The Garden is Awakening from Winter's Slumber

Those of you who garden know that winter is a time to relax, and not worry about the myriad number of things that have to be done to care for a garden. Here in Auburn we do have fours seasons, occasional snow and lots of cold temperatures that end any blooming periods or annuals lives. Folks in the midwest and east coast get a much longer rest, for many of their gardens are still buried in snow. At this time of year many folks are looking through seed catalogs while others are drawing  plans for their new garden or gathering information on new plants to make changes in their various garden areas. Its planning and preparation time. 

Winter for some of us is a time to prune dead wood off trees, or perhaps prune fruit trees, berry bushes or roses.  I have all of those to work on in our heavily cultivated acre with a small orchard and over fifty roses. It is also a time to cut back dead foliage and mulch the garden to provide new nutrients and inhibit weed growth.  Since I made some changes in the garden after the frosts put it to sleep, I am beginning to see the furits of my labor already popping up through the soil. I put in two new tulip beds with fiftty tulips, ringed by daffodils and daffodils ringed by Blue Hyacinth. The eleven plus inches of rain we have had this month are generating a lot of growth in the various varieties of bulbs.  It is amazing to see large clumps of daffodils already pushing up six inches above the ground.  Tulips too are pushing their shoots through the soil, and dutch Iris bulbs have a head start on their foliage. It appears that the daffodil and tulip bloom will be early this year, probably in the next three weeks we will have some glorious colors bursting forth in the garden.  

I made the decision to put our Satsuma Mandarin Orange tree in the ground this year since its pot is crumbling. I dug a hole for it yesterday but unfortunately I saw today that it was full of water, so its obviously too wet a location.  I don't want it to drown, so tomorrow I will choose a new site. I prepared the ground today for our first seedless purple grape vine and put metal stakes in to support the vines when they grow.  I planted our first vine in freshly dug well mulched soil.  Tomorrow I will string the support wires to train the the vine to spread out on.  Another four days of rain will give it a good start.

It was great to get outside today in the sunshine and get some preliminary work done.  The soil is still really too wet for extensive work, but its easy to dig and I successfully uprooted some wild blackberries that were spreading. There is still a great deal to do, but tomorrow I will pick an easier challenge!

Storm Clouds

Today's clouds were absolutely a ten on a ten scale. They billowed high and lofty thousands of feet into the air pushed by strong wind currents. Some looked like beautiful fluffy white cotton, while others looked dark and menacing.  They were like eye candy for an artist or a cloud watcher, so majestic. I can remember laying on my back in the grass when I was a kid and just watching the clouds go by.  A friend and I would call out what we could see in their contours. It was a fun game, one that tickled the imagination.

I couldn't just walk the dogs and admire these clouds. They were too awe inspiring, because they were the very kinds of clouds one wants to set off a special place, or a panoramic vista.  Where are these clouds when I am out shooting photographs of places like Yosemite?

As soon as I got back home, I unleashed the dogs in their fenced area, and went back into the house and grabbed my camera. I hopped in my truck and was off to find a high point.  A hill is where I could get the best of views without obstructing these beautiful creations.

I believe I succeeded, for I now have a dozen or more different slides that will give me ideas to enhance future paintings. Hope you enjoy the view. Don't forget to pay attention to the clouds out there.  

Dusk Settling Over the River

Yesterday I spoke of my realization that there is a lot more colors in things than first meets the eye. My challenge yesterday was to paint a pastel from a pretty lifeless photo. I cheated as artists often do and added some clouds, because there were none and I used a plethora of color to bring the painting alive. I titled this finished piece "Dusk Settling Over the River." 

This pastel reminded me of the times when I have sat by a river as the sun is setting.  Shadows lengthen, the light mutes and a soft pink light comes into the sky. The reflection in the river also changes as the water begins to tutn a darker blue with rose colored highlights. It is always quieter, birds are still flying and twittering, and because of the coolness, swallows are dancing over the water catching the bugs that are starting to fill the night air. The hills or mountains still in full sun take on a golden glow as the suns receding rays play over them. Crickets chirp, and frogs begin a cacaphony of noise as if to celebrate the coolness of the evening. Fish rise to the surface and here and there you hear their splash as they leap up to catch an insect that is close to the water. The air cools and you can feel the dampness, and smell the scent of fresh grass. Sometimes you will hear the soft whoo, whoo of an owl, rousing itself to begin the nights hunt.

Perhaps you can think of times when you sat by a river, and that time and place are in your thoughts as a pleasant memory. I hope you can go back in time. I just did.

  

The light Goes On!

Painting with pastels has become a passion, a huge enjoyment and also greatly satisfying to me. I have been going to the home of one of our terrific local Auburn pastel artist's, Reif Erickson on most Thursdays since November of last year. Reif always has a challenge for us, and he shows us his technique in his paintings as we watch him produce a 9X13" painting in about 30 minutes.  He talks as he paints to underscore things that he wants us to learn about painting with pastels. Once he is done, he takes a copy of the picture he used as his model, and hands it to each of us and says, now its your turn.

We go back to our easels or pastel boards shaking our heads.  We have been amazed at how quickly Reif can produce a finished painting, that is more attractive than the photo he used as the idea for the painting. His paintings don't duplicate the photo, he crops them or realigns the photo so that it is more interesting or more in scale, or some unsightly item is eliminated in his finished product.  Yes, he has an artist's eye.  He successfully does this treatment with his paintings because he has a highly developed sense of color, and seems to be able to see all of the underlying colors in  a scene that don't appear to the average novice. Each week, he has pointed out colors that are not dominant in a photo, that he accentuates in his painting to give it warmth and color. Those nuances that separate the finished product from okay to pleasing to the eye.

I have been painting with pastels now for almost three months and have completed about 19 paintings since I started.  Half of those are subjects I have chosen outside his studio setting, just to challenege myself and get a feel for the medium and what I can do with it.  I have chosen some subjects with a great deal of color challenges so that I could beging to blend and highlight them for effect. I know I haven't learned everything there is to know by a long shot, but today was a breakthrough for me. I watched Reif take a very flat looking unintersting rather dark photo taken in late afternoon of mountains and a river near Clear Lake and turn it into a beautiful colorful vista. He never dithered over color choices once while executing his painting.  I remarked when he finished that it was far better than the photo, and much more interesting. He said yes, today is about creativity, and what you can do with this drab photo. Today's excercise is to stimulate the imagination.

Reif's words really hit me at that point, because I finally realized that as an artist he could turn the mundane into something beautiful, the lifeless photo into something that was alive and immediately drew your eye to its color.  That is what any really good artist can do. Take your eye away from the imperfections and show you the beauty. I thought to myself, if I applied myself with that thought, I could do the same thing! So instead of looking at what Reif had done and the colors he chose, I examined the drab photo and decided to highlight the colors I saw that would bring this picture alive.  I thought, I would even add some that weren't there just to give it punch. That was really a defining moment for me, because it released any inhibition I may have had, and made me want to use as much color as I could to charge my picture with interest and life.  I was experimenting, blending, shading, overlaying and infusing color into my painting like I knew what I wanted and what I was doing. Reif watched me from across the table or over my shoulder a few times but never said anything.  He walked around the room as he always does, giving people suggestions, complimenting their progress and showing some of the newer students how to get a particular affect or color.

As my painting began to come together, and my colors and formations were dappled with different colors I could tell that he knew I had made a departure from what he had done.  He watched as I leaned back to look at it and said, "that is really coming together nicely Paul." I smiled and thanked him, and said I am having fun just using a lot of color. "So, I can see, he said, and it looks good." After all the weeks of instruction, I think the light when on today, I am beginning to feel the colors!  I am realizing the subtleties that make a difference to the eye. 

Painting to Our Own Standard

There are so many different types of art, and an equally number of creative talented artists in the world. One only has to visit Flickr.com to be exposed art produced by artists in every country of the globe.  It is amazing how in our electronic age we can communicate with those artists, comment on their work, or just look at their finished product and marvel at their accomplishment with a brush, a pencil, charcoal or pastels.

There is art to suit every taste, some bizarre, (okay in my opinion), some well done, some not so well done, and some so incredibly detailed and expressive that they just grab you.  Wow, if I could paint like that!  What a pleasure it is to be able to be artistic, and to be able to paint something from our imagination, or something from life that is very difficult to capture. My medium is pastels and my preference is to complete my paintings so that they very closely resemble what I am looking at.  For some artists, they have a talent for looking at something and coming up with something totally abstract, that is pleasing to look at because of its lines, its simplicity or its color.  Each of us have been influenced by our surroundings, our likes and dislikes, mentors along the way in our passion to create. That challenge for all artists is one that has so much of the artists personality in the final product.

When I am done with a painting or a drawing, I know it, because I can finally lay down my pencil or pastel with the satisfaction that I have achieved what I envisioned from the beginning.  My painting has satisfied my own inner standard. I don't have to add any more color or detail in  any part of my painting.  Such was the case for this painting of Cook's meadow in Yosemite National Park.

The greates feeling is to have people comment on a finsihed painting and to love what you have created.  To marvel at the color, or the detail, the feeling that painting transmits to them.  In some, the feeling is so strong that they want to buy it and take it home where they can look at it again and again. That is an artists reward, knowing that his or her creation has found a home where it will be cared for and cherished. That is a part of what drives me anyway.

Getting a Truck to fit my Steering Wheel Cover

Sure its a silly title, but I just thought it funny this week when I saw my daughter saying on Twitter that she was a bit of a pack rat. Of course Mom chimed in and said, gee I know where you got that from! Yep, she sure did, and it took me a lot of years to perfect the art of being a pack rat.

A saleman friend called Paul called me from the Auburn Honda dealership here in town and left this message on our answerphone, "Hey Paul, you still looking for a small truck, I have one that just came in on a trade."  Well I would have called him back, but the power was out and our phone like everything else, was dead.  I couldn't call him on my cell because we have no cell reception at our home. Thanks Verizon, still need another tower in this area! 

In spite of the lousey weather, I decided to go down to the dealership and see if Paul was in, and if their lights were still on. Sure enough he was there, and they had avoided the outage. I told Paul I got his message and would like to have a look at the truck. He said, sure, let me grab my coat.  Salesmen would go out in a blizzard with you if they thought you might buy a car on that day.  Paul's no dummy though, rather than us traipse out in the driving rain and gail force winds to see the P/U, he tossed the keys to a mechanic's helper and asked if he could pull the car in a bay so we could go over it.  Sure the young man said, and took off and jumped in a grey Nissan truck. He pulled it into the bay, and I could see right away that it was well taken care of.  No scratches, no dents, new tires, a bedliner, hmmm, this is looking pretty good. We popped the hood so I could take a look at the engine, and it had obviously been detailed because it was as clean as a new truck.

Paul said, want to go for a test drive?  Sure, I said, as long as we don't blow off the road.  Good weather to check and see how it handles he said as he got in the passenger side. The care interior was clean, carpets looked in great shape, and everything had been Armour-alled to a bright shine. Well the truck started right up, and I backed out into the elements to check out this little ride. We took a loop around town, and up onto the freeway. Although it was very windy, the truck held steady. Wipers squeaked and left little lines giving me less than the best of visibility.  Those need to be replaced I said. The little truck was only a four cylinder, but it was suprisingly peppy, and had no rattles. We took it on some rougher roads in town and didn't hear anything loose, or any strange clanks or squeaks, with the exception of the wipers.   Paul opened the glove box and there was a little notebook with service dates and times, and any item repaired or checked on the truck. It had enough legroom, and everything pointed to a former owner that cared about this little truck. That little book in the former owner's handwriting was a real indicator of someone who had been pretty meticulous. As I drove it back into the bay at the dealership, Paul said, well what do you think, pretty good for a truck with only 66,00 miles? I said, I would like to see what you will give me for my car, if it works out, I'll buy it.

Well to cut a long story short, they put new wipers and a new back window in the truck and I bought it.  After all the paperwork was done, I had a spin down to Rocklin and back and it handled well in the stormy weather. I noticed how slippery the steering wheel felt and thought I need to put a cover on this. Well it just so happens I had a brand new one in the garage that we had bought a long time ago for my old car. I hadn't sold it at our garage sale and had put it away. It was the perfect match for this truck!  When I went in the house I kiddingly told my wife, well Cindy, I finally bought a truck to match that steering wheel cover I was saving!

A New Challenge for a Pastel Painting

I finished a pastel yesterdy, and hadn't got around to signing it, or photographing it so I could post it. As I wrote that, I thought, that's not smart, if I sign it and photo it I can include it in this blog. So the picture you see is a desert scene and while I am not fond of the desert except for when the wild flowers are in bloom, this pastel gave me the opportunity to try some soft colors. I have to admit, there are desert scenes that are beautiful, but in the summertime it is no place to be unless you love being roasted alive.

Since I had finished the desert scene pastel, I wanted to start another. I began going through my pictures to see if there was something I wanted to paint. I decided that I wanted to try an evening sunset scene, so that I could paint the soft pink and mauve colors that the setting sun dappled in the clouds. The real challenege in this painting is not the clouds, it is the meadow and trees in the foreground, because they are very subdued. The difficulty was to make the entire picture look alive and inviting and not just the clouds.

Well I am more than half way through and beginning to work on a large oak that hangs into the picture and adds additional perspective, as well as giving the painting more depth. I decided to add some mountains beyond the tree line, just for interest. They may not be in the picture, but we artists can make stufff up to balance our painting the way we want to paint it.  You will perhaps have an opportunity to see that one tomorrow if I finish it.

My goal in painting different types of scenery and subjects is to improve my color sense, and make myself comfortable with taking on any subject I have a desire to paint. I have painted a swan, a horse and a squirrel, so as not to confine myself entirely to landscapes. Landscapes are definitely my favorite, and I am very pleased with several that I have painted.  I have painted 16 paintings in just a few months, so I guess you could say, I'm hooked!

Ruffled Feathers

Yesterday afternoon when I was sitting in the den with my wife and daughter, we heard a bang against the glass of the sliding door that leads onto the deck.  This happens on occassion when birds at the feeders are startled by a predator or a bully Scrub Jay.  They flee in all directions, and this little bird had run right into one of our windows. Amber cried, oh no the bird is dying, its shaking. I quickly went outside to see if there was anything I could do. It had come around and was sitting on the edge of a pot, but it looked dazed.

I carefully picked up the bird and put it in my hand, and stroked it gently.  It did not make a sound, nor did it try to get away. It was obviously dazed and trying to get its senes back. It appeared to be a fairly young dark eyed Junco. After a few minutes had passed, it did not appear that the bird had any visible injuries, and nothing appeared to be broken. Amber got my camera and took a few pictures.  I put it up on the edge of a large pot so it would be out of harms way, and it just sat there collecting its wits I presume.

I went inside and got some sun flower seed and put it next to the bird, but it showed no inclination to eat. I'm not sure if it was even aware of the food. I took a few more pictures and then wase going to go back inside when it decided to fly and landed on a strut underneath a patio table. It was obviously okay and that was good news.  It sat there for a while and then flew onto the deck and hopped aroud. It was obviously, doing better. Shortly after it then took off. I'm sure that if it has a mate, it will share about its close call and headache! 

A Drizzly Saturday

After five days of continuous and sometimes heavy rain, I thought we were in for a sunshine break today. Unfortunately that is not the case, since more clouds decided to hand around and just drizzle all day long. Better than a gully washer I guess since the ground is so over saturated. I played with the Murray this morning.  He is my daughters 3 year old part Border Collie, part Lab and part Australian Sheepdog, so he has more energy than four dogs his size! We are keeping Murray for her for awhile.  He could care less if it is drizzling, pouring or snowing, he just wants to run and play outside and chase anything I throw. He will retrieve a ball, a stick or a frisbee, my choice, he just loves to chase them and bring them back. My arm wears out before he does!

I have no pastels in the works at present, although I want to start a new one. I did complete one in class on Thursday and the subject for that one was a desert scene.  I am not really that much into desert, but it did give me the opportunity to use soft warm colors, and the clouds were also a multitude of different shades of colors. I may make a few changes before I am satisfied with that one. I just haven't decided what my next pastel subject matter will be. I have a preference for landscapes, trees, and water, they are always a great challenge.

While I mull over that thought, I do need to get a few things done around the house. I filled the bird feeders and so all of our feathered friends are back chirping and chattering in the trees, awaiting their turn to grab a sunflower seed, some thistle seed or kernals of corn. I give them many choices and always have flocks of birds in the garden of many different species. One of the side benefits to having so many birds around is they pay me back by eating a lot of bugs in my garden and flower beds.  I rarely have any insect infestations because my feathered friends do such a good job keeping them in check. That gives me a beautiful flowering garden without the pests. See I'm not a blooming idiot for spending all that money on seed!

I also have a variety of bird houses in various sites in the garden, and that does give us the opportunity to host a family of Western Bluebirds, wrens, or pine swallows through the season.  It is great to watch them gathering materials for their nests, and then later bringing food for their freshly hatched young. The side benefit is that it gives me lots of subjects to try and shoot with my other hobby, photography!  Like this Dark eyed Junco, that was waiting a turn to eat in the cold weather.

Well I had better get going and doing something productive, enjoy your Saturday, I intend to enjoy mine!

The Beauty of the Pastel medium

Once I had tasted the opportunity to learn to paint with pastels, I was hooked. The wonderful part about the medium is that there is no waiting for anything to dry.  One can paint through that creativity spurt with no hesitation.  Even if you have an oops, or decide to make a change, it is easy to either wipe off the color and apply a different color. One of the nicest realities is finding how easily pastels will blend, so that shading can be achieved without clear color divisions. A more forgiving medium cannot be found.

When I began painting with pastels in ernest, my wife kept referring to them as chalks.  Pastels are not chalks at all, so please never refer to them that way.  Pastels are pure pigmant colors that have been finely ground and pressed in blocks or sticks with a small amount of gum to bind them. Okay, I will conceed that some pastels do look like chalk in their shape and size, and that is perhaps due to the decision Prismacolor made when they produced their line of Nupastel Color sticks. They also may have been considering how easy it would be to use them. Whatever the reason, other companies chose to change the look of their pastels by rolling them and making them larger around, and wrapping them in paper.  If you make the mistake of asking for chalks in a good art store, they will probably refer you to a childrens store because they don't sell chalk!  Pastels in the Nupastel line and Holbein Line are square sided and tend to be a little harder than say, the round rolled Rembrandt, Sennelier, Richeson or Unison lines.

The varity of colors available ranges throughout the color spectrum.  There are som many varities it makes one want to buy one of each. If you got caught in this trap, you would most likely require a wealthy sponsor, or have a nest egg to draw from, (withdraw actually) or perhaps a good credit rating at your local art store. Most pastel artists choose to purchase pastels from a variety of makers to have not only the particular color they want, but to have a pastel that is either soft or firm for the painting effect they are trying to achieve. 


Pastels are not cheap, they vary from $1.89 each to $4 dollars or more depending upon brand and maker. They are expensive because of the fact they are pure pigment.  Some pastel varieties are actually handmade by small companes adhering to old tried and true methods to produce them.  Another reason for their cost is perhaps because of their purity in color and the fact that the colors never fade.  Pastel paintings that were painted in the middle ages are still as vibrant and as colorful as the day they were painted. If you begin learning about pastels from a reputable artist who opens his/her studio for lessons, or take an art class in college, you will no doubt get some guidance on the basic colors you will need to begin your new adventure.

Pastel artists require an entirely different texture of paper for their work than a water color painter or an oil painter. Pastel papers have a surface that has a tooth or grit to it, that captures the dry pigment when an artist draws the pastel stick across the abrasive surface. No matter whom you speak to about pastel paper, you will probably get a different reply as to what to purchase. Different artists have their preferences or favorites, so it is important to ask a few questions and perhaps purchase a few sheets of several different pastel papers in order to see what you like the most. Some pastel artists that cannot find the paper they want, have been known to use sandpaper. Personally I preferLe Carte Pastel paper because it is a heavier paper, and doesn't curl at the edges.  I also really like the surface of Le Carte paper because it accepts the application of multiple layers of pastel with no problems.    

There are a few other necessities for pastel painting. You will need a drawing board, like a piece of Masonite to put your paper on when you are working. Ready made ones are found at most art supply stores that have a clip already on them to hold the paper in place.  You will also need a small 4" X 5" chamois to smudge the pastels in certain application and paper stumps to smudge or blend colors. You will also need a small box to keep all of your pastels and supplies in.

Well I hope this pastel information was informative and useful for you.  The pastel in the upper left corner, is my most recent pastel painting of a fall scene on the Lamprey River in New Hamsphire.  I used this 13" X 16 1/2" pastel painting to show you visually the colors that can be achieved in this medium. I hope it inspires you as the medium has inspired me!

My Surprise Gift to Explore the Realm of Pastel Paintings

I know that as we get older, there are less needs and wants. It becomes a challenge to buy gifts for someone who seems to have everything one could want. One of the greatest gifts I have ever received, besides the gift of salvation and the love of my wife and my two great grown children, was a birthday gift I received from my wife last year. It was a gift that took thought, one that clearly came from the heart and one that showed the depth of love from my wife of thirty years. The gift was a total surprise, and one I was delighted to receive. A gift of pastel painting lessons with award winning pastel artist Reif Erickson of Auburn. We always delight in gifts, but this one was very special because it gave me the opportunity to get back into art. This wasn’t a gift I had to unwrap, this was a gift that was to unwrap the talent I had let languish for so long.


Through the years I have done pencil sketching, dabbled in water color painting, oil painting and charcoal sketches, but in all my years of dabbling in art, I had never been introduced to the medium of pastels. Well, let me rephrase that, I have seen pastels done by other artists and admired them, but have never tried my hand at it.

Although my birthday was in June, I was not able to call Reif about lessons until a consulting project I had contracted for was completed in October. When I called Reif, he told me that he would provide everything I needed on the first day, and if I decided to continue, he would give me a list of what I would need. He gave me directions to his home, and said that the class would start at nine and end around eleven.

On that first day when I went to Reif’s home, I was anticipating the opportunity to learn all about pastel painting, but I was also nervous because I had no idea if I would take to the medium and have the skill to produce something even resembling art. I had taken my sketch board with me so that I would have something to work on. I had done a Mapquest search on the house, so I had no problem locating it. It was a California ranch style home with the garage pushed out front. Reif had said to come through the side gate, that classes were in the garage, that he had converted to a studio.

When I opened the door to the garage, I saw Reif standing by an easel, and he said, ah, you must be Paul, come in, we will get started in a few minutes. There were two other ladies in the studio when I arrived, and they were warm and friendly in their greetings. Reif told me to take the empty chair at the end of a work table. I noticed one of the ladies at the other table had a portable tabletop easel set up, and a drawer load of pastels. She had obviously been taking classes for awhile. My table partner was an 82 year old lady named Butterfly, and she had a butterfly hair pin atop her grey hair. Butterfly was a character, dressed in bright colors, and chatty. She had a box of pastels laid out before her and an empty 9 X 13 pastel board.

Reif gave me a piece of pastel paper and a small box of short pieces of pastels. He then went to the easel, where he had a blank piece of pastel paper, with a photograph of a river flowing through rocks and over a falls. I guessed this was going to be the challenge for us today. Reif said well let’s get started and I noticed the other two ladies got up and moved closer so they could observe him work. He began to draw a sketch of the photo using a small piece of pastel. I could see that he had an excellent eye and he quickly outlined the major features and rivers course. Reif doesn’t talk a lot, he works quietly and explains what he is doing and how you put the darker colors down first and overlay them with lighter colors as your painting progresses. It was fascinating to see how quickly he transformed that blank sheet of paper into a completed painting. I watched and made a mental note of colors he was using first, I noticed the two ladies were taking notes, but I had brought nothing to write on. To my surprise Reif finished the painting, in less than a half hour. When he was satisfied, he put down his pastels picked up some photographs and said, “Well that will do,” and handed each of us a copy of the same photograph he had painted. Now it is your turn he said.

I began sketching out the features of the photo, the river and rocks as I had seen Reif do. It was not easy using a small piece of pastel to do this, but I did my best. Then I began to add the colors as I remembered Reif had done and my own painting began to take shape. Reif hovered around me for awhile and watched what I was doing, and then walked around the tables checking on my classmates progress. I was finding it easier than I had anticipated, but was having trouble with getting the shading on the water the way I wanted it. I asked Reif what color I should use, and he showed took a purple color and showed me how to overlay the shade and get the contrast I wanted.

The class went by quickly and before I knew it, it was eleven o’clock and my painting was done. Reif said, are you sure you have never done pastels before? I said no, I never have done pastels before. I have done a lot of pencil sketching, water color and oils, but not pastel. He said, ah okay, it’s the pencil sketching that gave you the ability to do that so easily. I didn’t know that was what it was, I just know that I was pleased with my first attempt and already hooked on the medium. Reif gave me a sheet of materials I would need fto bring to class the following week. There was no doubt in my mind I would be back!

When I got home with my first painting, I was like a kid wanting to show his parents what he had done at school today. When I showed Cindy what I had painted in the first pastel class she was surprised. She said, you did that in an hour? I said yes, I am amazed at how quickly everything comes together in this medium. She was very encouraging and happy for me. I thanked her again for the opportunity to get back into art, and learn a new medium.  My first pastel accompanies this blog. While I won’t bore you with every painting I have done, I will show you some of my work as I explore the medium and challenge myself further.

My Journey Back into Art

Ever since I was a young teen I had loved art, pencil drawing, and painting. I have periodically through the years of my life, picked up a pencil, or a brush and drawn or painted something that caught my eye. I had given sketches to friends and family. I guess you would have to call it a past time, since it wasn't something I did all the time or studied.

When Cindy and I lived in Whittier in the early years of our marriage, we purchased a very old but damaged stained glass window from an antique store. Our thought was to reframe it and hang it in a window in the house to catch the light from its design. Like other such frivoulous purchases, the window languished for many years in our garage because I found how costly it was to repair it. No wonder it was so inexpensive! One day, a friend at work was showing me pictures of stained glass windows that he had designed and built for his home. I asked him if he could repair an old window I had bought some years ago. He said he could, but said why don’t you take a class and learn how to fix it yourself? I replied, where would I do that? Isn’t it expensive to take classes like that? He laughed and said, no, not if you enroll in a adult school class at night, it is pretty inexpensive. Needless to say, I did enroll in a class and learned how to make leaded stained glass windows and repair the old one we had purchased so many years before. I was fortunate to have a funny, excentric and challenging teacher who became a great friend and mentor. Stained glass didn't just become a hobby, it became a passion and then a side business that I called Reflections in Glass.

For many years thereafter, I designed and built custom stained glass windows for clients all over Whittier and other towns where friends referred me to clients as a side business. That was my art outlet for over fifteen years and brought me many hours of pleasure building something beautiful that would outlive me. I believe that is the goal of every artist, to build a legacy of art for others to enjoy.


When we made the decision to move to Northern California we packed up everything and began a new life in new and more beautiful surroundings. I began a new job in a challenging environment that took me all over the state, and any of my free time was devoted to my children or our garden. Our new home in the country was on an acre, and easily eight times bigger than our little lot in the city. I put a lot of my design ideas to work in the garden, and selected plants and trees to bring color to the seasons. I would sketch flower beds and layout paths on paper before I ever turned a shovel full of dirt. I planted beds of bulbs and built rose gardens and arbors to make our garden a special and beautiful place to be any time of year. Every tree and flower was chosen for what it would bring to the garden. During this time, my other art skills languished and were put on hold because there just wasn’t time in our busy lives.

I was pushed to pick up a pencil and paper by my daughter Amber, who had graduated from high school and was attending college. She like my son Colin had shown an interest in art. Colin took it seriously and studied to be a computer Graphic Designer and is enjoying success working in his field. It is great to see that my children have a love for art and design.  Amber was more into painting, and wanted to try water colors, and then oils. We bought her the necessary tools for Christmas or her birthdays and she began painting and decorating the walls of her room. She encouraged me to get back into art, and one day we went to Dawn’s Art Supplies and purchased sketch books for an outing. It was fun to pick up a pencil and draw again. Unfortunately, while I enjoyed it, I did not continue drawing. I was too busy doing private consulting work and addressing projects at home. Then too, my encourager got married, and moved away with her husband. They eventually moved back closer, finding a nice place in Lincoln. It gave Amber and I the opportunity to take hikes and photography forays into the mountains and canyons around these beautiful foothills.

Cindy too, had made a number of hints about me getting back into art. She knew that while I loved stained glass, that it was hard on my neck to get back into that work. Once in a while she would show me an art class being given at Sierra College that I could take. It was her brain storm and creative thinking that really made the difference, when she thought outside the box for my sixty-sixth birthday present. 

Tune in for my introduction into pastel painting in my next blog.

My Eventful Roller Coaster Life

Many years ago as a young teen I loved to draw and wanted to be an illustrator. Drawing deer bounding across logs in the forest, wolves, birds of prey and any number of other species brought me great pleasure. I thought how great it would be to pursue a career as an illustrator, since I loved the outdoors and animals. Times were tough in those days, Mom was very sick with cancer and a patient at City of Hope. I was working 30 hours a week and attending Franklin High school in Highland Park, and contributing to my room and board, since my father required my older brother and me to help out by working and paying our way. There was no time for school sports, (which he frowned on) and little time for school activities with the exception of attending a Friday night football game. My Dad was not an involved loving caring father, and was often critical of my interests, my art or my goals. In his words, “You are a bloody fool to think you could survive as an artist, you will always be poor and hungry. What a stupid thing to want to do.” Those were stinging words for a teen trying to figure out what was going to be his goal in life. That rebuke and lack of encouragement led me to look elsewhere for a goal to pursue. My Dad was a tough love kind of guy, but in his own way, I guess he cared.


Previously we had lived in Byron, Ontario, Canada, and times were tough and dad was not around for three years. My brother Michael and I did everything we could to help put food on the table for Mom and our younger brother Martin and sister Alynne. Mike was asthmatic, and couldn’t be around all that hay so he found a job at a grocery market. For my past, in the winter I shoveled snow for people, I also had a paper route during the week and during summer I worked on the local farms as a hired hand helping to bring in the wheat, barley, oats or hay. I loved the outdoors and life on the farms. I had wanted to be a farmer, but a wise caring farmer named George McCord, encouraged me to look into forestry. He gently explained that my family did not own a farm to pass on to me, and I had no wealth to buy one. He said that by that pursuing the goal of a farmer, I would be relegated to a life as a farmhand, and I was worth a lot more than that. Those were kind and wise words, and so when we left Canada, and immigrated to California, I pursed my interest in forestry once I got to College.

I was studying Wildlife Management and Forestry when I got married at the age of 21 to a girl I thought would be my life’s partner. My studies and my life were turned upside down by the call of Uncle Sam and the Vietnam War. That experience had a great impact on my view of life, it literally turned me inside out, but I was a fortunate survivor thanks to God who carried me through many life threatening experiences. A “dear John” greeted me on my return home, and my world crumbled further for awhile.

Knowing I was in charge of my life, and God had a plan for me, I struggled back on my feet and applied for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and was hired in April 1968. I enjoyed my law enforcement career and met and married an insecure only child a short time later. After a disastrous and painful rebound marriage that crumbled and fell apart after seven years I was in financial ruin, living in a 23 foot trailer at Leo Carillo State Beach. That remote location by the sea provided solitude and time to work through my goals in life. I was determined to finish University and was pursuing my BA at Redlands.

I met Cindy while working a personnel assignment in the Old Hall of Justice. I was in my final semester at the University of Redlands attending night classes held in LA. She helped me put my life back together and we fell in love over time. To hear her tell it, I was that pest that kept turning up uninvited or left silly cards on her desk, but the good thing was that she said yes, when I asked her to marry me after we had dated for several years. Cindy helped to recharge my creativity side. We once took a class together learning to make stained glass windows. For her it was not something that came easily, but for me, it would become a passion and outlet for 15 years. I designed and built many windows during that time in my studio in the detached garage of our home.

Cindy and I were married for some years before we decided to have children. We travelled to Hawaii, England , and Europe while we were young. An English cousin, Colin, was the one who told me I would make a good father and would really enjoy kids. Cindy and I discussed it at length after one of our trips to England and we made that happy decision together. We were blessed with two terrific children while I was with the Sheriff’s department. Our handsome Colin came first in 1984 and beautiful daughter Amber followed in 1987.

Assignments changed with the years and I was working Carson Sheriff’s station in south Los Angeles. After the Rodney King riots and the OJ Simpson trial, life in Los Angeles seemed so much more oppressive and dangerous. I was worried that my kids would suffer the fate of so many kids I saw gunned down on the streets of Los Angeles. Life in such a smoggy unhealthy and hostile environment weighed heavily on our desire to live in a better place. My work in Carson and life even in Whittier was getting disrupted by daily gang activity.

I had enjoyed over twenty-five years with the department but sought a change and a better place to raise our family. The answer came on an invitation and an opportunity in Sacramento. I successfully competed for a position with the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Cindy was alarmed at the idea of moving to Sacramento. I told her we didn’t have to live in Sacramento, we could find a place in the foothills that would be much better. I took an early retirement from LA Sheriff and moved my family to the beautiful foothills community of Auburn.

It was rather like moving to Lake-Woe-B- Gone, the Garrison Keiler magical town of so many of his laughable radio stories. We had left our pretty home in Whittier and moved out in the country on an acre of land in a larger newer home. It was such a treat to have my son come home from school on his first day there and say, Dad, Dad, there were deer on the soccer field today! The kids at this school are nicer and they don’t swear. Their campus play area in Whittier had been all cement. Life couldn’t get any better as our children thrived in this new safer environment where there were no worries about forgetting to lock your car or leaving the front door unlocked.

It was also a treat to have changing seasons, fall colors, a dusting of snow, and real spring time blush of flowers and blooms in the yard and surrounding countryside. Our children blossomed into young adults. Our son graduated high school and left to tour around the country with a Christian singing group called Primary Focus/Living Proof. He earned a scholarship while signing and went on to study Graphic Design at Liberty University. Our daughter Amber loved the outdoor environment and thrived in sports at school. After fourteen years of rewarding work, I made the decision to retire from POST. Amber was attending College at the time, studying Nutrition. Shortly after my retirement, Amber was engaged to her handsome Eric. My daughter was going to be married and soon it would be just Cindy and I at home.

After retirement, I had tackled many projects around our home that needed more attention than a weekend stab at them could accomplish. I decided to tackle rebuilding our crumbling sun rotted rear deck. I tore it out piece by piece and then completely rebuilt the structure with new treated lumber supports and low maintenance Trex boards. Fortunately for me with last minute help from my brother Michael, it was finished just in time for Amber’s wedding shower.

Our garden was seeing far more attention and was flourishing with ever more new plantings and new flower and vegetable beds. Such that it made it into the Auburn Journal s garden section two years in a row. While some of my time was filled with challenging private consulting projects, Cindy could see that I needed a new past time, besides gardening and photography. There were just too many hours in a day. While hiking with Amber when she could filled some, or working in the yard filled others, walking the dogs was not just not enough.

We had admired award winning Auburn artist Reif Erickson’s pastels and had purchased four of his prints to grace the walls in our living room. We even bought one of the Forest Hill Bridge, as a present for Eric and Amber, a shower gift to commemorate Eric’s asking Amber to marry him on the Forest Hill Bridge. I’m not sure if she would have said no, if he would have jumped over or thrown her off. Happily she said yes, and so they married on May 17, 2008. My brilliant creative spouse thought it would be great for me to learn pastel painting from Reif (Pronounced Rafe) Erickson when she learned he gave lessons. She decided to give me a birthday present of lessons with Reif.

Well that enjoyable saga began for me in November of last year. My next blog will take you on that new journey of exploration with pastels.

Those Crazy River Otters

Have you ever had the opportunity to see river otters at play? I finally had that surprise opportunity about a month ago. These marvelous furry little river dwellers are a laugh a minute. If all of us could have as much fun living and breathing as they seem to have. Diving and chasing one another, wrestling in the water or just catching a fish to snack on. The curious part was, they weren't in a river when I saw them, and I was not walking along a river bank.

I was walking our dog Chica and we were taking a stroll through Deer Ridge park in north Auburn, California. This is one of many walking routes we have, but one of my favorites because we always manage to see some unusual wildlife in or around the old pond.

When this land was part of Marriot Ranch, cattle grazed where we now walk and they were able to get a drink at a large manmade pond that was built along a natural creekbed. The creek kept the pond full through winter and during the summer it was supplemented by water from one of the many irrigation canals owned by Nevada Irrigation District that provide water to farms and ranches all over Placer county.

When the aging Marriots sold the land, it was developed for homes and the pond became part of a openspace park in the Deer Ridge subdivision, continuing to be supplied by NID water. The pond is apparently well known by migrating ducks, geese, grebes, mures, herons and many other birds and wildlife so it is a fun place to visit if you like water birds. Last year three cormorants were blown of course on their migration and found the pond. I had no idea it was also known to some river otters.

On this particular day, four of the furry rambunctious river dwelling critters, a mother and three of her young ones were having a ball playing in the pond, and sitting on the fountain ring in the middle of the pond to eat fish they were catching. Obviously, they had followed one of the NID canals from a river source and were dining on the plethora of perch and sunfish that occuppied the pond. My dog Chica was as mystified by them as I was and just quietly watched them play. This quiet trait in my dog has allowed me to enjoy wildlife without her barking or straining to chase them away.

After I walked Chica back home, I grabbed my camera and went back to get some pictures of this furry brood. They made it much easier for me, because they were now on a spit of land by the outflow. They were languishing on the shore, licking their fur, cleaning their paws, and just having fun rolling around on the ground. I was able to quietly approach behind some bushes and take several pictures before they felt my presence nearby. Once they figured out what the clicking was and identified me, they dived back in the pond and swam back to the middle.

I came back a few more days in succession and watched them from shore, and after a few days, they had moved on after fishing out the pond. It was just one more opportunity to enjoy the creatures that live around us in a somewhat natural setting. Makes me wonder what I'll see next.

A Foggy Day in Auburn Town

Well with the grace of God and a super hot shower at 2:00 AM, I managed to reduce the throbbing of a horrible migraine that seemed determined to make my head explode. The pain, the pain, yikes, was the worst I have ever experienced. It was a sleep disturbed night of major proportions. I awakened to realize I had survived a second night with this terrible cold. Boy, this one could be a secret weapon to give to the Jihadists, however it might make them crazier than they already are. The runny nose and sneezing fits would distract them and make them good targets with bright red noses.

I believe that I am feeling more human today, although that reflection in the mirror gives me some doubt. My wife didn't scream when she saw me so that is a good thing. She is giving me a wide berth because she doesn't want whatever this is.

Today as you can see by the the photo is overcast and foggy, just like yesterday. One of those cold inhospitable days outside but thankfully warm inside. I may have to assume that hobbit behavior, staying denned up in our warm house, but certainly don't want to make a hobbit of it. Until this stuffy sneezy, drippy condition passes I am not about to spread this germ to others. Had to cancel my pastel class appearance today and that was something I was looking forward to.

I finished the book I started that was written by James Patterson, in partnership with Gabrielle Charbonnet, a children's writer. The book was an easy read and quite unlike anything I have read of his. It was called Sunday at Tiffany's, and instead of a being a heavy murder mystery, was the absolute opposite about an imaginary friend a little girl had to take her away from her empty loveless life with her selfish and obssessed mother. You would have to read the book to understand, but they did weave a pretty interesting story with a happy ending, unlike most of his books.

I haven't decided what I am going to do today, although half the day is gone, and I have still not jump started myself to do something productive. I believe I will tackle lunch and see how it goes from there.

Beastly Sinus Cold!

Funny how the way you feel is influenced by the weather. I went to bed with a slight sore throat and had a rough night last night coming down with a bad cold shared by my daughter. I tossed and turned through the night, and to add insult to injury, had a horrible migraine that decided to get in on the action of disrupting my sleep. I awakened to a cold foggy morning, where the mist hangs at ground level and inhabits the trees making them look like gnarled grey ghosts. The garden doesn't look any happier than I feel. Hmmm ... the outside looks like I feel, all invaded with a smothering cold that has blitzed my sinus cavities and made my eyes run like creeks. My daughter managed to get this beastly cold from her husband and while it didn't seem to affect him much, it has had a much greater impact on those susbsequently over run by how quickly it affects sinus activity. My daughter has spent several days in misery holed up like a hobbit, and now I feel inclined to repeat that behavior.

My son visiting from Lynchburg Virginia was also infected before he left. I am hoping his young healthy body can shake off this unwanted invader. If not, now that he has travelled home, he will be spreading this germ wherever he goes. I'll have to speak to my son-in-law, he has no idea he has started an epedemic.

I can't paint in this state of sinus overload with a constant leaky nose, and sneezes. I tried doing some catch up on the web, but I didn't feel comfortable stopping the unremitting flow. It's hard to concentrate when your eyes are so watery and keep blurring. Ny-Quil, when will you kick in? Those fine commercials say that this stuffed up, leaky nose condition will go away when you ingest your miracle product?

Given the state of my condition, I guess I will just sit back and try to read a book. I have a hot cup of tea and I have lit a roaring fire. Now I will sit in a comfortable chair and see if I can lose myself in a good story. Its a cinch I can't write worth a darn either in this condition!