Plein Air Work & Other Items

 What happened?  Time just flew by, and this blog was neglected for other projects, and ceramics classes. The studio has been recharged and re-arranged, the garden has some work done, and at last I have some painting to show for these months. My niece started her own blog, and I realized I have almost forgotten how to write. 

The old Chevy in the iris field was done just last month, at the end of April. It's pallet knife work, and its a small piece (10x12) I think.  The palm tree (that's oil pastel) was done in January down in Palm Springs/Indio. I have a few dates coming up to join some other plein air painters and should have more work to show. 

Three Paintings in the VOX Exhibit

This is a small oil painting (9x12) "Point Arena Cliffs"

 I just put up this quick posting of some of the paintings that were shown at a local venue on Saturday.  There are two more landscapes that I will post after I photograph them. Somehow I managed to frame and wire them, totally forgetting to document the images.

"Magnolia Leaf  (8x10)"

"Plums" (8x10)

A Perfect Saturday

Yesterday was my idea of a perfect day: spent with friends and loved ones, surrounded by beauty and interesting things to look at, good food, wines, art, conversation that encouraged imagination and ideas and then, inspiration for artwork in the days to come. I am fascinated with the small towns that populate the hills and valleys of California, and want to explore more.

A group of us drove to Sonoma to pick up some organic wines (low sulfites) and spent time tasting, nibbling, talking, enjoying the beautiful surroundings, tasting more wine, olive oil, cheeses, chocolate.. (my tastebuds think I died and went to heaven). One friend from long ago, two new women that I will enjoy getting to know better, and a road trip. What a fun time, and I was able to be a passenger, so I had the opportunity to look at all the fascinating little places we passed through. Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Carneros: all these are filled with visually-rich turns and corners, and I want to get back there with paints and brushes someday.

Then, after returning home, my husband and I joined some other friends and strolled through a few galleries during the Sacramento 2nd Saturday art walk. One of our friends (Hilda Tonarely) is an artist, and had work in several of the galleries, so we viewed her work, and then stopped in a small restaurant for a late light supper.

Overall, I don't think I could have stuffed another good thing into the day, and I'm left with great memories, photographs for art inspiration, bottles of good wine and olive oil, and two new friends. Life is good.

A Day of Painting Beats Almost Anything

Yesterday afternoon, to banish the dust of computer work from my mind, I threw myself into the studio, and plunged into a piece that had been hovering in my imagination for a while. (Really, a long while: I took the photograph of Durango Thanksgiving weekend last year.)

Since I have been taking a painting class from a private school/instructor, to refresh and exercise my creative muscles, this was the first home-work with the new parameters.

I'm pleased with the first run-through, and although I will go back into it this afternoon, the amount of actual changes will probably be small, in the overall scheme. I'll post the finished one later, when it has settled for a while.

In the meanwhile, there are chocolate chip cookies (gluten free) chilling in the fridge, and a beautiful sunny day that calls, so I imagine that I will spend a little time in the garden today as well. Jim has his classes on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, so I have uninterrupted alone time today. Life is good.