Try as I might, calves are not romantic!

Got started working on rendereng a calf photo after viewing  the calf painting, and guess what, it is really hard to make a calf look romantic, soft, cuddly, enticing, interesting!  Love looking at them when I'm at the ranch, love photographing their beautiful little faces, but something definitely gets lost in transition!  Maybe I should have used one of the action shots of the grandkids roping, or the calf being branded or just one of the many adult children and friends who participate in the day long branding, but no . . . I wanted a calf!

Calf Thru the Fence

Actually, the photograph is quite endearing and was actually used in a coffee table book about the ranch, maybe I should have used a black background?

Second try wasn't much different, and is of several calves in a holding pen. The red bull is called "Corn Bull" at the Carson Ranch, and this was the first year that I actually saw Corn Calves!  You'd have to know New Mexico politics to understand the humor, and really, it is quite funny, and has become a good Carson family joke!

Corn Calf

I added the crow and rick-rack for interest . . . didn't help much.  I will say though that going down to the ranch is a joy for me; I adore the whole Carson Clan, and consider them extended family.  The painting that was commissioned is going to be gorgeous hanging in the ranch house.  Don't think I'll mention my renderings though, I definitley don't want to become the brunt of a family joke!

Having had the calves become an artistic challenge (failure?) I opted to start another piece for Nancy Donaldson's texture challenge.  Because I have plenty of time to work on it, I'll probably end up with several, but this is what I did this morning in an attempt strengthen my artistic endeavors.

Field of Flowers

Wish I could take credit for the photography, but getting into a field of the little fall flowers would have me wheezing and sneezing for days!  We do have a park in Santa Fe called Frenchy's Field, named after the farmer who gave it to the city for a park, just down the street from my home.  It was glorious this fall, and looked so much like the photo above, but I only admired it from afar; everytime I thought about grabbing my camera, my nose started running!  Alas, the photo of the field of flowers and the white pumpkin are from stock.xchng.

Thought for the day:  I am grateful for all the people who have become such an important part of my life, whether knowingly or not.