Thank you so much!! Both AngelBlue & StrandedSnowMonkey :)

OT --- I began a new 'revision' of a painting, hihi.
I had been thinking about that as I was finishing up the Phoenix. It's another one that I had finished before but was never happy with.
Now I want to get it right!

I began the painting in 2012, then later on in 2015 did a 1st attempt to finish it, and failed.
I just wasn't feeling it and it ended up in storage like this:


Then in 2023 I'd started playing with a new style of painting, tried it with this canvas, but didn't quite work out the way I had hoped since it's oil painting.
It ended up like this, finihed in a way but me still not liking it.




Then I had an idea a couple of days ago. So this afternoon I sanded parts of it till it was quite smooth, this evening gesso-ed it.
It looks a bit weird with the white horizontal above the city/castle but I decided I wanted to get rid of that bridge and all the waterfalls to the left.

Now I got this, tomorrow I can start with paint (it's too late now for me, half past 9).
I think this is the biggest change I've ever done on a painting, hihi.
But... this time I know how I want it to look, so I'm certain I'm going to end up with a painting that makes me happy! :D


The white is Gesso (primer). So this is NOT a finished painting!!!

I thought this was about 2 different cities in the US but I'm guesstimating it's sports.

Nevertheless, can anyone enlighten me and tell me wat K.C. stands for?

Thanks, Julie :D

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

This is from Clara, Acu Pro Academy:

As we step into the Year of the Wood Snake , it’s a powerful time for reflection, transformation, and creativity.

This year’s Yin Wood energy encourages adaptability, wisdom, and fluidity.

No doubt there's much more to read & tell about this year's energy & influence.

I myself am also a Wood according to Chinese 5 elements, but not a Snake.

I finished my Phoenix painting last night!
Had to do some minor details and paint in the missing 4th talon.
I hadn't even noticed that until 2 days back they were missing. Without it it'd be impossible to sit on a branch or grab something.
So that had to be fixed!

After it'd been living in the "dunno what to do with this painting" space upstairs for 15 years (!!) I'm now very happy with it and I do intend to find a spot somewhere on a wall :D

My PC and/or external HD.
Everything that is important is on there from photos to documents.

I'd lose all my own photos from childhood, teenage years etc. but you gotta make a split-second choice of what outweighs the rest.

Thank you, Julie :)

And we have yet another anti-women and/or cannot-get-over-my-past-hurt dude.
I guesstimate you figured you'd feel better after blurting that out only to find out that it didn't alleviate the hurt/anger/pain/emptiness you carry on the inside.

It's odd how you connect showing fish eyes (how rude!) & cat nose with being after a man's money. How did you get to that conclusion?
Unless the one that hurt you had fish eyes and a cat nose, and spent your money, I don't see the connection.

But alas... always the same... bloke gets hurt and goes on for years on end, decades even, blaming women without ever looking what he did wrong or where he fell short. No accountability.

If men would work on their issues more often the number of singles in the world would decrease like you wouldn't believe and we'd see the number of happy couples sky-rocket!

Close to calling this a finished painting!
Next session will be some minor tweaks and deciding which shadow on the wings I'll keep, left or right. Or maybe an in between version.

The Phoenix had to wait for near 15 years to get its wings properly done, believe it or not.
I tried a few years back, failed, put it back upstairs.

Now that I'm re-familiarised myself with oils I decided to finally do it.
I did attempt to paint realistic wings, then it suddenly dawned on me that didn't suit the painting at all!
I was looking at the tail and figured I wanted the wings to be kind of like that.

Going to be glad when this one is done! I've never struggled with any painting as much as with this one!

What I see... an angry looking man.

A profile that isn't finished. "Hi" and "will tell you later" isn't a profile text.

What I think... not a good profile. It really needs work, and a better photo.

Not exactly true. As a matter of fact, not true at all.
Women are way ahead of men, as always is the case with the feminine. The feminine is always what changes first, then later on the masculine follows.
Not weird as if both would undergo changes at the same time everything would turn to chit. You need one group to keep things running so the other group has the time and space to change.
After they're done the roles reverse.

But in any case, maybe in the US things are vague. I know from my girl when she lived there that women in many cases were still inferior to men.

Over here however, there are courses, workshops, academies and so on about feminine strength, getting back in touch with that, feeling it, experiencing it and so on.

Also the Jungian psychologist Karen Hamaker-Zondag has written a book about the masculine in women and the feminine in men.
It explains in great detail what the role of women is in society, AND that of men.
She addresses both the imbalanced versions and how that pans out (very recognisable) and the balanced versions.
This book is over a decade old, and is basically Jungian psychology which is nothing new.

So women's role in society is well documented and known, that of men too.
In general women are further in their development to being the balanced version than men.
As it is the female forerunners cannot really progress until the masculine counterparts catch up and this is not really happening at the mo.
Meaning in order for the whole of mankind to get to the next level of our growth & evolution men need to get the heck on with it!

None of this is a dig, nor meant to be judgemental.
As I said, it's all researched, documented and so on. I'm just relaying knowledge & info.
Maybe this isn't so well known in the US.
Also understandable as the US isn't exactly a forerunner when it comes to the masculine & feminine.
I think in this case it's Scandinavia and The Netherlands.

Your choice of profile photo isn't great.
Go for the one with the neon yellow vest. That shows your face, a smile, much better photo!
I'm certain you'll get more interest with that.

As for the rest, fill out your profile. You need a profile text, there's nothing now.

Another thing that would put me off for sure: you are looking for relationship, dating AND intimate encounter.
I never ever get involved with a man who's also looking for easy & free sex.
I want a man who knows he wants love and a great woman by his side as a life partner.
If a man wants easy sex it says he's up for anything he can get his hands on, and thus not really all that serious. In that case he can sod off!

Now that's up to you of course. If that's what you want, fair enough.
But then you gotta accept that women who want a serious relationship (most) may pass you by.

Thanks, Julie :)

Doesn't stand out, all rather superficial, and again a guy looking for free sex.
That's how it comes across.
Photos... would've been better if they'd show a happy man.
Your profile photo is way too dark.

Well, I'm pretty much done with it.
Took me a few session to get both the mist back in, properly this time, and do the foreground trees.
These were deep dark purple without definition, now they're dark green and you can see definition of trees in there.
This is more accurate as I could see the trees when I zoomed into the reference photo.

I'm calling it a finished painting, and I'm happy with it now!
As it is I'm okay to put it up for sale. The way it was, not so much, hihi.

I love Skyfall too!
Have seen it many times, hihi.
Javier is great. Both Daniel & Judy Dench said in an interview he was the creepiest bad guy ever, hihi.
He's Penelope Cruz' hubby. His head is about 3x larger than hers?!
I was amazed -kinda shocked- when he was at Graham Norton's and his English turned out to be very bad? But a lovely man nonetheless.

One of the great scenes in Skyfall is with Javier and Bond deep in the Tube when he blows that hole in the wall and that train comes hurtling in.
If memory serves they had to get that scene one right in one go, couldn't do it over.

Meeting someone who's looking for a serious relationship isn't a problem.
Finding someone like that who is also a good match is.

Such a good question!
And so easy to just blurt out stuff, hihi.
I've been thinking about this Q for a few hours now, believe it or not.

Conclusion is I love who I am as a whole, as a being. My energy, my take on things and life.
I've got a "the sun is shining" feel, I see or look for solutions and I am very creative.
I love the way I've consciously chosen to live my life which is not the mainstream way.

I am a work in progress, I love to learn (think Gregg Braden, Dr Joe Dispenza, epigenetics etc.), I'm not the kind of person to get stagnant and stale as I'm so eager to learn, grow & evolve.
And I love that about myself too :D

And thank you for your question.
Taking the time to think about the answer was time well spent!

Thinking... it's about time the sun starts shining again and for spring to begin.
Fed up with misty grey days, rain, strong wind.
Today is the 3rd misty day in a row.

I like Pierce as well. Good actor, attractive, and indeed made a good believable Bond.