San Jose and FC
Back home from a lovely time in San Jose. Almsot got caught in Chicago by a storm on the way out but was just delayed for two hours. I was so happy to arrive in California and fall into bed. Shared a room with Diana Stein and Shinigami girl, who were both excellent room mates. Up nice and early on Frieday for the marathon that is set up day. Got my art hung, dealer's table set up and then, boom, doors open and con starts! The weather for the whole trip was sunny and warm. Well warm to me, the locals were often bundled up and shivering. I understand the rains started the day after we left, so we were lucky. the dealers room was jumping all the time and I chatted with lots of wonderful people about all kinds of things. I'm delighted to say that sales were good, even for prints. And it's been a while since i could say that. I'm very happy with my over all sales. I did a lot of sketching and was very grateful for all the wonderful people who asked me to sketch for them. You guys rock!!!! Sold a good number of my RARE calendars and still have some to sell. Drop me a line if you're interested.
the art show had some nice stuff though the bidding was a bit spotty. Congrats to Blotch for the price on their excellent Skyrim inspiried pic. Food was on the fly mostly, ordering in pizza and chinese on work nights. We had fun each evening doing our homework with other artists and actually managed to get a decent amount of sleep. Our final night we hit a local Bucca de peppos(or however you pronounce that) so I could gorge on chicken saltimboca. Yum! Some excellent fursuits and friendly dogs. also a pair of fabulous rats that completely charmed me.
On Monday, Diana, Romano, Michel and Eric Light and I headed out to the aquarium. we had a lovely drive through Artichoke farms and rollinf hills, spotting hawks, vultures and crows as we went. Outside the aquarium we spotted a California Scrub Jay. And wow, the aquarium was marvelous. Not too crowded and wonderful displays. We hung our a while on the back deck, spotting otters, seals and birds (Pelagig Cormorant for a lifer) in the water. After three days indoors I felt invigorated and was really looking forward to our trip later in the day to Elkhorn Slough. But first we strolled through the aquarium, marveling over the open ocean tank, the kelp forest tank(my favourtie), the fantastic seahorse and jellyfish exhibits. I so hope some of my photos turn out! The shorebird exhibit was a favourite too.
After we'd explored there we headed out to the slough. Thanks so much Steve for suggesting Moss Point to us. It's a jetty sticking out into the bay and a natural beach and estuary for birds. This was the absolute highlight of the trip. We drove onto the jetty and all around I can see hundreds of birds. I am in heaven.
I jump out of the car with my camera and wander up the jetty. Shoregirds, gulls and ducks surround me. But that's not the highlight. The car comes to pick me up and we head out further, finding a parking are with people with scopes. Dians calls out "look at the sea otters" And there they are, around forty of the, lounding in a group just off shore. But that's not all. Amongst the people looking and photographing are some birders with a scope. I overhear..." I've got a marbled murrlet." I beg a look, this is a rare bird on any coast. And a lifer for me. I then spot a Western Grebe and boom another lifer. When they find out I'm not from the area they also find a Clarke's Grebe for me to my delight. They point other birds but whi;e they're lovely, nothing is new. They're very excited to have a long tailed duck which of course is very common here. Such is the way of birding. We wander over the dunes and walk the beach, me potographing shorebirds for leater id. How wonderful to be outside in the sun and wind with the waves crashing around us. We notice a wharf coverd in noisy lumps across the water and know what that is. So we wander over so I can photograph the noisy sea lions. An extra treat. I would so like to go back there and spend more time. As it is we to San Jose again with me exhilerated and content. The trip home was long and tiring and I finally stumbed into my house at 2am to be greeted by happy cats and asleep room mates. All in all a fabulous trip. I 'll post some pics once I get them sorted out. Can'at wait for next year!
the art show had some nice stuff though the bidding was a bit spotty. Congrats to Blotch for the price on their excellent Skyrim inspiried pic. Food was on the fly mostly, ordering in pizza and chinese on work nights. We had fun each evening doing our homework with other artists and actually managed to get a decent amount of sleep. Our final night we hit a local Bucca de peppos(or however you pronounce that) so I could gorge on chicken saltimboca. Yum! Some excellent fursuits and friendly dogs. also a pair of fabulous rats that completely charmed me.
On Monday, Diana, Romano, Michel and Eric Light and I headed out to the aquarium. we had a lovely drive through Artichoke farms and rollinf hills, spotting hawks, vultures and crows as we went. Outside the aquarium we spotted a California Scrub Jay. And wow, the aquarium was marvelous. Not too crowded and wonderful displays. We hung our a while on the back deck, spotting otters, seals and birds (Pelagig Cormorant for a lifer) in the water. After three days indoors I felt invigorated and was really looking forward to our trip later in the day to Elkhorn Slough. But first we strolled through the aquarium, marveling over the open ocean tank, the kelp forest tank(my favourtie), the fantastic seahorse and jellyfish exhibits. I so hope some of my photos turn out! The shorebird exhibit was a favourite too.
After we'd explored there we headed out to the slough. Thanks so much Steve for suggesting Moss Point to us. It's a jetty sticking out into the bay and a natural beach and estuary for birds. This was the absolute highlight of the trip. We drove onto the jetty and all around I can see hundreds of birds. I am in heaven.
I jump out of the car with my camera and wander up the jetty. Shoregirds, gulls and ducks surround me. But that's not the highlight. The car comes to pick me up and we head out further, finding a parking are with people with scopes. Dians calls out "look at the sea otters" And there they are, around forty of the, lounding in a group just off shore. But that's not all. Amongst the people looking and photographing are some birders with a scope. I overhear..." I've got a marbled murrlet." I beg a look, this is a rare bird on any coast. And a lifer for me. I then spot a Western Grebe and boom another lifer. When they find out I'm not from the area they also find a Clarke's Grebe for me to my delight. They point other birds but whi;e they're lovely, nothing is new. They're very excited to have a long tailed duck which of course is very common here. Such is the way of birding. We wander over the dunes and walk the beach, me potographing shorebirds for leater id. How wonderful to be outside in the sun and wind with the waves crashing around us. We notice a wharf coverd in noisy lumps across the water and know what that is. So we wander over so I can photograph the noisy sea lions. An extra treat. I would so like to go back there and spend more time. As it is we to San Jose again with me exhilerated and content. The trip home was long and tiring and I finally stumbed into my house at 2am to be greeted by happy cats and asleep room mates. All in all a fabulous trip. I 'll post some pics once I get them sorted out. Can'at wait for next year!