household surrealism
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My adopted Mom’s quilt and a searcher
This week the Aurora Gallery finished framing my adopted Mom’s quilt that I told you about in a prior post. Doesn’t the frame look great? We went right home and hung it in a special place! As you see in the photo above – included in the frame is a piece of handmade paper on…
A Creative Life, art exhibit, art gallery, art prints, art supplies, art techniques, author illustrator, books, dog portrait, Dogs in Art, fine art, household surrealism, illustration, mental health, Odditerrarium, publications – publishing, published art, reading, sketchbook, whimsical art, words and picturesart exhibits, art supplies, art techniques, artist/author, bookstore, Canal District Wines, Caplan Art Designs Gallery, dogs, Dogs in Art, Dr Bobs Emotional Repair Program First Aid Kit, Dr. Bob Hoke, fine art, household surrealism, illustrator, independent bookstore, local bookstore, NIL-TECH, Odditerrarium, Penny Hoke, quilt, sketchbook, Vintage Books, whimsical art -

The ants the wetlands and the wild books
In our neighborhood we joke that western Washington is built on a giant anthill. Each spring we all battle ants outside our houses before they can invade indoors. The first hint is a mound of dirt where there wasn’t one before. Like this one on the edge of our patio. I lifted the bricks and…
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Unwearied fancie, the flowers, the books and the stew
Unlike ball obsessed dogs I get tired and need a break even from my most favorite activity in the world: making art. In my last post I talked of finishing most of the prep for my upcoming Odditerrarium exhibit a week or so early in order to give myself time to rest and recharge before…
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Using much eloquence while juggling numbers
A new painting in my Odditerrarium series for upcoming exhibits via Caplan Art Designs is titled “Using Much Eloquence”. Like the others in this series this one is 10 x 8 inches and made with ink, gouache and collage on board. Here’s a closer view so you can see what this dog is thinking. Now…
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Desirous naturally of travel and Juggling Numbers
I thought about travel this week and the newest painting in my Odditerrarium series is titled “Desirous Naturally Of Travel”. It’s a portrait of a Portuguese Water Dog who is contemplating sailing. Here’s a closer look. Like the other paintings in my Odditerrarium series this new one is 10 x 8 inches and was created…
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Troublesome wit, books, poetry and essential ordinariness
Work happily proceeds on my new Odditerrarium series. I’ve a work schedule and I’m sticking to it. As I worked on this pug painting titled “Troublesome Wit” I thought of John Lewis and his phrase ‘good trouble’. I thought of how humans work together in order to have the wit and fortitude to deal with…
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Fine art, books and similarities between art and writing
More work this week towards an upcoming art exhibit I’m calling “Odditerrarium”. I’ll tell more about my creative process on this exhibit here and in subsequent posts. Odditerrarium will be an exhibit via Caplan Art Designs later this year. This week I finished a dog portrait I’ve titled “Secret Knowledge”. It’s 10 x 8 inches…
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On playing with books, art and being wholly bent
I painted an unauthorized portrait of a playful cat that I’ve met courtesy of a dear friend. This portrait is titled “Wholly Bent” and is 10 x 8 inches. This is me just playing and working towards future art exhibits. Here’s a closer view of “Wholly Bent” it is 10 x 8 inches, ink, gouache…
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Miniature art, dogs, cows and books
This week had a cow in it (more on that in this post) and a dog portrait. I selected one of my sketchbook drawings as an idea for what to paint using the new brush technique I learned from the book, Miniature Art by Joan Cornish Willies that I talked about in my last post.…
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The Arabian Nights, miniature art and studio equipment
This week was … there. Reading Marcus Aurelius helped. So did the oranges, the coffee, the leaves in the yard, the books and art. Talking with my spouse helped too. I kept returning to this quote from Marcus Aurelius so I did this gouache and ink painting. Then I added it to my “for encouragement”…
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