be open this weekend, June 11-12 from 11am-5pm both days. Event information and directions to my studio for this wonderful Humboldt County event is here.
I’ll be open this weekend, June 11-12 from 11am-5pm both days. Event information and directions to my studio for this wonderful Humboldt County event is here.
I’ll be open this weekend, June 11-12 from 11am-5pm both days. Event information and directions to my studio for this wonderful Humboldt County event is here.
I’ll be open this weekend, June 11-12 from 11am-5pm both days. Event information and directions to my studio for this wonderful Humboldt County event is here.
Susan Fox, American Artist 