Tainee, our PCA, is a member of the family and we love her to bits.

Not only does she manage to keep the two of us on schedule, and handle all the stuff we can’t do because of our chairs, she’s one of those rare human beings who is just genuinely a really nice person.  In the slang of the Service, she’s a good egg, snappy dresser, fun to be with at parties.

She’s also really talented.  She started learning how to do beadwork, at first because we could always use some for our regalia, but she really got into it and now makes all kinds of pieces.  Pretty soon she’ll have her own site where she’ll be putting pieces up for commercial sale, but for now she’s concentrating on doing custom and small pieces.

Each one is for the most part created on the spur of the moment, no formal pattern is created.  It’s led to some … interesting results over time

So here’s samples of the items she has on hand right now that are completed.  Some are custom pieces that are already spoken for, some are available, and she’s always willing to hear about ideas for pieces people might like.  Check it out below, and if you’re interested in any of these, or in custom beadwork, send an email to tainee_2004@yahoo.com with the word “Beadwork” in the topic line.

Note: This is not “Indian Beadwork”, i.e. created by a Native American.  This is “Indian-style Beadwork”.  It’s important to note the difference, as there are many web sites out there that will claim to sell Indian Beadwork but don’t.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any pictures yesterday, but I wanted to get this update up from round one before round two hits – it just started snowing again.

I have no clue where he got it from, but yesterday we were astonished to see one of our neighbours come down the road in a Bobcat, a small front-loader excavator.  He then proceeded to chunk out a wide path down the road, and even cleared our driveway enough so we can get to our trashcans.

So all the clearance you see in the pictures below is attributable to one resourceful resident, not the town, and not the county.

On the other hand, we’re starting the second round of snow – some estimates go up to 20 inches, some higher.  If it hadn’t been for our neighbor we could have been looking at four to five feet of snow blocking us in and the Town not coming to plow until enough of it melted.

So – the final pictures, rounding off Snowpocalypse Round One:

I love how history repeats itself.

Most of the snow clearance you see on the ramp was done by our fantastic and wonderful PCA, Tainee.  I did get to go out and start hammering on the ice on the ramp though – figures I get to do the destruction part

They think that plows might get to roads like ours mid-week.

Now, I realize people might say “Oh, well, the neighbors will all decide to dig their own way to the nearest cleared road” – and they very well might – but it won’t do us any good, since even a relatively small pile of frozen-slushed snow a car might drive through, or a pedestrian might step over, might as well be a solid wall for a wheelie.

That’s going to be the next obstacle once the roads get cleared – trying to get around once we’re out of the neighborhood.  County plows will have dumped all the snow on the sidewalks, meaning we’ll have to travel along the side of a very busy main road.

Hopefully, unlike last Christmas’ snows, we’ll remember to take the camera with us so people can get some idea of just how scary it can get.

I swear, the world is made to try and reduce the number of crips by putting us in harms way just to go out!

I was in email with Yasmine Galenorn’s wonderful administrative assistant FairyFindings this morning, and in the course of it mentioned a couple of other renders that aren’t really part of the Sisters of The Moon fanart I did.  I promised her I’d dig through those rough drafts, and I came across this prototype.

Remember that old quote about interfering in the affairs of dragons?  Well, this character from the Otherworld series pretty much sums that up – if you’re anyone other than Camille, that is.

This is Smoky, or at least that’s the only name he’ll allow in public.  He usually goes around in a human form, with very – and I do mean very – flexible long white hair, and clothes that seem to never ever be in need of cleaning from their immaculate white condition – even right after a bloodbath!  He also happens to be soul-bound to Camille – eternally “married”, as is Morio, a fox-demon, and is very protective of her.

Did I mention he thinks he’s found a way for Camille to have his baby?

Dragons, especially cranky white/silver ones in the Otherworld universe, seem to be notoriously camera shy, and hard to catch off guard.  So the best I could get was this brief glimpse just before being reminded dragons don’t sign model releases, up close and very personal.  I also discovered dragons really need to try using mouthwash.  I’m just glad I found that out from the outside!

On the bright side, I told him that Fairyfindings said he should take any questions to her – after all, she is Yasmine Galenorn’s Administrative Assistant

Shy Smoky (prototype)

No postwork done since it’s just a “doodle”.

In seriousness, this one was one of those ideas I had that looked good in the dark recesses of my mind, but the product as it was rendered never matched quite what that mental image was.

One of the reasons I like doing non-human characters is it is harder to project emotions in non-human renders, and my mental image did that.  Trying to bring it into reality was just fail after fail, so I put it on the shelf for another time.  I never throw any of my prototypes away, in time something will click and I can go back to one and make it work, so this might just come out in the future anyways.

Never give up on your images (or your writing ideas for that matter), just give it time and let your muse come and slap you around the head a few times pointing you to how to make a “good” idea a “great” result.

So here we go again with a rerun of the snows from last December, dubbed “Snowpocalypse”.

Which is kind of strange, given how it seems like DC goes into an absolute panic when the snowfall totals 3 snowflakes, let alone the three feet or so that’s fallen so far.

Unlike December, we’ve seen one Town snowplow, yesterday.  I’m not sure why there’s been nothing since then, maybe they’re conserving supplies for when the snow finally stops falling.

So we’re hunkered down, hopefully we’ll keep power and Internet.  Thankfully, all of us are used to much worse snow, so we’re not too concerned – we already had supplies laid in, so as long as the power stays up we’ll be fine.

The bad things so far are all to do with the feral cat colony we TNR’d several years ago.  Most of them now hang out in our (unused) shed in the back, going in and out through a hole in the bottom of the door which is now covered by snow.  There’s no way any of us (even tainee, the only one here with working legs) can get through the snow to clear the hole.  So we’re hoping the extra cans of wet food we put out at the feeding station yesterday will tide them over.

Here’s the pics so far, I’ll update them as I can get more added:

It seemed a little unfair to do renders of Menolly, Delilah, and Ariel, but to leave out the last of Yasmine Galenorn’s Sisters of The Moon from her Otherworld series of novels.

The problem is, how to properly do justice to Camille, the first one of the three half-fae/half-human to be written of in Witchling.

Camille’s got extra considerations.  She’s a witch and Priestess of the Moon Mother, with an affinity for lightning and Death Magic, but (except for the Death Magic) her talents sometimes have a habit of … backfiring.  Enough that everyone around her who knows her tends to cringe and cross their fingers the Moon Mother will shine on her and not let her spell do nasty things to them (or Camille herself)!

So should I do a render of Camille with such an “amusing” thing going on?  Or, should I give her the respect she’s earned and do a straight pic?

I decided on the latter, if for no other reason than the Sisters tend to stick together, and none of them individually do you want to annoy, let alone all three at once – and then there’s the subject of Camille’s husbands – who I may or may not risk my sanity doing renders of in the future.

With all of this in mind, I present to you all my impression of Camille D’Artigo.

Camille

Remember, Camille, Menolly, Delilah, Ariel, Sisters of The Moon, Otherworld and everything behind them remains the copyright of Yasmine Galenorn.  The copyright on the art remains mine.  Stealing her words, or my art, is still theft whichever way you look at it.

Comments

• February 6, 2010, @FairyFindings (3 comments) writes: Just lovely! I think you have a good grasp on Camille, & I doubt you have any reprisals to worry about from her hubbies. ;) Of course, no one can speak for those guys. LOL My recent post Before Imbolc Passes…A Haiku for Brighid

I’ve been having a bit of an art block recently, with life intruding, the death of one of my storage drives and trying to recover that for a project, and the weather.

So, for rest and relaxation, I fall back to my second favourite pastime (after doing renders of Giger-esque aliens) – Doing renders of the characters in books I love.

I’d done one of Menolly, one of the Sisters of The Moon from Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld novels a little while ago, and figured since I’m on a roll, stick with ones I have a visual of firmly in my head.

Of course, I have to start off with another one of Menolly.  It’s not just that she’s a half-human/half-fae now-vampire with great taste in hair … OK, maybe it is.  But the girl has attitude, and I like that in my undead

Menolly

The other one I wanted to do this time around was Menolly’s sister, Delilah.

Delilah’s kind of complicated.  Like her sisters, she’s half-fae/half-human – but she’s also a were-cat.

Now most people hear “were-cat” and they immediately think “Oh, were-lion” or similar, but no – Delilah’s shape-shifted form is … a tabby cat.

*waits for the snickers to die down*

That all changed in the past though, when Delilah was volunteered to be one of the Autumn Lord’s Death Maidens (and, the only living one at that!).  Delilah acquired a second form in the process – A were-puma.

All those who snickered, please wait, I’m sure you’ll get harvested soon enough

However to add a new twist, Delilah’s discovered that she’s not exactly alone – she had a twin sister, Ariel, who died at birth, but has been watching over her “all her life” and now appears to her in the form of a leopard.

Yeesh, just when you thought your life was getting complicated, you get snagged by an Elemental Lord and discover you have a twin you never knew!

So, it only stood to reason that they should have a picture together.

And yes, I know, I haven’t done a render of the third D’Artigo sister yet – Camille.  That one’s coming, I promise.

Menolly, Delilah, Ariel, Camille, Otherworld, OIA, and everything to do with the series are copyright Yasmine Galenorn.  The image copyright is mine.  Stealing her words, or my art, is theft whichever way you look at it – just remember karma is a cast iron bitch.

Comments

• February 2, 2010, Ken St. Andre (4 comments) writes: heh! They are both too well dressed. Only the tiger seems comfortable.
• February 6, 2010, @FairyFindings (3 comments) writes: Love Delilah & Ariel! Gorgeous; love Ariel's eyes gleaming in the half shadows. My recent post Before Imbolc Passes…A Haiku for Brighid

OK, I’ll admit it – to go with my well documented love for Giger-esque aliens, I have a thing for vampires too.

Oh come on, they’re just as misunderstood and cute and cuddly and friendly as Giger’s creations!

Fine, be like that!

Yeesh.  See if I ever get around to dusting The Stranger off!

Anyways, in the field of vampires, there’s one that I absolutely love, and not just because of her dress sense and hair style.

OK, maybe those have a lot to do with it, but that’s not the point.

The vampire’s name is Menolly, and it just happened to be Yasmine Galenorn, her creator’s, birthday yesterday, so it gave me the perfect excuse to drop all pretense of professionalism and turn into a squealing fangirl for a day creating a render.

(Today I get to go fangirl again, but over Avatar – life is good!)

Apologies to Menolly for her sister Delilah sneaking into the picture – have you ever tried to stop a werecat (or any cat for that matter) getting into places it’s not supposed to be?  I happen to like my skin where it is

Click for full size as always.  Happy birthday Yasmine!

Waitin' For Supper

Menolly, Delilah, Otherworld Agency, etc are all © Yasmine Galenorn.  Image © is mine.  Remember, stealing her words or my pics is theft whichever way you look at it.

Comments

• January 18, 2010, Ken St. Andre writes: RT @MoonWolf95: Blog: Render: Waitin' For Supper http://bit.ly/52PSZ6
• February 6, 2010, @FairyFindings (3 comments) writes: Menolly is my fave D'Artigo, too, and I think you've done her proud, here. I like the look you've captured on her face; not always a successful endeavor in computer renderings but you got it. My recent post Before Imbolc Passes…A Haiku for Brighid
• February 6, 2010, Moonwolf (11 comments) writes: I love Menolly - and she's kind of the one to blame for me discovering the OW books. Everyone kept telling me I *had* to read Witchling because Menolly was "me" (or I her) so I gave in - the rest, as they say, is history.

So it’s Sunday, the snows have stopped, and it’s time to begin digging out the ramp, front garden, and driveway.

The ramp is the dangerous part – we have to clear a spot, dump ice-melt where we’ve cleared, give it a few minutes, then move forwards.  Rise, repeat.

Thankfully we have some help with traction on the ramp, a friend several years ago laid down some wire mesh on one side that helps give our tires something to grip onto.

But it’s still a somewhat nervous experience, the rail on the left has stopped chairs from going over the side several times!

It looks like we’re going to have to then go dig a trench from driveway all the way up the road until we reach a main street (2 blocks) because our local town doesn’t seem to have bothered to send out snowplows this year.

It’s funny, we hear people in DC are up in arms that they only saw one snowplow.  We haven’t seen any.

Correction, I’ve seen one – an MNCPCC snowplow the other side of the river clearing a path to the recreation center.

People with working legs can still get through the snow (as our neighbors have proven as they’ve headed off this morning) but for someone in a wheelchair, we’re a lot more dependent on those plows.  DC residents only saw one and they want to complain?

Meh.

The true irony is going to be if the Town finally gets around to sending out a snowplow – the chances are it’ll just go and dump a 4′ berm of snow right on top of the trench we’re going to have to dig out so we can head up the street.

Anyone reading this please take note of the difficulties I’m trying to explain to you here – if you got hit by the snows, and you have a neighbor who is in a wheelchair, take a moment to check around to see how the snow might be trapping them today, and help them out.

You might be able to get through it and off about your business to do your Christmas shopping, or even grocery shopping through snowdrifts – they might not.

Update @ 1310:
Sent an email to the Mayor of the Town asking whether or not the Department of Public Works is actually running the plows, no reply as yet.  I sent one to the Town’s general email address last night, but got no reply to that either.

Update @ 1418:
Got a reply back from the Mayor:
“We are scrambling because of the size of the storm and depth of the snow.  We are now getting to the secondary street and hope to get to you this afternoon.”

Update @ 1900:
Still no plow – but it looks like the top half of the street was plowed at some point.  I wonder what the definition of “secondary street” is?  The logic seems frakked up – Clear the streets for the people who can get through the snow even if it’s unplowed, but not clear the streets for the people who absolutely cannot go anywhere unless it’s been done?

Update @ 0830 Dec 12th:
Road is plowed finally, some sort of chemical ice-melt was used it appears.  We’re not celebrating yet as there’s still one section that will keep us stuck here if it wasn’t cleared.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

OK, pics time.  We’ll update it as we go along, so you can see the fun we’re having.

(That was sarcasm)

Comments

• December 20, 2009, Tweets that mention The Big Dig Begins » Moonwolf’s Lair -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Moon Wolf and Moon Wolf, Moon Wolf. Moon Wolf said: Blog: The Big Dig Begins http://bit.ly/83RXSY #snowstorm @wusa9 [...]
• December 26, 2009, Ken St. Andre (4 comments) writes: Ha! I laugh at your frozen toes. Sane people live in places like Arizona or California where there is no snow.
• December 26, 2009, Moonwolf (11 comments) writes: You always did have the strangest definition of "sane" Ken ... Californians??? Yeesh!!!

You might need it!

Pictures are taken at various times during the DC snowstorm in 2009.  As more pics are taken, this page will be updated.

We could only take a few pictures from the house – as you can tell, we’re pretty much stuck right now since no-one makes snowchains for powerchairs (Mark E. Smith where art thou???)

Strangely, the town’s Department of Public Works hasn’t taken the plows out to the street (at time of writing, saturday evening).  This is slightly perturbing.

Comments

• December 19, 2009, Tweets that mention Haz heated bukit? » Moonwolf’s Lair -- Topsy.com writes: [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Moon Wolf, Moon Wolf. Moon Wolf said: Blog: Haz heated bukit? http://bit.ly/6J3vGh #snowstorm [...]