A.W.O.L no more...

A.W.O.L. for the non-military folks stands for Absence With Out Leave. It's been a rough month folks and I apologize for being so behind in posts and responses.

I had to participate in the annual Different Strokes from Different Folks portrait challenge.

This painting does not do this lovely lady justice. I didn't capture her smiling eyes as well as I wanted and her face should be more oval. Her portrait of me is much more flattering and I adore it. You can see it on her blog HERE.

Because she finished hers within the first week, I was able to find out this is Christine Maclellen. This is actually the second painting I did of her. The first one, I thought I made her face too long. If I had time, I would paint a third and I am sure it would turn out "juuuust right".

8x10 oil on RayMar

"Gotta Go"

On a lighter note, I was at my daughter's soccer game a couple of weekends ago. We were in the industrial part of town and Porta-potties were scattered around the edges of the field.

No one I know likes using these facilities but I couldn't help but notice they complimented the fall leaves so well.

This is probably more than you want to know but during my 26 years as a cop, I only had to use this option once. It's inconvenient enough to juggle a 15 pound gun belt with attached baton , flashlight and other stuff in a regular stall; it was downright comical trying it in one of these.

16x20 oil on board

Roger Kellmann 1961-2009

Roger Kellmann died last week and his funeral services were today. Roger was an all around good guy, good officer and great husband and dad. We were on the Hostage Negotiation Team together when I was working at the Department. Roger was also a CSI and a Field Training Officer. He died from suspected heart failure which is a common side affect of the job stresses. He will be missed.

8x10 oil on canvas