Summer by the Pool

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty

Summer by the Pool
acrylic paint on canvas board

16" x 20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm) 
201908071

© copyright Mike Kraus
For more information, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/186507940/custom-commission-original-artwork-by

They've been such generous friends.  When her son moved to Florida, they gave him some of their furniture for his spartan apartment.  When Hurricane Dorian threatened his apartment, they offered him a spare bedroom for safe shelter.  How do you thank someone for such kindness.  She thought about it a long time.  What do they love most?  After much contemplation, she saw how much they cherish their home.  Particularly, the well-manicured backyard with a pool.  Spending hot days cooling off with their five beloved pups.  Sounds like heaven.

SEE YOU TOMORROW for Kim Lester's art opening and extended Happy Hours!

Please visit my Brightscapes art show at Mendon 64.  Along with seeing my new works of the Finger Lakes, other activities include art by Nora Gelb Designs, Ann Dauphin, David Tay, guest chef Chris Hobaica , music by: Nick LeDuc, Ryan Barski, Wednesday $1 oysters, Thursday no corkage, and so much more.

Mendon 64

1369 Pittsford Mendon Rd

Mendon, New York 14506

(585) 433-9464

dining@mendon64.com 

For up to date information, please visit:  

https://www.facebook.com/events/381459825832899

To see more of Mike Kraus' artwork, please visit: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com  

See me at 

KettleFest 2019

More information at:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1074229096115301/

Michael Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine

Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State

University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago

Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies,

Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he

worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus

became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of

paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in

Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Store: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeKrausArt
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekrausart

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MikeKraus/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MikeKrausBlog

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus

Signs of Summa

 SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!  To celebrate, Megan is sipping a fine beer waiting for me to build the fire up enough for s'mores.  Hurry up Mike!  S'MORES!

We have reached peak s'more roasting 

Congrats Maureen on an amazing show.  So many fun pieces and lots of fun people.  It was another great opening at Whitman Works (https://www.whitmanworks.com/). 

These are completely awesome.  I want to rehang this somewhere in my house.  So, I need to build a new wall somewhere soon... 

 The Rockin' Rocking House

Sports Illustrated Puppy Edition photo shoot.  Even Scout needed a pool day.   

Megan trained her to stick her tongue out at the camera 

Into the pool 

It's Ariel: The Little Mermaid 

My pool accessories 

Scout's enjoying this a little too much... 

A dog should not like floating in a pool this much... 

Mr. Gorbachev, Paint Over This Beige Wall!

Another room being painted!  Here's Megan painting the master bedroom buttercup (yellow) from beige

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Yeah for new bedroom.  That was a fun couple of weekends.  If you want to see what we did to the living room, you can visit: http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-battle-against-beige-tyranny.html

How do you celebrate a newly painted bedroom?  A bonfire of course!

Whoops, I guess I made the fire a little too big...  Exciting day yesterday.  A guy driving by my house had a gas leak in his car and it caught fire.  It's not in this picture, but you can imagine what 2,000 lbs of charcoal with a Chevy bowtie looks like...

Ruby Shoes playing in the parking lot of the main street (Commercial Street) in East Rochester.  For some reason, they played all the songs from Grease.  That reason is probably that people love it.

Rachel showing off her swimming ability.

Foot

And, what would my blog be without my baby deers update?  

This is by far the closest the fawn have been to us.  Curious little fellas and they still have their spots.  Pretty soon, they'll be moving in the house and paying rent.

That's about it.  Lots of stuff coming up over the next couple of weeks...

Put Down That Cocoon!

So, what is this nonsense?  It's allegedly a UFO visiting a pool in Naples Florida.  At first, I thought it was the pool I was in when I was down there a couple of times last year.  Not so sure now, but here's the story from CNN:  
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/08/09/dnt-ufo-in-florida-pool.wbbh.html
Does this remind anyone else of the Ron Howard movie Cocoon starring Wilford Brimley?  I think it's coming true...

What have I learned from this?  There's an organization called Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) dedicated to UFO research: http://www.mufon.com/

That's all I really have this week.  Megan's been sick, so we've been just hanging around the house.  Thanks to Sarah and Pete for hosting a party when Jarrett was in town.   

10 Questions You Never Thought To Ask Me About Mormonism and Still Should Not...

HILL CUMORAH PAGEANT! (http://www.hillcumorah.org/Pageant/index.php)  For several years, I've been trying to go to this.  Ever since I moved to Rochester and discovered that Mormonism was founded here.  IT IS AMAZING!  It's ten stories from the Bible and Book of Mormon reenacted by over 800 cast and crew, with over 1,300 costumes, on a 10-level stage, with more special effects than a KISS concert.  AND IT'S FREE!  


Here's a shot of the stage.  This is one of the rare moments I wish I had a high end telescopic camera.  I couldn't tell you how many people are here.  There's about 8,000 seats and tons of people sitting behind with their own lawn chairs and blankets.  And, the costumed cast walk around before the show starts.  Unfortunately, I didn't know about this and showed up too late to have my picture taken with anyone.  There's more on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Cumorah_Pageant)


This is Nephi's vision of the tree of life.  Honestly, I'm not sure about this part of the story.  So, if you are interested you should visit the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) website at (http://www.lds.org).  But, that blue is some kind of a water fountain with a light feature.   


Too blurry.  I could tell you this was a crown or what I had for dinner and you'd have to just take my word for it...


This is The Building of a Ship and The Voyage to Ancient America.  Again, don't take my word for it.  But the guy, Nephi, at the tree above was told by God to build a boat.  Him and his family sail the ship and upset God, which causes him to create a storm and nearly drown them.  They end up in America and Nephi writes part of the Book of Mormon.  His brothers that upset God are still causing trouble, which leads to more trouble later on.


What's that glowing at the top of the set?  It's JESUS!  I really need to figure out how they got his outfit to glow like that.  It's much more subtle in person, but still very noticeable.  


I think this is a battle scene


I don't know what's going on here.  But, I will tell you that a guy named Mormon wrote a history of his people on gold plates.  He was killed and his son, Moroni finished his writing and buried the plates in Palmyra, New York (just outside of Rochester).  In the 1820s, Moroni is now an angel and tells Joseph Smith where he buried the golden plates.  Hint: they are in the hill where the play is taking place.  So, Joseph Smith has the golden plates printed as the Book of Mormon.  This is how the church started.


Just look at all the actors and actresses!


Again, please take what I say about this with a grain of salt.  My expertise in Mormonism is limited to a couple of pamphlets and wikipedia.  What I do have to say is this is a great show and I highly suggest going to it.  You know me, I love seeing and doing things that are unique to a region and the only place you'll see this is Rochester.  I just wish my photos could do it justice...


Here's some anti-Mormon protesters yelling about something.  I'm not sure about what.  They were very vocal though.  And, they seemed to be hurling insults I didn't understand.  The Pillsbury Doughboy seemed to upset one of them for some reason.


"Ask me why you deserve HELL."  Geez, I can think of a dozen reasons without having to ask someone what else to add to the list...

OTHER BUSINESS:


The Big Bobber Floating Cooler.  Dave and Alison really outdid themselves this time.  I can't wait to get Dick the matching fishing pole.


This is Penny.  This photo of her is way larger than her actual size.  




A little birds nest in a hanging plant.


Mmmmmm...  Sak's Thai Restaurant (http://saksthaicuisine.net/) in Perinton.  This is the last place I'd expect to find a good Thai restaurant (on 31 between Pittsford and Palmyra).  But, I got my curry fix before Hill Cumorah.  What a great night.


Conceptual art?  Perhaps we're trying to make our backyard more comfortable?  Or, are we just cleaning the cushions of our couch?  It's a mystery we may never know...


THERE BACK!  Here's the doe with her two fawn playing in our backyard.  I've never seen deer play like this before.  The two fawns were darting all over the place chasing each other.  I guess that partially explains why the grass is so matted down.




I admit I spend way too much time looking out my back windows to see if the deer are there.  It's the first thing I do in the morning and I pretty much peek every time I walk by a window.

That's all for now.  Gotta go get some dinner and buy a dehumidifier.  Take care of a few things before Megan gets back from her conference.  No big plans this week...