That is, approaching 10,000 pageviews!!!
A milestone for the deca-centric(count the fingers) I've got less than 400 to go! Semms like I ought to do something special to mark the event-
question is, what do you do for your 10,000th viewer? Offer to do a portrait? Give them a drawing? Guess I have time to come up with something appropriate.

Mid October- Imagine my delight to be back in Hyborea watching the death of summer... yes, yes, the colors of October are lovely and such, you get to make the wool and leather fashion statement, but lets face it , its COLD, and its DARK, and getting DARKER.
And COLDER.
Fact is, the fall is a long ordeal of quiet resentment for me- usually lapsing into naked hatred when the leaves finally drop and winter kicks into high gear. As ever, I wish my Irish ancestors had been criminals, instead of merely poor and starving- then they might have been banished to Australia instead of emigrating to Canada.

Busy times meant I had only random chances to check up or add new material of late... doesnt help that while paintings are getting made, they arent getting fully resolved- plus getting a household in order after a full year on the road.

A note to those who view my pictures, the comments left behind, and the shot in the arm I get from each of them, every time somebody has something to say.
It is more encouraging than you can know.

I dont know the provenance of the term, and I know it refers to a sudden and surprising warm spate later in the fall- but the weather here has been kind of idyllic just lately, summery heat by day, deliciously cool at night- the best of both worlds, really, if only it would last... >sigh<
I've taken a small studio flat in a grubby shack of a place in Toronto's Annex district. The plan is to spend a few weeks working large for once, without the benefit of ctrl-z as the chicken switch... eventually some of the end product will land here no doubt, though it may take a few false starts to get accustomed to working big after-well, at least 5 years.
I want to try a few different things out as well, both in terms of mixed media and some new subject matter too...anything to break out of the small screen rut I have been in lately.
Pics to follow- stay tuned!

..is kind of idyllic, now that they have cleared away the trash...morning sun through mature foliage, birdsong and open windows.. rained in the night, everything is fresh, verdant, luminous.. its been years since I spent any time here, and three weeks in, I'm kind of charmed. Seen from the tower, Toronto is really beautiful, a city rising in spots out of what looks like a well tended forest park. At street level, the city is a little more aged and grubby lookingthan Vancouver, but in a charming sort of way- like a laid back living room, comfortable and lived in, and if there's an old sock on the floor or crumbs on the sofa, its just evidence of easy living. The friend I am staying with feeds raccoons and squirrels from a back porch surrounded by mature trees- not quite a jungle hut with monkeys, but entirely pleasant just the same.
Now if only canada could find a cure for winter..............