Robin Arnold Art

It's been a long time since I've posted anything but I'm going to try and breathe some life back into my blog. I've had problems with a pinched nerve over the last year that was so debilitating I had to resign from my job and for a few months it was hard to lift my arm to paint. This was no great loss to the art world but it left a big void in my life. Although it hasn't gone away it has gotten better. I still have a hard time taking photos, lifting binoculars and sometimes drawing/painting but I am getting the strength back in my arm and the pain is much more manageable than a year ago. Despite my physical limitations and my utter lack of confidence in my abilities I do think I reached a new plateau in my watercolor painting. After a ton of bad paintings ending up in the wastebasket something finally clicked. The painting below of a Cedar Waxwing was a breakthrough and although I still have many failures they are not as frequent as they were a few months ago. ...

This monarch hanging from the chrysalis was done in pen and ink and watercolor. Prints of this are now for sale in my Etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/listing/498244106/monarch-butterfly-print-pen-and-ink-and?ref=shop_home_active_1

These two birds enjoying a cup of coffee on a cold winter's day is my first ever digital drawing. For years I've wanted to try this but never got around to it for various reasons. In the last few months I bought the Mac I've always wanted and a drawing tablet. Unfortunately, it looked like my digital drawing  was going to end before I ever got started because of the pain it caused in my hand and arm. I had the tablet all packed up, ready to send back to NYC, when my spouse insisted on going to Staples and buying me a better, more ergonomic chair. I unpacked the tablet and gave it another try and it made a huge difference. I won't be giving up on traditional media but this was a lot of fun....except when I overdid the "Undo" button and lost half of my painting! This was done in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. The painting printed beautifully on my Epson 1480 and I even made a few cards to send out for Christmas. This is for sale as a 5x7 or 8x10 print i...

September has been quite a month on our 12 acres. Within less than two weeks I had rescued a budgie(parakeet) and a rogue rooster. I first spotted the budgie one evening as we were shutting up the chickens. He was sitting on a bush in  our backyard. My first reaction was "rare bird" but I soon calmed down after looking at the yellow blob with binoculars. Definitely a budgie. I tried to capture him that evening but he flew off to the top of a very large willow tree. Over the next couple of days we spotted him off and on under the bird feeder but he always flew off with the wild birds every time we walked out the back door. About 3 days later, on our wedding anniversary, I saw him sitting on our chainlink fence all by himself...no other birds around. I grabbed some bird seed and slowly walked over to him, fully expecting him to fly away. He didn't. He let me put my seed-filled hand in front of him and he started to eat the food. While he was eating, I carefully brought up...

Gena and I are again in search of salamanders. The last 4 years put a huge damper on our evening activities because of Gena being unceremoniously dumped on afternoon shift. After 47 years of working in a lab she officially retired at the end of 2015 so we can now pick up where we left off. We went out two nights when the conditions seemed to be perfect--warm and rainy--but we didn't see anything except hundreds of earthworms. We know they're out there somewhere but until we actually find a live one I will have to be content to draw pics of what it would be like to shine the flashlight on one or two of these amphibians. This intriguing pair  were big enough to chew off a foot but fortunately they were smiling and seemed quite friendly. I have no clue where they got the umbrella!

 Gena and I have had a problem with this ever since we've had chickens. We also have tons of rabbits and every year a few of them go the Easter Bunny route. We have actually caught them in the coop, yanking eggs out of the next boxes. This particular hen has obviously made a deal with one of the bunnies in return for a pile of dew worms. This was a very fast sketch using Micron pens and watercolor. I had a fever while I did this so that might explain a lot :)

I  finished this carving! This hunk of bark sat on my bench for a few months before I ever touched it with a carving knife. I kept waiting for it to speak to me but apparently this piece  was mute. I thought it looked like some kind of bird but I was hesitant to start. Eventually, I decided to carve  an owl. I was happy with the results but then I was afraid to paint it for fear I would ruin my carving so it sat for several more months. With Christmas looming I decided I had to finish this piece so I could put it in my Etsy shop. Since great-horned owls have a lot of brown on them I thought  leaving most of the owl unpainted would be a good idea but I still needed to  accent the feathers or the carving would look pretty blah. Enter the wood burner. I bought this a year ago as a birthday gift to my spouse but I think I've used it more than she has. It made the owl pop without mucking it up with paint. For more details check it out in my Etsy shop at: http...

The last few days have been gorgeous in Ohio; so gorgeous that the bullfrogs are lined up all along the bank of the pond enjoying the sun. They know that soon they'll be buried in the muck until spring so they're taking advantage of this bonus weather. I sketched this little guy near the back of the house along with his snaky friend. The drink is swamp juice, a replacement for orange juice in northwest Ohio. The frogs weren't the only ones basking in the sun. This is Susie and Harriet, two of our 8 week old hens we bought from a hatchery in Polk, OH. Susie, on the left, is a Barred Rock and Harriet is a Golden Laced Wyandotte.

It got pretty interesting in the marsh last night! I saw frogs, turtles and our resident Bigfoot flying around on brooms. It was too dark for photos so I tried to sketch it but the action was so fast and furious it was tough to get on paper. It should be even better tonight....stay tuned!

I'm still plugging away with my watercolors and I have a couple to share that are at least recognizable. On September 8th we went to Meyer's Hatchery in Polk, OH. to pick up six tiny chicks. They are the cutest things ever and Gena and I have been spending as much time as possible with them so they will not only be good egg layers but also good friends.  The new additions to our family are Maggie, Debi(both named after high school classmates), Amelia, Susy(named after my junior high German teacher), Harriet and Cuddles. This painting was my third attempt and although it has a lot of flaws I'm happy with it. I painted this from one of my photos....no way I can sketch constantly moving chicks! Amelia, as in Amelia Earhart,  is the yellow chick and was so named because she was trying to fly since she was a day old. Amelia is a Blue Ameracana, which is considered a rare breed. Susie is a Barred Rock and although she was named after my German teacher, her name also pays tri...

I haven't had a lot of time for my projects lately but I've managed to steal a few minutes here and there away from mowing grass, working for the meager paycheck, etc. My main focus now is Santa carvings for my Etsy store. While some of my items don't sell as well as previous years my Santas still do well. I even broke down and used some of my extra special pieces of Lake Erie cottonwood bark and I think the results turned out well. Santa with toy bag and Teddy bear Santa with Teddy bear was carved from piece of bark I picked up at East Harbor State Park several years ago, before the emerald ash borer invaded Ohio and you could still pick up wood and carry it out of the park.  I wanted to do something special with this piece but it sat on my bench for several weeks before the "light" went on. I used to carve off  most if not all of the rough areas but I now prefer to leave more of it intact for a more rustic look. https://www.etsy.com/listing/248060535/ca...

I am a nervous person riddled with panic attacks on a good day but this year has been more challenging than usual and I'm to the point where I feel like I may end up in a padded room before my 60th birthday in November. To try and bring some calm back into my psyche I've been drawing and playing around with watercolors as often as possible. My drawings show promise; the watercolors, not so much. Maybe it's because of my age and the fact that I grew up with a black and white TV but I do much better with gray scale than I do with color. Charlie This is Charlie, a former neighbors cat who decided he liked our place better. This is my second attempt at this drawing, the first one ending up in the trash. Charlie was a challenge and I probably should have picked something smaller and more manageable. By the time I got his head done I just wanted this drawing to end but a cat head floating in space doesn't have much appeal so I kept at it until I finally had a complete ...

This has been a tough spring here. Unlike other parts of the country that are having severe droughts it has done nothing but rain where I live and trying to keep up with the mowing has severely cut into my carving time. As you can see in the following photo I have a few that need to be finished. We are supposed to get up to 3" of rain tomorrow which means our place will most likely be flooded. I can't mow through standing water so maybe I'll get some carving time in this weekend. I've also had to cut back on  my carving because of two additions to our small flock of chickens. Last Sunday we were given two black silkies...a rooster--we swore we would never have a rooster again--and a hen. Black Silkie Rooster Meet Thor the rooster. Thor loves to protect his kingdom by hanging out in front of the coop which  is not good because the hens are terrified of him and can't get into the coop to lay eggs. Meanwhile, Thor is terrified of Keetie, our guinea, so he ...

It's never too early to think about Christmas, especially if you carve Santas! I recently completed one with a teddy bear, one with a chickadee and lastly, a Santa carved from cottonwood bark. Santa with Chickadee  I'm big on birds and one of my favorites is the chickadee so I couldn't wait to incorporate one into a Santa carving. This Santa is carved from basswood, with acrylic paints and finished with two coats of satin varnish and one coat of wax.  https://www.etsy.com/listing/235841817/hand-carved-santa-with-staff-and?ref=shop_home_active_3 Cottonwood Bark Santa My cottonwood bark Santa is carved from a piece of bark I found lying along the shoreline of Lake Erie. To give it an extra special rustic look I left some of the bark on the carving. This carving is painted with acrylic paints and finished with two coats of satin varnish and one coat of wax.  https://www.etsy.com/listing/236475497/hand-carved-rustic-santa-robin-arnold?ref=shop_home_active_1 ...

April usually brings kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers and several other early migrating birds to our property but this year, because of northeast winds, the migration is a little behind schedule. I finally saw a pair of  yellow warblers two days ago near the back of the property. Male Yellow Warbler in dogwood We have several of these warblers nest on our 12 acres every year.  I found this nest in the following photo last year before the leaves of the dogwood had totally blocked it from view. Female Yellow Warbler sitting on her nest. The winter of 2013/2014 was so severe that for the first time in almost 30 years we didn't have any Canada geese goslings being raised on our property and it looked like this year was going to be a repeat of last. In the last week, however, we have had a pair hanging around in our marsh and we're hopeful they'll nest on top of this muskrat house. Our marsh is only about 5 years old so this will only be the second time we've h...

After talking about it for the last couple of years, we finally decided to order two wood duck nest boxes. Why didn't we do it sooner? These large nest boxes are no small feat to put up for anyone at any age but for two women, aged 59 and 65, it's a monumental task!  UPS delivered two wood duck nest boxes UPS delivered the nest boxes on April 17th, and that morning we got out the post hole digger, an 8 foot 4x4 post and went to work. This one was erected on the edge of our pond.Thank goodness our property is usually a soggy mess in the spring as it made the job of digging a hole much easier. Gena and Keetie digging the hole for a nest box We put the second box up the following morning on the edge of the marsh and I've spent the last week lathering myself with arthritis cream and popping Tylenol and Aleve for sore hands, neck, back, etc. Was it worth it? Well, a certain male house sparrow is ecstatic we went to all this work just for hi...

I took a break from mowing grass and putting up wood duck nest boxes to finally finish my "frog on a driftwood box". I made one of these for a custom order a few weeks ago and it turned out fairly well so I decided to make another for my Etsy store. The box is made from a piece of driftwood that I found along the shoreline of Lake Erie near where I live. Driftwood has become a hot commodity so anytime I can find a good looking, usable piece I consider myself lucky. The frog is carved from basswood and painted with acrylic paints. The inside of the box is drilled out with a large bit on a drill press,  and the lid swivels on a dowel. To see more details check froggy out at my Etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/listing/230687315/hand-carved-frog-on-driftwood-box-rustic

There is still a lot of snow on the ground but this week in northwest Ohio the temps are actually above normal. I'm hoping that by the end of the week sections of our marsh and pond will thaw and maybe, just maybe, a few ducks will fly in. In years past we've had gadwalls, northern shovelers, green-winged teal, redheads, lesser scaup and blue-winged teal fly in to our 12 acres and it's not uncommon for hooded mergansers and wood ducks to nest on our property. Two male lesser scaups pursuing a female scaup on our pond. Some harbingers of spring can only be heard, not seen. Two mornings ago the calls of sandhill cranes could be heard coming from a marsh east of us along with a killdeer that was in a marsh southwest of us. Add to that the cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, Canada geese and one lone titmouse closer to our house and it's like nature's symphony enjoyed in surround sound. In the following video you can hear some of the sounds of spring while watchin...

Like most of you, time flies by for me. I'm a part-time medical courier and every April in the same doctor's parking lot I look at the date on my route sheet and feel relieved I won't be driving in snow and ice for a few months. In November I'm sitting in the same parking lot and wondering where the time went and  how can I possibly do this job for another winter. Spring bird migration, sitting on the deck carving, mowing tons of grass,  swearing at the mosquitoes and deer flies; it's all over in a flash. What can make the time seem to go even faster? Designing and carving holiday items. It's tough to think about Halloween or Christmas  in February, June or August  but I've learned the hard way I need to work on Santa Clauses and pumpkins year round. An added twist is you never really know when they will sell. In 2013 I didn't sell one Halloween carving but in the summer of 2014 I sold three. A serious collector is always on the lookout for something new...

Spring is getting close so I thought  now would be a good time to post this article we wrote in 2009 about vernal pools. Since writing this article the FWS developed a 5 acre marsh on our property creating even more vernal pools. Head out during a spring or late winter thaw and see what you can find. Happy hunting! 12 ACRES IN OHIO A Vernal Pool and the Fountain of Youth We left the house in the gathering darkness as 2 adults in our fifties; by the time we reached the vernal pool at the back of the property, we were 10 years old again. We carried a video camera, a tape recorder, 2 headlamps, and a notebook. It was an early spring evening—damp and windless, and the western chorus frogs in the marsh were just beginning to tune up after a long, cold winter. We were on a mission to check out a small vernal pool and its inhabitants in the back corner of the field. We waded to the middle….   At first, neither of us saw anything but dead grass and decaying leaves on t...