20110723

Cowboy Facts for NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY

Image ©2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
No permission is given to copy, share, distribute, reproduce, post or print without written authorization.
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HAPPY NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY
Hunker down while I share some Cowboy Facts & Trail Trivia
  • The word "cowboy" comes from the Spanish term "vaquero" - vaca/cow and ranchero/rancher.
  • The term "cowpoke" was used for the person who prodded cattle with long poles to load them onto railroad cars for shipping
  • Cowboys called their saddle horn an "apple"
  • Most cowboy deaths were caused from horse-related accidents, not gunfights or other violence
  • Cattle were branded on the left hip
  • Most working trail cowboys were between 20 and 25 years old, sometimes learning on the job from age 12.
  • A cattle herd could travel between 10 and 12 miles per day
  • Cowboys used empty flour sacks for towels while on the trail
  • Cowboys stayed downwind of the chuck wagon to prevent dirt and dust getting in their food
  • Standard trail fare was sour dough biscuits, white gravy, beans, sow belly and coffee with an occasional taste of fresh meat when available
  • There were women - cowgirls - in the Old West but they only came to prominence in the male dominated cowboy society thanks to the Wild West Shows
  • The barbed wire fence was introduced in 1874 and it's use effectively ended the open range
  • The real cowboy era lasted from 1866 to 1886, starting with the building of packing plants and ending with the closing of the open range and the massive die off of cattle during the harsh winter of 1886/1887
Happy Trails, Buckaroos!


                                          

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20110722

IT'S NATIONAL HOT DOG DAY!

Image ©2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
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Contact PopArtDiva.Com for licensing information.

HAPPY NATIONAL HOT DOG DAY!
"May the dragon of life only roast your hot-dogs and never burn your buns!"
~ Anonymous.

Some Fun Hot Dog Facts:
  • Babe Ruth once ate 12 hot dogs and 8 sodas between games of a double header. Reportedly he was rushed to the hospital after the game with a severe case of indigestion.
  • President Franklin Roosevelt served King George VI of England hot dogs and beer during a White House visit in 1939.
  • Americans will eat enough hot dogs at major league ballparks this year to stretch from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to AT&T Park in San Francisco.
"The noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it." ~ Lawrence J. Peter.

                                          

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20110708

Celebrate National Ice Cream Month with Pop Art!


JULY IS NATIONAL ICE CREAM MONTH
Celebrate with some fun
on

For my series of Pop Art Food I had to include ice cream. One of my earliest memories involves a Dairy Queen cone, my grandfather's lap and my ponytail.  Combine these together and you get a soft serve covered pony tail painting the chin of a doting grandfather.

Here in my Pop Art Ice Cream Cones I give you ice cream cones in all their permutations - Safety cones, waffle cones, hard ice cream, soft serve with the famous little curly cue tip - all in a rainbow of colors.  There's a flavor here for everyone!  I'm just a big ice cream fan.  (I like ice cream so much I even have a whole section of Ice Cream Martinis over at The Martini Diva!)

Put a little fun in summer and show off your love of ice cream cones with a fun poster, tee or gift covered in my Pop Art Ice Cream Cones.

If you prefer something more along the lines of popsicles, check out my POP ART POPSICLES ART & GIFTS!





                                          



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20110608

HAPPY WORLD OCEAN DAY!

Image ©2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
No permission is given to copy, share, distribute, reproduce, post or print without written authorization.
 
HAPPY WORLD OCEAN DAY!
 
Here are some interesting facts about the Ocean I found online:
  • The oceans occupy nearly 71% of our planet's surface
  • More than 97% of all our planet's water is contained in the ocean
  • The top ten feet of the ocean hold as much heat as our entire atmosphere
  • The average depth of the ocean is more than 2.5 miles
  • The oceans provide 99 percent of the Earth's living space- the largest space in our universe known to be inhabited by living organisms
  • More than 3.5 billion people depend on the ocean for their primary source of food. In 20 years, this number could double to 7 billion.
  • Mount Everest (the highest point on the Earth's surface 5.49 miles) is more than 1 mile shorter than the Challenger Deep (the deepest point in the ocean at 6.86 miles)
  • The longest continuous mountain chain known to exist in the Universe resides in the ocean at more than 40,000 miles long
  • The Antarctic ice sheet that forms and melts over the ocean each year is nearly twice the size of the United States
  • The average temperature of the oceans is 2ºC, about 39ºF
  • Water pressure at the deepest point in the ocean is more than 8 tons per square inch, the equivalent of one person trying to hold 50 jumbo jets.
  • The worlds oceans contain nearly 20 million tons of gold
  • The blue whale, the largest animal on our planet ever (exceeding the size of the greatest dinosaurs) still lives in the ocean; it's heart is the size of a Volkswagen
  • Fish supply the greatest percentage of the world's protein consumed by humans
  • Plastic waste kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Plastic remains in our ecosystem for years harming thousands of sea creatures everyday.
  • Less than one half a per cent of marine habitats are protected -- compared with 11.5 per cent of global land area.
  • The High Seas -- areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction -- cover almost 50 per cent of the Earth's surface. They are the least protected part of the world.
 CELEBRATE THE WORLD'S OCEANS
 with my
Under The Sea Pop Art
 
available on:
Posters, Tees & Hoodies, Greeting and Note Cards, Stationary, Aprons, Cups, Business Cards, Pet Tees and other gear at The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery
                
      


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20110601

A little bit of POP for Pop from PopArtDiva - Father's Day Art

PUT SOME POP IN YOUR POP'S FATHER'S DAY
with my
DAD POP ART
Posters, Cards, Mugs & Steins, Ties, Caps, Tees & Hoodies, BBQ Aprons, Invitations & Postage, Mousepads, Buttons, Keychains

How could I not do a Pop art for Pop?  But when I put P O P in the squares it looked wrong so I switched it to DAD instead.  Seriously, how many people call their fathers Pop anymore?  The only person I ever remember calling their father Pop was Ricky Nelson on Ozzie and Harriet!

The great thing about selling my art on the platform I use is that the buyer can customize just about any product.  You can add your Dad's name, a photo, or a special quote or saying AND you can customize the fonts, background colors and styles.  There's also a lot of different styles of products to choose from, tees come in a wide variety of styles and colors, you can get mugs, cups and even beer steins, different apron & grocery bag styles and pick out different types of buttons, keychains and cards as well.

Want something with a little more sizzle?
Check out my
Design at The Rantorium Emporium
for some Father's Day gifts with some heat!

Yes, of course I did a
MOM POP ART
and a
HOT MOMMY
too!

And it doesn't have to be Father's Day or Mother's Day - these are great gifts for any time you want to send a little love to the folks who put up with you while you were being an annoying brat for 18 years!

Images ©2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.

                                          


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20110527

HAPPY NATIONAL BURGER DAY & MEMORIAL DAY!

Image ©2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
No permission is given to copy, share, distribute, reproduce, post or print without written authorization.
Contact PopArtDiva.Com for licensing information.

NATIONAL BURGER DAY IS MAY 28TH
Celebrate with my
POP ART BURGER!

Saturday is National Burger Day - perfect timing for the Memorial Day Weekend when the most popular way to celebrate is grill up some hamburgers and spend the holiday weekend with family and food.

 I love to have my burger with a chocolate malt so check out my Chocolate Malt Martini to add a little extra happy to your Holiday Happy Hour this weekend.  If you're not into burgers then maybe you might like my Pop Art Hot Dog instead!

Read more about how I created the POP ART HAMBURGER.
Get my
POP ART BURGER


                                   


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20110508

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2011!

It doesn't have to be Mother's Day for you to give your Mom something fun,
Check out this trippy MOM POP ART on T-shirts, Cups, Aprons & Other Gear


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Share the day with your Mom - Shake up a few of these MOTHER'S DAY MARTINIS and get to know the woman behind the mother!
Here's a few things my mother taught me:
My Mother taught me LOGIC..."If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me."

My Mother taught me MEDICINE..."If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they're going to freeze that way."

My Mother taught me TO THINK AHEAD..."If you don't pass your spelling test, you'll never get a good job!"

My Mother taught me ESP..."Put your sweater on; don't you think that I know when you're cold?"

My Mother taught me TO MEET A CHALLENGE..."What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you...Don't talk back to me!"

My Mother taught me HUMOR..."When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT..."If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.

My mother taught me about GENETICS..."You are just like your father!"

My mother taught me about my ROOTS..."Do you think you were born in a barn?"

My mother taught me about the WISDOM of AGE..."When you get to be my age, you will understand."

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION..."Just wait until your father gets home."

My mother taught me about RECEIVING..."You are going to get it when we get home."

And, my all-time favorite - JUSTICE..."One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like YOU -- then you'll see what it's like!"



In Loving Memory of My Mom, Bernie



                                          



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20110409

It's BUTTERFLY AWARENESS DAY

Happy Butterfly Awareness Day!

Celebrate these beautiful and amazing inhabitants of our world by checking out Lepidopterology.Com and get yourself some cool art & gifts featuring my BUTTERFLY POP ART at The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery!

Here's a few cool facts about Butterflies:
  • Butterflies range in size from a tiny 1/8 inch to a huge almost 12 inches
  • Butterflies taste with their feet!
  • Many butterflies are territorial and fight, chasing others out of their territory. 
  • Butterflies can’t hear, but they can feel vibrations.
  • Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.degrees.
  • Butterflies don't have mouths, they have a proboscis - a long tube that works like a straw.
  • Butterflies do not get bigger as they age - a young butterfly is a caterpillar.
  • Antarctica is the only continent on which no Lepidoptera have been found.
  • A caterpillar (baby butterfly or moth) grows to about 27,000 times it's original egg size. 
  • Most butterflies make no sound, but some in Florida and Texas make a loud clicking sound with their wings. 
                                          
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20110408

ELECTRIC SLIDE COWBOY BOOTS POP ART

Image ©2011 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
No permission given to copy, print, distribute, e-mail, share, post or reproduce without a licensing agreement from PopArtDiva.Com.

ELECTRIC SLIDE BOOTS
Pop Art Cowboy Boots Series #4

Electric Slide Boots is the fourth and final painting in my Pop Art Cowboy Boots series.  These were actually a pair of cowboy boots I owned and wore, the only difference is I used white where my boots were black.  The white pops more against the lavender - purple cosmic sky scape background so I took a little creative license with a favorite pair of shoes for the sake of art.

The name comes from a western dance made popular during the Urban Cowboy era called the Electric Slide - still a popular dance in cowboy bars today.  I always liked the music and thought the name was a perfect fit for this illustration.

Like the other three paintings in this series (Midnight Cowboy Boots, All Dressed Up, Sunrise Sunset, Ya'll), Electric Slide Boots has a space inspired background - a recurring theme in my work over the years as a result of having been a sci-fi illustrator way back in my earlier illustration career.  Painting alien skies, moon, stars & meteors is much more fun than painting ugly alien monsters as far as I'm concerned - I'll leave the monsters to Hollywood FX experts and teenage boys!
 I invite you to Get Your Dance Moves On with my:

ELECTRIC SLIDE COWBOY BOOTS

This is the fourth Cowboy Boot Pop Art in a series of four.

AVAILABLE FOR LICENSING
Can be Customized for your Logo or Product!
and is
Available on



20110401

MIDNIGHT COWBOY BOOTS POP ART

Image ©2011 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
No permission given to copy, print, distribute, e-mail, share, post or reproduce without a licensing agreement from PopArtDiva.Com.

MIDNIGHT COWBOY BOOTS
Pop Art Cowboy Boots Series #3

When I started this painting I was thinking about cowboys tuckered out from riding the range, enjoying a final cup of Cookie's coffee and toasting their toes in front of the campfire under the canopy of the night sky.  Nearby were their boots, well worn and broken in from lots of wear - bent at the toes and shaped into comfortable familiarity.  Anyone who's a fan of cowboy boots knows that once you get your boots to that state of comfort there's nothing as easy on a hard working foot - not even a pricey pair of sneakers.

The title came from that visualization and the cosmic boot design was from my own desire to own a pair of cowboy boots with my favorite space theme.  I never found a pair of boots like that and, short of custom ordering a pair, I probably won't ever own my own pair of Midnight Cowboy (or Cowgirl in this case) Boots but at least I got some inspiration from my wish.

This is the third Cowboy Boot Pop Art in a series of four.


Feed your inner Cowboy or Cowgirl with my:
MIDNIGHT COWBOY BOOTS
AVAILABLE FOR LICENSING
Can be Customized for your Logo or Product!

Available on