2007 Road Glide

Here's a few pictures of my current bike. It's a 2007 Harley Davidson Road Glide. I've owned four other motorcycles but this is my first Harley. I'm very happy with it. So far I've changed out the grips, all the fluids, added a taller windshield and a few other minor things.

The plan is to keep this one for a few years.

Hi there. Sorry, no new art. I just feel like talking.

So, let's see. What's been going on?

1. Kilter is grown up and moved out on his own
2. Luckygirl is turning 13 next week
3. I still work at the same job
4. I havn't painted anything in a really long time
5. My wife and I have been remodeling our master bathroom. It's taking way longer and costing more money than expected. Hopefully it all pays off in the end.
6. I sold the Cop Bike, bought a Honda VTX1800, sold the Honda, and now ride a Yamaha FJR1300.

My KZ1000P

For those of you who didn't know, I recently purchased retired PHX PD motorcycle. It's a 2001 Kawasaki KZ1000P (KZP). The bike was super cheap and way below my budget but I liked it better than other, more expensive bikes that I could have bought.  It's big and comfy with an upright seating position and it's also a little quirky. I did lots of research and found out that these things were being built for nearly 25 years with minimal changes, the result, a later model bike with super classic style.

It was all painted in PD white when I bought it so the first thing I did was paint the fairing, tank, boxes and fender black, but I left the side covers with the police special logo alone. Here's the before and after:

Before:

 

After:

Plaid

As I was working on the previous post, I relized that I have neglegted to show this painting to you. I did this one a few months back. Acrylic on Canvas, done using painting knives.

There's no reason to delete my blog.

The other day I was thinking, "You know, I should just close and delete that Brown Street Blog & Gallery. I never really post anything anymore." Well, I decided not to. There's no reason to delete it. Even if I rarely ever post anything, and when I do, it's usually something silly, who cares? It's not like anybody out there is holding their breath for the next posting. And it's not like I'm holding anyone back from achieving their dreams by keeping the blog open.

The main two reasons I had for starting this blog was 1) To say whatever I felt like. and 2) to share my artwork with anyone who cares to see it. Well, I haven't had anything to say lately, but that doesn't mean I never will again. I also haven't painted anything in quite a while, but I still have my easel and brushes. Who knows? Maybe inspiration will strike at some time I don't expect.

As for me lately, life is good as usual. My wife and I hit 20 years of wedded bliss. My son turned 18 and is now living with a girl. My daughter is about to turn 11 and is as beautiful as ever. I also really enjoy my job. I am thinking about buying a motorcycle soon. Probably a big touring bike, like a Goldwing or something. I'll be sure to post a picture when I do.

Anyway, even though I don't blog often, I see no reason to quit altogether. Hope you keep reading.

Stuck in the Garage

Have you seen the beautiful car that Kilter bought? 2002 Mercedes Benz E320. He paid way less than I paid for my Kia.

Did you know that if you get three moving violations before you turn 18 you will have your license suspended for 90 days?

Kilter knows it now.

Whales

As you can see, I'm painting again. This one is called "Whales". Real tricky huh? It's acrylic on canvas. I think it's 24x20 inches. I included two pics because I have so much trouble getting clear pictures of my paintings. The first picture captures the colors but has lots of glare. The second one doesn't show the true colors but it's a cleaner photo.

I'm also in the middle of another painting that is totally different from this one. It's not done yet so you'll have to wait to see it.

PS3 Addiction

I have an addictive personality. I think it's because I always have to be doing something. It's the reason I started painting. I had a week off of work and didn't have anything to do.

I used to play lots of video games as a kid. I lived across the street from a bowling alley and would scrounge quarters to play Donkey Kong. Once I got older I didn't play any games for some time but then my son got old enough to get into the game thing. I bought a PS2 and got addicted to Gran Tourismo 3, then several others.

Once the "Next Gen" systems came out I decided that I wasn't going to get involved because if I did, I would get hooked. Great plan, poor execution.

Kilter has a job and buys his own things so it wasn't long before he came home with a PS3 and a game called Battlefield Bad Company 2. I thought nothing of it because it's mostly an online game and I have always avoided playing online for fear of being annoyed by all the idiots out there.
Somehow I tried the game. Next thing you know, I bought my own PS3 system. Now I'm addicted to it. I'm up to Level 37 (Major) of 50. I started out ranked higher than 250,000 and now I'm ranked in the top 20,000. The thing I love is the challenge of playing online against other live players. Anyone who has played video games knows that playing against a computer is very predictable. Playing online is anything but. It's a new challenge that you can never beat completely.

If you have an adictive personality, I highly recommend you avoid this game.

Chimp Raises Tigers

OK. This is too cute. If you know me, you know I'm not particularlly into cute things. This article caught my attention. My daughter and I were looking on Bing to find pics of tiger cubs and we stubled across this chimp that is helping to raise two white tigers in South Carolina.

Read the full story with more pictures here ----> http://tinyurl.com/2dg2cmn

Here's a preview:

Artistic Struggles

I havn't posted anything for a very long while. A big reason (or excuse) for not keeping up with the blog is that I haven't been painting much.

I completed a rather large painting (4" x 4" mdf) that hangs in my living room but it didn't photograph very well. I guess you want to see it anyway so here it is.

I really like the picture but it looks nothing like what you see in this photograph. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get rid of the glare.

By the way. The picture/scupture on the far right in this set (Wooden Tiles) is no longer there. A person who has a dance studio and does art sittings (provides a studio and subject for artists to come and practice) fell in love with it so I gave it to her. It now hangs in her studio.