David Ronsick Fine Art

Well folks, It's official.

Like, really official.

A while back I asked for ideas on what my art business should be called - cause I was nowhere near any good ideas.  : )

Desert Rat hit gold with 'Mighty Fine Art'. I had to admit, it had a ring. A *nice* ring. And I was all gung-ho to do it too - except some little sneak somewhere in the world snuck up a site with that very name, no doubt minute before I tried - the little.....

Well, I'll try to be nice. : ) I didn't feel to strongly convinced that his artistic endeavors were *mighty*, but it certainly was.....unique. I will give him that.

So, after much counseling with titles battering about in my head, I settled on a slightly more simple and non-original title.

~ David Ronsick Fine Art ~

It also has a nice ring - A nice professional sound, like I'm somebody important or something. : ) It took me a while, but I've learned to like it.

Sorry Desert Rat, I tried.

So! Months of website stuff later, it's legit.

So go ahead - click on that 'Fine Art' button up top. Do it several times if you like - break it in for me.

And yes, those pictures are for sale. I'm officially in the art business, and officially open for custom drawings. All the info needed should be there on the site, so browse away and enjoy!

Thank God for getting me here, and here's praying for what he will do next.  

2013 in Review

I was sitting here doing my thing, when it hit me.

Its the end of the year. One whole year has gone by. Hot Dog.

So of course, I am bound to do a year in review. Gee, where to begin.

Every year I say I learned so much, that I begin to wonder if I learned anything in the previous year by comparison. It just keeps growing year after year, and I keep learning, so I am beginning to wonder if either there is so much more to learn than I ever dreamed possible, or if I am so stupid that I hardly ever learned anything in the years previous.

Let's hope it's option A....

So, the year. It's fun to look back through the posts I put up through the year, seeing my thoughts play out as events happened to spark ideas for blog posts.

This year had a milestone moment for me, that changed my life radically, and I will never be the same. I hope you all have seen the change, but I'll get to that in a minute. :)

Nothing much interesting happened in January.  I did three posts, one about changing the world with the small things in life, one about how Christians are losing their salt and light, and a video from Fox News about gun control. Nothing too exciting.

In February was our annual Men and Boys Campout, and I got this stunning shot on a hike we went on as the sun was going down.

Epicness

In February I also got my compound bow, and have been avidly archer-ing away ever since. I did a couple movie reviews, a video post, and officially hit my 100 post mark. Nice little stepping stone. 

In March, things kicked off with our annual Men's Prayer advance, where I shot my first Rattlesnake, and my good friend nearly got lost in the desert. My friend survived the experience. The Rattlesnake - not so much. 

Noah shot one, mine is the one on bottom

Right after, all the guys in my family and an entire other family went to a handgun training course outside of Las Vegas. Two days of bang and bullets, complete with firing my first full-auto UZI. Talk about fun. 

The only thing I blogged about was a post about the two trips. But it was in between those two trips, the change of a lifetime began. 

I didn't realize it until later in the year, but it started here, and I will get to that in a minute. : )

In April, nothing of note happened, except that I wrote a post about what I like about girls. That post has hit the mark of 248 views, 5 +'s and 28 comments - so far my most popular and often viewed post. It happens to be one of my favorite posts, so I am glad everybody took to it so well. : D 

In May, things came to a head in my spiritual life, and I made a turn around a spiritual corner that has left me changed forever. 

I found me. 

Up until this year, I had no idea who I was - who the real me really was, way deep down where nobody saw. I knew what I wanted to be, I knew what I wasn't, but I didn't know what I was. And that journey, that realization, that God led me down quietly and slowly so as not to overwhelm me in one fell blow, changed me forever. 

I did a post on the real me, which was a huge milestone for my spiritual walk, but the best part was what was happening in my heart. I was changing, realizing my real weakness, learning to be content with who I was, not trying to change myself to who I wanted to be, and the best part, since I learned how sensitive I was, I learned (more like, still learning) how to be sensitive, kind, and loving to others - because I knew what it felt like to be on the other end of insensitivity, unkindness, and unlovingness (is that a word?.....)

I hope you have seen a change in me since then, because that section of time in my life, literally, was the most important so far. Everything in my life led to that point, and wow, Thank God he showed it to me. 

Whoops, that went a bit long. Moving on....

I also had my senior Photo Shoot, and did random crazy things like AZ surfing as the temperature climbed far to high for my comfort.  

Three surfers with their horses that they trained

Class of 2013

  

In June, I actually graduated, which was  -  to put it mildly - nice. 15 years of schooling under my belt, a gun on my hip, and ready to take on the great big world - or so it felt at the time. : )

But I also did another momentous post, on not only who I was, but how I got to who I was, through my past, my hurt, my pain, and my life - all shaping me to who I am today. After I figured out who I was, it was only a matter of connecting the dots to my life to figure out how I got there. 

Let me tell you, in all honesty and seriousness - if you have never been at that point where you ground yourself to reality - find out who you really are and why you really are, you are probably adrift in the world and in your heart. I know I was, and that is a miserable and lonely place to be. That time in my life, all heading in that post, was, without a doubt besides my actual conversion, the most important time in my life. 

Those two posts, the ones about me and how I got there, are my favorite posts. : ) Where I open wide to all the world who I am, and pray for mercy from God to accept that and go on with being more like his Son. 

Golly, I tend to get long winded. Sorry, moving on. 

In July, I turned 20 (woo!) and played in the water some more. I hurt my ankle the week before my birthday, so I spent my birthday at an indoor shooting range and doing a LOTR and Hobbit Marathon. Wow, what a day. 

Surfing away

I did a few posts about growing up, a video of us surfing, and a post on funny videos. Just went and watched Swedish Chef again - gee that guy is funny. 

August rolled around - wow, the year is going quickly isn't it?  - We had my graduation party with some of the men from church, where they all got together and gave me a challenge,  basically to go out there and take over the world for God - awesome stuff. If I could hear that every day of my life, I probably would be a different man. 

We also had my Birthday/Graduation party up north in the mountains for two days, with my new canoe I bought and fixed up, playing on the lake, and catching crawdads in the creek. 

Me at the end of my grad party

Breaking in my new 20 foot canoe I fixed up - and it floated! 

Yes, he is hunting crawdads with a bow

I did a few random blog posts, one of which was still sparking political arguments recently. 

September rolled in with a swing, and brought loads of action and excitement. 

My mom went on a road trip with our other family for a horse show for a week, so all the guys from both families were at home taking care of enough animals to open a small zoo. Fun stuff. 

Right afterwards was Noah's Birthday, where I took Noah canoeing, then we went out in the desert with our other family, and blew up a dryer, shot guns, and lit off fireworks. 

Adventure calls...

Me looking more than pleased, the smoke from what was left of a dryer floating away in the background. 3 pounds of Tannerite + dryer = BIG BOOM.

Sat back and had our own personal firework show. Pretty isn't it? 

Right afterwards was our annual church Family camp, where I set my personal record on number of fish caught in one day, number of fish caught in the two day trip, and my biggest bass yet. Whopping weekend, where I also hurt my leg in a church game that nearly lamed me for over a month. I spent most of one afternoon limping around the lake catching fish like crazy. I have a knack of hurting myself at the wrong time..... 

Big bubba - or whatever the fish equivalent is 

I also finally finished a knife I had been making for the longest time. I took an old Horse rasp, and ground it down into a formidable hunting knife. I could chop through a tree with this thing, and I think it would still be sharp. It's a bit of a brick, but I would have no hesitation putting it through anything the wild throws at me. All the long hours of work were totally worth it. 

A knife among knives

I also decided in September that, someday, I would do an outdoor adventure business - Man Up Adventures. Hope to pull that off someday. 

October came in much looked for, and with it my first Elk season, where I spent a week watching more 4-wheelers and trucks than elk, got a shot at one but didn't bring it in, then nearly hit a big bull in the road on our way home.    

Yours truly 

I did a few posts about the hunt itself, but besides that the only other thing I did was start having a friend build me a website for my art (COMING SOON!) 

November snuck in before I knew what was happening, and brought with it a fun post about makeup, and couple of other ones in light of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was had at our other families house, with fun, food, and bows - redneck thanksgiving all the way, and I think I can safely say, the best Thanksgiving I have had yet. 

I think this is my favorite shot of the year, with my favorite people anywhere

December came way to quickly, bringing with it a deer hunt - my first archery hunt for that matter, with a post on what I learned on the hunt. 

Me and my family saw Thor 2, The Hobbit 2, I argued with HTML for an evening and produced my first blogger button, and....well....

That would bring me to right now! 

Whew! What a year. My years keep getting better - Next year should be whopping. : ) 

But honestly, I really do want to know - what change have you all seen in me this past year? It was pretty momentous for me, so I would love y'alls outside opinion - and tips for improving! As honest and blatant as you can manage - without getting nasty.  : D 

All in all, the best year I have had yet. Learning so much more than I ever thought possible, growing in more ways than I ever thought possible (thank God not my waistline.....) with loads of awesome hunting, fishing, hiking, swimming, canoeing, talking, praying, and other stories ram-packed in around them. 

Thank God for a good year - here's to more. 

Thanksgiving in the Country

I don't know what people who don't have the great outdoors ingrained into them do on thanksgiving - wait I take that back. I know what they do. They play the Wii, drink a few beers, cokes and cider, catch up on happenings and sit around the living room until the food appears. At least, that is what my extended family does - cousins and aunts and such.

We normally go down south to have Thanksgiving with our extended family, but this year we weren't able to make it. We couldn't sit at home alone of course, so we planned a full day of fun over at our other families house - other family translated as our best friends down the road.

We knew it would be a fun day, but we didn't really know the extent of it, or what it would entail.

Bro - What more needs be said?

Bows - of course - who wouldn't have Thanksgiving without archery being involved?

The girls were totally interested in archery, but had little to no experience or practice. So, lessons commenced, along with general open-season on anything downrange stupid enough to get pegged by all involved.  

Demonstration fire

You can tell by her face that Jessie and that target must have had a disagreement sometime in the near past... 

She looks a tad happier - she must have settled part of the score with the target

Lisa apparently was on fine terms with the target, and on fine terms with the holes she put in it 

Eggnog Row

Oh Golly  -  I missed! 

During and around the archery was arranged a Pellet Gun competition - I didn't win, but I came close. The competition kinda fizzled out when we found out that the scope on the gun they were using was a tad off.

Matthew snipin'. He had the highest score at the end 

Raspberry Tea and a good seat to watch from 

Yours Truly, with me own shooter

Bro at bat.   Er .... gun. 

Lisa gone lefty

Jess was the bravest and free-handed a few shots

After the shooting of various weaponry for several hours, an impromptu photo shoot cropped up. Us and the girls had never had a really good shot of us all together.

And if any of you have been around on one of our photo shoots, you know that is no easy or quick matter.
Lots of shooting ensued, before and after the desired shot was taken.

Sister Love

Bro : Maybe I should have my hat this way -
Me: I don't know him.....

Photo bomber...

Had to throw this one in - I have seen very few good shots of people with Compound bows, so I am always looking for some, or trying to take them and be in them.
Needless to say, I love this one. 

The Guardians

And this was the reason for the entire shoot - One good shot of all of us together -
We call them 'the girls', they call us 'the boys'
Together, more than friends  -  Family.  

So, we eventually had to close shop and stow away the gear for animals chores, and of course, for dinner.

And when it came to dinner, we did things a tad differently than most rednecks.

I insisted on decking out a touch for Thanksgiving, and everybody else decided to follow suit. We put on our Sunday best, put out the best China and Silver, and had a Thanksgiving dinner in style.

But, despite the fancy clothes and fancy fixin's, it was still a redneck dinner. 

Someone commented halfway through the main meal that we were sitting around a gorgeously decked out table, all in our Sunday best, eating with Silver off of China, discussing the best way to polish off the neighborhood coyotes - hardly becoming of the high-class look we were sporting. 

You can deck out a Redneck, but he's still a redneck. : ) 

So, all in all, I have to say I think it was the best Thanksgiving I have had. Thank God for good times, good food, good friends, and loads of all of them.   

Here's to loads more. 

The Life of a Hunter

Well I am now officially an Elk Hunter, along with my other titles of deer hunter, rabbit hunter, bird hunter, you get the idea. One week of the hills of Arizona will fill my outdoorsy-tank for a little while - I hope....

Anyway, just to relieve the anxiety, no, I didn't get one. Shot at one, followed it, busted the herd from cover, and lost them. Either she went down and I didn't find her, or she kept going.

Ah well, such is the life of a hunter. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. If was a fantastic week, even though I didn't bring dinner home. We literally drove down over 100 miles of dirt roads over the week, and hiked just over 35 miles. We saw loads of deer, a good amount of elk ( most of the time before it was light enough to shoot....) and even saw three pronghorn the last day.

I got some amazing shots I thought you all would like. (Lisa, I found a few spots you would die in if you didn't have a camera with you....)

Ready for gorgeous?

Ok, I was totally not talking about me - cut me some slack. That's me on the scouting trip a week before season opened.

This is what I meant....
Evening before the opening morning

An oak-covered hillside and barb-wire fence we had to work along

Most of the time you were down in the trees and couldn't see above 150 yards, so when we popped out above the tree line, my camera came out pretty quick. : ) 

Aspen grove we ran across

Gotta love Aspens

Yes, I love Aspens

Muddy tires - tell-tale signs of elk hunting. 

And don't forget the muddy truck. Like, really muddy. Epicly muddy. I was in a good mood and hit the biggest mud hole in the area really fast. Made me in an even better mood. : )  

Ah, open scenery - Love open scenery

Yours truly, in my hunting rig

Oh, and more Aspens

Gee willy that is a lot of trees

You should recognize that chap by now.... 

Hunting luxury - Found that out in the forest, not to far from a road where we parked 

We eventually got smart and tried a new hunting format - Relax and wait....

Last day, tired, and loving the open miles of dirt roads and beautiful scenery

I think that is pretty close to the best shot of the week

And that is why I hunt

Had a great time.....

......But bummed we didn't get anything

Last shot of the week - sun going down in the forest

Getting meat is only half of the reason I hunt. I simply love spending a week in the wild enjoying the great outdoors. Driving home, I just stuck my head out the window, and enjoyed being cold and smelling fresh, fresh air, just one more time.

Elk or no, the trip was still a success. God gives, and sometimes God doesn't give.

But such is the life of a hunter.