Watcher 6" x 8" Acrylic/Collage

It's time to play catch up. I have a number of almost finished pieces. Some have been done in conjunction with my Experimental Water Media class. I am trying to get these done and up on the blog and eventually over to eBay. I really like this little piece. It is one of those rare times that it just came together as if it knew what it was supposed to be and required very little effort on my part. In fact - this is one of my favorites. It is pretty dark piece. Maybe I will not sell this piece - I really like it and so does Rick. We will see...

"It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood..

..a beautiful day in the beauty-wood, would you be mine? could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?" Mr. Rogers
Compare this beautiful morning to the previous days. That's some smoke off in the distance to the north of us - but it's a clear sunrise and blue sky for us. beautiful.

Smokin'

Yesterday morning Nathalie went down to the beach and shot these pictures of the smoke spreading over the ocean. By now you probably have seen all of the satellite photos of the smoke too.

Fires 10:30 AM

Well - there goes the last of the blue sky. The wind was shifting around like crazy. The hazy sun was taken from the front porch, then I walked out to the street and shot the last of the blue sky disappearing over our house. They had evacuated San Elijo Hill which I think we were thought to be a part of - except we aren't part of San Elijo Hills. Not that the fire is going to pay attention to a technicality like that - but we just didn't really feel very threatened. We were ready to go at any minute - but it just seemed like the wind had shifted and was blowing it all a bit south of us. As it turned out - we were, and are, just fine. Very smokey and stinky, but as of now no visible orange glow any where near us. I wonder if we will sleep tonight.

Fires 8:24 AM

This was 8:24 Am today. This is taken standing on our front porch. I did not sleep at all last night because of the smoke and the wind. The wind was unbelieveable. The at about 4:30 AM we were startled by the doorbell ringing. It was the neighbor informing us that we needed to turn the news on and evacuate. One neighbor said the fire was about 1 mile away, Rick said 2 or 3. either way it seemed close enough! So we hurried around and packed the car with the dog stuff and art supplies, and waited.

Got My Mail Art

I recieved my mail art! It is just fun to do this. I won't say who it is from just yet...

Mail Art Project

To the left is the front and back of the card, and below is the front and back of the envelope. I was aiming for cheerful, fun and sort of light hearted.

I attend a very fun class on Thursdays called Experimental Water Media. Each session we do a little mail art project, we each draw a name and make a piece of mail art, send to the recipient - without signing it. At one of the last classes, every one brings in the mail art they got and we all try to guess who made it. It is a fun thing to do - I enjoy mail art anyway but never take the time to do any - this sort of forces me to. Isn't that goofy? You shouldn't have to be forced to do what you enjoy doing anyway! So this is my little project. I did it on a postcard and envelope from JAL airlines, but I also did it in the garage in the almost-dark and at night. So not being able to really see what I was doing I inadvertently collaged over the Japanese writing and the interesting stuff that I wanted to save - and the colors on the front and back don't quite match! Hahahah - I still like it and it was fun. The woman I sent it to doesn't know me at all, so she won't know who it is from - but the rest of the class will guess it's from me right away!

Cedar Wax WIng

Hey - look at this, 2 posts in 1 day! I finished the Cedar Wax Wing (4" x 6" - oil on canvas) and I am only moderately happy. The canvas was too rough for the kind of detail I wanted, I am only moderately satisfied with it. Another on headed for eBay...one of these days.

Well golly - another week gone by...

Here it is Wednesday again. My daily commitment isn't going so well yet - but it will. I'm already doing better than the past where I went how many months with out blogging? and here it is once a week. Oh what an improvement - and heading toward once a day too.

I have been busy and not just slacking! I went up to visit Rica - on the train. That was great, but I was disappointed in the Expo. It was very small and sold out of a ton of stuff - and I got there early afternoon on the first day. I did notice as we were about to leave that many of the vendors were getting fresh stock for their booths. All of the vendors were commenting about how jammed and busy they were in the morning and most of them looked beat and exhausted. They said they were stunned at the number of people when they opened. I am glad I wasn't there bright and early. The prices were good, mostly 40-60% off, but really I usually do that well on the Internet. It was fun, I am glad I went. I won't do it again unless there is a workshop that I want to attend also - not worth it just for the shopping. But I WILL take the train again - that was great.

Here is what else I have accomplished in spite of 4 days of migraine headache: Watched Casey Baugh "Quick Studies" DVD two and a half times. Rick and I finished putting the laminate floor down in my studio, Rica's old bedroom with a north facing window. Made and installed ledges for paintings to sit on to dry. Finished "Bird on a Stick." Set up and painted "Wine and Egg." Got them both photographed - although not well - for the web. Have been moving my downstairs and scattered-thru-the-house art supplies and projects around. The studio upstairs will be for oils. The library will revert to a library/reading room, the family room and kitchen will revert to their original purposes and the garage will remain studio space for Acrylics, really large and experimental artwork. I still have Nathalie's old bedroom too - I have some ideas for that space too = maybe eventually get out of the garage/studio, it is so much nice and more comfortable upstairs. So enough for now - I want to go paint!

Wine and Egg 1: This is my first attempt at glass and glass reflections. I am fairly happy with it - I really enjoyed the challenge and I am going to paint it again while I still have it set up.

Bird on a Stick: I am happier with this now. The shadows are much better now I think -

Geeesh!

Well, it's Wednesday and where's the Tuesday post? Uhhh... Man - my goal of posting every day for just three days is already out the window! I have been running around like crazy - getting other things done, so I guess it's not a total loss. But - really 3 days? Seems like anybody could do that! Apparently not. Tomorrow I leave for L. A. - taking the train, so for sure I won't post until next Monday - at which time I will set a NEW goal and try it out. I did finish Bird on a Stick and worked a bit on The Cedar Waxwing bird I am doing - but no time to photograph them yet. I am off to the dentist and to get a few items for my little trip. Talk at ya next week -

Explanation of a Negative Thing

I did this little 4"x6" Sparrow on Saturday (10-6-2007) Oil on Gallery Wrapped canvas - sides are painted.



Well, here it is - Monday. My goal is to post every day this week, with a new painting today through Wednesday. Thursday the plan is to hop on the train and head up to L.A. to visit Rica and go to the Art Material and Methods Expo in Pasadena. OK - so that really is only a 3 day goal - I ought to be able to do that...you would think so anyway. Oh yeah - I also want to start a 4' x 5' painting for Ricks office this week.


Now then, I have come to realize that I have a communication issue - I guess it's an issue. I don't want to call it a problem because for me it is not a problem - but it seems to be for others...and now that I think about it, maybe it is my problem too. I guess if I say something and people don't understand it the way I meant it then it is my problem. But only if I care that people get it - right?

Rick just says I am really, really different than most people. Actually I have been told that my entire life. I don't get it - usually.

In one of my recent posts I talked about feeling heavy and clunky and out of sync in my drawing class. People who have read that seem to think I was being negative or pessimistic or feeling bad about that, or bad about myself. Oddly enough, I did not see it that way at all, and didn't mean it to be understood that way. Uncomfortable, yes. Unpleasant feeling, yes. Negative, no. It was meant to be an expression of a feeling, not necessarily a truth. Just because I felt that way doesn't mean I am that way or see myself as being that. I actually think I am pretty much OK, and pretty cool, and I like me - most of the time actually.

To me, those feelings and expressing them are a neutral thing in a way. Just as in dark and light. The dark defines and describes the light, but that doesn't make the dark inherently bad. It is a necessary thing in order to have the light. Evil is necessary for Good, that is why we have the Bible - that is why God gave Moses the 10 commandments. To be able to discern one from the other, good from bad, right from wrong, perfection from imperfection, etc. Both are necessary for the other to exist, or at least for us to understand or perceive it. I suppose it could actually exist but how would we know if there was no comparator?

Therefore I could never grow or learn or improve if I did not experience unpleasantness and discomfort, at least to some degree. Where would my motivation be to move at all? I actually almost relish certain kinds of discomfort because I instinctively know it's counterbalance is on it's way, and I look forward to it.

There is nothing I love more in life than learning and growing and trying new things - well, most new things. I have grown out of the physical risk-taking stuff - I have experienced enough hurts and injury to know that feeling well, whole and healthy is MUCH better, so I will leave the motorcycles and skydiving and bungee jumping to those who are still learning those things. But give me almost any other challenge...especially a puzzle or an idea and it's game on!

On the Easel Right Now - Almost Finished

Bird on a Stick
6" x 12"
Oil on gallery wrapped canvas









Needs a little more work - then off to eBay it goes.

Just Off The Easel -

Empty Vessel
6" x 8"
Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas



Soon to go on eBay!