Sun on my face!

Good evening! It is time for bed. It is hard to believe that this was the scene out front just a week or so ago, when they are predicting 70 degrees for tomorrow. Have been getting some sun on my face for days now. Yea! Need all the vitamin D I can get.

Tomorrow is breadfast with friends at the Double Clutch Cafe. A good thing to have to look forward to each week. This last week I wrote a poem for a poetry contest on PoetrySoup.com. The "rules" were that it had to be a 5 line vignette on a book author. I did mine on Dean Koontz. What do you think?

Fear

He draws you in
using compelling mental images
of atmosphere and entryways;
state rooms; glades; soft nudges.
Letting your fear flourish unaware.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer --

Cat Story Number Five

This is the one you have all been waiting for. The last one. Well, maybe it is the one I have been waiting for! :-) Okay, Remember Tasha, the mother, taking the two remaining kittens into town where she knew she could find enough food for them. Well, they are in town now, and are found, actually outside of a shelter. The mother and the two kittens were in separate crates, and when they were adopted, it soon became apparent they were all the same family. They do have the same recognizable coloring. The three of them were adopted together.

The second illustration is a different story. They are two cats who were friends and spent the mornings sunning themselves on the fence. The owner of Jelly, the one on the right, built the ledge for them. The other cat there is Justin. He is the long lost son of May.

The cat's name in picture three is May, and she is looking longingly out the window of her adopted home. She had been separated from her son when he was very young, and spent hours at the window believing someday she would again come across his path. There is a cat in the distance where she is looking and as it turns out it is her long lost kitten now grown. (On the fence shown above, and barely visible.) She can tell he has a good life and a good home, so she can now rest easy and enjoy her own new home.

I have enjoyed sharing these stories with you. Thank you for your interest. I can save up all your wonderful compliments now for a cold and rainy day when I feel "abused." I'm so abused, can't you tell!

Now, to work on some poetry, and the illustrations for book three.

Love and appreciate you all. ~J~

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Cat Story Four

This is the story of Smokie. He is the one that was hit by a car. A good samaritan had picked him up and she took him to the vet. It was touch and go for a while, but he finally woke up from the surgery. Ali, the Dr's assistant wanted to take him home, but had two cats, and they were old and set in their ways. They laid around a lot and just knew that the new active kitten would not fit it, or would be shunned by the older pair.

As it turned out, with the injury to his leg, he wasn't so active and fit in well with Alexis and Athena. And he is no longer "The Little Gray Kitten," but has a new name. She calls him Apollo.

Ali had always been shy about a bad scar she had and never worn shorts, not wanting anyone to see it. But a scar didn't seem to bother Apollo, and he lived his life not caring what others thought. Watching him she thought that maybe she had been foolish and put on a pair of shorts and T-shirt and went out. The scar is there, but doesn't change who I am.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Cat story three

This is the story of Lily. She is one of the four kittens who got lost. She was hiding under a car in a parking lot when she witnessed her brother Smokie being hit by a car. She ran away in fear and ended up taking refuge under a huge dumpster behind a store. She was rescued by a sweet man who took her home. But his apartment had rules against animals, and when Joe's girlfriend came over that night, she reminded him that he couldn't keep her. After a few days, he finally took her to the kennel.










His girlfriend noticed how much Joe was missing the adorable little kitten and finally decided she would go down to the kennel and see if she was still there. Her apartment allowed animals, so figured Lily could stay at her place. She was excited to surprise Joe. When she got there she spotted a kitten that looked just like Lily. His name was Grayson. He took to her right away, and she decided to adopt him for herself. The lady from the kennel, listening to her story said, "Follow me." They went to the back room where the lost and found was. There in the back was Lily.


She took them both home, and from that time on, much more time was spent at the girlfriend's apartment than Joe's. And the kittens got along great.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Story two of the cats

Okay, without the book the stories are a little confusing for me to just put up pictures. The first picture today is the story of Tasha and her kittens. As you can see they are living in the basement of an abandoned house. Momma has exhausted all the local food resources, so as her babies sleep in a bunch on the floor, she heads out into the neighborhood to find enough food for herself and her kittens.

The kittens wake up while she is gone and eventually worry about being alone. As kids will do, they make a bad decision to head out the window to find their mother. This starts the adventures, and individual stories, of all four of the kittens. So the second picture is showing that Tasha has found two of her kittens, and after deciding that she will not find the other two, she heads off towards town. While she doesn't like to take them into the town, she knows she will find food for them there.

The model for Tasha was a pretty tuxedo cat I had. He was around for several years, longer than most, and actually tamed. Most of the cats here are barn cats and keep the place free of mice.

Today is a gorgeous day. It just figures. The day before the eclipse of the moon was gorgeous, and the day after. But the night of the big event, a snow storm was trying to come in, and our area was very cloudy. About two hours after the eclipse the sky had started to clear.

Have a good day everyone. See you tomorrow with a new story....

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

The first cat story

Okay, the cat book was written a little differently, so don't know how will I'll be able to coordinate the story and pictures. But, will not worry too much about it. It is the pictures you want to see mostly anyway. The first story is about a Broken Tail Kitty. The girls, Ashley and Michelle are really good friends, but Ashley is from a poor family, and Michelle has everything she wants. When she announced that she had a new cat, it wasn't just a cat, but a persian named Priscilla and she came with all imaginable accoutraments.

Normally Ashley preferred her family time and didn't care to have all the stuff that Michelle had, until the cat. She asked for one knowing her mother couldn't afford one. But while Ashley was at school, her mom went to the shelter and fell in love with a kitten who had a bent tail. Apparently from an injury.

As time went on the girls loved the bent tail kitty because she was so much fun, but Priscilla was a snob and no fun at all. The picture here is the whole story, which teaches the value of love.

...

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Story five - The last of the Dog Stories

Okay, this is the last of the stories in the first book, the canine series. This is the story of Sal. Over time, both his mistress and master passed away. He loved fishing with his master, and always laid across his feet at home. His master's family tried to keep him, but they were not tolerant of the new responsibility and gave him to a shelter.

The lady who adopted him had wanted a little lap dog, but fell in love with Sal and his sad eyes. It turns out his exuberance for walks and play kept her from depression. She had to get out for the dog, and this healed her mourning.



The dog that posed for "Sal" is a female husky owned by my son-in-law. Her name is Crystal and is about 14 years old now. The photo session was really funny. The sad pictures were taken with my daughter helping her get into the right positions. The new life picture with her smiling was done with her master, my son-in-law helping. She is very specifically his dog. The lady in the new life picture is a friend of mine who posed for me, separately from the dog. Her grandkids sure get a kick out of seeing their Grandma in a book!

...

All art is copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Story four is about Jackie

This dog has a family, but that is not known for a while. She was found hiding in a construction site. She dragged herself there after being hit by a car.

While sick and hurting she gave birth to her pups. Her real family finds her at the rescue kennel and all is happy again. One of the construction workers who found her when she was protecting her puppies, asked if he could buy one of her puppies, and they of course gave him one.

...

All art is copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

The third story is about Yogi

Yogi had a couple of families over his lifetime. He had just been dropped off at the kennel and they didn't know his background. Always thought weird looking for his very large ears. A family with two boys took him home, and they had a wonderful three years together, and then divorce came into their lives. His next home was with a student who had no idea how much activity he needed for his upkeep. She soon realized he was too much for her and he was taken to the kennel again.

His new home had a dog already. The master had lost one of his two dogs, and adopted Yogi as a companion for the remaining dog who was mourning her friend who died.

So, happy ever after!

.

Today the wind is still blowing! This morning for about an hour it was calm. If fact I had to look around for a minute to realize what was different. It didn't last too long.

Yesterday I enjoy a matinee at the local dinner theater playhouse. The food was edible and the play was a great giggle. ("The Little Shop of Horrors") I couldn't help wonder how they were going to do that plant on stage, but they did a super job of it. Great fun.

Have to get back to my drawing room now. Um ... to draw!

...

All art is copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

The second story is about Daisy

Think Adoption First, The canine series. Daisy

Okay! The next story in the dog book is the story about Daisy. She was badly abused by a "default" master. Chained in the back yard, being fed and watered only occasionally. The chain around her neck had grown into her skin. Her new master was a gal who fell in love with her sweet nature. In spite of all she had been through.

This dog, real name Spunky, belongs to my grandson. He had his dog do his "roll over and play dead" routine for the poses of Daisy in a very sorry condition. Her new master is my daughter. Spunky had no problem "posing" for kisses.

Today was a bitter cold windy day to go out, but took in a matinee at our local dinner playhouse theater and watched "The Little Shop of Horrors." What a fun play, and the dinner wasn't too bad. On the way home I stopped at Max'ims Art Gallery and visited with the gallery owner for a while. We go way back and I hadn't seen him for a while. Was good to catch up.

Fresh sheets on the bed, and fellow poets, I am now very ready for bed. Good night, and will see you tomorrow with story three, about Yogi.

...

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

The first story is about Spike

I have had a special request for sharing the illustrations I'm drawing for a "Think Adoption" book series. The author is Elaine Marlier. She is a PetCo Manager out of Golden, Colorado. The titles are, "Without a Home" Inspiring and heartfelt tales of dog, (cat, furryies, etc.), adoptions. There are going to be five books total. The first two, dogs and cats, are available on Amazon now I'm told.

The first story is about a black lab, Spike. He had a very good home and enjoyed running with his master, but his master got a new job that would take him to a city where he wouldn't be able to take Spike with him.

His story is envolved of course, but he ended up in a shelter where he ultimately found a new master. She was a runner too and Spike enjoyed a very good adopted life.

The first picture, of course, is the sad Spike, and the second picture is the happy Spike with his new master.

The books are a 6" x 9" size, so the drawings are small, all on 8"x10" pager, and they are all done with a graphite pencil. The drawings take a long time to draw, paying attention to all the details is both a good quality of mine, and an albatross. Spike took a total of 57.25 hours. Which unfortunately, with my schedule, is not a mere week, but probably a month for this set. But I very much enjoy this calling, and relish in the details.

I hope you enjoy. I'll add the second set tomorrow.

...

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

SAA Meeting Today

Today was a beautiful day here in Colorado. The temperature actually got up to 68 degrees in Denver. I drove down for a meeting with fellow collegues and members of The Society of Animal Artists. This was the 3rd annual meeting, and we are sharing more and more useful information. They are an enthusiastic group who really get me excited about doing more, and compliments from them mean so much. I'll be shooting to have a piece of my own in the small works show this fall at the Wildlife Experience in Parker, Colorado.

On the way home coming east on HWY 7, I was delayed about 30 minutes because of a bad accident. It is a really bad intersection. Traveling east you come to a railroad underpass, and immediately beyond the bridge is a cross road. Colorado Blvd. actually. And at the crossroad there is a traffic light. But going east it is hard to see the light around the bridge. The crossroad is completely blind. There were EMT's and an ambulance came to the rescue. I was too far back to see much, but the driver was still in the car heading east through that intersection, and the other one was off in the ditch. Both cars were probably totaled.

The rest of the way home was uneventful until I got there, and of course Gizmo thought I had completely abandoned him. To make up for it I took him with me to get some groceries.

I'm too tired to think of anything else to say tonight. Thanks for listening, and I'll talk to you soon.

A New, Old painting

This is a special treat for me. The painting pictured here, "Small Comfort," is a 20"x14" watercolor that was completed in 1983. At the time I was a member of Professional Artists of Colorado and it was prepared for our big annual show at the Regency. One of my collectors from St. Petersburg, Florida was there and bought this painting. He had four of my paintings but this is the only one available.

It has been in his home all these years until his death in 1998, and it then went to his daughter. Recently she had fallen on hard times, so she looked me up and offered it to me for sale, and now I have it back home. It was so nice to see it again. It now hangs in the Thunderbird Gallery just down the road. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Today is windy. Blowing cold and can nearly take you off your feet. I don't like the wind.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Gizmo Snow Sits

I forgot the picture of Gizmo. The little goober really likes the snow, and when I called him to come in, he just sat himself down in the snow and looked at me.

"Where's my stick mommy?"

"Please lets play some more!"

The faster the time goes .....

I guess it must be time for me to say hello again. Won't be much, but I'm amazed ... amused ... almost frightened by how fast the time is going. My last post was September 23, 2007. Twenty three days later my sister is gone, and I am still in Kansas for eight days. Helping her husband plan the funeral, then staying a few more days after everyone else is gone so he isn't alone too fast. I started out calling every night to say G'nite, but now that is a few times a week. We are doing better.


At the beginning of the year we were covered with snow, and what, 40 some days later the archway out front can see its own reflection in the melt off. I have to say, however, I'm happy I'm not in Wyoming nor in the mountains here. My goodness there has been a lot of snow. The state is 136% of normal here. That is a lot of snow. I wouldn't complain at all except for the price of propane. That is pretty scary.


I have been active with PoetrySoup.com lately. Even won a 9th place out of a hundred entries in a contest there. That was fun. The poem is a new one titled,
"Does He Love Me."

He loves me.
The flower sacrifices a petal to tell me so.

He loves me not.
I drop the petal and quickly reach for another.

He loves me.
With this petal I dream our time together.

He loves me not.
Do I love him? Enough?

He loves me.
I pull this petal slower ...

He loves me not.
Petals die at my feet. Expensive, love.

He loves me.
Too high the price. The flower has one petal.
It stands naked in my hand.
I take the last petal and the flower is gone.

He loves me not.

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All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer --