Latest commission

Finishing up my latest commission of four paintings. Above is the first of four, the scan didn't do it justice, I tweaked it as best I could but it's still a little bleached out.
I hope to get these done by this weekend, the pressure is on. After these I'll be moving on to a family portrait on cold press paper with either graphite or chalk, I'm not sure which. Maybe both.

tn.

Come on up to the house, revisited.

I was rummaging through my old archives when I came across a little gem that I hadn’t seen in years. I vaguely remember painting this one 10 or so years ago, and I can see why. It’s not one of my better paintings, or one of my favorites (actually, I’m not sure if I really finished it). The inspiration for it came from a Tom Waits song. None the less, the very top of this painting has inspired me to paint something similar on a larger scale. I have the perfect building in mind for it as well, unfortunately it no longer exists. However, before it was demolished, I took a few photos of it which will do just fine.


The below image is the cropped version (by 50%) of ‘Come on up to the house’ painted ’99, acrylic on canvas board.

©2011 Timothy D. Nicholls, All Rights Reserved.

tn.

Happy upcoming Halloween folks.

What's up?

Blogger seems to be a little 'FUBARed'. Maybe I should move this blog to another site.

Cambridge Arts Festival...

I've been thinking about showing some work at next years Cambridge Arts Festival, but I'm not sure what to show. I think I'll paint some new stuff just for the show, I don't know. It's several months away so I have a little bit of time I guess. Maybe I'll get that dollhouse done, and show it. But there's a painting of Goldfish that's been in my head for a long time now, maybe I'll finally paint it and show that as well. I'd better get to work soon I suppose, unfortunately I am lacking a little in motivation lately. Maybe it's the rain.

tn.

Down, but not out

Well the kids are back to school now, and as usual I get hammered with a cold. Which starts in the head and nasal cavity, then makes it's way down to the chest. It starts up quick, is uncomfortable, feverish, painful and deliriously restless, but lasts only 3 to 5 days at most. I'm just about through it now, but it's making it's way through the ranks. Once we all get past the 'back to school cold' all the little snot factories can get back to learning (and I can get back to painting, or whatever). So far I'm not overly impressed with the little ones teacher this year, she seems to be a bit much. But, we'll see.

I'm also concerned about an injury to my leg that seems to be worsening, an odd discolouration, and quite painful. It's a different kind of pain, it worsens when I stand up from sitting and vise versa, or even just move it or rub it. But the pain isn't immediate, it starts after I've stood up, a few seconds later, grows in intensity then subsides. It's not like a pulled muscle pain, or sprain. Nor is it like after bumping into something. It's not swollen. But, maybe it's just me, it feels slightly colder to the touch than the other leg. Especially around the foot area. The oddly coloured bruise is at the knee. All this has taken a couple of weeks to develop. And all this developed after being hit in that leg, just above the knee. It was 'charlied' for a week after being hit, but progressed to this. Anyway, I'm sure my doctor will figure it out. Eventually. Until then, it fkn' hurts.

By the way, my finger/knuckle has healed. But it aches sometimes. C'est la vie.

Carry on.

tn.

Still a little sore...

A week or so ago I injured my finger during a little horse play, and this picture taken the day after doesn't really give it justice. Today, it's still a little sore and the knuckle is still a little swollen, and looks a little crooked. Good thing it's not the hand I paint/sketch with. Even so, I haven't been doing much lately in that respect anyway. Still have a lot of work to do around here, and hopefully when all that is taken care of, I'll get back to it.

tn.

My little muse, the one the only...........Mr. Clover himself.

I think I'll keep it........

Now that 'Sketches from the Earth' is done, I thought about changing the title of this blog. I pondered on what I would re-name it, but in the end, I've decided to just keep it the way it is. I like it the way it is. Hopefully others do as well. So let's just see where this blog will take us shall we.
tn.

10 yr scribble book, at an end...

My sketch book/scribble book of the past 10 years is coming to an end. The overly enthusiastic title of the book, 'Sketches from the Earth', (which was titled before the book was started, instead of when it was finished) had high hopes for this book, to develop into something quite impressive. But, almost from the start, it took a turn from what it was hoped to become, to something emotional and personal at times, varying in quality and styles, mostly scribblings of half thought ideas. A little window into my life during these past 10 years. Unfortunately, nothing overly interesting nor any memorable sketches come out of this book. And after 10 years, it's time to retire it to the shelf.

This blog was originally titled 'Sketches from the Earth', in a sort of honour of this book, and was set to be a sort of extension of it. However, with the books retirement, I've decided to re-name this blog as well. I'm not sure what I'll be calling it though, I do have a few thoughts. So this blog will be going through a re-construction/re-arranging during the next little while.
tn.

4am

Woke up again around the same time I always seem to wake up. After having yet another of my wandering, chaotic yet serene dreams filled meaning and images I recognize, and some I don't (didn't), with underlying regrets, searching, finding/going back to, and seeing change. Seeing old things, new things, and scenarios that never happened, but should have (I suppose). Etc... etc.... I used to write my dreams down, but haven't for quite a few years now. Maybe I should, again. Although, I don't remember them as well, or as clearly as I used to. But one thing I feel, is that I think I know what, & how, to write this book that's been trying to get out of my head. I have so much more to write, but I'll save it for pen and paper. Just the way I like it. It's now 6:26am.
And it's cold.
tn.

New stuff......

I've uploaded a couple of new photos to my Lulu storefront, this one on the left is a photo of my old Underewood #5 typewriter from the 20's. The other is a photograph of an old shoe factory from the 1800's, which is in disrepair, and is currently under renovations to turn it into residential lofts. There seems to be a lot of old building renovating going on around here lately. Any of which would be a perfect place to have a studio.

With the new snow fall, I'm hoping for a few good photo opportunities here around town. Also, I hope to develop/produce a new painting from these opportunities. Although, painting seems to be more of a chore than a passion lately.

Vacation

I'll be taking a vacation from being online for a bit to work on a few things, when I come back I hope to have quite a bit to publish. I hope to have some new stuff to publish @ Lulu, possibly @ dA as well although I'm finding dA to be pretty much useless. I swore I wouldn't do any more calenders as well since they're also pretty much useless, yet, I might do one. Also, have half a thought to find another online merch site, but we'll see. We're also thinking of moving to another place since we don't feel all that comfortable here, something isn't right. I'm not sure what, but something just doesn't feel right. Not enough open space maybe. Although, if we owned this place, we would restore it back to it's original beauty, open it up a bit as well. We've been toying with the idea of heading to Paris (no, not France). I don't know, but we'll see how that pans out I suppose.

hiatus.....

I've decided to, instead of closing up shop, take a little hiatus. And later, re-structure. I can't say when exactly, but I'll be back.

tn.

It's been awhile.......

It's been some time since I've posted anything, or even created anything for that matter. I hope to rectify the latter soon. I've got a few half finished things kicking around, and more than a few swirling around in my head. And that's whats got me stymied these days. I just cannot decide, therefore I'm clogged up. Plus the fact I'm a little busy with life, and trying to fit some quality time in, is a little difficult lately.

We bought a new Fancy Rat the other day, another little addition to our small animal family. You see, our little Dwarf Hamster passed away recently, and Mocha, the last of our little Fancy Mice, passed away a few months prior. So, as we were just lookin' around the pet mart for food and stuff, we had a look at the rats and decided to get one. She's only about 2 months old, and she's the sweetest little thing. I'm sure I'll upload some pictures soon.

Who knows, maybe I'll get a painting out of this. Although, that's what I've said about the rabbits as well.

In bloom...........

The first blooms in my flower bed, more to come soon.

New Paintings soon........

Thanks to a good friend of mine, Mr. Speers, I now have lots of wood for framing. I just need to wash the raw canvas and treat it, frame it and away I go. I've got a few ideas so far, but looking at the paints I have I may need to pick up some more.

When I get the first painting done I'll upload the image, somewhere. Probably here and my fan page, maybe dA as well.

The Defeat (painting set to music)

This is a little something I threw together just for the hell of it. This piece (of music) is one of my favorites, and sometimes I would look at this painting while listening to it. I then realized the music fits the painting, because it helps to capture the emotion of the piece (the painting).

I didn't want to make it mind numbingly boring so I added an 'old footage' style to it, which, it turns out, doesn't make it any less boring. Oh well, enjoy. Or not.

Carry on.

on hold......

Everything is on hold since I have been ill for a little while, and irritable. I am currently rethinking the Snuggery thing, at the moment I'm not sure what will come of it. I've been so lethargic and unproductive lately, I'm assuming it has something to do with the pneumonia. Among other things. I have some ideas, but it is very difficult to get motivated.

the Snuggery

That's what I now call the space I'll be using as my studio, once we move in. We should be in by the end of the month, I can't wait to get out of this place. Nothing but negativity and bullshit here.

There is something interesting about this new house though, the current owner has mentioned that he's owned it for about 40 years now. But the house is much older than that. In the basement under the stairs, you can see that previously there had been some work done to install the 'modern' heating ducts in the house. At this one point, where they have dug through the old stonework wall, which is quite thick actually, you can see something that looks like a short staircase (if you shine a flashlight in there), where a staircase shouldn't be. Actually nothing should be there. I get the feeling something has been filled in or covered up. I'll investigate more at another time.

As for the Snuggery, it needs a little cleaning up, but I have plans for this little space. I'll write more about it once things are all set.



snug·ger·y [snuhg-uh-ree]

–noun, plural -ger·ies.
British.
1. a snug place or position.
2. a comfortable or cozy room.

Also, snug·ger·ie.
[Origin: 1805–15; snug + -ery]