tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16819075677612896362024-03-14T04:36:11.630-07:00Doug Hiser Author-ArtistHiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-22398766069425583652021-07-02T13:32:00.001-07:002021-07-02T13:32:48.742-07:00HISER ART during the Pandemic 2020-21<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> This is the first post in a LONG year that we have all experienced. A very productive year for my art and books but a disappointing year for travel. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This was also the year 2021 that i just retired from teaching high school art and all that meant was that i became busier than ever before with my own professional art career and the career of being an author. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope we are coming out of the long dark time and hopefully within this year can can travel internationally again. We hopefully look forward to going back to Africa in 2022. I wanted to go back to costa Rica this year but sadly it is not an open country yet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I qualified for the third year in a row for the amazing ARTISTS for Conservation Art Festival in Vancouver with my ink piece Zebra Crossing but it is still not known if we are able to travel and attend as Canada has not opened to international travel yet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The December 2020 publication of my epic fantasy 555 page novel Midnight Jungle has been a hit and all 5 star reviews so far. It was a long journey from those first days i began the task of writing such a complex and huge book. I am proud of it because it is exciting and unique, filled with adventure and imagination and true love and monstrous creatures.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">from 2020 to 2021 I produced to Public Turtle Art Sculptures for Galveston and Jamaica Beach, won the Artist Boat design with extinct birds painting barrel, did well in many art shows so far and achieved 1st, 2nd, and honorable mention in the Lone Star Art Guild Convention. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The many ZOOM presentations were successful from scratchboard demos to author talks but Next month i get to do a live ink demo in Conroe and a workshop live in august. In July we will be conducting a LIVE Owl and Lizard summer camp for youth at the Baytown Art League.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Murals we have finished during this time has been overwhelming when i look back on them. The Cheetah Mural for Namibia Cheetah Conservation, The six walls of the Jungle Book mural, The FIVE background murals for the Houston Education Raptor Center flight enclosures, The 100 Texas Birds mural for Audubon, the four freshwater Fish for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and we are in the process of completing the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge Animals of the Marsh mural at the nature center.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7TAjG1LvjVg4ygIqeA9JbrxS5NolOQFzJcGdwSATstto9QklpHMoGKNg44KLzB88fNK_3TKlWiqw675kbNyuh_rh8OU4WG42NVqpcobcoASJPSMiNPVrbE_XKtGyvu8QJusVcVG6rzfX/s5568/DSC_5530+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3712" data-original-width="5568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7TAjG1LvjVg4ygIqeA9JbrxS5NolOQFzJcGdwSATstto9QklpHMoGKNg44KLzB88fNK_3TKlWiqw675kbNyuh_rh8OU4WG42NVqpcobcoASJPSMiNPVrbE_XKtGyvu8QJusVcVG6rzfX/s320/DSC_5530+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA_3ArUtRnz71SQhc8_HvL-wJeZBB3sM9fxr2nIGYjx6BIIkTIcADpf4s9K32gTWXOcEabWQfjtoIPICQ9bwvrj-HpoN4f-r_iQYUUfjphCwSPw7AdK8fgUTV6RRNTayTxlv2JPBVG2o_/s1826/texas+birds+mural+finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1772" data-original-width="1826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA_3ArUtRnz71SQhc8_HvL-wJeZBB3sM9fxr2nIGYjx6BIIkTIcADpf4s9K32gTWXOcEabWQfjtoIPICQ9bwvrj-HpoN4f-r_iQYUUfjphCwSPw7AdK8fgUTV6RRNTayTxlv2JPBVG2o_/s320/texas+birds+mural+finished.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8bv39FAnTnI63l-WuJHI60laFwm8iy2dg4KJJa0hau8jLz43FRMgs-31c80WMOfWy6sS5v2SiqVNfYNQir-3dA1ejFd_-rRwKGjKO6YMQVHynhPhCqwCeoLZHYj2dVBJ1elUYkb-W3VY/s1899/ZZZAFC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1419" data-original-width="1899" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8bv39FAnTnI63l-WuJHI60laFwm8iy2dg4KJJa0hau8jLz43FRMgs-31c80WMOfWy6sS5v2SiqVNfYNQir-3dA1ejFd_-rRwKGjKO6YMQVHynhPhCqwCeoLZHYj2dVBJ1elUYkb-W3VY/s320/ZZZAFC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aurZFG0juLBBiYVQ0o-TQGSk7GlO4JawcGa16hJXOMcb3td6l1fX-UBmtYmd0FA-1G2C3mENMHmyEuRVcCl_LTeDrYmK7er43gz8dOvuWw4cCeB_Y4XTSY3LWtL3oNX2_z_orpW8-jFj/s960/muralmowgli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aurZFG0juLBBiYVQ0o-TQGSk7GlO4JawcGa16hJXOMcb3td6l1fX-UBmtYmd0FA-1G2C3mENMHmyEuRVcCl_LTeDrYmK7er43gz8dOvuWw4cCeB_Y4XTSY3LWtL3oNX2_z_orpW8-jFj/s320/muralmowgli.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-647453509521041232020-06-10T18:02:00.000-07:002020-06-10T18:02:48.240-07:00Doug Hiser Books 2020<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmStUw1wE4&fbclid=IwAR0z6RGjXtbsarWTSLejSW9Dm5Ya9OLWTgfLrtTBSbQJW1-RCEjlnv2JF4U">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmStUw1wE4&fbclid=IwAR0z6RGjXtbsarWTSLejSW9Dm5Ya9OLWTgfLrtTBSbQJW1-RCEjlnv2JF4U</a><br />
CLICK on the you tube link above for the VIDEO. <br />
Video of the published animal art and fiction books of artist author Doug Hiser<br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-81875070135040472142019-07-31T17:45:00.001-07:002019-07-31T17:47:15.516-07:00Summer 2019 Nova Scotia to Tanzania Africa<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We began our summer wildlife journey in Boston, Massachusetts, traveling first to Bar Harbor, Maine, hiking to the top of Bar Island and then enjoying Lobster at Stewards Lobster Pound. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next day we traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia and visited the Hope Animal Shelter, where the famous talking crow, Tilly, resides. We visited Lobster fishermen with the catch of the day and a ten pound lobster. Along the coast I saw my first Eider duck.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next day we came to Sydney Breton Isle, hiking the town and chasing large ravens trying for decent photographs. Later that evening we watched the performance of a live orchestra performing to BBC's Planet Earth II series.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prince Edward Island the next day was a magical experience where outside of Charlestown we spend the day learning Falconry with Harris hawks and Gyr Falcons. The birds of prey landed on our gloved hands and took their bit of meat and then soared up into the sky again and again. We late explored Quebec City and flew home from Montreal, Canada.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our next excursion was to Arusha, Tanzania by way of Kilimanjaro. The art gallery in Arusha that features artwork by John Banovich is interested in representing my animal art. Our first safari was in Tarangire park where we saw our first ground hornbills. We watched in amazement as a sparrow hawk struck a dove in midair. Tarangire Osupuko lodge was a nice stop with plenty of elephants, along with a leopard that had an impala stashed in a tree.<i> </i>Bush bucks and vervet monkeys were plentiful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next day we drove to Ngorongoro Crater and the first sighting we get to watch a Serval hunting mice for quite a while. Running by was a hyena with a warthog head in its mouth. A bull elephant charged a bunch of lions that had circled a wounded buffalo. So much wildlife today and we arrive near dark at Ndutu lodge outside of the Crater.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At Ndutu camp there was so much wildlife. Genets were in the rafters at dinner and bats flew low in the sky. Dik DIk antelopes in camp and so many colors of birds they looked like spilled skittles in the waterhole. In the morning we had an amazing game drive experience, with a hunting cheetah running full speed after a herd of Impalas. Later that same day we photograph bats, and lizards, and then we find eight lion cubs playing and tumbling together for hours. That evening on the way back to camp we stopped on a tall hill and toasted the day with champagne and a surprise tin of popcorn for Gayln from our fantastic guide, Mathew.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunrise game drive to Lake Masek filled with flamingos. Today was the day i got my special pizza made by the chef and it was incredible! After the morning drive we headed for the Serengeti. We encounter lions and steenbok, and a leopard killed a monkey on a kopje rock with her cub. Our first hartebeests and Topis of the Serengeti. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next morning North Serengeti with large herds of elephants, and buffalo, zebras and many herds of the giant elands. In the afternoon we arrive in Central Serengeti with the Rock and Tree Hyraxes. The rocks had plenty of Agama lizards fighting, and on top we found a pair of klipspringers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next morning and afternoon was spent watching and waiting on the great migration -massive herds of wildebeests lined the riverbanks of the Mara River filled with hippos and crocs! That morning we got to see our first ever Bat Eared Foxes! A herd of Elephants crossed the Mara River. Plenty of giraffes and then later that night our first Bush Baby. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next morning i found a dead zebra and before long 4 species of vultures began to descend from the sky and find it too. Within minutes hyenas came running from all directions. Thirty minutes later the hyenas pulled an unborn zebra from the dead mother and then the carcass was stripped clean by at least fifty vultures and ten or more hyenas. We drove alongside a massive herd of buffalo with many old battle scarred bulls. That night we found lions fighting in the tall grass and on the way back to the camp our first white tailed mongoose. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Driving along the next morning we came across a line of all old bull elephants in a bachelor herd. Huge and impressive creatures passing in front of our vehicle. We spent the noon hour at a high point on Lake Manyara for a lunch stop. Our guide Mathew sang Masai songs to us on our drive back to Arusha. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next morning near Kilimanjaro Gayln was on a mission to get photos of Pied Crows, and she did a great job! Two days later we finally arrive back in Texas, worn out from the best trip to Africa of all our four trips! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-60651428835321560112019-03-31T07:35:00.000-07:002019-03-31T07:35:45.599-07:00Winter-Spring 2019 Hiser Art Studios<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spring is approaching with Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes flowers blooming. My favorite time of year. This year has been the busiest for me judging more art shows than usual, about one good show a month. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My High School Art Students exceeded my expectations by winning 48 Gold medals at the Visual Art Scholastic Event competing this year with 2/3 of the entries by freshman Art Ones. We also have FOUR State qualifiers, one from each grade, 9,10,11,12. Proud of those dedicated students.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I began the commission for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Boot Sculpture back in November and delivered it to NRG stadium where it was installed for the greatest rodeo on the planet. My six foot tall golden boot was painted with sixteen rodeo bulls portraits and was seen by millions of rodeo fans across the globe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, 2019, I have taught two workshops, and a couple of demos and speaking presentations but the busiest times have come from all the dozens of murals my students and I have been working on-too many to list here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Spring there are many larger art show coming up and I have eight art pieces qualified for the National Art Show in May.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finished editing and creating two new covers for my epic fantasy novel THE MIDNIGHT JUNGLE-which should be published this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During Spring Break Gayln and I traveled to the Hill Country of Texas, Mountain Home, Kerrville, San Marcos, and spend a few days exploring and hiking the area of the Y. O. Ranch. Exotics species were everywhere and we enjoyed our adventures with swans, longhorns, buffalo, kudu, oryx, nilgai, and many more, including a rare white buffalo. Quintana and the Brazoria and San Bernard wildlife refuges were frequent journeys for us photographing birds, alligators and sandhill cranes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently my birder girl, Natalie and her sister, Mel, had a long day of disappointing nature when we found out the Baytown Nature Center was closed do to the fire and spill nearby and we ended up exploring Sheldon Lake which seemed to only be a place filled with bullfrogs and very few birds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highlight of our nature hiking was when Galyn and I spotted two bobcats at Brazoria and captured many photos, Gayln's first ever bobcat wild sighting! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-25939994287366122082018-12-23T09:47:00.000-08:002018-12-23T09:47:08.091-08:00Fall-Winter 2018 Hiser Art Studios<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So much has happened since we returned from Kenya this past summer. Me and Gayln traveled to Vancouver, Canada and as an Artist for Conservation helped unveil the largest bird mural in the world Silent Skies. We had great nature trips with Thomas and Theresa in Canada.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My art student painters and myself completed the Santa Fe City Hall Mural, Ten Feathers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I painted quick draw birds at the Audubon and HGA Art Show, Dickinson Art in the Park and my Brazos Art League Painting workshop. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Me and Gayln and Natalie have had a few great successful birding trips this fall and encountered amazing things, beautiful roseate spoonbills, close up deer encounters, even touching a wandering armadillo nearby and a speckled kingsnake biting the lens of my camera. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">MY students and I participated in the amazing art weekend in downtown Houston, Via Colori where we created a very cool piece of street art. We also began an ambitious project of filling the walls with Art History parody murals in the Art Room at HGA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Abby and myself spent a day in nature and at Gator Country holding snakes, lizards and Alligators.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The last day of school I had Zoofari visit my art students with a kangaroo, a red ruffed lemur, a fennec fox, a genet, a skunk, and a vervet monkey. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My art production was quite proficient as i created many paintings, inks, scratchboards and countless drawings, while teaching art and art history getting my students ready for competition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I am also finishing up on my Public Art secret commission for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo which will be seen by millions this February and March.</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-83255059256486125032018-06-16T20:09:00.000-07:002018-06-16T20:09:42.923-07:00KENYA ART SAFARI 2018<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hiser Art Safari group met at Houston Intercontinental Airport on Monday afternoon, June 4th. The girls, Abby, Bianca, Natalie, Alva, and Gabby, were excited as Gayln and I got ready with our tickets to start the boarding process for the long flight. Finally Wednesday morning we arrived in Nairobi and were picked up by Classic Safaris and began the long drive to Mount Kilimanjaro and Amboseli National Park. On the way, the Art girls got to see their first wild Giraffes, white necked Ravens, and Zebras along the roadsides. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day One at Kibo Camp Amboseli and our safari vehicle broke down, dead battery, we had to get out and push to restart it a few times. On this day we had plenty of zebras, wildebeest and ostrich up close. The Crowned cranes were abundant, coucals, thick knees, baby plovers, Thompson's Gazelle, Grant's gazelles, and yellow necked Francolins, and a pygmy falcon all highlighted the first drive. We saw some of the biggest Tusker ELephants I have ever seen in my life and one huge bull decided to bluff charge us a few times. That night I sat by the fire and reflected on the the first day with my art students in Africa. Their eyes were shining when they saw the first herds of elephants in Amboseli.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day Two at Kibo Camp we enjoy an early breakfast and listen to the rumbling sound of a nearby zebra herd running from something, maybe lions, which we heard in the night. Driving along, Natalie yells and she spotted a big hyena sleeping next to the road, we had already driven past it. He was only a few feet from our window and finally he jumps up and disappears. Today we arrived at the lake and were lucky to get good photos of flocks of Greater and Lesser Flamingos along with Buffalos, vervet monkeys, baboons, waterbucks, bush bucks, and our first lions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back at Kibo camp for lunch we saw bee eaters and paradise flycatchers. Gayln was visited at our tent by a dwarf mongoose, while some of us visited the nearby Masai village. Abby, Gabby, and Ms. Chang danced with the Masai and we toured their village learning their medicine, prayers, and bargaining skills. Gabby and I were charged by a Masai Bull but managed to side step as a warrior chased it away with a long stick. Birds on this game drive included, Spur Geese, Egyptian Geese, hammerkop, crakes, jacanas, storks, cranes, and a hoopoe. This drive also produced the girls first hippo sighting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day Three we depart Amboseli and arrive at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort. Very impressive lodge with zebras and waterbuck roaming the grounds and giraffes at the entrance. The girls were excited and amazed. At night it was dangerous to wander about because hippos from the lake came ashore to graze and we spotted them with flashlights. That first day we took a boat trip to Crescent Island and observed African Fish Eagles fishing and plenty of big hippos fighting in the lake. Arriving on Crescent Island our guide took us on a walking safari getting extremely close to wildebeests, waterbuck, zebras, giraffes, gazelles and impalas. That night our meal was grand and the beauty of the lodge was so relaxing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day Four at Lake Naivasha and vervet monkeys were running everywhere. This morning we headed off to Lake Nakuru to find big herds of zebra, impala, and buffalo. Widowbirds showed off their long tails in the tall grass. Driving up the hill to reach the Baboon Cliffs-true to the name we find baboons hanging out. The overlook is awesome with the view of Lake Nakuru and I am astounded at the difference of when I was at this exact point in 2012. The Lake has expanded in size so much. Agama lizards showed off their exotic colors of blue and green and orange and pink heads on the rocks and Abby actually touches one-so tame for wild lizards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along the way we were lucky enough to find two leopard tortoises, and a baby gazelle. Spinning our tires and almost getting stuck in deep mud, it started to rain and that's when we found the white rhinos. Two of the rhinos in the rain came right next to the vehicle and of the five, we saw that one had a baby rhino. Getting that close to wild rhinos made the day for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back at Lake Naivasha lodge Gayln and I take a walk and find a herd of zebras that she walks along with. We then found four tall giraffes and get really close up. While walking along the lake we encounter angry hippos grunting at us and to be safe we turned around and headed away from the water. Hippos are too grumpy to take chances with. That evening at dinner we were tired but the girls were excited about their day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day Five was a day of driving "hell" with horrible roads and long long hours in the truck. The highlight of the morning before we left were the troop of Colobus monkeys at Lake Naivasha camp which were a great find!..My favorite monkeys and the girls enjoyed their beautiful black an white fur. We saw pied kingfishers, waterbucks and yellow billed storks on our nature walk before we departed. Hours and hours later we arrive in the Mara, of course, bombarded by Masai women pushing their handfuls of beads at our windows, so persistent, not a pleasant experience. The first animal we find on the Mara was not what you would expect, FROGS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tall grass hides many animals but we found two big male lions, five cheetahs sleeping under a tree, our first herds of Topi, and hartebeests. Great encounters with some of my favorites, Secretary birds, GO Away birds,, Kory and White belied Bustards, Snake Eagles, Vultures, and Helmeted Guineafowl. and baboon troops walking along the dirt roadway. A big male surprised everyone when he attacked Gayln through the vehicle window, grabbing at the camera. Luckily he missed her but we all jumped and got a good scare with his big canines flashing and those long hairy arms grabbing at her. The sunset that night was incredible as we finally arrived at Ashnil Mara Camp .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day Six we have a quick breakfast and set out for a game drive into the Mara. I had no idea of the what we were about to find. We first spot a Suni antelope, my first, very similar to a Dik Dik antelope, along with huge herds of Topi, Impala, Grant's and Thompson's gazelles. Along with huge herds usually comes the predators. We were not disappointed with the arrival of a big leopard stalking through the tall grass. The big cat was beautiful and even crawled up underneath a truck to rest in the shade. We spent some time with the big leopard and then left, to let him hunt in peace. He approached very close for good photos. A few minutes later we find two lionesses and have some good viewing time with them too. Two big buffalos wandered nearby and then we returned for a lunch at the lodge with many crocodiles and hippos in the river below our lunch deck. The open air lunch area had plenty of visitors, like bulbul birds and mousebirds. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After lunch Abby , Bianca, Galyn, Alva, Natalie, and Gabby all relaxed at the pool creating the word: "Africa"-- with our bodies and arms in the cool pool water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That afternoon we drove out to the place on the Mara River where some of the Great Migration takes place, they were crocodiles waiting along the banks and the river was filled with hippos. Great close up encounter with a silver backed jackal who didn't seem to mind us at all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day 7 leaving Ashnil on a LONG drive back to Nairobi. The bumpy road known as the Kenyan Massage seemed to never end. Once back in Nairobi, hours and hours later, starving, we eat some familiar food, KFC and PIZZA HUT for a quick lunch. Our next stop that afternoon was the Giraffe Center. Gayln and I had been there before but the girls first experience went grreat ! Gabby was kissing endangered Rothschild''s giraffes on the lips and a big male decided to hook my shoulder with his horn. We saw the famous Giraffe Manor which is booked up--two years in advance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nest stop was to see Ambo, our adopted baby elephant at the David Sheldrick Orphanage for baby elephants. We met their orphaned black rhino who is blind and can never be released back into the wild. Gabby got to meet her giraffe she adopted named Kiko. The baby elephant running parade was great and we adopted more babies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That evening we concluded our night with a meat eaters meal at the famous CARNIVORE restaurant. The girls had their first taste of Ostrich, Ox balls, and crocodile. We celebrated our last night in Africa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time in Africa went by too quickly and I enjoyed every minute of spending time with my art students as they experienced their first trip to the dark continent. We made memories, found the big five, and learned so much. </span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-75799684002926793772018-05-13T05:59:00.001-07:002018-05-13T05:59:37.641-07:00The Whirlwind of Spring Art 2018<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me sum it all in one statement--It was a Whirlwind! Taking winning ribbons in the Baytown Art Show with my first Scratchboard ribbon-African Buffalo, and my students tearing it up at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event in February with our highest Gold medal total of 52 out of 54 students and three State qualifiers, such a blast !!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The NSA Spring Art show was rewarding when my largest watercolor to date-The Elephant and Cheetah Waterhole-took a first place and my second scratchboard Curiosity, African Wild Dog took a first in Drawing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In March that win was followed by an award in the Houston Visual Arts Alliance Show with my complicated ink piece, Durer's Dream getting a check and news coverage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SPRING BREAK was amazing, taking a break from teaching and art to travel to Dana Point California with Gayln on a photographic animal journey in search of whales and dolphins and other Pacific coast wildlife. The highlight of our trip was being surrounded daily by pods of over 400 common dolphins! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Coming home that next week I was the judge of the North West Art League and it was the best art show of the year, with so much incredible talent. The hardest show yet to judge because of such high caliber work. I was very impressed with the amazing pieces there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Spring of 2018 also was great for our art because were made it into the select pool of Houston Min Mural artists and I look forward to where that leads. Later that month the Texas City Art Fest was a big disappointment with the best of show winner -a small photograph and i'm never going to be happy with photography beating fine art in any art show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next weekend Gayln and I were nature guides for Canadians in search of birds during Galveston's Featherfest and we exhausted ourselves in finding them as many species as possible all over this gulf coast region. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My students attended the State Visual Arts event and took 2 out of 3 Gold medals and discovered so many new things of the Texas Hill country, Pedernales Falls, Enchanted Rock, Wimberley and San Marcos. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next month Galyn and I traveled to Marble Falls for the Paint the Town Festival where I was the guest speaker at Marble Falls High School and I found my new friend-the Pronghorn antelope mount, his name is "Birdie". We also hiked the Balcones Canyonlands and got a lifer for my bird list, Golden Cheeked Warblers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last week our spring started to wind up as summer approaches with my wild night as Event speaker at the Houston Audubon Society in Houston. Abigail and Paola did a wonderful job as my assistants and I donated my Aplomado Falcon painting to the Houston Audubon Society.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My students High School graduation is next week and in June we are hosting the Hiser Wildlife Safari Kenya 2018, bringing my art students to Africa on safari for their very first time. That last year and a half of fundraising for this trip was a herculean undertaking mixed in with all of the things I am involved in -not to mention teaching art each day, but now the payoff and it will be so rewarding to watch my students fall in love with Africa.</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-51331815130958699972018-01-16T12:59:00.000-08:002018-01-16T12:59:03.685-08:00WINTER HISER BLOG 2018<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here we are in January 2018 and we're having a freak winter freeze on the coast here in Texas. The fall of 2017 has been a whirlwind for my art and writing world along with the demands of teaching high school young artists. The biggest challenge this year has been our fundraising efforts to try and get some of my art students to Africa this coming summer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With my art this year has seen a first place and Best of Show in the Galveston Art Show and then a grand Placing in the NSA National Show this past fall. I have judged 4 professional shows and met so many new friends at each outing along with quite a few speaking engagements and demo presentations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With my writing, I promoted my 2016 book, The Ten Secrets of Love, and finished writing my first nonfiction book, after 15 years of research, Art History 4 X 4 (teaching Art History in the High School Classroom). This new book will be available this year, 2018. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following my students amazing success of 2017, I hope we can stay the course, with 50 Gold medals at the Regional Visual Arts Scholastic Event and our wonderful First Place Win at the Charter School Art Fest Best in Texas! This year we have almost 60 entries and an overwhelming amount of highly detailed inks and scratchboards! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fundraising has been tough, in our area, but we have had garage sales, shoe drives, painted palm frond fish, raffles, painting with a twist, and have completed quite a few murals! All of this hard work for few money returns -so we stay at it! Our murals were also featured on FOX 26 NEWS Houston as we painted for the Senior Citizens at Brookdale Center, their Secret Garden Mural, and the Children's Center at Mall of the Mainland Mural of Characters, the World Gym Gorilla mural at World Gym, and now the Kung Fu Panda mural. Our art is featured in the Museum of Science in Houston with our life size African Elephant mural and we produced 12 new Zoofari Camp murals for the Houston Zoo. My students were also involved with painting with me the eight foot tall San Marcos Mermaid Sculpture and attended the Mermaid Festival for the unveiling! </span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-71132614984401839792017-03-19T20:21:00.000-07:002017-03-19T20:21:00.840-07:00Nepal Animal Adventure <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day 1 and 2 TRAVELING-What an adventure and a rough trip too. Flight delays in Dubai and then jet engine problems-changing planes- we got there 10 hours later then scheduled but we finally arrived!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day 3-Rhesus Macaque Monkeys at the airport! Driving through the country towards the jungle we encounters water buffalos, parakeets, and anhingas. We arrive for afternoon tea at the Jungle Villa Resort in Chitwan, Nepal, Sunday. As the dusk arrives with a sunset we watch Axis deer cross the river and see our first Mugger Crocodile. BBQ dinner that evening-but not Texas BBQ-more like pork and chicken grilled on skewers over a fire.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day4- waking up to the beautiful song of Orioles and greeted by the friendly red bugs on the porch and bushes. sunrise birding hike along the river and into the forest, deer, kingfishers, bee eaters, pipits, shrikes, honey buzzards, and huge Kapok trees filled with massive beehives. Later that hike we watch a herd of deer attacked by a crocodile in the river. Military Forest Rangers patrol the edges of the jungle on the back of Indian Elephants. After lunch we drive through villages while the local people celebrate the Holi holiday by painting their faces-I even saw a dog with a painted face! We then mount on the backs of elephants for our safari. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Elephants can go places in the jungle where people and trucks cannot and we see our first river in a water hyacinth covered lake. Our elephant just waded across the water and we stood next to the rhino-so amazing! From the back of our elephant we saw, hog deer, axis deer, wild boars with dozens of baby piglets, monkeys, and more rhinos, one with cattle egrets walking on its back. After finding sunbirds and green parakeets we left the jungle and had a nice dinner before we collapsed for the night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day5-- A morning canoe to take us across the river for a jungle hike, searching for more of Nepal's hidden wildlife. Crossing the river we see our first endangered Gharial crocodile, the other species of Nepal, with the slender long snout. i spotted the first rhino in the jungle about 30 yards in the deep foliage. We spotted herds of Axis deer and more wild boar and then suddenly our guides grabbed Gayln and they ran behind a tree whispering as i looked around and saw a big angry rhino about 25 yards away and i also ran and hid behind the big Kapok tree. We hid for a while until the beats finally stomped away into the jungle. Rheses monkeys chattered in the trees and we found a big tree with large fresh claw marks about 9 feet high in the bark....TIGER! nearby...we could hear a low rumbling and the guides looked in all directions armed with their walking sticks. I asked if they were scared and they said this is alarming a tiger is near and we are invading his territory we must leave this area now. So we headed out of the thick part of the jungle and followed a creek with deep rhino tracks in the mud. We saw huge holes dug into the ground by sloth bears and came to a series of small ponds filled with crocs and surrounded by purple herons, cormorants, and peacocks. In that same area in the distance tall grass we saw five rhinos. Peacock males were displaying and calling all around the area. We hiked an hour and a half back to the river and crossed by our canoe to our lodge for lunch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Later that day we set out northward for a canoe safari and we were lucky to find a rhino swimming in the river. We encounter river rapids and the later arrive downstream at the Crocodile Conservation Center. The place raises and redistributes the endangered Gharial crocodile into the river. A great day and in the evening we watched deer cross the river again before we attended the Tharu Tribe and their Stick Dancing celebration. We danced with them and played tambourine like instruments with them sharing their music. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day 6-- 530 am and a hot chocolate to start the day for another elephant back safari and as mists rise off the river and the sun hasn't risen above the trees we are rewarded by two jackals running in front of our elephants and watching us as they play along the river's edge. That mornings safari was excellent with more rhinos, boars, deer, birds, and the two jackals! after a late breakfast I created some earth art out of sticks, rocks, and flowers near the lodge. We saw a woman being attacked by a swarm of bees and she just stood there covering her face and body with her wraps, screaming and another girl brought some straw on fire and soon everyone was attacked by bees--I didn't laugh but later it was pretty funny. W</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e attend an elephant briefing and spent sometime with them, feeding and talking to the elephants. We then go down to the river to bathe and play in the water with the elephants and that was an amazing time.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That afternoon we head into the National Jungle for a jeep safari. We had four sloth bear sightings, green woodpeckers, pied kingfishers, fish eagles, and mongoose and then were charged 3 times by a mother rhino protecting her baby. Langur monkeys filled the treetops as we left the jungle and returned home to dance with the Tharu tribe and their stick dancing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day 7 -- We wake up to a rhino outside our window sleeping below our balcony. Gayln named him Rodney. A three hour hike this morning and we caught sight of a jungle cat across the river and found a leopard tree with claw marks all over it. Another mongoose crawled near some crocodiles by the river and a giant six foot eel. After a light lunch we head out on another jeep safari and found a rock python near a pond and Langur monkeys jumping from tree to tree. I got excited as we heard the call of a great hornbill, my favorite bird, but it was not to be as we never could see him in the thick canopy of the jungle. We found some Sambar deer in the grasslands and more rhinos while about 6 peacocks displayed and called for mates. Sunset and Geckos on the ceiling while we ate our last nightly meal at the lodge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day8--early morning sketching by the river and we leave the lodge for Bharatpur and our flight to Kathmandu. In Kathmandu we toured the trashy streets and went on foot through temples and visited with Monks. Galyn had a steel bowl vibration therapy but she said it didn't work...haha...long flight home after awesome experiences.</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-19579013737325308182017-01-29T20:51:00.000-08:002017-01-29T20:53:18.877-08:002017 The Year of Art and Animals!!We are here --2017--and we are busy, busy. <br />
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Last week I lectured and did a demo on my unusual style of animal art at the NorthWest Art League in Spring.<br />
Next week I will be judging the Galveston Professional Winter Art Show and critiquing the art on Feb 4th from 6 to 8pm. <br />
I continue to work on organizing and finishing up on pieces from Africa for my next SOLO Art Show at Armand Bayou Nature Center at the end of April. <br />
My High School Art students have many projects and events coming up as we prepare for competition and work on murals, including our square by square lifesize elephant acrylic painting. We also have a few field trips planned, Crocodile Encounters, Bayou City Art Fest, Kayaking, Brazos Bend park for birding photos, while we have many events to try and raise money for our Africa trip in 2018.<br />
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In march Gayln and I will be journeying on a safari on elephant back to Nepal, home to rhinos, gaur, red pandas, leopards, and tigers. Once back we have very little time to return to teaching school and then I judge the Pearl Fincher MFA Art Show. <br />
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In April is also the NSA Spring Art Show, the Texas City Art Festival, and the <b style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: justify;"><i>Earth Air Fire Water—Finding God in Nature Art Show.</i></b><br />
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The season is here and I try and stay awake as I guide my student artists into a great future. Thanks for reading my words, Doug Hiser<br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-61464822230674108452016-12-28T13:13:00.000-08:002016-12-28T13:13:07.538-08:002017 Art and Animals<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2017 will be the busiest year yet. After the last 6 months of 2016 I cannot even anticipate how much more will be asked of me as an artist, a teacher, a mentor, a guide, an art judge, an artist, a conservationist, a naturalist, a role model, a father and grandfather.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a lengthy meeting today with the Armand Bayou Nature Center I'm looking at a lecture and animal art show featuring a huge exhibition of my animal art sometime late April, early May. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This month, January, I will be judging the Galveston Winter Art Show and speaking and critiquing. Next month in February, my students will be excited as we enter into the Visual Arts Scholastic Event and a possible mural of sea life for the Houston Zoo. As of today, I do not know yet, but maybe I'll be painting a seven foot tall for mermaid for the city of San Marcos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At HGA I will be in charge of the large African Elephant wall mural that will eventually find its way to the zoo. Also in February We will have a guest violinist play in my classroom while my advanced students sketch in charcoal and pastel. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 2017 is the Museum of Fine Arts Youth Art Show in the Tomball / Spring area of which I am one of three judges and I'm sure it will be an amazing and challenging art show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The BIG NEWS is our Spring Break SAFARI to NEPAL, land of tigers, rhinos and elephants...not to mention the awesome giant hornbill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I finished the Grant request for my ART CAMP for High School Artists coming this June 2017 and hopefully we get approved to provide an amazing nature and art filled week of experiences for 30 Art students.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I left out all of the little events and happenings because they're are just too many -just know that I am out there in nature and teaching students to love our environment and the animals in it along with the amazing world of art.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-37326760261933461482016-04-16T20:12:00.001-07:002016-04-16T20:12:21.620-07:00Africa Big FiveOkay...so every country has a big five now a days...i know..but Africa has the original Big Five...SO...I wanted to make sure i had a big five Africa collection of portraits/profiles in PENCIL of the Stars of the Show!. Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard, Buffalo.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are the previews of my soon to be colage of the Big Five.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Other news: National Society of Artists Show is coming in May....i will submit The Lion Queen, PEacock Rainforest, Scattering of Scavengers, Kookaburras possibly. Texas City Art Festival My inkwork Durer's Dream won a ribbon but disappointingly that peacock painting of mine fails to win anything again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My school's HGA ARt Show Teachers Choice is over and some happy students won bags of good art supplies. Next weekend I am escorting THREE MAGICAL AMAZING STUDENTS to the Texas State Visual Arts Scholastic Event in San Antonio Texas. Workshops and Art...and of course a special trip to the San Antonio Zoo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember to buy your Hiser Art clothing, ipad and galaxy caess, and tote bags at www.redbubble.com and search Doug Hiser.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ten Secrets of Love has been a good addition to my collection of published books and has all five star reviews. You can get it on Amazon.com.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for following, and countdown to Tanzania this summer.....</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-84208161376487486052016-03-29T17:20:00.000-07:002016-03-29T17:20:19.108-07:00Spring Art is Here! Africa looms on the Horizon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That's right! We've left Winter in the tear view mirror. My students have conquered their UIL V.A.S.E. ART competition with 35 GOLD medals and 3 State medals...And on April 23rd We'll be in San Antonio for Texas State Visual Arts Scholastic Event! Should be awesome!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I have been busy to with commissions, Spring Art show judging and competing, Author and Artist Speaking engagements, and working on our Mountain Lion Life size sculpture --and the start of the four Murals for History, Literature, Science and Math.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The HGA Spring Art competition among all art students is this month too! With many great art prizes!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Two big art shows are coming up: The Mainland Texas City Art Festival and the National Society of Artists Show at the San Luis in Galveston. The pieces I have ready to show are: That leviathan Peacock Rain forest Painting, The ink of "Durer's Dream" and the ink of "Lion Queen", The painting of vultures in Africa known as Scattering of Scavengers" and my detailed ink of the Rhino in Namibia....So maybe if i am lucky i can snatch a ribbon or two....fingers crossed.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And then in May the graduation of many of my loved senior Art students! Followed by the week long TexArt Wildlife Worksop at <span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; text-align: center;">Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas featuring Banovich and McGuirre and others from the Society of Animal Artists.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">I am still promoting and getting five star reviews from my 2016 book: <u>Ten Secrets of Love</u> available on Amazon.com. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Summer is not far away and looking forward to traveling back to Africa -this time to Tanzania.....Keep creating and reading!</span></span></span>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-58852424940138156582016-01-31T06:17:00.000-08:002016-01-31T06:17:07.751-08:00Mid-Winter and Spring Art 2016<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gayln and I have had numerous excursions photographing birds and hiking the nature trails and wildlife refuges --the only places left where animals can survive in our crowded Houston Galveston development hell of an area with spreading concrete like a virus and the elimination of trees and vegetation like a giant razor shaving the land. We are so looking forward to returning to Africa, Tanzania, this summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have had amazing experiences with our native birds, spoonbills, pelicans, ospreys, and kingfishers to name a few but my favorite encounter was a few weeks ago when we surprised a couple of HUGE shaggy Feral Wild Boars in the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge. It was like spotting prehistoric mammals. Such a surreal experience to look into the clearing about fifty yards away and see those monsters. the ran quickly into the shrubs and disappeared almost as if they were ghosts from the ice age.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My new 2016 book, TEN SECRETS OF LOVE available on Amazon.com is getting great reviews and I am so glad it finally made it into print after a long up and down campaign over theme and many cover changes. If you have read it or any of my other books I want to thank you and I appreciate your readership. Raise your hand if you have read all of my books. Oh, I see Gayln in the back there raising her hand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2015 was an amazing year especially with the arrival of my grand baby, Finlie Faith. She is growing like a tadpole losing her tail and crawling around getting ready to walk!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ON THE WING Art Show in Galveston was a success with my Kookaburras painting and Reddish Egret making the gallery and the egret SOLD. Finished work on a couple of commissions and painted a Sci-Fi book Cover just released on Amazon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Conroe Art Show is coming in March and I am honored to have been selected to Judge the Art Show. It is a big responsibility and I promise to do my best to reward the hard work of the many artists that are competing. Later in the Spring I look forward to entering my Peacock painting into a few shows-hoping for the best. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In two weeks the most exciting event is almost here: Visual Arts Scholastic Event VASE, where 40 of my students will be trying to win Gold medals for their hard work on their art projects! I am so EXCITED for them! It is a BIG day in their lives and the sense of accomplishment carries forward giving them confidence to try new things and stretch their abilities in life!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is so many other events and shows on the agenda but let's just worry about them as they come ...looking forward to a busy and productive next two months! </span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-71487031697126706372016-01-03T06:48:00.000-08:002016-01-03T06:48:42.515-08:00NEW BOOK 10 Secrets of Love<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">This book is sweet and magical and creates a pensive teardrop or a wistful smile while delivering your heart and soul into realms of attraction and allure and revealing the Ten Secrets of Love." </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I open the new year, 2016, with my new book <u>TEN SECRETS OF LOVE</u>, and not only does this book contain stories of a variety of types of love but also I have included some of my idea illustrations for each section. It is not a massive gigantic huge month long read---more like a whisper each night before you go to bed of sweet slices of magic. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Each chapter is a fresh exploration, a journey into a new exotic realm where sometimes life is too real or maybe when you think it is so tangible or pedestrian the inexplicable appears like in some dream where water pours from the cracks in an ancient tree. Writing these pieces of "love" I delved down into myself and my life's past or maybe sometimes into my life's future to spin and contort and twist and dig and unearth all kinds of emotions I forgot about or was yet to discover. Sounds contradictory, maybe so, but then so is love. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The birds on the cover represent each different love that I discovered. A bird flies into your life in an instant, you look up and there he is, sitting on a branch right in front of you, all colorful and splendid with song and beauty--"love" is like this too. Some birds keep coming back each day, some birds you only see one time in your entire life. So, am I saying love is like birds? Or maybe birds represent love? Does love migrate with the seasons? Is this book about birds? Well, no, but love is about flight and secret gardens and unexpected encounters and beauty and song.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The Honey Bee Girl, my Amazon bestseller, is a love story. Montana Mist, my Amazon bestseller, is a love story. Ten Secrets of Love is an exploration into metaphors of love. I write Sci-Fi, Crow Canyon, and Fantasy, Cavern of the Eggstone, and Poetry, Lost Oasis and dark comedic thrillers, The Texas Sugar Pussy Kat Murders, and YA action adventure fantasy, The Midnight Jungle, but it seems love appeals to all people, no matter your age or occupation. We all have experienced love in some form in our lives. It is common and it is rare. Ten secrets, you ask me? Heck, there are probably 100 secrets, but that book is too long. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">So i sat down many times and wrote these secrets into simple complex contraptions of words and emotions to touch you in some forgotten or yet to be experienced way. Hold my hand and take a short journey into a place that might make you smile or cry or remember but i know it will make you feel something familiar...something like the mystery of love.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Read a copy of my newest book Ten Secrets of Love and write me a review on amazon. thanks for reading my words. Doug Hiser</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Secrets-Love-Doug-Hiser/dp/1517025656/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451830395&sr=1-1&keywords=doug+hiser</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span></span></span>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-14650387720023489982015-06-25T18:37:00.000-07:002015-06-25T19:47:02.087-07:00AUSTRALIA ADVENTURE<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY ONE-TWO-and THREE-just getting there took 3 days --crossing the international dateline cost a day and then a 3 hour delay of sitting in a plane with complications on the runway in Los Angeles caused us to miss the flight in Brisbane making us lose a day of adventure in Adelaide. There was an interesting Heavy Metal band on our flight with us-interesting characters! Rolling Gayln around the airports in a wheel chair with her Achilles tendon surgery boot on did speed up airport customs and no waiting in security lines! That evening in Adelaide we explored the Central Market and Chinatown.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY FOUR: We leave Adelaide in a propeller plane to fly to the small-100 mile long -Kangaroo Island. 4000, hardy Aussie inhabitants and a zillion Kangaroos and Tammar wallabies. We picked up our Aussie SUV with the steering wheel on the right hand side and quickly i had to adjust to driving on the "wrong "side of the road. Because of the huge amount of marsupials at night on the roads insurance doesn't apply at night. Roadkill was seen at every 100 yards or so. We spot a flock of Ghalas- a pink and grey and white cockatoo-and our first stop is the town of Kingscote where we buy supplies for our cottage on the bay. Driving along the coast we stop to take photos of many Australian pelicans, white ibis, silver gulls, lapwings and our first black swans. For a quick lunch stop we pause at Bella's Pizza Bar and then head for Seal Bay.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Magpies and Currawongs fill the road skies and we spot our first GIANT Wedge-tailed Eagles-the largest Eagle in the world. We stop along the way to take a stroll at Bales Beach, finding cuttlefish bones in the sand. Looking up Gayln spots two amazing White Bellied Sea Eagles fighting over a fish in the sky and gets a few photos! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Seals Bay Gayln finds our first Kangaroo and we hike the rock path to discover a young humpback whale skeleton surrounded by sea lions. There is a big bull sea lion on the beach and the baby sea lions are scattered in the dunes, one baby only a few feet from us. We spotted a white faced Cormorant and plenty of Honeyeaters-small black and white and yellow birds- playing in the water spray. After leaving the sea lions behind we head to Hanson Bay. We encounter flocks of Crimson Rosellas-midsize parrots of red,blue and green, and the beautiful Rainbow Lorikeet flocks chattering in the trees. near the Hanson Bay center there are many grazing Tammar Wallabies and the endangered Cape Barren Geese.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later we arrive at our home for the next few days, a cozy cabin overlooking the bay-complete with wood burning stove and kitchen and a big balcony facing the water. We get a fire going and we watch the day end as Swiftlets swarm over the water like bats and Black Swans swim in the bay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY FIVE: RAIN! and more RAIN! We wake up to torrential downpours and strong winds, the surf crashes loudly on the rocks. Donning rain gear and hiking boots we load up and head out to fight the elements and discover what we can. We tried the Eucalyptus forest but the heavy rain drove us away. We get a snack and then drive to Flinders National Park where we find Tammar Wallabies and Cape Barren Geese close up. I approach a young wallaby with the mommy watching and i got to within a couple of feet, very docile animals. We arrived at Admirals Arch-a huge rock formation that arches over a monstrous cave and the ocean roars in onto flat rocks where New Zealand Fur Seals and sea lions recline and fight. hiking to the arch we find a baby seal about 2 feet long along the trail and he of course barked at us to keep our distance. Gayln made the long hike down to the arch in the strong wind and rain on crutches-an amazing task! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our next destination was the Remarkable Rocks, a rock formation of huge boulders bigger than elephants that looked like God tossed them down on top of the granite like giant dice. Gayln climbing up to these steep rocks on crutches was scary and dangerous in the rain and slippery rock but she was determined and she made the climb! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leaving the wind and hard rain of the coastline we go back to the forest of Eucalyptus trees in search of Koalas. After a bout an hour in the forest we had photo-ed and spotted six koalas. The rain slowed down and i found a wallaby skeleton in the plains. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driving back to our cabin we jumped as a big Kangaroo hopped right in front of our SUV as we drove up the hill. At the cabin we decided to hike down to the beach on Hanson Bay and we discovered a big tide pool with Pied Oyster Catchers wading in the shallows. Kangaroo and wallaby tracks were everywhere. Back at the cabin we sat on the balcony and watched the brilliant blue fairy wrens in the tall grass-incredibly beautiful little birds. I got the fire going as the night came and with it Brushy tailed Possums came to our back door. These guys were scavenging for food and were so brave you could pet them and of course i did. Gayln filmed a great fight with two of them ripping their fur out! An end to a long day of adventure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY SIX: The sunrise over the bay was hazy but at least the rain had stopped and i went out to the back porch to find a big kangaroo grazing a few feet from me. Gayln and i drive out to Vivonne Bay and hike around the cove and beach and then go out to the Raptor Domain. A demonstration of Australian venom features glow in the dark scorpions on our laps, funnel web spiders-the most deadly!, a venomous Brown snake and a grumpy venomous black Tiger snake that bit the girl demonstrator's boots dropping venom four times! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hiking through a small forest we catch another demonstration of aussie raptors. Boobook owls, wedge tailed eagles, and amazing kingfishers, while a barn owl hopped on Gayln's lap and i put the falcon glove on to hold a flying Australian Masked Owl. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driving the sand roads to Pardana we spot our first Echidna, a spiky critter like a porcupine. I stopped the SUV and followed him as he started digging in until he was only a back full of spines sticking out of the sand. In Pardana we entered the Animal Sanctuary an amazing place helping and conserving the animals of Kangaroo Island. Here we got to experience petting koalas, wallabies, kangaroos, and birds. after a full day of animal encounters we drive to the far coast to Penneshaw for our new lodging on the sea shore. We hiked the penguin trail and found little blue penguin nests but none of the birds were home-out to sea feeding we guessed. At the only restaurant in the small town i had a Schnitzel steak, a Parmesan crusted tasty thing and we enjoyed a chat with a tall girl who was a "NET"ball player- a strange game played down there sort of like basketball but very very different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY SEVEN: The last day on Kangaroo Island and we head to the town of American River in search of rare black cockatoos and the even rarer gas station. No luck finding the cockatoos but we filled up for 75 dollars! yes-Aussie gas costs more-and before our 20 minute flight back to the mainland a few residents tried to talk us into living on the island and teaching in their schools! Arriving in Brisbane to our worst hotel experience of the trip. and we paid 27 dollars fro the saddest excuse for a seafood meal ever! but we put this day behind us and moved on to brighter and better adventures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY EIGHT: Picking up our rental car after a chatty conversation with our Sundenese cabbie, we head excited to the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Australia! Driving on the wrog side of the road in the city was a new challenge and i kept turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signals. An hour later we enter the cleanest and most beautiful zoo we have ever visited. We were allowed to walk inside of many of the animal enclosures- what a great experience! Gayln had a close call as a wild brown snake crossed our path and she barely missed stepping on it as i did manage to get a photo as it tried to escape into the jungle. The crocodile feeding and show was awesome! The rain forest surroundings of the zoo was amazing and it was a spectacular day! That night we flew from Brisbane to the most wonderful city in the north of Queensland, Cairns, Australia. The Rydges Hotel is just excellent and a huge suite awaited us for 2 nights in Heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY NINE: Waking up early we discover an enormous bird rookery in the trees along the coast just outside our balcony window filled with Ibis and egrets! At sunrise we walked along the seawall with the tide halfway out watching the amazing assortment of bird life, lapwings, striated herons, pelicans, pied cormorants, willy wagtails, mynas, the spectacular black and white Magpies and magpie larks. Gayln toughed it out on crutches on the long walk to the marina to catch our catamaran ship to the Great Barrier Reef. I snorkeled two locations out on the reef and Gayln was ushered around the reef in a glass bottom boat. We swam to an island that was a bird sanctuary and filled with thousands of feathered squawkers! The blue and yellow sting rays were interesting! All day out and back at the Great Barrier Reef and that evening we relaxed along the many shops and restaurants of the Escalade-seawall-of Cairns!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY TEN: Our guide -Clayton-picks us up from the hotel and we are bound for the Daintree River where we board a quiet boat and cruise out searching for Saltwater Crocodiles. Along the river we spot a Tawny Frogmouth, a long dark Tree Snake, a big green frog, and a few large crocs! Karumba Australia -population about 500 or more is a quaint small town featuring many art galleries and a home to many resident hippies and their arts and crafts! Hiking the rain forest nearby we see sunbirds, fantails, cockatoos, and an injured fruit dove-which we caught and took to the fruit bat rehabilitation center. The lady let us go out back and get up close and personal we about fifty or so rehabilitated Flying Fox fruit bats! I loved it there! The bats we loud and crazy and cute and funny! Later that day we hiked into the rain forest and spotted Whistling Kites, Kingfishers, shrikes, and the big brush turkeys! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We hiked to a beach where mud crabs lived (A mud crab is worth 90 dollars each-to eat)- We see our first species of Agile Wallaby and then we arrive at our new destination of Granite Gorge, home of the endangered one of kind Rock Wallaby. We get settled in our cabin on the boulders and then go for a night spotting hike. That night we found sugar gliders in the trees, possums, tree frogs, flying foxes, rainbow fish and catfish in the creek, a barn owl and a fast Bandicoot. In the rainfoirest that day we made a quick meal of Lemon Ants! That's right, we ate live ants that tasted sweet and sour-kind of tart but full of protein. The night night drive produced a glimpse of Dingos and a big Wallaroo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY ELEVEN: Early morning we sat on our porch and enjoyed the vistas of rock boulders and forest as many birds (Pale headed parrots, rainbow lorikeets, butcher birds, noisy friarbirds) visited our area. But the most amazing was Two Blue winged Kookaburras that sat about ten feet away and spent about 20 minutes with us defending their territory from all others! I will be doing a painting of them. Gayln and I spent a quiet hike among the boulders on our own and found a colony of the rare rock wallabies. They were all around us, curious and friendly. I climbed a big tree and had them hopping along the branch to surround me. We hiked the boulders and waterfalls for about an hour. Clayton, our guide picked us up later and we drove to the valley finding black swans, cormorants, crested grebes, Pacific black ducks, Goshawks, Kites, and we search for the elusive Cassowary. Only about 1500 Cassowaries are left in Australia. At the Crater Lake we found long white tailed rats, and an awesome forest dragon on the side of a smooth tree. I walked right past the dang lizard-he was so camouflaged. We found our first Bandicoot! Lunch at the Teahouse on the lake --a nice relaxing setting we spot turtles in the lake. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in the car driving we find a huge flock of Sulfur Crested Cockatoos and a large colony of Flying Fox bats! Brolga cranes fly overhead and about 20 or more black kites circle overhead on the air drafts! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next stop we visit an amazing artist and his awesome studio out in the bush! Clive Walters, does ink metaphysical geometric art with nature and his studio is filled with new age sounds and the deep resonating aboriginal didjeridoo. We also got to meet his cat! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towards dusk we are in search of the elusive Duck-billed Platypus. We walk around a small lily pad covered pond and within minutes a platypus surfaces! YAY! watching the strange animal swim and go under and surface was an incredible experience that can only be found in Australia by luck and being in the right place at the right time! We are lucky! Later that day at sunset we found under an overhang in the river -fish eating bats! That night we ate at Nick's famous Italian/Swedish Restaurant. After a big meal we head out for night spotting by "torch" Aussie flashlight. We begin our search for the hard to find nocturnal Tree Kangaroo. brown rain forest tree frogs, tree possums, a "zebra" possum, bandicoots. pademelons, but no Tree Kangaroo.....This was the night i woke up with a pain in my right eye--more on that later...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY TWELVE: first thing in the morning at our new lodge, in the rain forest, we are greeted by a furry cute pademelon, and a rifle bird (Victoria Bird of Paradise) lands on the balcony to get up close and personal with Gayln. I'm hand feeding the many Brush Turkeys flying up the stairs to our balcony! Suddenly the brush turkeys get crazy and one flies by, hitting my head with a big wing. Crazy birds! Later that morning before we head out we get a visit by a big green Cat bird-very cool bird. We stop for teatime-brunch at an interesting place, Gillies Roadhouse-where I have the best pancakes ...well best except my mom's! But they were awesome! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After food time we turn our trip to the rain forest again, searching once more for the solitary nocturnal Tree Kangaroo and we hike to the most magnificent tree i have ever seen, The Cathedral Fig Tree. all i could saw was...nothing..i just stared at it...like the home tree in Avatar....just so awe inspiring. Wow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The massive behemoth tree was covered in strangler fig vines and behind it was a cascading waterfall. Barrine Crater Lake and then we explore further as we hike to many waterfalls, some like Jurassic park some small and some with many drops of fingers of water--gorgeous scenery today. The Milla-Milla (Rain rain) waterfall was special and the millstream falls. Crimson Rosellas screeched past in the sky. Breaking form the waterfall hike we drive through clouds to Ravenshoe, the highest town in Australia, and find free fruit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next stop, Hypipamee Falls and exploring the rain forest around the falls. The river and falls are the most stupendous yet. A serious of falls along the river drop into thick rain forest and the trees and vines twisting in unusual shapes like a chaotic ball of yarn wrecked by a wild cat. Down and down we travel the river rushing beside and below us. Clayton finds something and the next thing i know is we are staring through the trees above the river. A TREE KANGAROO! And it is out in the daytime, on a long branch directly over the giant rocks of the river. LUCKY US! I hike and scramble down the big rocks in the middle of waterfall to get right up close and that animal stops eating to watch me but stays right there to allow for us to get great photos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the jungle we find a Golden Bowerbird nest, which was an amazing find of artwork created by a small bird. They weave a big nest of sticks and decorate it with all kinds of things from seashells, to nuts, flowers, pieces of plastic....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At dusk we head to a big lake to find Brolga cranes and an enormous flock of Magpie Geese. The rookeries around the lake were filled with egrets and cormorants and the trees filled with flying foxes. As night came the 20,000 bats took flight! We left the lake to go night spotting and saw green possums, and when Galyn and I returned to our lodge we went by ourselves to explore and found Squirrel Gliders near our place. my eye was still irritated-thinking maybe a stye or infected eyelash? more later...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY THIRTEEN: Awakening in a rain forest to so many interesting bird calls, whip birds, rifle birds, birds of paradise, honeyeaters, brush turkeys and magpies is such a cool feeling. Today was a day of more waterfalls and the high rain forest canopy walk. A search was still on for the elusive Cassowary but as we left the forest and drove into the hills we make a great discovery! Water Buffaloes! A big herd of Cheeky Water Buffaloes. noon stop for Italian buffet in Ennisfail town. Later we walk the beaches at Etty beach in search of Cassowary but no luck as the big birds are staying hidden. I decided to create some "Earth Art" under the trees on the beach and take some photos of it. Later i did find a Broad-headed Skink on the Lava Rocks at the beach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two hours later we were back in Cairns at our fabulous Rydges Hotel. Saying goodbye to our guide, Clayton, we stroll the city to find the flying fox colony. We sat for about anhour watching the bats waking up in the big trees and as dusk approached hundreds of ibis armies were flying in to roost in the trees as the bats were starting to leave--what a flying spectacle of bats and big birds flying in all directions with squeals and squawks filling the air.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later in the night we enjoy the "Night Market" where everything is a bargain, clothes and souvenirs and massages are only 10 dollars for 45 minutes! Last night in Cairnes was a grand finale remembering those flying foxes!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY FOURTEEN: Flight to Sydney and we arrive at the Rendezvous Hotel in the "Rocks" district-downtown close to the wharf and across the bay from the Taronga zoo. That afternoon we eat at the historic Australia Hotel where Frank Sinatra once ate and we enjoyed a Kangaroo meat lover pizza. WE walk the streets to find a view of the Sydney Bridge and the famous iconic Sydney Opera House. Gayln finds some Opals to buy at the Rocks Center and we enjoy some Aussie Ice cream served by a Chilean girl. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY FIFTEEN: First day we actually sleep in a little later since our Ferry across the bay to the Taronga Zoo doesn't leave until 9:30 am. At the Zoo we take the Gondola Sky Ride across the top of the zoo which is built into the hillside and has dozens of levels from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the water. We loved seeing unusual animals-some I have never seen- like rarest tigers-the Sumatran Tigers, Sailfin Lizards, and many more. The amazing highlight was a Asian Elephant that would hold a football with his trunk and then drop kick it high through the fence posts like a field goal...Great kicker-that elephant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was such a beautiful relaxing day with about 70 degree weather and nice sunshine. Brush turkeys, peacocks and Ibis walked among the people at the zoo. Afternoon shopping and strolling the wharf district in front of the Sydney Opera House-waiting on the shuttle back to the airport.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY SIXTEEN: "Goodbye Australia." The long flight back to Los Angeles (which has the "WORST" airport of all airports We have ever been in). Arrived in Houston and home about 1230 pm..and about that eye pain--driving home i'm still rubbing my eye...and out of it falls a little tiny black beetle-like bug---it had been in my eye those last few days....no wonder it hurt and at least it came out--eye dr friday for sure.... What a whirlwind adventure with the love of my life and best friend Gayln!!! :) </span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-62047492116570677662015-03-24T17:32:00.000-07:002015-03-24T17:32:40.209-07:00PARADISE ONE by Doug Hiser<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Paradise
One<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Doug
Hiser<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Shelly
had fallen in puppy love during high school.
She married shortly after. He was
a good husband and had been a great teenage boyfriend. They dated all the way from 9<sup>th</sup>
grade to her twentieth year on earth and decided to get married. He didn’t get down on one knee or take her by
surprise. They both just talked about it
and having never dated anyone else, just thought it was the right thing to
do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Shelly
had yellow-red hair that shone in sunlight and shimmered in candle light. She was a short girl but had sturdy legs and
a narrow waist like an athlete. She was
smart and funny and serious and sad.
Shelly was quite an introspective person and a sympathetic soul.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
kissed her husband goodbye yesterday because he had to go to work and she
caught a flight to Hawaii for a business conference. She never arrived. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> After
the plane went down, she found herself floundering in rough water, breaking
waves on jagged rocks, and a sandy beach.
She swam past an airplane seat that contained a body, slumped and still
strapped in it. She swallowed salty sea
water and coughed as she struggled in the surf.
The white foam covered her face with each surge and she finally pushed
herself forward, almost crashing hard into a rough lava pitted rock as she
found the sandy bottom and fought her way to the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Face
down on the sand, she coughed up saltwater and put her head down, breathing
heavily. She tried to get up and glanced
back at the ocean. Nothing. The plane was gone. She saw flashes of orange and red, yellow,
green, things floating in the waves.
People, dead people floating. She
saw life jackets, clothing, and a big piece of silver metal sticking up by some
large rocks like a monument of abstract sculpture to mark the tragic
impact. Shelly closed her eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> The
cool ocean breezes always felt good early in the morning and Shelly tied back
her hair with a piece of ragged cloth as she left her palm hut near the
beach. Multi-colored small parrots
cackled at her as if saying,” Good morning,” in their black tongued
voices. She checked the bamboo traps in
the surf and gathered the few crabs found inside, putting them into a flight
attendant’s carry-all bag. Two weeks ago
after the crash, she had scoured the beach for anything she could find
useful. The several dead people were horrible
finds and she left the bodies where she found them and avoided the location
after that. She had traveled around the
island each day exploring. The island
wasn’t a big place and in a few days she had covered most of it. As far as she could tell there were no
inhabitants. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
erected her crude shelter on the opposite side of the island of the crash to
avoid the decaying dead people. At least
she had found a safety kit floating that contained matches and Band-Aids and
other useful things. There was plenty of fruit and the island also had fresh
water cascading down from small mountains and running into clear flowing
streams back into the sea. Shelly had no
idea where on planet Earth this island was located, but knew it had to be
somewhere on the way to Hawaii, unless of course somehow the plane had gotten
off the regular track and flown way of course.
She thought about rescue and she built a sign for HELP, out of coconuts,
on the beach. Each day she felt more
alive than before. She missed her husband and her family but somehow she felt
guilty that she also felt happy here.
She talked to the three parrots as they cackled at her. The worst night was two nights ago when a
storm had passed over the island.
Lightning flashed like massive crackles that lit up the world and the
winds and driving rain smashed half of her shelter to the ground. She shivered and crawled under her torn palm
frond roof and waited for the storm to move on.
The next day she repaired her shelter and the parrots flew around her
head as if encouraging her. The storm
attack and the courage she found in surviving here gave her renewed strength
and confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Sometimes
Shelly would sit near a shallow lagoon and stare at the water for hours. Her new home was a beautiful place. Giant palm trees shaded the edges of the
lagoon and on some days six to ten dolphins would enter the lagoon and
entertain her for hours, splashing and leaping.
She would bathe in the lagoon or go inland to bathe and wash her pants
and shirt in fresh water beneath a waterfall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Shelly
was bathing one overcast day, almost as if the clouds were grumbling out a
warning of danger for her, when she came out of the water to find a huge snake
resting on her clothing. The only weapon
she had found in the plane crash debris was a kitchen knife and it was in her
pants pocket beneath the snake. She had
no idea if the snake was poisonous or harmless. She only knew a fear of snakes
and felt it would either bite her with fangs containing poison or coil around
her and choke her to death. Shelly took
no chances and smashed the snake into submission with a large head sized rock. The incident made her stronger. She had found courage that she never knew
existed. The island belonged to her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Shelly
hiked to the south end of the island where huge boulders protruded from the sea
like Neptune’s throne room, massive chairs made for giant mermen and mermaids
to sit and rule over the ocean. She
liked to sit on the giant rocks and watch for the whales that sometimes came by
the island. She first noticed them by
the spray that shot up like smoke from the horizon. Sometimes she was lucky enough to see them
breaching and smashing back down onto the surface like gigantic dirigibles
falling from the sky impacting with the waves.
She always thought she might see a ship out there on that far away
horizon but if she did see one she was not sure what she would do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Each
night she would start her small fire, sometimes she practiced starting fire
with a stick and a tree branch and she finally figured out how to get one
going. She knew the matches wouldn’t
last forever. Shelly made meals of fruit
and crab or spiny lobster. Sometimes she
speared a fish with her sharpened spear.
One day she speared a small octopus and she thought cooking it in
coconut juice in a piece of curved metal from the crash was the best calamari
she had ever tasted. Shelly missed
people and the civilized world less and less.
She fell into an easy life filled with her hunting and gathering chores
in the mornings and her relaxing walks of exploration in the afternoons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> The
dolphins were swimming slowly into the lagoon and Shelly reclined in a bend on
a low hanging branch, a place where she sat many days to survey her body of
water. The dolphins had swam close to
the shore as they noticed her watching them.
Each day they grew bolder and got nearer to her as she waded out into
the water to get closer. Today as the
smooth silver mammals splashed and frolicked swimming into the lagoon, Shelly
climbed down and removed her clothes, walking out into the clear turquoise
water. As she swam out to them she felt
an adrenalin rush and thought maybe she was crazy. She felt the fear just below her skin,
wondering if the big dolphins might attack her.
Before she could turn back she was surrounded by long smooth silver
creatures swimming in circles around her.
She tread water as each dolphin seemed to come close, almost touching
her and then retreat as another would swim in near her. Slowly, it seemed like forever, but was only
seconds, her fear departed and she smiled as each dolphin seemed to introduce
themselves to this strange mermaid with legs.
Gradually as each one approached she would touch the smooth wet rubbery
skin of their fins or rub the top of their head. She began to swim around with them and dive
beneath the water, playing a game of tag.
She stopped abruptly when she heard thunder in the distance and looked
out over the ocean. The sky had grown
darker like a menacing black monster made from billowing smoke and ash. In the distance she saw flashes of white
lightning break open the sky. The
dolphins began leaping into the air chattering and then suddenly they
disappeared beneath the water. Within
seconds she was alone in the lagoon and saw the silver fins of her new friends
swimming out and around the shoreline, away from the storm. Shelly swam for shore and ran to prepare for
the monster to come to her front door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> The
storm raged most of the night and she covered herself with palm fronds and
endured the cold sheets of rain as best she could. When the rain stopped she started a fire and
stripped, hanging her clothes up to dry and warmed herself. When she was dry she curled up beside the
small fire and slept until daybreak. Her
little house was wrecked again. Instead
of getting to work repairing the damage she decided to explore inland. The parrots buzzed by her head squawking at
her and they flew from tree to tree along the jungle path. She wondered how the jungle path had been
created. She had never seen anything
larger than a monkey on the island and the path was well worn and wide enough
for large animals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
thought about the small mammals she had seen, rabbits, rats, mice, small
monkeys, bats, and even a cream colored badger like animal. She had also encountered a three foot long
monitor lizard and sea turtles in the lagoon and on the beach. She had thought about searching for turtle
nests if she got hungry for eggs. Her
diet of fruit and sea creatures had satisfied her but she thought maybe she
might trap a rabbit or a bird. Walking
the path today she encountered a large track, bigger than anything she had seen
before. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She traveled inland, following a clear rushing creek
flowing smoothly over a bottom filled with coin sized pebbles. She came out of the jungle and into a
hillside covered in tall yellow grass. She
encountered colorful birds in the tall grass, almost like pheasants with long
bright scarlet tail feathers. She walked
alongside the flowing water until it led her to a wall of jagged rock, forty or
fifty feet high. A waterfall dropped
mist and gallons of water into a pool at the base of the wall. She thought it was beautiful, this little
oasis of falling water and the rough wall of rock standing near tall cliffs
with the fields of grass behind her. The large tracks, round like pancakes with
deep toes, were in the sandy mud all around the pool. The rock wall seemed so out of place here on
the center of the island, almost like if some giant colossus dropped it here to
make a stone fence across the landscape, maybe to keep some big creature on one
side of the island or just a barrier to slow down hurricane force winds from
destroying the jungle trees. Admiring
the scene, Shelly once again saw the large mysterious footprints. She looked
around the fields but only the grass swayed with ocean breezes. Shelley noticed
a worn path near the wall leading south towards the ocean. She didn’t see any of the large tracks but
something had to have walked this path regularly to make it so smooth and
worn. The winds picked up and her long
hair blew about her face as she hiked the trail south. She felt vulnerable for the first time since
she had discovered her new courage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> That’s
when she heard the sound. Behind
her…Snorting, repeated snorting, heavy footprints trampling the ground. She was afraid to turn and look. The waterfall rumbled down the rock wall with
a solid roar but the snorting sounds were voluminous and carried weight over
the cascading water. Slowly she twisted
her neck and shifted her feet to look back.
The pond was surrounded by the snorting massive things.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="line-height: 107%;">Shelly was astonished and
could only stare at the site. The beasts
were huge. There were at least ten of
them, maybe more. Their dark skin was
almost black and looked like leather armor.
They snorted and stared back at her but only in a disinterested fashion,
as if she were but a small rodent scurrying about the grass. Each animal must have weighed a ton and were
taller than her at the shoulder. Their
snouts sported dangerous looking horns resembling some sort of monster
unicorn. She knew that they were a sort
of rhinoceros but a big strange one almost from a dream land of
impossible. The animals drank from the
water and snorted and some of them jogged around, light on their big toes like
an armored ballerina.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Her
stomach felt cold and empty. She watched
the immense animals as they seemed to lose interest in her. This island had captured her imagination in
so many ways and now to find such a beautiful incredible creature it left her
in a stunned amazement. Shelly sat down
on a small rock about forty yards away from the dark skinned armored creatures
and wiped the hair from her forehead. The
rhinos milled around the edges of the water and some began to browse on the
tall grasses. Shelly stood to leave and
as she turned one of the smaller rhinos trotted slowly in her direction. She stopped and stood as still as possible,
afraid to run or move. The animal
stopped a few feet from her and sniffed the ground near her feet and smelled
her scent, its snout touching her chest and hair. Shelly held her breath. She looked into the creature’s eye and felt
something shift in her world. The rhino
tossed its head and swished the air with that long horn on its snout. With its tail in the air the rhino trotted
back to the herd.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Shelly
walked into the jungle, following the trail she knew would lead her back to her
shelter near the beach. She felt like a
queen. She could feel the air from the
island surging inside her lungs. That
air was giving her magic and power to be the majestic ruler of this
island. She was the caretaker of
dolphins and rhinos. This was her
calling. This island was her world. No ship would come. No plane would find her. She would build and plan and design her
future and her life. The next day she
found a parachute hanging from a tree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
took it down and for the next three days she worked on her shelter, turning it
into a more permanent home, with bamboo floors and a roof of palm fronds and
parts of the parachute. The next few
weeks she stayed near the ocean making fish and crab traps and visiting her
lagoon and swimming with the dolphins that she loved so much. She kept thinking about the parachute. She wondered if somebody had survived and
landed on her island. There was no
evidence of anyone landing and she just thought maybe they had died or fallen
into the sea. Shelly did not want
company. She wanted to be left alone in
her own new world. She found solitude
and paradise here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
knew it was only paradise because no one else were here. Inside her heart had grown bigger and her
soul had filled up with magic. Paradise
can only be in such an isolated place.
She knew that others, humans, that virus to which she belonged were like
a plague and destroyed paradise wherever they went. Shelly gathered beautiful shells and added
them to her mounting collections in her shell garden around her little
home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
sometimes traveled to the wall and visited with the rhinos. They were becoming used to her and would
approach and sometimes brush against her with their rough wrinkled hides. She would scratch them behind the ears but
doubted they could feel anything through their armor coating. The macaws followed on her forays squawking
at her to give them some bananas or other fruit. Shelly ate from the trees and from the sea. She could start in a fire in less than sixty
seconds. She could climb any tree even
faster. She was leaner and more
physically fit than she had ever been in her life. She hardly even remembered her other
civilized life. She marveled at the
clear blue sky and the cloud formations at dusk and dawn. The rain quenched her thirst and filled her
containers. The monkeys scolded her
climbing into their trees and the macaws sat on her head and shoulders eating
from her fingers. She had only
infrequently hear or saw passing jets and she had removed any sign from the
beaches that she had ever been there.
She only killed one more snake in the jungle. This time with her crude sharpened
spear. Two months has passed since the
waves had brought her to the beach. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> She
still thought about the parachute. The
island was big enough for someone else to be hiding out there somewhere. This was the only thing she ever worried
about. The thought of another person
moving about on her island scared her.
She worried about the rhinos. She
worried about the dolphins. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It had rained lightly
that next day and when the clouds still covered the beach Shelly hiked towards
the wall. That afternoon she sat upon a
boulder worn smooth by the ocean winds for centuries. The rhinos grazed in the near distance in the
tall grass. A macaw perched in a tree
near the waterfall by the rock wall. Her
spirit settled into her skin like a resting leaf that had floated down from the
tallest tree to land with a faint ripple in the clearest pool of still
water. The depths of her love for this
place could not be reached. She gazed
out over the land as if it were the most precious lover she had ever
known. The island wind was her kiss, the
jungle and the ocean were her mother and father. The dolphins and the rhinos her brothers and
sisters. There was nothing else she
could have yearned for. Shelly was
complete and this bliss, she knew came from her creator.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> All
people find their complete happiness in many different things and Shelly reveled
in the accident that had brought her to this revelation of pureness. She reclined on the rock beneath the rolling
clouds, she let her mind drift. She
dreamed of flying like the macaws. She
opened her eyes and saw the small plane overhead and then heard the slight hum
of the motor. Tears formed in her
eyes. Shelly saw the rhinos snorting and
stamping the ground before they stampeded into the jungle of sheltering trees. She jumped off the boulder like an antelope
and ran for the cover of the jungle. The
plane’s motor rumbled louder as it flew closer.
Shelly ran under the cover of the trees and felt like the plane was
following her and flying lower and lower.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> The
next day Shelly watched the men as they gathered around the plane, which had
landed yesterday in the grassy field.
She had climbed the rock wall and hid in the many clusters of boulders
that formed small caves in its heights.
She knew the men had found her little home on the beach. She would have to hide until they give up and
leave. That parachute had brought
them. She hoped the rhinos stayed
hidden. The macaws had followed her as
she had climbed the dangerous sheer rock wall.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> The
men had hiked all over the island and in three days they finally took their
plane back into the sky and left her island.
Shelly knew that someday they might be back. She would move her home up high and hide on
the rock wall. That next morning she
dismantled her beach home and wiped it from existence. She found a note written on paper left by the
men from the plane. She did not read it
and burned it in her fire. That morning
she also went out and swam with her dolphins.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Shelly
walked through the grassy field with the huge rhinos slowly moving around
her. She patted their heads and their
great horns. She put her hand on a
rhino’s head and swinging herself up by climbing on the tough armor she
stretched out on the beast’s wide back.
With macaws chattering and flying above her, Shelly rode towards the
waterfall and the magnificent pool on the back of a great dark animal that had
become her brother in a place called paradise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-67388357537492341722015-03-19T19:45:00.001-07:002015-03-19T19:45:24.996-07:002015 Spring Art /shows !<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I survived my ruptured biceps surgery and I am 12 weeks post op- and ahead of schedule. My arm gets stronger each week and I am now working out harder to bring it back to full capacity. The Spring Art Season is here. Since i injured my right arm I could not do art for many weeks and it was sort of depressing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I turned down a couple of art walks and shows because teaching and coaching has become too busy. I would like to congratulate my fantastic High School Art Students on their amazing 25 GOLD MEDALS at the Visual Art Scholastic Event-our most ever!! It was an exciting ART DAY and it is so much work but I love to see their pride and excitement when they get medals for all their hard work and dedication! I truly do LOVE my ART KIDS-I appreciate their loyalty and their passion for Art! This weekend I will take about 20 of my medal winners to the Bayou City Art Festival and they love going there and meeting all the working artists and checking out their techniques.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Some other NEWS is the TWO Murals produced by my team of students: The juniors completed a 30 slat section of fence to be installed outside our school featuring "the scream" "the Girl with the Pearl Earring" Melting Clocks-aka-Persistence of Memory" and "Starry Night" and our school Cougar mascot!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Seniors are working on a hall mural containing 22 master paintings from our Art History studies: featuring Dali, Frida Kahlo, O'keeffe, Frazetta, Michael Parkes, Durer, Van Gogh, Vermeer, Las Caux, Keane, Da Vinci, and many more. We should be finished within a couple of more weeks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I'll be coaching Girls soccer with my wife, Gayln, next month- we coached the team a few years ago and it was very successful and rewarding!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have 4 pieces of ART in the N.S.A. show this weekend and will be entering 3 more pieces in the Mainland Art Show April 4th. Thanks for reading my blog! Doug Hiser www.Doughiser.com</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-49202437526418481762015-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:002015-01-01T20:42:52.729-08:002015 NEW YEAR - NEW GOALS<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I start the new year off typing with only my left hand because of my pre-Christmas soccer injury and resulting surgery---ruptured right biceps tendon! So, therefore my plans of super workouts and making lots of art are gone for now. Next week school starts again and I am getting ready to prepare my students for their upcoming UIL ART competitions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Next weekend is the exciting National Society of Artists "miniature art show with all art being smaller than 9 x 12, Doug Hiser NSA, love being recognized as a signature member now. Looking forward to seeing all the members little paintings!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">New Year's Eve my daughter announced that my first grand baby will be born in May and it is a GIRL! I'll teach her about art and books and oh yeah---NATURE.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2014 was a wild ride -Painting the giant BOOT in Wimberley, Texas, with BIRDS-now installed in front of the visitor's Center-my daughter's marriage in the Bahamas, our trip to Alaska, my Dad's amazing 80th birthday celebration, my step son's marriage, my wife's basketball team winning district again-making her coaching career with 43 district championships, my solo art show PAINTED JUNGLES featuring animal paintings from Africa, Brazil, Ecuador, Galapagos, Montana, Costa Rica, and more, photographing wildlife with my wife, Gayln, in Alaska-whales,eagles,bears, caribou-and in the Texas parks and refuges-alligators and hogs,herons and thousands of sandhill cranes--my son's promotion at his cartoon company in New York, speaking engagements, art shows, qualifying for the 5th year in a row for the National Art Show and the NSA Gold medal, seeing many of my former art students graduating college and starting careers, proudly watching my excited art students win gold medals at VASE and taking three to State VASE, played too much soccer-our outdoor team qualifying for post season playoffs twice--the second time playoff game,in the goal, stopping a point blank shot is what popped my biceps off the bone--</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I look forward to a new year with my coming little girl grandchild, no more soccer goalkeeping after a career of 22 years, and a renewed look at teaching and producing art and writing my books!</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-88132523269826828212014-11-30T21:31:00.000-08:002014-11-30T21:31:28.087-08:002014 WHAT A YEAR!<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas looms on the near horizon. My Art teaching career has been driving me like a runaway train across the frozen Antarctic lands where only penguins go-which means I am so busy i barely take a breath between 530 in the morning and 330 in the afternoon. This teaching gig keeps me --stretched--and pulled in 20 or more different directions by art students craving HELP on their projects! I cannot get to them all in a day, but i try...i try like a Mad Wizard with magic hands and flying pencils and brushes across stark snow-white canvas!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I still feel like this will be my best year of teaching and my wonderful students are producing artwork they can be proud of for the rest of their lives! My ambition and passion for throwing so much work and imagination, inspiration and creativity demands upon them has also been the cause of my extreme workload. My own ART work time has suffered but it is worth it for my kids. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This year has been a wild and amazing ride. From last January-when i held my SOLO show, Painted Jungles, featuring over 80 of my Wildlife Paintings, to my students winning an amazing 23 GOLD Medals at V.A.S.E., to the selection to be a featured Wimberley Boot Artist in the Texas Hill Country and to be a part of such a great group of Artists painting those giant Boots and to see mine installed in front of the Wimberley Visitor Center this past September, and the surprising honor, qualifying for the National Show for 5 years in a row, to get the Gold Medal and become a Signature Member of the National Society of Artists and use the N.S.A. behind my name, and a special day as the invited Featured Speaker at College of the Mainland this past October, explaining my wildlife jungle travels around the planet and the writing journeys of my books. What a year and only one month to go! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I could not have done any of this without my fantastic beautiful supportive wife, Gayln. She has read every page of every book in progress, has walked with me every step of the way-following Jaguars in Brazil, watching the bubble-net feeding of Humpback Whales in Alaska, stepping over Galapagos Marine Iguanas, being charged by elephants in Kenya and so many other adventures-she was once even attacked right here in Texas by an alligator! We play soccer on three teams together and have for so many years! Our lives are full and sometimes overwhelming but we are living life as full as we can, filling up each day with love and sharing, art and reading, writing, and hiking, birding and watching the sunset by the water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I keep producing 100 to 300 pieces of art each year and trying to keep track of my son working in New York City for Frederator, making Adventure Time Cartoons, hosting 2 shows, Hungover with Cade and Toy Pizza, and now the Stupendous News, my daughter, Heather, is going to have a baby! Gayln and I will take a new step in life and become the wild crazy Grandparents who love art and animals!</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-48875441297143378492014-07-13T08:48:00.002-07:002014-07-13T08:48:57.262-07:00ALASKA Journal<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day One Anchorage, Alaska: After a minor luggage delay---{my luggage was missing for about 20 minutes in the Anchorage Airport)---we get settled in our beautiful downtown hotel and start out walking in the rain searching for food. A cafe presents itself--very small and no people-almost seemed like it was closed. It took forever to get service and after a glance at the menu we decided this place was NOT for us. The waiter never returned anyway, SO, out the door we ran! Three blocks later we come across a Mexican Cafe called La Casada and we had a Puerto Rican Waitress bring us some delicious food!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Two: We leave anchorage by the Alaska Railway-a glass domed train. We traveled 8 hours in that train and got to observe Alaska's beautiful landscapes and waterways. We also saw our first Alaska wolf, eagle, and moose along the trip. In the marshes we passed a saw a few horned grebes and their babies. AS we entered the thick forests I noticed that thousands of ferns covered the forest floor. I found out that the ferns are supposed to be good to eat covered in Garlic and Butter, but isn't everything good covered in garlic and butter? One of the Guides on the train, a collage aged girl, told us that if we come upon a bear during a hike we're should sing it a song, "Hey there, Mr. Bear..." Dinner that night was near Denali at the famous Salmon Bake and after dinner we enjoyed an impressive Naturalist lecture about Alaskan wildlife. We had a great sleep that night at our cabin by the Nenana River in Denali.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Three: Up early for reindeer sausage and eggs and an 8 hour tour of Denali Nat'l Park. The day was rainy and cold but we were determined to just put on rain-gear and protect the cameras and have a great time. One Grizzly sighting started the trip and of course we saw the white dots high in the mountains, Dall Sheep. Later we came up next to a large herd of Caribou with impressive antlers close to us. Mt. McKinley loomed in the distance but the clouds never parted to show us the summit. I found a rack of Caribou antlers hiking away from the tour and after picking them up realized how strong those Caribou are to carry such a heavy piece of equipment on their heads! That evening after a great dinner of fried chicken wings we watched a gold panning stream and Gayln got a "moose" penny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Four: The day of the LONG HIKE. We left our cabin at about 10:30 am hiking into the mountains. We followed the Triple Lakes Trail. We began with heavy coats but soon it got hot and we were down to just a light shirt, of course the backpacks got bulkier with coats in them. We hiked through white barked Birch trees with warblers and Juncos flitting about. They were also a number of multi-colored butterflies along the trail. We hiked down to the first big lake and encountered Beaver "chewed" trees and found a massive Beaver Lodge next to the bank. After about an hour of our hike we saw a dark storm coming over the distant blue and white mountains. A little while later after crossing a few creeks and small waterfalls in the rising elevations the first raindrops began to fall, at least disturbing the BIG Alaskan mosquitoes that seemed to like to fly right by your ears. We quickly donned raincoats and for the next few hours were drenched and of course it was cold now. At least in the rain we encountered more creatures of the forest, red squirrels, gray jays, stellar jays, juncos, robins, white striped sparrows, warblers, and others in the the thick Spruce and Birch trees. After three hours we finally decided to turn back and the rain stopped. We heard a loud crashing in the wood and we thought it was either a bear or a moose. I looked down and saw the fresh moose tracks in the mud. It must have been slowly following us on the trail. The hike back was long and we were exhausted, me more than Gayln, she is like the "iron woman." We got back to the cabin about 5 pm and took a shuttle to the Nature Center for the rest of the afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Five: Bus trip back to Anchorage. A few wildlife sightings from the bus, moose, eagles, mountain goats, dall sheep. The inlets and lakes through the mountains were like hidden facets in a diamond of beauty. Our first encounter with Arctic Terns-a bird that flies farther than any other bird from North to South Poles. We boarded our ship, the Oosterdam, that afternoon and attended a nature seminar, Furs, Fins, and Feathers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Six: Finally after a week of no gym workouts, we go to the ship's gym and get a good weight lifting session with a hot tub soak and a swim in the pool on deck. The day was at sea so we explored the ship and attended shows and I had some of my favorite food, Escargot. I also had to to sip hot chocolate and sketch the passing mountain and glacier scenery from the Crow's Nest of the ship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Seven: The islands and the passing seascapes and majestic blue and white scintillating mountains were breathtaking. We scanned the cliffs and were rewarded by finding Dall sheep and Mountain Goats. We spotted a few bear roaming along the shores. A few of the small islands were covered in bright orange tan piles of "sausages" which were actually Stellar Sea Lions. Sea Otters swam around our ship slowly. We spotted whales blowing spray along the shores. Today was my first ever sighting of Puffins!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Eight: Haines, Alaska, my new favorite small town. We take a 45 minutes trip past Mosquito Lake--well named because giant mosquitoes were everywhere. We were now in thick woods, and the trees were filled with awesome, black as the pits of hell, Ravens! We were greeted at an old wooden gate by a mountain man with a huge grey beard and longhair with a red tailed hawk perched on his hand. We entered their woods and were treated to a day of amazing animal encounters, red and arctic foxes, lynx, wolves, grizzly, moose, caribou, minks, ermines, weasels, martins, and a Wolverine! Later hiking the rocky shore of Haines we found a moose bone. In Haines, we saw the world's largest Hammer! At the Eagle Recovery Center we met Dylan -the blind in one eye- Screech Owl and then near the ship later watched pigeon Guillemots -black arctic birds swim in the water like crazy ducks!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Nine: Juneau and the amazing Whale day! Best tour guides and staff of the trip. We encountered so many whales that day, along with Sea Otters and Stellar Sea Lions. The highlight of the tour was discovering a "GAM" of 16 humpback whales and we watched for hours as they demonstrated "bubble netting." The whales created a net of bubbles and then all at once would open their huge mouths and all break the surface at once engorging on smelt-little fish. Even some of the humpback younger whales leapt high breaching in the air. We also were lucky enough to spot the flukes of "Sasha"the icon Alaskan whale who has the letters " and K" on her tail and she is 14 years old the same as Gayln and I-wedding anniversary on this trip! returning to Juneau with visions of leaping and blowing whales in our head we stopped by the famous Red Dog Saloon to see Wyatt Earp's pistol on the wall behind the bar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Ten: The 4th of July Parade in small Ketchikan, Alaska was fantastic. We caught a bunch of candy from the parade revelers! I loved the reindeer on a stick freshly grilled. That afternoon we took a tour guide into the Tongass Nat'l Rain forest. This guide was SO annoying! She couldn't identify any of the birds, and would never shut her loud mouth so we could enjoy the serenity of the rain forest. She went on and on about every plant and moss species, meanwhile we're trying to photograph the many birds around us. Gayln found an eagle perched not 20 feet from us and what does the guide say, "hey you two you need to hurry up you're getting behind!" The eagle enjoyed that and flew off. Later we come out of the forest and find a small river with waterfalls and the guide was ushering us in hurry again, good thing we hung back because we spotted a bear and her 3 cubs heading down to fish in the river. Of course the big lady loud mouth guide tried to take credit for showing the rest of the people the bear! Gayln got good photos and a snowy owl. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Eleven: At sea again.Many Eagles flying by in the :Inside Passage" and we watched one eagle resting on a floating piece of ice. The mountains and seascapes on each side of the ship were magical and were streamed with blues and violets and mists of grey and white, reflecting in the water and the deep green of the spruce trees were like spires of emeralds as we glided by. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day Twelve: Vancouver, Canada city tour. We have been here before but once again it is a beautiful city with many Eagles and a wonderful Aquarium. Alaska was an incredible experience but I would not want to be there in the winter! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This week I leave for Wimberley, Texas to get started in the Blue Hole studio working on painting 14 Texas bird species on the six foot tall acrylic boot to be installed in front of the Visitor Center. Saturday my ink piece, "Bass, Crappie, Perch" will be delivered to the Nat'l LSAG show in the Woodlands and this month I am teaching a "Wine and Wire Trees" workshop. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">July 26th we will be in the Bahamas for my beautif<u>ul </u>daughter, Heather's, WEDDING!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-45047419564352383172014-06-01T15:13:00.000-07:002014-06-01T15:14:36.625-07:00SHORT STORY: The Artist's Cats by Doug Hiser<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Artist's Cats</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Doug Hiser</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The warehouse is big and spacious and
full of odd gusts of breeze from unknown origin. I've slept half the
Sunday away. All I do is paint. Make art. I once sold something
and got a lot of money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That was long ago. I still have the
money. It was good for one thing. It allows me to eat, sleep, and
create. I lost my last girlfriend three months ago. She wanted more
in life than to live in a warehouse with hundreds of paintings
stacked everywhere. I bought this warehouse because it was isolated,
miles from buildings and people, down a dusty or muddy road in the
back woods. I had deer and badgers for neighbors. I am by myself,
no family, no friends, just a rambling story of wasted years. There
is a bright white new canvas waiting for me by the window.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> My cats, Felicity and Theseus, come
running when my feet hit the cold concrete floor as I slowly get out
of bed. The cats purr and rub against my bare legs. I look at my
melting clock and see it is already three in the afternoon. I must
have drank too much hot chocolate last night. I put on my oldest
pair of shorts, the ones with the worn out elastic so that I have to
constantly pull them up, and slip into my ragged sandals, heading
slowly outside to check the mail, since I haven't since last
Wednesday. The walk to the mailbox is at least half a football field
and I am glad the trees in my part of the woods are tall and shady
because it is early summer and already the sun is bright and hot.
The mailbox is full and I have to clean a spiderweb from the handle
to get the mail. I don't like spiders. As I walk back to the door
an upside down squirrel watches me clinging to a thick tree. I reach
for the door and notice the note taped to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The note was hand written in purple
ink, “I came by last night. I only started to knock or call you
but I didn't have the courage. We are over. We both agreed but I
keep thinking about you living up here in these woods with no one but
those evil cats. I miss you, If you need to talk call me. Pamela.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I went inside and left the door open
to allow more of the cool breeze to battle the heat of the day. The
new white canvas stares at me. Waiting. Wanting my time, my energy.
I go over to my long row of record albums and pull out the faded
black one with the prism and pyramid on the cover. I can hear the
crackle of the needle as it follows the familiar grooves of the black
vinyl and the sounds of Pink Floyd fill the many speakers hung in
strategic places all over the warehouse. The music soothes me like a
loving massage. I make some hot tea and stare at the note.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Felicity and Theseus are reclining on
the rug near the big windows where the sun comes in and lights up
their fur like white feathery flames. They sleep like bats in the
daytime and I can tell they dream of hunting as I watch their long
tails twitch. I think about her. Pamela was here last night. Dark
red hair, almond shaped eyes of purest green, freckled skin like a
jungle cat, she was standing right outside that big iron door. She
must have stared at that door. I was asleep dreaming of nothing and
a red-haired girl was at my door.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> As I listen to the sound of “Us and
Them” I let it get inside of my emotions and think of red hair and
freckles. The cats sleep and dream and I get up and find my favorite
paintbrush. The canvas is like a lost lover that is insistent and
hungry. I haven't even brushed my teeth or combed my wild hair. All
I feel is the music and that white pure canvas enticing me to join it
in a dance that only I can feel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> That day and that night belong to us.
The white turns to magic, to colors, to something new. The record
ends and another drops on the turntable, Rick Wakeman, sounds of
grandiose magnificence and I become ferocious with creativity. The
canvas and I, into the night and my front door still stands open.
The cats have gone out hunting. I sit down on the edge of the bed
and stare at the note. But all I read is, “Pamela.” </span></div>
Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-21849584676753276552014-05-29T13:15:00.000-07:002014-05-29T13:15:56.334-07:00Summer Art Blockbuster!<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That's right Summer is here and it is going to be a SPLASH! First News is that my ink work, Bass, Crappie, Perch, first place in the NSA Art Show qualified and will be featured in the National Art Convention at the Woodland Waterway Marriott June 18-19 2014.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Six Foot Tall Boots for Bootiful Wimberley will be arriving any day and the 20 artists will start painting their designs in an art gallery space in Wimberley Texas. My BOOT, The Birds of the Hill Country, will feature 14 species of birds and will be stationed at the Wimberley Visitor's Center this July. I am excited to begin the painting of the birds on that giant boot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My wife and I will be traveling to Alaska and Denali National Park for a North American Safari. we searching for Grizzly Bears and salmon action, Moose, Caribou, Elk, Dall sheep, Wolves, maybe Musk Oxen, foxes, and any other creature we might encounter. Dog Sledding, Whales, and Kayaking--hiking and then we follow the safari up with a 7 day CRUISE to relax! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I am posting the steps to my POND SLIDERS painting. This painting made me reflect and realize things about my art, about why i create, and why i do not want to compromise my style to just be accepted or to fit into someone's category or genre. I am unique. I didn't ask to be. I wanted to grow up and be normal like everyone else but it didn't happen. I am self taught in almost all things. I even taught myself to tie my shoes---and my method of tying shoes is not your normal way either. My lifelong obsession with art is also a self taught journey. I mix media constantly because I do whatever it takes to create the image i am searching for in my zen-like state of creating. Take a look at the variety of galleries on my website, doughiser.com, and it will seem that many different styles of artists created all that art. The same goes for my writing, my novels, and stories. I write romance, sci-fi, adventure, mystery, young adult, fantasy. You cannot put me in a category and that is what makes for a conundrum. The best fit for me is wildlife artist and prolific writer. I LOVE wildlife art, all of it, even though most of it looks too much like a photograph. I like realism in animal art too, but I also want my art to reflect me and my view. The recent Turtle painting, POND SLIDERS, reflects this attitude. The pond sliders I saw in the water recently had shells covered in algae and moss and they had muddy feet and mud on their shells. I want to make my art real but go beyond that and make things bright, more colorful. I used baby turtles to get the bright shells and dynamic patterns. As you see in the painting my turtles are brilliantly patterned and colorful. Not like real life but more hyper-real as if they were the turtles that swim in iridescent rivers in Heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Many artists work has a similar look to it. I take pride in my evolution as an animal artist that my work looks like no other artist---so i do not compromise--and I hope you like it because I LOVE creating animal ART</span>!<br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-62209878254808712462014-04-12T15:34:00.000-07:002014-04-12T15:34:09.522-07:00Animals and Art - Hiser's World<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The school year is coming to a close and the summer time for more art and writing is fast approaching. My students attended the Texas State Visual Arts Event and had a great day in College Station. We enjoyed seeing the best High School artwork in the state. I taught an ink workshop to so many young talented young artists. My new friend and fellow artist, Anat Ronen was there, creating amazing sidewalk art!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The National Society of Artists held there annual art show and my new ink piece "Bass, Crappie, Perch" took 1st in the drawing category professional, while "Fish Market" the giant river otter and kingfisher painting took honorable mention in professional watercolor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tonight is the Mainland Art Show and all three of my pieces made the juror judging, "Mara Elephant" ink, "Jaguar Pantanal" and "Hyacinth Macaws"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">April 29th will be the Houston Gateway Spring Art show where my students will showcase over 300 pieces of their art and win over 20 prizes of medals, ribbons and art supplies. I am super excited to see who will win the awards. It has been a successful year in Art with my students and I have enjoyed leading them into their imagination and talent on their journey into the arts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoy my 2 new inks and new watercolor paintings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Until next time thank you for reading my blog! DOUG HISER</span><br />
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<br />Hiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16698581292532199510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1681907567761289636.post-49501832150158289832014-03-19T20:09:00.001-07:002014-03-19T20:09:57.693-07:00Spring Break Arts<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A busy Spring Break, full of creating art, working on my art career plan, delivering art to the upcoming shows, preparing and choosing Art festivals, and so many other endeavors--so much stuff that my Spring Break is really SPRING WORK!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NEWS: My Jaguar Pantanal painting was accepted in the juired show "TEXAS Artist"s--only 29 Artists made the cut--in Old Towne Spring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NEWS: I will be entering 3 new paintings into the Texas City Art Show next month!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NEWS: I will also be entering three more new paintings into the National Society of Artists Show next month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NEWS April 5th I will be taking my Art Students to attend State Visual Arts Event in College Station.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NEWS: Hopefully my NEW WEBSITE will be up and running next month!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I have so much writing to get done this summer--working on two novels--The "Island of the Moala Komo" and my sequel to Montana Mist-Winter of the White Wolf"---Montana Night-Winter of the Black Wolf"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With the world spinning around me, my daughter is getting married in the Bahamas--a few weeks after our Alaskan Denali Wildlife trip this summer, and so many things potentially up in the air with speaking and shows---i just keep my head down under the swirling cloud and keep making art. SO little time and so many animals!! Thanks for following me and reading my words! I'll keep making art about animals--you keep caring about the beauty of animal life in the world. Doug Hiser</span><br />
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