Wine And Wildlife A Big Success

Yesterday I participated in the Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge's Wine And Wildlife Fund Raiser. It was a gorgeous day and about 200 folks enjoyed wine sampling, great food and lively music. Here is a photo of three of the little oil paintings I donated to their silent auction. I set up and painted another little gosling from the photo in my last post. I'll post that for you next. Be sure to check my summer sketching everyday blog! It starts back up tomorrow. From June 1st to September 1st, I'll be posting a drawing online there everyday!

Baby Animals - Cute Fuzzy Gosling

I've been photographing baby animals at Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in preparation for their Wine and Wildlife fund raiser this weekend. These shots will be used for painting reference and possible stock photography submissions. I'm also donating their use to the refuge. They can use them in their newsletter, on their web site or as notecards. Here's one of my favorites. Sooo sweet! Now who doesn't love baby animals?

Art For The Animals

"Nature gets into our souls and opens doors to hidden parts of ourselves." ~ Pamela Heyda

This is one of the paintings I will be donating this coming Saturday at Cedar Run's "Wine And Wildlife" event. It is a 5" x 7" oil on canvas board. Find out more about this fund raiser here (post just below this one) on my web log.

"We must preserve the natural world; for without nature, there would be no beauty to inspire us." ~ Hap Hagood

Wine And Wildlife At Cedar Run Refuge

Last week I visited Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge to take some photos of the baby animals. This coming Saturday, May 30th, from 4:30pm to 7:30pm, they will be holding their 8th Annual Wine & Wildlife Festival. I will be participating during the event by painting some of the fur babies that I met last week. They were all sooo adorable! The wonderful folks who care for them really have their hands full this time of year! Even though they were extremely busy, they made my visit very enjoyable. My artwork will be auctioned off at the silent auction. All proceeds will benefit the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge operations and educational programs. The event features wine tasting and beer sampling, a gourmet picnic by Tony Lawrence and live music by BLUESBOX DELUX . Sponsers, staff, supporters, artists, artisans, animal lovers and live animals will all be present. An enjoyable afternoon will culminate with the awarding of a wide selection of choice auction items awarded to the highest bidders. For more information email barbara.jones@cedarrun.org or call 856-983-9702. The refuge is located at: 4 Sawmill Road, Medford, NJ 08055. It's a wonderful cause and a bargain at only $45. per person. Make your reservations today! VISA, MC, AMEX & Discover Accepted. Animal lovers, you don't want to miss this event. Please RSVP ASAP! Only a limited amount of walk-in tickets are available!

Farrier Of The Day

My farrier, Jimmy Hall, came out today and gave the horses a trim. He was a good sport and let me take some photos of him working on Rudy. I didn't dare use the flash around Rita. It was even making my laid back buddy, Rudy, flinch a little. Jim signed a model release for me so I could use the pictures for stock, but the photos turned out too dark. I've got to work on the lighting some more. I lightened them up in Photoshop, but the over adjusting resulted in too much noise. Noise is irregular pixelation that can be seen at higher magnification. See Nan, I'm learning! Anyway, I've been plugging away at my photography. With the help of my Photo Guru, Nancy Louie, and some of her borrowed lighting equipment, I now have 50 images on Dreamstime and 28 on IstockPhoto. (Take these links and click on "portfolio" to see my images.) Between framing and photography, I'm not getting much painting done this month, but I do feel happy that I'm making some headway with my new medium!

Hummingbird Update

Hummer season is getting into full swing here in Southern NJ. Don't miss out on the fun. Find out how to attract and care for your own little garden treasures! Hurry, before they all head out to my place! Check out today's post on my Squidoo Lens, 5 Steps To Happy Hummers here.