I took this photograph of the original and the colors aren't exactly right. If it had been professionally photographed or even scanned the colors would have been truer, if not exactly the same.....
The only way I can think to explain it to you is that the original's tone is much warmer and not quite so pale... I may try scanning it at a later date and if there's a big enough difference I may post it again.
I haven't named it yet, so, if any of you have any ideas feel free to share them!
A big THANK YOU to Alice for helping me figure out how to add a watermark to photos! Up until now I haven't really posted much of my artwork because I didn't have the ablity to add watermarks and protect my work before putting it on the web. Now hopfully I can share more of it with you guys and you can give me feed back :)
AND now I also have Adobe Photoshop on this laptop and that I think will be very helpful and fun!
The Henry Vilas Zoo is a nice size and we were able to see all of the exhibits in one afternoon we even had time for the Herptiles Pavilion. *cue ominous music *
I have one thing in common with daring adventurer Indian Jones. It’s not his irresistible charm, not his propensity to get in and then out of tight spots, not a shared weapon of choice (I don’t like whips) and It’s not even that sweet hat, we share the same weakness, same fear: Ophidiophobia.
Ophidiophobia or ophiophobia is a fear of snakes. Not herpetophobia, which is just plan ol’ fear of reptiles. I can handle lizards, turtles, dinosaurs….evenbugs and spiders; basically any sort of creepy crawly or scary coldblooded animal you wanna throw at me is no problem. But, I hate snakes!
So it was with some trepidation I walked into the pavilion dedicated to frogs, crocodiles, lizard, snakes etc. We browsed about looking at each cage, reading the information and signs. The first snake I saw made my stomach jump, but I calmly looked at it just as I had the alligator in the neighboring tank. I hadn’t realized how many different kinds of snakes this zoo had: Pythons, Rattle-Snakes, Garter Snakes, Boa Constrictors, and a large Anaconda. As we continued on through, pointing out things and talking, I began to feel as if I couldn’t breathe; my chest was tight and getting tighter. I was going to explode from trying to keep the panic down as I helped Lukie spot and identify five different snakes camouflaged in their environment. Fear was growing I could not suppress or ignore it.
It was irrational: there was nothing to be afraid of and I knew it, which scared me even more. I’ve always been able to force myself to be calm, to go back, after the initial reaction of running away and taking a good look at the source of my fear. I’d even endured the horror of holding a little boys pet snake. I’d always determined not to let fear rule, but this time I was afraid that I would lose the battle. My enemy had never felt so strong; I was shocked that I hadn’t been able to keep it in check as I usually could. I took a moment to pray and work on breathing. I thought of my sister and her fear of mice, a fear that I had not been able to understand. I had been pushing her to “get over it” I’d tried talking to her about the ridiculous and unfounded reasons for being afraid of a harmless, annoying perhaps, but pretty much harmless little mouse. Here I was face to face with my fear. Every moment it grew harder and harder to keep my head and I felt sympathy for her. Is this what it felt like when she was trying to sleep with a mouse-trap under her bed at night?
As difficult and awful as it was, I learned two things in the zoo’s herptiles pavilion. Sometimes we have no idea what a person is struggling with and if we don’t understand it, there’s even more reason to be patient and kind with them. I also saw my own fear bigger and clearer than ever, but I’m considering this an advantage. I still plan on fighting and defeating this fear whenever it raises its diamond shaped head. Thinking back on it now I didn’t completely succumb to my fear and perhaps I did come out as the victor of that battle. I’m plan on winning the war. This means, I’m planning on touring the WHOLE zoo on my next visit, even the snakes.
A couple of weeks ago I did something that I haven’t done in a long time. It was both nostalgic and exciting.Mom, Luke, Sarah Beth and I visited the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison. It was the “perfect fall day” and we enjoyed every bit of it! After eating a small picnic in the warm sunshine and beautiful colors we walked through the zoo’s front gate. I’d been to this zoo before some years back and I quickly began to get my bearings. To our left were the concession stands and the gift shop where Katie and I bought cute socks, hers with giraffes and mine with elephants. Dad had always bought us a couple of miniature toy animals every time we visited a zoo. We’d built up quite a menagerie of our own; visiting the zoo was a favorite family activity. Every year Mom & Dad would use money from our Grandparents to buy our family season passes to one of the zoos or museums. This day we passed by the commercialized plastic and stuffed products heading straight for the real animals.
The first creature we saw was a large orangutan. He lazily half sat, half hung from the fence of his habituate, we rushed up and leant on our own fence. We all stared at each other: he with a bored expression, absently eating grass in a round cow – like chew; we fascinated and curious. The stare war continued. We found him every so amusing and he, well I couldn’t say what he thought, but taking a clue from his deadpan expression we were nothing new or exciting to this impassive ape. Sarah Beth broke the silence exasperated and confused she demanded “Why don’t He SAY something???”
Having just watch The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe on DVD and then coming face to face with an animal displaying such strong expressions and looking at us so candidly, it seemed only right that he should open his mouth and speak! Poor Sarah Beth! One thing became very clear: it had been much too long since we’ve visited the zoo.
I always love singing this song along with Freddy Eynsford- Hill in My Fair Lady. I came a cross this version by Dean Martin, who puts his own swing on it and the result seems to double the fun! I hope you enjoy it as much a I :)
I got this comment a few weeks ago. It both warmed my little heart and convicted me at the same time!
I miss blogging too!
Things have been a little crazy and uncertain in my life, now that they've settled down a bit I really do hope to come back with more constancy.
I'll start of with a little update.
At this moment I'm sitting at the kitchen counter of my dear friends the Woods, in the lovely state of Nebraska. I'm going to be in Omaha for about two months staying with my friend Rachel in her apartment. It's definitely going to be a new experience for me a small town girl living in a big city by herself (without the whole fam). I'm very thankful for good friends living so close by!
I've made promises to keep in touch closely with my family and friends while out of state so updates on Brush Up With Daisy should be more frequent!
As Audrey says "A blog should be updated at least twice a week."
