Yup, today is my birthday. And here's my birthday wish (besides bringing the soldiers home from Iraq, world peace, and to appear on Oprah): Will those of you who look at my blog, and never comment...Would you comment today? Let me know you're out there? It will do my (gulp) 56-year-old heart good.
This is one of my fave pottery pieces. It's by a local artist, Ed Thompson.
And Happy Birthday to my brother, Brent!
sketchbook moleskine color pencil
More from the San Diego SketchCrawl. This is a view of the backyard foutain in the Cardiff backyard.
watercolor moleskine
San Diego SketchCrawl group had a lovely outing at a beautiful backyard garden in Cardiff. A gorgeous giant Torrey Pine was the centerpiece of the landscape, and the homeowners had used the colors from the Pine to paint the exterior and interior of their house. Very classy indeed.
And speaking of classy, here's a snap of the group on Sept 24. Susie took the photo.
I created this little wool felt quilt (~8x11") of a Dia de las Muertos altar I saw in Ensanada last year. Here's the page from my sketchbook, that inspired me.
I'm getting ready for a 4-person exhibition at Boehm Gallery, at Palomar College. Reception Oct 28, 4:30-6pm. The exhibition ends November 17.
The collage on the left is made from a photo of a flower arrangement from Martha Stewart mag. I just love the colors. (I want to take it to the paint store, and try to get paint chip colors to match, like Hollie Heller's suggestion.) The Mola design on the right, is an attempt to use the same colors as the flowers. The design is s'pose to be a tree, but looks more like a star burst. (It should be viewed horizontally, so tilt your head to the left to look at it.) So..I'll try another...
sketchbook moleskine: pen and watersoluable crayons
Inspired by Danny Gregory, as always, I wanted to draw some architecture. I'm actually quite proud of this. It is the San Clemente Visitors Center, in the state campgroud, and it's the perfect little SoCal Spanish bungalow. I drew this from about 8-9am, perched on my little sketch stool in the shade. Afterwards, husb and I walked the beach for 1-1/2 hours, seeing surfers, trains, pelicans, and sand. A delightful get-a-way!
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Husb and I camped overnight at San Clemente State Park, which overlooks the beach. As we were walking down to the beach, early Wednesday morning, an old surfer, carrying his surfboard, was on his way to the beach. I commented on the gorgeous day, and he replied "THESE ARE THE DAYS." He went on the say that these days are the perfect weather days, and there aren't many left. A metaphor for life, I think.
My fave quotation:
“What I do today is important because I am paying a day of my life for it. What I accomplish must be worthwhile because the price is high.”
watercolor moleskine
Husb and I went on another overnite camping trip. This time at San Clemente State Park, on the bluffs overlooking the ocean. Here's what was on our picnic table at 7:23am (dried seaweed and bananas). He made coffee in our 12V Auto CoffeeMaker, the truly 'can't live without camping item.' (You plug it into the car cig lighter!) The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we walked and walked on the beach.
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Variations on an apple. Hockney-like.
color pencil and watersoluable crayon and real leaf.
sketchbook moleskine
Next week, I'll be doing an art lesson with the elementary school kids, where I ask them to bring in and draw their favorite thing. It's a fun lesson, and the kids really enjoy drawing something that has meaning for them. Don't we all? My father gave me this little blown-glass sculpture probaby 35 years ago! I've always really liked it, and had it on my desk, at the various jobs I've worked; now it's in my art studio.
watercolor moleskine
A very quick sketch of the 'lake' while waiting for my dentist appointment. It's a lovely (man-made) lake, but it is 100 yards from a major freeway, so quiet, it's not. Sketched on location, and painted it at home.
watercolor moleskine
More Cezanne-style in preparation for the art classes I'll be teaching. He painted watercolors exclusively the last 10 years of his life.
I picked these unripe apples on my walk this morning, and it was hard (and not particularly successful) capturing the colors. I added the fruit sticker because there's a flickr group called orangepaper and fruit sticker, that I posted this to. Crazy, huh?
watercolor moleskine
Gallery staffing, with Jeannie, last night. I brought a pomegranate, and painted it at different angles. I love painting pomegranates, and have done dozens over the years. [While painting this, a young woman asked me to paint a small study of figs--I've never met anyone so crazy for FIGS! Made me smile.]
watercolor moleskine
This little quilt is made from wool felt. It started as little 'doodles' of square abstracts, that I stitched on while teaching. I assembled them, adding more layers and pieces, inspired by the Molas, I'd seen recently at a museum. I'm teaching something like this today, in Art Quilts, at Oceanside Museum of Art.
~8-1/2 x 11"
Here's the newest member of our family. We got Buddy at the Escondido Humane Society yesterday. He's about 5 months old and a little love machine. He's very friendly, affectionate and cute. We're slowly introducing him to BeBop. BeBop (1-1/2 years old) is quite curious, and nervous about this new 'thing.' Neither of them have hissed at all, so that's a good sign.
We named him 'Buddy' because we got him to be a buddy to BeBop, and he seems like that little red-haired, freckled, nerdy guy you knew in school, who wanted to be your best friend.
Our home seems more complete with two kitties.
Another Cezanne style still life, in preparation for teaching art classes to the elementary school kiddles. I read that Cezanne would draw, paint then go back in with more pencil and more watercolor, so that's what I did on this.
watercolor moleskine
The left half of the page is from the august 12 san diego sketchcrawl. The right side, from today. Husb and I went to the free jazz concert at the winery, and he 'insisted' (ha!) that I try the wine tasting. Nice afternoon, though hot weather and wine don't encourage sketching!
watercolor moleskine
It's September and I'm preparing to teach art to kids at Los Penasuquios and Del Mar Heights Elementary Schools. I've decided to do some lessons on Paul Cezanne's watercolors. Here's a still life in his style, with reiterated pencil lines and loose, brief watercolor. I learned that e'tude usually refers to a musical composition, intended mainly for practice of a particular technique. In Cezanne's case, he did many watercolor paintings as an e'tude. Versus, a tableau, where he would have taken great care in setting up a still life arrangement, before he painted it.
watercolor moleskine
