WATERBABY'S CIRCUS

This year the holidays were spent at my sister's home in Grass Valley, California in the Sierra foothills. Soft, fluffy snowflakes started falling right on cue. My sister got the best present ever - her son got a 24-hour home pass from the Judge. He has been a guest of the County since running afoul of The Law a year or so back. But that's a whole nother story. The watercolor sketch was done in a 5x7 Artist's Book by Savoir Faire. Cotton rag paper, made in India. It's very difficult for me, since the pages are thin and very rough. Not good for detail at all. All my nephew's friends came to visit him. This sketch is some of them, huddled outside. I guess 45 degrees is considered warm when you're from around here. But I'll stay inside, thank you very much.

I just learned about a fantastic promotion that American Airlines is having. For a short time only, they are offering roundtrip fares to Brazil for about half the regular price. If you had been planning, or just dreaming about, a trip to Salvador for Carnaval, this is it, but you'd better act now, at these prices seats will go fast. If you don't like trying to check and book online, call my favorite travel agency, Santours . Don't just take my word for it. Here's what Realtravel.com had to say about them. A good travel agency to book your ticket through is Santini Tours, 6575 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CA 94609 (tel. 800/769-9669 or 510/652-8600; www.santours.com ). The owner as well as many of the travel agents are Brazilian and can give you many useful suggestions on air-pass routings and answer any questions you have about your itinerary. In addition to selling tickets and air passes, Santini can also arrange customized tours, including everything from airport transfers

Yes, sometimes both flamingos and waterbabies get stuck in the wrong place this time of year. These chilly birds and I will be at my sister's house in Grass Valley, California for the holidays. Assorted family members will be dropping in and out. Some will partake of the roast beest, others the roast vegetables. Who will get the prizes for being the Most Obnoxious, the Most Bah Humbug! Don't have to worry about the Most Under-the-influence on Christmas Day, cuz Cousin Nate will be out on a one-day pass, and we'll all be on our most substance-free behavior. We'll be thankful that a bad year is ending soon, and while we've all suffered setbacks, none of us has lost a home. The lights will be on, we'll be warm, and there will be food on the table. If you can say the same, then kick in some bucks to your local Food Pantry or Salvation Army bell-ringer.

I have added Google's translation gadget to my blog. This should help my non-English speaking readers to understand my posts, I hope. I have checked the Portuguese translation for the last blog, and yes, something is lost in the translation. I expect this will be true of other languages also, since these translations are not done by humans. Computers, even very smart ones, don't have a very good sense of humor. Irony is lost on them, as well as sarcasm. But this will be an experiment. I would really like responses so I can judge how well, or not, this translator is working. Maybe I'll just mess with the computer, just for laughs.

Pfew! I'm tired. The Holiday Show & Sale was a lot of work. (Muito trabalho!) But my art cards met with raves and enough sales to encourage me, so I'll be doing more. NO MORE SHOWS! Mais nada! For a while anyway. Time to get through Christmas, then gear up for Brazil and Carnaval. One of my favorite Carnaval groups: Bonde do Maluco. With a ridiculous little tune called: 'Pisa na Barata', or, in English, 'Step on the Cockroach'! Doesn't that just make you wanna get up and boogie? By way of 4shared, my newest favorite spot for finding Brazilian (and other) music. http://www.4shared.com/file/74229397/a890822d/Bonde_Do_Maluco_-_Pisa_na_Barata.html One of last year's favorites is a remake of Akon's "Nobody Wants to See Us Together", "Nao Vale Mais Chorar por Ele".

Aviso (Warning): Vou comecar incluir ums posts em portugues. (I'm going to start to include some posts in Portuguese.) Nao e todo mundo que fala ingles. (Not everyone speaks English.) Iai. Aqui se mostra um desenho das flores que se chama aqui nos estados unidos 'poinsettias'. Eu acho que tem o mesmo nome no Brasil, talvez Portugal tambem. Gostei de pintar assim, bem pequeno. Este imagen eu tirei com minha camera, marca Panasonic Lumix. Os imagens notados "ACEO" significa que o tamanho original e de 2.5" x 3.5". Nao sei exatamente qual e o tamanho em cm, mais em geral e o tamanho duma carta do baralho. Sao pintados usando tinta aquarela. ACEO e um acronimo = Art Cards Editions & Originals. Nao sei se tem isso no Brasil. Por favor, comenta se por acaso esta lendo isto em portugues. E disculpe os erros!

I am doing a series of these small (3.5x2.5) paintings to put in our sale at the Giorgi Gallery this weekend. They are a lot of fun to do, I can see why they have turned into quite the fad! Now that the weather has turned too cold to go outside to paint 'plein air', I will sit in a cozy cafe instead and paint. Another advantage of small format: no easels, campstools, jugs of water to lug around! No insects buzzing in your ears, no dust and debris in your paint for unwanted texture. Feedback please?

Each one of these somewhat spooky snowmen is a standard size Artist Trading Card (3.5" x 2.5") painted on 140#, 100% cotton watercolor paper with artist quality paints. See them and others at the Giorgi Gallery show this weekend, Dec. 13-14.

Disregard the poor quality of the flier image (yet another reason to get that scanner going). And get to the Giorgi Gallery in Oakland this weekend, where you will find a fine collection of handmade gift items, jewelry, paintings, and cards. Relax, make your Holiday shopping a little easier. Browse with the artists and sample the tasty treats and refreshments you are not likely to find trolling the aisles at Costco. The Giorgi Gallery is located on Ashby Avenue in Berkeley at Claremont Avenue.

Lately I've been painting tiny paintings that will be included in an exhibit and sale next weekend, Dec. 13-14. More about that later. Each one is trading card size (3.5 x 2.5). I was inspired to make these wintery scenes by a Canadian artist who sells his paintings on Etsy.com. Check Haywardart there to see his stuff, it's really wonderful. And yes, the images are still crap, because I haven't had time yet to continue searching for the driver I need to get my scanner running. But I've put it to good use anyway by placing my paintings on the scanner bed to take fotos (laughs cynically). Well, I'm going to go have coffee at the Buttercream, and work on some paintings while I'm there. Because it's so cold here in my house, my water's trying to freeze. Brrrrr.

Oi! Not only is Christmas and the New Year rapidly approaching, but even better, the biggest party in the world is gearing up. In a word: CARNAVAL! I've been remiss in including Brazilian stuff here, and I promise I'll be making up for it. One of the ways is to share info about Brazilian music. Some folks have noticed an addition on my front page about the music. Guess I caught some of you off guard. I have to admit I'm not one to rock the classics while I'm painting. A lot of people don't realize there's more to Brazilian music than samba, jazz and bossa nova. So I'll be dropping some current stuff, kind of a pre-Carnaval warmup. Now, for those of you in the Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area that is, here's a chance to check out some great live music and for a great cause. Tomorrow, Dec. 6, in Oakland there will be a live benefit show, DANDARA and OS GAROTOS HEADLINING !!! Who you ask? Click here to find out. For details, leave a comment. Time to get

Thank you, Jana, this clip from YouTube explains it all! And feeds my not-so-secret vice. The subtitle for today's blog might be: Why There Is No Art to Post Today.

This was an experiment to see how my watercolors would translate to an ACEO format. Yes, the image is skewed. This was taken with my Panasonic camera and the watercolor paper wasn't as flat as I thought. I am working on getting a freebie scanner up and running. I know my blog images are really not what they could be and should be. But I digress. The actual size of this painting is only 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. Why this small you may ask? Because this is the only requirement for art to be called an ACEO. Click here to find out more information about what ACEOs are and how they came to be. What I'm finding out is that painting a small watercolor is every bit as challenging as painting a large one. When I think they are good enough, I'll be selling these in addition to my "normal" paintings. Watch out eBay here I come!