The Arts

Our gig rig, "The Year of the Cat". In addition to face painting, we sell hand-crafted earrings, the coloring book Abstract No. 1, fine art, lawn ornaments and more!

     We set up in our driveway to rehearse setup, take down and transportation containers and to develop the design. 

Here's a closeup of the gigi rig. The face painting table is in the back, jewelry and beaded scorpions in the front, and the cargo net on the left holds lawn ornaments. And scorpions. 

One of my favorite pics, this was at Grossenbart in Longmont about 2018.

"Blue Kitty Joy" is the design name 

Page 1 from my menu. My grandchildren are often my models. Here's Scott, Max, Samantha, and Kevin and friend Jan.

Another page from the menu!

Yet another menu page

36" x 24" colored pencil

I never did name this. It was on stage for the production of a short run live musical called "Hopscotch" then sold from Skye brewing ca. 2017. The headdress is Chief White Wolf of the Utes, from the area depicted, the front range as seen from what is now Longmont's Vance Brand airport.

I love doing reflection...it is perplexin'. This was a rose on a stage after the graduation of my step granddaughter Tasha. The rose was red originally; the reflection of the crumpled-up metallic ribbons was the fun part

One of my first and one of a set of four that were signage for the names of the units at a juvenile detention facility where my daughter worked. I do not have pictures of the other three: Bristle cone, lodge pole, and can't recall the third....

6" tall; Colored pencil

I did this while doing community art at Grossenbart, Longmont. It sold for $45

11" x 17" colored pencil

My lovely wife Chrissy leaning on her beautiful sister Martha. When you do portraits, you really get to know a person's teeth.

Colored Pencil 16" x 16"

"The Orion Nebula" hangs in my granddaughter Kali's living room. Absolutely one of my favorites-and first. I really learned how art as a distraction can overcome chronic pain with this one. Lots of abstract details

Kildeer

I have a lot of nature pics so I'm not displaying many, just a few of my favs!

Cormorant

Mourning dove

This picture inspired Super Rocket Dove of Peace

Mallard Duck 

Common Goleneye

Gull fishing

911 Tulip St. is a four plex. I get to garden the whole property! Flowers are my thing planted in in-ground planters of stone. Here's five of those at different stages.

We like to live up to our address, 911 Tulip with a plethora of variable tulips. Late May and early June are the height of the tulips. As they fade other flowers fill in; the gardens are very different as the season progresses.

I like to collage because there are so many pics of flowers.

     We have over 150 varieties of maybe 100 species of flowering plants. I keep a spread sheet on everything we grow, much from seed, which includes height and width, sun requirements, fragrance, flowering time, winter and water needs, germination time and more. 

     Some of my favorite flowers and their names

     This is our living room in the summer. The stone wall seats eight (we do camping chairs mostly) and was built with jamming in mind

  These are the front steps leading to unit A. we're in D. Views from the street then to the street. There is leonotis, shiso, marigolds, creeping daisies, shasta daisies, cosmos and snapdragons in easy view 

"Frankengoose's Longmonster"

     I did this makeover of a goose decoy for an event called Unity in the Community in 2022.

     In 2002 there was an art project in Longmont that involved individuals decorating 8' tall goose statues located about the city. Some still exist and are iconic. This design includes parts of six of them.

     Also depicted are the city's high schools, their logos on the goos

Some of my ear ring designs. I sell at street fairs and Brick's of Longmont carries them!

No roaches were harmed in the making of these roach clips

  "Ladders"

  This is the cover to my coloring book, "Abstract No. 1". There are 10 ea.. 11" x 17" line drawings.

       Digital copies that you can color yourself are available at my etsy store.

     Digital copies of print os each design colored by me in colored pencil are also available at my etsy store "theabstracthippies"

This is the outside back cover of "Abstract No. 1". It displays all ten line drawing after completion. I did them in colored pencil; "Ladders" is the only one not completed, left partially done for cover presentation.

This is the inside back cover for "Abstract No. 1". 

"Velociraptor"

     The idea for the floating rocks came from watching a thin coating of ice on a car windshield melt, slide and fragment.

     I colored this one in red just because I never use red like that. Blue, all the time. 

"Peace"

    My most popular design! I'm kind of nuts for flowers (see the gardening gallery) so lots of flowers!

     Super Rocket Dove of Peace first appears here. It has its own web site

superrocketdoveofpeace.com

where there are adventures and merchandise. There are also collectible buttons.  

"The Kraken"

     Probably my favorite of these 10. 

In colored pencil

Indigo blue + Indanthrone Blue + Violet Blue = deep sea color