I've got two pictures to share today.

The first is a small painting I did for a friend of mine. Years ago, I made this cross that was inlaid with pieces od a broken mirror and gave it to my friend Sarena. No particular reason, I just felt like making something and when I was done I figured she'd like it. She loved it.

Fast forward afew years...

I started to paint a sacred heart on a 8x10 canvas. No real reason, I just started to paint it but didn't finish. Then I got word that Sarena's Mom had died. Shitty news made extra shitty because her Dad had died barely a year before. Afew days after I heard that news, I found that sacred heart painting and knew that Sarena would like it. So I finished it and sent to to her.



She loved it.



The second picture is of a lighter nature. I took it in an IHOP in Texas. I think it speaks for itself.

Well, I'm back home.

I didn't really have enough time to do all that much, but I did get to accomplish something I've failed to do on all the other trips to Austin and while I lived there - I found Stevie Ray Vaughn...his memorial anyway.



Two things struck me while I was there.

1 - This is the last trip I'm going to take without a kid. Next time we go anywhere, we'll be parents. Not that it's a bad thing, it'll just be different. Actually, I guess it'll be a long time before we go on a trip again period. That doesn't bother me, I found this trip to be too much like evacuating from Katrina. That kinda made me lose my taste for travel.

2 - Texas isn't as gun friendly as Louisiana. Well, Austin isn't. Open carry is legal here, but not in Texas. I saw more signs concerning the possession of concealed firearms in one weekend than the last 6 months here at home.

I did my research before I left on Texas' concealed handgun laws. I found out about their "30.06" signage (No guns allowed) and about their "51%" signage (51% of this estabilshment's income comes from alcohol sales so no guns allowed). Jesus, these signs were everywhere!

Viva la Louisiana!

So, I'm in Texas. Austin to be specific. I'm just here for a weekend, so I better make it count!

On another blog I read (XaivierThoughts), He had found his "Holy Grail" gun - a Whitney Wolverine. I was thinking how great it would be to have a collection so full that I'd only be questing after one gun at a time.

So I decided to compile a list of my ten most wanted guns.
And here they are in no particular order:

1- Smith and Wesson model 36 Snub nosed .38 revolver.

2 - Ruger MKII .22lr pistol

3 - 12 gauge SxS Coach Gun (any make will do, this one is a Rossi)

4 - Smith and Wesson model 686 .357 revolver

5 - Taurus 22N .22lr Pistol

6 - WASR 10 7.62x39 Rifle (I want a shooter, that's why I'm not that interested in a real Kalishnikov

7 - M1 Carbine .30 ( I love Mil-Surp weapons)


8 - Model 1911A1 .45 Pistol (again, not too worried about what manufacturer)

9 - AR-15 (Bushmaster)

10 - CZ-75 9mm pistol


I need to start saving now...and mabye rob a bank or two.

As most of you probably already know; as well as an art-attempter, I'm also a firearm enthusiast. Yes, it's possible to be an artist and a gun nut simultanously.

Here's a pic of the gun that I carry most often:



For those who don't know, It's a Bulgarian Makarov.

And yes, I do shoot better than I paint.



That's 36 rounds at 6, 10, and 15 feet. It's what I shot for my concealed handgun licence qualification. It was also after 7 hours of sitting in a classroom watching videos about gun saftey.

I shoot pretty good with blurred vision and a sore ass.

I was working on finishing a book of prints that were due at the end of last semester. I didn't finish.

I want to finish it though, just for myself. Here's one of the prints:



A girl was doing Monotype acrillic prints and I found them intriguing. The ones she were doing were too cheery and flowery for my taste but they looked good.

Here's one I tried to do. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to but I think it would look good with a simple lineolium print over it. It looks vaguely Japanese...somehow.

It looks like this:

I finally got a frame for a watercolor painting I did over a year ago.



It's this cool looking, beat up wood frame. It kinda looks like it was made out of some ancient driftwood. I spied in a local art supply store months ago but refused to pay what that were asking for it. It just so happened that I was in there two days ago buying some wide, nylon brushes to replace some that were just crap when I saw that all of their frames were 50% off.

Sold.

Now I just need to frame it...

I just finished framing the watercolor I did over a semi-failed zinc plate print I made afew months ago. You might recognize it as a copy of a famous Japanese woodblock print. My wife loves these thing so I made the print for my wife for our 1st anniversery, because paper is the traditional gift for a one year anniversery...

Anyway, the one I gave her came out like this:


She wanted the semi-failed print to hang in her office at work, so I gussied it up by watercoloring it. It came out different than I'd anticipated but I like it none the less.

It looks like this:

So this is my new blog...

Don't you feel cheated...