Hamster Men In Training

Every spring a peculiar obsession grips the men of Kitimat causing them to behave in a most hamster like fashion. Weeks before the snow has vanished off the ground they compulsively 'unshovel' their snow piles back onto the road in order to speed the re-emergence of the front lawn.
Even young Ryan -at a mere 12 years old- has apparently caught the fever as has his tiny companion who appears to be no more than 6 or 7.
A retired neighbor 2 houses up the street spent the past week (full time) clearing his lawn...I'd love to see a hefty late season dump of snow that requires the plows and blowers which would pile all that crap right back where it came from.

Drives me frickin' nuts.

Look At My Feet!!!

I have big orange feet!!!

Oil pastel by grade 2/3. The bird must be from the Galapagos Islands since there are a few species in that area who seem to be transfixed by feet.

(shouldn't be their own feet though...hmmm...)

If I'm In Doris' Deli...

I must be working on something large. I invariably buy a lunch or two while painting sets or murals and if Jason had been on duty he'd have given me a free Chicken Ball!
'For the Kitimat Ah-tist!'
Doris' Deli is a Kitimat institution though it's changed locations and ethnicity - present owners Jason & Jenny are escapees from North Korea and more recently from the City Centre Mall. Many a business has fled their arbitrary rules and rent changes, often under cover of night.

The decor was revamped a year or two ago using this rather...agressive yellow.
If you need a nice corned beef on rye, some generic Asian take-out or a great samosa, this here's the place.

I Have Some 'Nice' Looking Kidneys...

...much like these I gather- smooth and very functional according to Carsun the ultrasound tech who perused my lower innards today.
It's reassuring but I know the doctor will still be investigating why my kidney function isn't where it should be and has in fact declined a tad from the last tests I took a couple of years ago.
I suppose some cleaner living might be in order.
Meh.

The Two Faces of Grade One

These are a couple of examples from one of the last lessons before Spring Break.

The results lined up so neatly with what's expected in terms of gender that I'm wondering if it's due to exploring the human form and face at this very specific time in the development of their identities. It almost never shakes out that way.

Even this same class showed much more gender blending when we painted landscape.

Precocious girl shown on top and a representative from the boys below. The fellas took great relish turning their faces into various aliens/monsters/demons which I certainly never discourage.

TwinB was always quite adept at demonstrating some cool amendments and additions to a generic human.

15 Minutes...Then I'm Finished!

Section of one of 3 backdrops for the figure skating performance. I just figured out today that I'm charging them about 75 cents per square foot. They had been thinking that my price was 'a little low'.

Somebody hand me a gun...I have a foot that needs shooting...

In These Lean Times

...sometimes a bear is reduced to digging for roots instead of feasting on the normally reliable salmon. This is most likely a hole dug by a grizzly last fall in a late season attempt to pack away enough calories to last the winter.

When we moved up here almost 3 decades ago, grizzlies were rare but now they practically ring the town. Couldn't possibly be due to people tossing their hunting debris all over the area no more than a block outside of town could it?? Nah.

Not looking forward to when they wake up...which should be about...now.