Ye Old Pastel Painter

Protecting Plein Aire Paintings

2011-11-28T20:24:00.001-08:00

Not many artists have a blank checkbook that will allow them to purchase all of the things they would like to have in their plein aire kit. Having a light weight easel and a nice box to carry one's pastels or oil paints are two necessities that all artists must have to move their studio onsite into the great outdoors. Another item of course is a decent umbrella to give one shade from hot sun while one works on that new masterpiece. The umbrella also allows one to shade one's painting and be able to see the correct values of your colors on the painting without glare. The one other dilemma most of us face, is a suitable and safe method of transporting our wet paintings or dry pastels safely back home to our studio.

No matter the place, you may choose, the elements can provide a tremendous challenge to your day or hours of painting. Whether it is bright sun, wind, unexpected rain or sudden chill temperatures, it can make one hurriedly pack up and head back to the warmth of your studio. Hopefully this particular day's outing you are not miles from your car, but if you are a considerable distance, will your old method safeguard your painting back to the car in a cloudburst?

Putting away the easel and the pastels is not usually the issue that gives one problems, the main concern on every artist's mind at that juncture is being able to safely transport the painting or paintings one has started back to the car and then get them safely home. Some artists carry an art bag with folders with glassine pages in them to put over the pastel so it will be protected. But even in that situation, if one is walking any distance and the bag that your folder is in is jostling about, your painting could get smudged, or damp from the rain. Therein lies the dilemma we all face, bringing back our painting or in some cases paintings from the field safely and without any damage.

After considerable research I have found a product called PanelPak that I liked and subsequently purchased two PanelPak units, one that holds a 9" X 12" and one that holds 12" X 16" paintings. When I ordered the product, which comes in a number of standard sizes, I was pleasantly surprised by the workmanship, its light weight and the simplicity of the product. It is a frame that is routed like the back of a picture frame on both sides. It has two pieces of masonite board that act as covers that fit into the routed channel to back your paintings and keep them protected. Each PanelPak will hold two paintings. The panels are secured by two very sturdy rubber bands in a sandwich in which the paintings face each other but are separated by a half- inch of air space. The units cost less than 25.00 each, which to me is a very good investment. I have used the PanelPak several times since I bought them in plein air excursions, and have found that I can transport my pre-cut paper in them and of course transport the rough or finish pastels back home safely.

I have supplied a photo of the PanelPak wet panel carrier for you to see how they work. They are not waterproof, but will fit easily in your waterproof bag. You may of course look them up online yourself at www.PanelPak.com, and order them online in whatever sizes you wish. The company is quick to respond to your order and ships them out UPS within a matter of days. I hope you find this product a valuable addition to your plein aire kit.

Twilight at Pismo Lagoon

2011-11-19T21:04:00.001-08:00

Pismo has been a getaway place for our family for a number of years. When our children were in their teens we used to go camping at Pismo Dunes RV park or Pismo Dunes State Beach. For the past five years we have had our trailer permanently stored in Pismo, and whenever we want to go down we make a reservation at the Pismo Dunes RV park. It usually takes a six month in advance reservation to make that a week in summer. We try to go down several times a year especially during the hot months.

This past August we had a full week and were joined by our Son Colin and his new wife Maria. They flew out from Virginia to be with us on Cindy's birthday. That was her present this year. Having our son and his wife with us made the week special. It is a cool respite from summers heat inland, and its beaches are a source of wonder from morning to night. Waking early in the morning and making a fresh pot of coffee always sets the day off the right way. It is usually col and foggy in the early hours, and a perfect time to walk up on the top of the barrier dune and survey the lagoon that is usually filled with both sea birds and marsh dwellers.

It is relaxing to enjoy the antics of the duck's bobbing up and down for breakfast on the bottom of the lagoon, or see pelicans dive down and grab a snack of fresh fish. Shore birds such as the Great White Egret and the Lesser Egret, as well as Blue Herons wade along the marshy sides spearing anything that comes within reach. Cormorants sit on floating logs washed down by winters rains, spreading their wings to dry them in the air. It is a bird sanctuary, a natural wonder of natures bounty for beach lovers and birders to enjoy.

I got up early as I have many times, only this time I took my sketch book along with my cup of coffee, and began drawing some notans for a painting of the lagoon with the somber morning fog. I decided on a painting, and went back to the campsite to break out my pastels. I began that painting while I had the low natural light and also took a few photos so I could have the right lighting in case the weather changed before I finished. I did end up finishing that painting at home sitting on our deck a week later.

Since my Colin and Maria were with us and it was her first time to California, there was not a lot of time to just sit and ponder the beauty and sketch or paint. We did need to show her the area and some of the beautiful places that are so near. I did take quite a few photos though, and one special evening my son and his wife and I all sat on the top of the dune, overlooking the lagoon, and watched the sun go down. It was a beautiful evening, with wonderful clouds and lots of color. Unfortunately my camera battery died at the time when the sun was providing such a beautiful palette of color. Fortunately my son reminded me I still had a camera in my I-Phone and I took several pictures of the beautiful twilight sunset that dappled the sand and lagoon in pinks, and shades of purple. The light was mesmerizing and very beautiful. I wanted to paint this wonderful scene. I sent them to my Gmail address so I could look at them on my computer.

With family emergencies requiring several trips south and a full calendar of work for my old employer, it was not possible to paint that scene until this month. I selected a piece of Kitty Wallis Belgian sanded paper that was 12" X 18" and taped it to a board and placed it on my easel. I began the painting with a sketch of the lagoon, and then used Prismacolor pastels to block in the different color masses. Once I had that done, I brushed the colored areas with Turpenoid to provide a good base. I followed up with soft pastels from my palette of Rembrands, Sennelier, Winsor and Newton and Great American Art pastels. The painting gradually came to life on my easel but the lighting in the room I use as a studio is terrible. When I took the painting outside to get a sense of the balance and color, I was disappointed, and not at all happy with the way it looked. The colors were just not right at all. The warmth was not there.

Today, there was no rain and it was bright and a cool 51 degrees. Since there was a breeze, I decided to put on a warm coat and I took my table top easel outside and put it on the patio table. It was there on the deck in natural light that I finished the painting. The light on this cloudy day allowed me to get the right hues on the sand and capture the reflections in the water. I hope you enjoy the final product which is called, "Twilight on Pismo Lagoon".

A Gift From Gifted Pastel Artist Deborah Secor

2011-11-15T12:09:00.001-08:00

Deborah Secor is an amazing accomplished pastel artist. Ibelieve her greatest attribute however; is her strong faith and commitment toher Lord Jesus Christ, whom she credits unabashedly as her personal savior. Herfaith is strong, clear and lived daily, shared by and with her husband.

Perhaps it is her faith that gives Deborah the ability tosee beauty so clearly and capture and transmit the beauty to her Wallis sandedpaper for others to enjoy. Her strong sense of well being and completeness alsomakes her a fine teacher. She seems to enjoy sharing her gifts and insightsfrom years of painting with her students. Her reward comes from seeing studentsbecome better artists as they soak in her demonstrated techniques to achieve paintingsthat catch the eye of the viewer. We arevery fortunate to have some outstanding pastel artists who are also amazingteachers. In my book, she is right there with Richard McKinley, Margot Schulzke and MaggiePrice in her ability to clearly state how she accomplishes various techniquesshe has learned over the years through trial and error.

She has nosmugness, or snobbery about her work, she is genuine and wants to share her God given gifts and what she has learned through trial and error. A good case in point is the book she hastaken a long time to write, "Landscape Painting in Pastels." She is giving it toany who wants to read it free. She has published it on the web at http://landscapesinpastel.blogspot.com/where it can be read or downloaded by anyone interested in bettering theirknowledge of pastel painting. So muchknowledge that goes beyond just knowing how to use pastels, or what process touse, but a greater understanding of how to use color and how too determine thevalues of that color. Her book is an invaluable resource for any seriousartist. I thank her for her generously sharing her talent and knowledge.

Great American Pastels

2011-09-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Since I became enamored with the pastel medium, I have been trying various pastels made in different countries of the world. There are many wonderful old names like Sennelier, Rembrandt, Schminke,Winsor Newton and of course many other brands that artists love and revere. I have quite a few softer pastels by Rembrandt, Sennelier and Winsor Newton and even a few buttery soft by American pastel maker Terry Ludwig. I have a full set of Prismacolor hard pastels that I use a lot for under colors but I did not have any Great American Art Works Pastels that I have heard so many positive things about. These wonderful pastels are made in the USA.

Since I am always griping about buying American products, I ordered a small selection of Great American pastels from Jerry's ArtArama.com a few months ago, and really found them to be soft, and not subject to crumbling like some of my Winsor Newtons. I was very impressed with how smoothly they applied to my Wallis paper with a light stroke. They had one pastel I purchased that said silver and so had to check it out. It really was silver and I have used it on several paintings that required a touch of silver. I wanted to have more of these beauties! They have 468 different colors and are always adding more selections. They also have fun names, like, Church Mouse Grey, Zest, Paris, Atmosphere, Merlot, don't wine, you get the picture.

A few weeks ago I saw a Thunderstorm set on sale by FineArt.com for a low and impossible to refuse price. I have coveted this set for some time and so I ordered them. They came in the mail and I could not wait to use them on a pastel I was working on that had wonderful sky colors. How I wish I had them when I worked on my Desert Storm piece.

Last Saturday, I had attended a demonstration put on by Bob Strohsahl, Head Honcho of Great American Art Works pastel company, at University Art in Sacramento, California. This was a reserve your seat event, and also the quarterly meeting for the Pastel Society of the West Coast. I had no idea that Bob would brings such a huge selection of wonderful wooden boxed selections of 78 pastels each by so many well known pastel artist like Margo Schultzke, Richard McKinley, Paul Murray, Judith Carducci and others, as well as 60 half stick sets. I think everyone in the room was salivating looking at the many colorful boxes that were saying take me home!

Bob made a delightful and informative presentation about the company and where they purchase many of the minerals used in their pastels. He showed many wonderful color pictures of places we all would love to visit and paint. Margo Schultzke was at that presentation and said that she has been delighted with the pastels and the variety of colors. One very lucky member won a door prize in a drawing of 78 pastels of a set of his choosing. I know David, you are probably still smiling! Many of us bought various sets of our choosing at that event because we were given a great price with no shipping charges. I purchased a Richard McKinley selection since I liked the color selection and know I do not have some of the colors in my palette. I cannot wait to beak them out and incorporate them into my palette and enjoy using them.

I encourage you to buy some and test them out. I am sold on this companies wonderful pastels, and know that I don't need to look anywhere else to find what I want. The best part is, like the Terry Ludwig Pastels, they are made right here in America!

Catching Up

2011-09-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how many months have gone by since I posted any blogs. I have been busy and have painted quite a few new pieces. I have also been enjoying trying out under paintings beneath my pastels, and am still experimenting with the effects.

A month ago I had a rather disturbing and life shaking event occur that gave me cause to realize my mortality. It was a Saturday morning and I got up around 7:23 to put our old dog Chica outside. I walked her down the hall and into the kitchen. I usually give her treats in the morning and so I reached into a drawer and pulled out the bag of Duck strips. As I pulled them out and started to open the bag, I had an overwhelming feeling of being very nauseated, and felt terribly weak and disoriented. I realized I could not even open the bag to get the treats out and simply leaned back and slid open the sliding glass door and let Chica outside

The next thing I realized was I was lying on the kitchen floor, my head hurt and two of our kitchen chairs were lying on their sides. I thought, what on earth am I doing on the floor. I set one of the chairs upright and tried to get up and passed out again. The next thin I realized is my wife Cindy is slapping my face and saying stay awake, don't go out, stay with me. She had apparently called my daughter who was out running and told her I had passed out and then called 911. My daughter made a beeline back home and was home before the ambulance arrived. My wife and daughter helped me into a chair and I felt very disoriented and was perpsiring profusely and shaking. When the paramedics arrived, they took my vital signs and put oxygen on me. They could apparently tell that my heart and was behaving erratically and my blood pressure was way out of wack. I was soon loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Auburn Faith hospital.

I had wonderful care and attention at the hospital and they hooked me up to monitors and did an EKG realizing that I was in a condition called atrial fibrillation, where the heart chambers get off sync and beat erratically depriving ones body of life giving oxygen. That is why I had passed out and become so disoriented. I was admitted into intensive care for a day and a half until the medication the doctors had given me brought my heart back in control, and it began beating normally once again. I was seen by a cardiologist and asked him whether anything I had been doing the day before had contributed to my situation. He said no, not at all. Your heart has performed well for 68 years and just decided it isn't going to continue to beat as it had. From now on, you will just need to take a prescription medication that will keep your heart on track. I remained there overnight for observation and tests and was released after lunch the following day to go home. The doctor said I could resume my normal routine, but my wife was very concerned and did not want me doing much of anything until we could see the cardiologist we had been referred to.

We had planned on leaving on vacation for Pismo Beach the following day prior to this happening, and my son and his new wife Maria were planning on flying out from Lynchburg, Virginia to join us in Pismo Beach. First thing Monday morning, I called the Cardilologists office and asked if it was possible for them to squeeze me in that day. I explained our situation and they said they would see what they could do. Several hours later I received confirmation that Dr Berte could see us at 3:45 that afternoon. Once I arrived at the doctors office we were ushered into a room and his nurse Diana administered an EKG to let the doctor see how my heart was performing at that moment. When the doctor came in, he reviewed it and said we were free to go to Pismo Beach and he would see me when I got back to wear a monitor for 24 hours and also to take a stress test. Cindy was concerned but the Doctor allied her fears and we went home to pack.

It was great to be hitting the road early in the morning and we had an uneventful and pleasant drive over Pacheco Pass and on down Highway 101 to Pismo Beach. We got there about an hour and a half after our son and his bride Maria. They had set the trailer up and then gone for a walk on the beach. Unfortunately our trailer had leaked over the past two years and water had ruined the bedding and blankets and sleeping bags in the trailer. It was a mess to clean up and Cindy went to buy all new bedding and blankets. It was her birthday that day and we celebrated by going to dinner at the Old Port Inn on the pier in Avila Beach. We had a wonderful meal and afterwards went back to the trailer, made up fresh beds with the new linens and went to sleep for a good nights rest. Our week in Pismo was wonderful and relaxing. I started painting a scene of the lagoon in front of the sand dunes while we were there. I finished it this past week. I hope you like this one. It was started on a cool foggy morning and it was a joy to enjoy the solitude and see all of the waterfowl activity in the lagoon.

Over a week ago I took my stress test and passed it with flying colors. Dr. Berte told me I have no restrictions and can do anything I want. He doesn't need to see me for six months. God is good, and I feel grateful and blessed to be alive to enjoy my family and continue to paint. Life is too short, so don't forget to do the things you really wan to and enjoy each and every day.

Getting Organized - Part II

2011-07-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

One is always happy to make some painting sales, because it puts money in the bank for more art products. My goal has been to make sure that I have everything organized and in a place I can get to immediately when I paint in my studio. That being said, I have more work to do to continually improve the studio set up but that will come with time.

I also wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed for plein aire painting, so that when I go out, I have a good set up. Initially I had my full French Easel, with my pastels packed in plastic boxes filled with rice so that they would not break. Although this method worked for awhile, I found it to be less than desirable over time. The other thing was, the plastic boxes took all of the space in the French easel drawer and left very little room for stumps, wipes, some pastel pencils and charcoal.

I also decided that

I would follow Richard McKinley's suggestion and make sure that I separated all of my pastels into values in a new Dakota Art portable pastel box that I purchased. This box is well designed, and has memory foam that the pastels rest on, and memory foam on the two wood inserts that fasten over the pastels to keep them from moving when you are traveling. I purchased the smaller box that is 13" X 14" and it holds a huge amount of half stick pastels. This box sits comfortably on the drawer of my French Easel. My current pastel count is almost 300, with available space for more. That provides me with a varied pallet of both hard and soft pastels that are with me when I am painting outdoors in some beautiful locale. I am no longer frustrated by not having the color I want to use and making do with something that really is not adequate.

The second item I purchased was an umbrella to shade both me and my work when I am outdoors painting plein aire. After reading all the reviews, I bought the Better Brella canopy, and am very pleased with its design, and vented canopy. The great thing is, it will clamp onto a square or round leg and has well engineered clamps. Someone put a great deal of thought into the design of this product. After roasting in the sun a few times, this will be super, plus it will help by providing me shade for my work so I can actually realize the appropriate color I am putting on my paper.

The third item I purchased was some Dakota Art Boards with Wallis paper already mounted on a foam core so they provide a nice sturdy surface for plein aire work. Thanks Dakota Art for providing this great product premounted, it saves me the hassle, and is light and portable. I had purchased some Courfix Boards also for plein aire work, and they too are a good product. Every artist seems to like a different surface to work on and it has a lot to do with their style, their pastel strokes on the paper, the way they have been taught to work or just personal preference. With all these nice additions to my plein aire kit, one can see I am already to go out this week with my new tools to paint in the high sierras. Happy painting, and do get organized.

Painting Acceptance and Sales

2011-06-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a wonderful two week for news of acceptance into shows and painting sales. Two weeks ago I received my acceptance letter into the Pastels in Light show. This is a juried show that is being put on by the West Coast Pastel Society at The Gallery, 48 Natomas Street in Folsom. I will enter two paintings, one of the wine country called "Kiss of Spring on the Vineyard" and the other " Morning Sun on Monument Valley." This Wednesday I also received my acceptance email from KVIE Television for my painting, "Where Eagles Soar", that I donated as an entry into their juried Art Auction to be held September 19th. 2011. We will receive two tickets for the black tie event, and also a years membership with KVIE Television.

I made the decision a few weeks ago to have new business cards made professionally. I went down to talk to Drew Lord at Printmasters here in Auburn. He was friendly and helpful and said he could make several samples for me on the photos I provided. He said he would call me when the designs were ready then I could choose the one I liked. Several days later I had terrific samples and chose one with a vertical format of one of my recent wine country paintings. Drew did not flinch when I asked if it was possible to have some the next day for the Artwalk. He said they would be ready at 3:30 PM, and so I was able to go by and pick them up. They were very nicely done and I was pleased would have them for the Auburn Artwalk that evening. While I was at Tsudas in Old Town Auburn I handed out several cards to interested people who liked my work.

Now that I have the cards, I carry them with me, and when I went to the dentist on Tuesday for a teeth cleaning I handed one to my oral surgeon who had just checked my teeth, and said "Doctor Hakima, when you have time check out my new website." To my surprise, she went to her office computer and pulled my site up right away. The next thing I know, she is calling to me, asking me how much this painting or that painting is while I am still in the chair with the hygenist working on my teeth. Then she said, "Oh, I love this one called Afternoon's glow on the Vineyard, I want this one, how much is it?" I told her the size and the price and said it was matted and framed and she said, oh great, I'll have a check for you tomorrow if you want to bring it to the office." I happily delivered the painting the next day and collected my check. I took it home and copied it, and then took it to the bank and deposited it in my art account.

Today I went by Tsudas to check on my paintings and to see if I needed to replace my business cards and immediately saw that one painting was gone. Alexandra, the owner saw me and said, "Hi Paul, I sold one of your paintings the other day and the buyer used a Mastercard for the purchase. I waited for it to clear, which it did today, so I can pay you since you are here. " I was delighted with this good news, and will have to take a new painting down to Tsudas to replace the vacancy. My art account finally has some cash flow and I can purchase more supplies and some items I have wanted for some time. It is such a good feeling to paint things I love painting and have people purchasing them because they like the finished product. Life really could not get any better.

Another Milestone

2011-05-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

This past week I bit the bullet and took advantage of an offer through Go-Daddy to use one of their many hundreds of template styles to build my Website for the name domain I purchased last year. My son is a very good graphic designer and knows a lot about building websites however; he has been too busy to help put something together. I have had the name domain for almost a year and felt it was time to get something going that looked more professional for my art. After all, the link is available with several professional pastel society organizations and galleries, and did not look very good at all.

Building a website myself, now how hard could that be? I am not what you would call a techy or a computer geek. I have stayed active with computers since I retired and do know my way around a little. Just enough to get myself in trouble from time to time. Well Go-Daddy, show me what you've got! There are not idiot instructions for building a website, but there are enough drop dons on various pages that one can research a question and figure out how to use their product. I did run into several problems when I chose a ready made site, that one could change the printed words but changing the pictures was a lot more difficult.

I switched to a template style and color that I liked and started over. Fortunately it was fairly simple and I was able to make changes in the templates and upload photos and size them correctly to work on the various pages. My biggest challenge came when I decided to upload some of my art pictures. Getting the painting titles in and also the paintings was a huge issue and I ran into a few snags, and deleted it all deciding I would try that another day when I was fresh. The wait helped and I methodically worked out the way I wanted them to appear and managed with some setbacks to design the page the way I wanted. I would have liked to put borders around the pictures but that would take more knowledge than I have to know how to do that.

The template level that I chose only includes 5 pages for their $2.99 per month hosting charge for three years. If I was a more prosperous artist I would have elected to get a bigger package, but this is a good way to start out, and perhaps I can add to what I have started in the future. Yes, okay, I know I am cheap, but artist supplies are a more important concern right now. I also would have liked to change the name of one of the pages that says services, however the page names are locked in and not changeable from what I can figure out. I really do not need a page by this title, I would rather have had another gallery page. The last page is a contact sheet that allows interested persons to email me. I tested this feature and was pleased to see that it does work.

Now that I am finished and have uploaded my Website, please feel free to visit and let me know what you think of my it. You can find the site at http://www.paulmharman.com

A Pastel Paper Review

2011-05-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have been reading comments on Flickr of persons who are new to pastel painting and enjoying the medium very much. I have seen several very bad pieces of advice from novices who have said things like, "I just use computer paper and it works fine for me", or I just use a piece of clean cardboard." Some of these kinds of bad advice motivated me to do a short synopsis of pastel papers for people who have not tried them or cannot access them at their local art store. So below is a list of those I have tried, and my preferences and those I will not likely use again.

I will go ahead an number the different papers to keep them separated. They are not in any particular order:

1. Ampersand pastel board - museum series panel - I bought several of these for plein aire work. They have a sanded surface hand applied with Kaolin clay ground textured with fine marble dust granules. My pastel mentor uses these a lot and likes them. I used one for a plein aire painting last month and found the surface to be quite fine. I did not like it nearly as much as the Colourfix Board, but it is okay. I will probably not buy any more, I prefer the Colourfix or the Rtistx boards.

2. Canson MI-Tientes - assorted colors a 98 lb paper that has a smooth side and a rough side. It is my least favorite, the smooth side, which I prefer does not take a lot of pastel, but is okay for quick in the field sketches. The rough side is difficult to cover the pattern in the paper unless of course you like to paint fast and loose, and use very soft pastels. Then it will probably be fine.

3. There are two types of Art Spectrum Colourfix pastel paper.

(a.) Art Spectrum, Colourfix sanded paper - Comes in 20 different colors. I like the texture, but the paper is not very heavy. It does take pastel quite well. It will more likely curl if it gets damp because of the light weight.

(b). Art Spectrum, Colourfix Plein Aire Painting Board - I purchased some 12" X 16" boards and really liked the surface. The Boards come in a selection of 17 colors including white. The cost was around $8.60 per board. It does come in larger sizes for example 14" X 18" boards. It takes pastel well, is heavy enough to use without a backing board and will drop in a frame if you want to. I painted my "Water, Life Blood of the Range" painting with this board. This one is first rate.

4. Sennelier "La Carte" pastel paper. This is an excellent paper and the tooth is made from a vegetable substance and takes pastel really well. I have used it a lot and really like it. The only warning I have is be extremely careful to never get it damp or try a water color wash on it, it will destroy the paper surface completely. This is an excellent paper for studio work, and for plein aire if there is no chance of rain!

5. Pastel Mat pastel paper - I found this to be a very smooth surface almost like a velour. It does not hold a lot of pastel and so I was disappointed with it and frustrated because I could not blend on this surface and get the effect without the tooth filling completely. It is not a paper I am likely to buy again. In fairness to those who love this surface I am glad you like it.

6. Richardson sanded pastel paper - I have just purchased three large sheets of 18 X 24 in three different colors, I believe there are seven choices of color. It has a more course surface than Colourfix paper, and the paper is a little heavier. I am painting a pastel with it now and while it takes multiple layers of pastel well, it is more difficult to do fine detail because of the coarse surface. For those of you who are not into detail, you will love it.

7. RTISTX 280- I purchased several of their boards which are heavy enough to use for plein aire work. I really liked the sanded surface which comes in Taupe or white. It is tough, heavier than the Colourfix Board , takes a lot of pastel, and will take water color washes, Turpenoid washes, oils, acrylic or charcoal. Do not use alcohol or acetone with this board, it will dissolve the tooth. The largest size it comes in is the 18" X 24" which I used for my Bald Eagle pastel. It is acid, lead and Barium free and 100% archival quality. The man who designed it is a roofer and a pastel artist who was not happy with the products on the market and decided to design his own. He is trying to get it marked with some of the larger suppliers. His product is a little pricey but very good quality and you can find RTISTX in a web search.

8. Wallis paper - I just received my order of several 8 pad books of this paper in 9" x 12" and 12" X 16" sizes after buying some larger 18" X 24" and 24" x 36" sheets of this linen based paper. It is strong, a rag based paper, heavier and will take water or turps washes if that is what you like to do before starting your drawing. This is a professional archival surface and comes in museum or professional grades. It is available in Belgian Mist or White. I am planning on using it for my next painting and it is already to go on my easel. I like the feel, and it seems to have a really good tooth. Many pastel artists I have spoken to with the Pastel Society of the West Coast love this paper the most of all they have tried. I have a similar response based on its texture. It does take a lot of pastel and one can blend on this paper. A word of caution though, if you blend with your fingers, it will take layers of skin off before you know it.

There are other papers out there, I have not yet tried. I would be interested in hearing from any other pastel artists who like other papers and why. Keep painting and share your tips to help other artists improve their art.

A Fogggy Day on Lion Creek

2011-05-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

Cindy and I were out for a ride on this particular foggy day just exploring the area between Ojai and Santa Paula . We had just climbed over some hills shortly after leaving Ojai and were descending down the hill on the old Ojai to Santa Paula road when I saw a lovely oak covered swale that might be a good painting. I stopped the car to have a look and took a few pictures. I took a few different shots and noted the colors and the light and overcast sky with the fog creeping over the distant hills. I got back in the car and we continued down the road and drove over this lovely gorge, but could not stop because there was no safe place to pull over. I drove a little further and found a place wide enough to turn around and went back across the bridge and did a u-turn into a turnout just a short distance above the bridge and parked the car.

Our navigation unit in the car indicated the gorge was Lion Creek. Lion Creek flows through a gorge that it has cut in the sandstone rock of the beautiful valley that it cuts through. Like many streams in southern California, it likely drys up in the summer, but during the rainy season it flows fast and furious carrying runoff all the way to the sea. Where the bridge crosses over the little gorge that Lion Creek has cut it is probably 20 feet deep.

I walked down the hill to the bridge and looked at the gorge from the bridge and was amazed at the rocks and trees, and color I saw. There were so many shades of green, ochre colored and rust red stained rocks, dark green water and some water worn granite boulders. I decided to climb down into the gorge and see what it looked like from below. My painter senses were on high awareness, and my eyes were filled with this beautiful scene I was seeing for the first time. My ears tuned into the sound of the water rushing through the rocks, tumbling and twisting over and around obstacles it had gradually worn down over many centuries of time. I could hear birds tweeting and talking to one another in the trees. I stood on a rocky sandstone outcrop above the stream and drank in the beauty of this place. The fog creeping over the distant hills, the stillness of the place, different songs of the many birds and the sound of rushing water. The oak trees and vines that dangled down the walls had fresh green leaves, broken here and there by dappled sun. Contrasting colors everywhere, and even emerald green grass on a sloping hill the stream had cut through. This scene spoke to me and cried out to be painted.

I made mental notes of the colors, the lighting, and took several pictures with my Canon camera so that I would have some good reference photos to use when I got back home. My easel was in the car, but there wasn't time nor a safe place to set up and paint right there.

A week and a half later I had cleared time to begin the painting of Lion Creek. I chose a 20" X 16" RTISTX board for the painting. I also decided that I would block in some basic undercolor areas using some of my Nupastels. I did a rough sketch of the scene on the board and then carefully laid down the undercolorss of blue where the mountains would go, green for some of the tree areas, brown for the ground under the trees and maroon for some of the rock undercolor. Once these colors were in place I brushed them with Turpenoid and allowed the colors to run a little. This was a new effort for me, I had wanted to try this technique on one of my pastels after watching a Richard McKinley DVD. I was very pleased with the result and it took about ten minutes for the Turpenoid to dry. I had a nice even color distribution over the areas and then began to apply the sky, clouds and some of the mountain detail with both Rembrandt and Winsor Newton pastels. Things moved along well in the early stages and I began working on the tree trunks and also the rocks lining the streambed.

The painting seemed extremely busy and detailed and as time went by and I moved further along I got to a point where I just seemed to block. This may surprise you since I am so much of a detail person in most of my paintings. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to complete this painting and get it to look right and capture the wonderful scene I had viewed. My reference photos were good, but I was having difficulty getting the rocks to look realistic. They had such unusual roundness on some of them, they looked like someone had dumped a truck load of cement and smoothed it in humps and swirls, and then covered parts of it with vegetation. The bank on the one side was cut more sheer, and the vines trailed over it, so there was a lot going on there. I was also concerned that there was so much green from so much vegetation, I didn't want it to all blur into one color. I decided after getting to a certain point to just stop, and take a break from this painting, and start another completely different scene. I started another wine country painting, since I had been doing a series of them. I would periodically stop and just stare at my Lion Creek work and wonder if I would ever have the confidence to continue with it.

Taking a break and not forcing the painting was a good idea. One day while we were at lunch with some friends on the patio of Appleby's in Auburn, I had a break through. I was looking at the trees bordering the patio. I noticed the shadows on the branches, and the many shades of green I could see in the leaves from the sunlight. Just seeing the trees and the way the light played on them helped me to realize how I could continue the Lion Creek painting.

A Foggy Day on Lion Creek

When we got home, I set my easel up outside on our back deck and brought my pastel box out and put it on a table. We have many trees that border our deck, and based on the light I saw on them, I knew I could separate the trees and their color values so that they could stand individually, and not all merge into one green mass. It was a beautiful day, comfortable temperatures and I was charged to dig into the painting. With the new found confidence I was able to complete the canopy of trees by separating the values of different trees. I was also able to work on the shading and colors in the rocks with better light. Being outside in good light was a much better alternative than my poorly lit studio environment. The light helped me to chose a sunlit color for the grass in the meado that bordered the stream so it enhanced the feeling of depth in the painting. Natural light is so important to help one get a good true color value balance.

The last piece I worked on was the water in the stream. Little light filtered through the tree canopy to play on the water. It was deep in shadow, and so I chose to keep it the dark green I had viewed on site, and just put some light blue sky highlights in the ripples and in the froth it kicked up going through sections with rocks under the surface. I was pleased when I got to the point where I could stand back and know that I had captured the little Lion Creek Gorge I enjoyed so much on that visit. I hope you enjoy too.

Another Milestone

2011-03-10T00:25:00.000-08:00

I believe that the most difficult hurdle to overcome for a new artist is the challenge of breaking into the local art community and being accepted as an artist in one's own right. I addressed that challenge by joining my local arts group, Placer Arts and began attending functions. I also had a very supportive mentor /teacher Reif Erickson, who was pleased that I was following through with my art and going beyond the weekly classes and trying to create my own style. Besides being an excellent teacher and a wonderful pastel artist himself, he has become a good friend and encourager. He shares his suppliers, and has given me the names of places where I can reduce my costs to purchase art supplies. Becoming known locally in our own city or town, and having a venue to show paintings where friends, neighbors and others will see them is not easy because there are limited venues to show paintings publicly. There is no guidebook that tells one how to overcome all of the obstacles that one faces, but what I knew it would take was persistence.

I began checking with the local Old Town Gallery in old town Auburn. It is a beautiful gallery and member artists volunteer time to man the store, and pay rent for space to hang their art. This beautiful gallery is independent of the Placer Arts Group. Being new at this and working on a tight budget, paying a monthly rental was not something I could afford. I did decide to also join the Roseville Arts group at the Blue Line Gallery and paid my membership fee so that I would have access to enter gallery shows. I began exploring other venues as well like the Auburn Faith Hospital that has an Art Can Heal program, and they invite local artists to hang paintings in a hallway and rotate the art every month or so. I have not received any response as to how long that list is yet, but I suspect it has quite a waiting list I checked with several local restaurants that had artwork hanging on their walls, and was told that it is all managed by the Placer Arts Association. They schedule art programs and include art from local high schools, and select the artists that will participate in the monthly art walk program that starts in May and runs through September. I am scheduled to be in the August Art Walk.

Find in a venue to show paintings though takes a lot more work. Tsuda Market, a landmark that had been operated in Old Town Auburn by the Tsuda family for over 80 years finally closed last year. This little grocery store had provided many local Japanese and American food products to local families in town. Once it closed however; the building had to be brought into compliance with earthquake safety building codes before a new business could occupy the premises. After many months of renovation a new Cafe also called Tsuda occupied the site and became very popular with its excellent sandwiches, salads and bakery products. When we were eating lunch there one day, I asked the owner if I could have an opportunity to display some of my paintings on the walls there. Very modern bright colored acrylic paintings occupied 2/3 of the available space already. Alexandra took my card and said, as a matter of fact, I am planning on clearing the area behind the coffee bar and moving some things around, and using that as a rotating space for artists. I'll have a look at your art and we can talk again. One thing led to another and their were very many events on their calendar, and another meeting just did not happen. I just figured that the owner thought that my art would be too conservative compared to the really modern paintings already in the eating area.

In the meantime, I was contacted by a local Chiropractic Doctor, Heather Perry through Placer Arts forward of her email. She asked me if I would be interested in hanging some of my paintings in her offices that had been recently remodeled. She said an artist that knew me had referred me and I replied I would definitely be interested, and would come by to look at the offices. I went by and met Dr Perry and could see that this would be a nice place to hang paintings. Her practice offered a number of healing services and my friend Jeanie said she had sold three paintings when hers had been on display there over a three month period. Dr Perry has scheduled me to hang my paintings there in April.

Last week I dropped by Tsuda's early in the morning to buy some bakery products to take home to have with coffee. After purchasing them I saw Alexandra meeting with a supplier and just waived as I walked by. She called out to me and said, "Paul wait!" I turned around and walked back and she said, "That wall over there by the coffee bar is all yours to decorate with your paintings whenever you are ready." I said, thank you, that would be great. Needless to say, I was quite taken aback by this sudden turn of events and bubbling with enthusiasm when I got back home to tell my wife.

I went back the next day and measured the wall space and Alexandra said that I had to use existing nails in the old brick, or use existing holes. Since it was a historical building and the wall was brick, I needed to make sure to be very careful even using what was there. We can even hang things from the support beam if necessary she said. It looked like it would be a significant challenge and I went home and grabbed some paper, and began figuring out an arrangement and also deciding what paintings to hang there. I also gathered what I thought would be the necessary tools to take with me. Since the weekend is a very busy time with lots of tourist traffic, I decided to wait until Monday to hang my paintings.

Monday morning, I loaded up my car with my tools and paintings and set off for Tsuda's. I was excited and also a little concerned, not knowing what obstacles would confront me once I began. My luck was good for a parking space was available right in front of the Cafe. I carried in my paintings and tools, and asked one of the food staff if Alexandra was in today. She said, yes she is, but she just left on an errand. I told her I was going to hang my paintings on the wall above the coffee bar. She said, "Oh yes, Alexandra said you would be in, let me take some of the things down and get them out of the way."

There was only one lonely old large headed nail in the uneven brick wall, and it was off center. and midway up the wall. I decided to hang the larger painting I had brought on that nail, once I checked it to make sure it was secure. Then I began searching the wall for existing holes that I could put proper hooks in to hang my paintings. None looked very promising, so I had to get creative. The nails I had with the hooks were slim, so I could gently tap them into cracks in the mortar and eventually managed to get all of the paintings hung. I had to shorten some wires and extend others to at least balance the paintings as best I could. As I was cleaning up and packing up my things to leave Alexandra came back in the Cafe and said, "Oh wow, that looks great Paul!"

I stopped in again yesterday to drop off some cards and Alexandra said, "Well I have to tell you, your paintings are a big hit. Everyone likes them, and every time someone asks about the one on the top right, I tell them it is sold already. I want that one! My brother wants the one with the old Chevy truck." That is great news, I said thank you for giving me the opportunity to hang them in your cafe.

I am so delighted to have this kind of visibility in a busy cafe in our old town section. It is a major tourist haunt, and very busy on weekends. Locals frequent the area during the week. It is also just across the street from the art gallery. I told Alexandra I would pay her a commission on any painting I sell and replace them as vacancies provide that opportunity. She said that is fine, that is what she does with the other artist. That is more reasonable than the forty percent that galleries charge, and I don't have to pay monthly rental on the space. This means I will have money from sales to buy more supplies to continue painting. Now that is a real milestone.

Last Night We Lost a Dear Friend

2011-02-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

Rich and Sharlyn Goss have been good friends for almost nine years. We have attended the same church and been in small group together for six years. Several years ago Sharlyn a retired elementary school teacher got pretty sick and her doctor treated her for pneumonia. Unfortunately, after she failed to respond to treatments, it turned out to be far worse, and a diagnosis of very advanced lung cancer. The news was devastating, how could it be lung cancer, Sharlyn never smoked.

She and Rich cried but got over the initial shock and saw a very good encologist at Kaiser hospital. Sharlyn went through extensive chemotherapy and lost her hair. She was always upbeat and positive. She was always chipper, always more concerned about her friends than the battle she was fighting. Everyone who knows her and Rich, knew her strength came from above. She knew, no matter what, and when her time came, she would be home with Him. She was given eighteen months to live over two and a half years ago and she lived each day with a smile and a laugh. Getting as much visiting with friends and family in as she could cram into every day of every week.

She lived to see her second granddaughter born and both of her grand daughters were the joy that lit her face whenever they were around. I am sure that when she was a teacher for all those many years, she had the same joy in her face with her charges. She lived to share a big Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, and she enjoyed another great Christmas with her grandchildren, and family.

Cindy and I went over to say goodbye to Sharlyn on Sunday afternoon. The Morhpine she was given allowed her to relax and breath the oxygen she was on and though it made her drowsy, she could still respond "I love you too" when we talked to her. We hugged Rich and spent some special moments with him before we left. Last night Rich called to let us know that Sharlyn had a peaceful passing while the pastor was visiting and praying with the family at her bedside. Those were words we didn't want to hear, but we know she is no longer gasping for breath, and she is whole again in heaven. Happy to be with her heavenly Father. Rest in peace dear friend, we know you have added to the joyful voices in heaven.

Getting Organized

2011-01-25T20:35:00.000-08:00

One of the things I was determined to do after I became thoroughly besotted with pastel painting was to make sure that I got organized. I am into my third year painting now and while I do not have a huge number of paintings to catalog, I surprised myself as to the number I had painted when I began to take inventory. My first year in only a few months as I began my journey, I painted thirteen paintings. The second year when my interest began to build, and my desire to challenge myself outside the classes, I painted 51 paintings. If this year is anything like last year, it will be a similar number.

Thanks to a very organized pastel painter whom I respect tremendously I received a lot of insight and guidance from his new book. Richard McKinley has written an excellent book for pastel painters describing his techniques, how he sorts and organizes his pastels by colors and value, what paper he uses, how he uses washes, and how he catalogs his paintings. The book in case you are interested, is called "Pastel Pointers" and even has a DVD in the back to demonstrate some of Richards techniques. There are many more good chapters than the ones I listed, but you get the idea. Richard really shared every aspect of his art.

One of the chapters that really caught my interest was a chapter devoted to cataloging pastels, developing an artist bio sheet for use in shows, and also a sheet to affix to the back of framed pastels that gives their catalog number, title, the artists copyright signature and also a nice little bio about what he hopes to achieve with his paintings.

That chapter resonated with me, so I made the decision to get more organized and look more professional. I developed my own Bio that I can now use at a show, or future shows. I also made up my own log in Microsoft Excel, to list my paintings by their number in order of completion, whether they are a pastel or some other medium, the month painted, the year, the size, type of paper used, what size the framed piece is and whether they have been sold, given as a gift, or entered in a show. It took me a quite a few hours to create this log and then enter all of the data into it. However, I am now up to date and all of my paintings are cataloged. When I go to deliver my four entries into the Vistas show next month, each painting will be readily identified with my personal sheet on the back providing all of the necessary information to the gallery, or to a buyer. If a painting sells, I can indicate the name of the buyer in my log in case there is some reason I need to contact them in the future. If there was a worst case scenario and I had a fire that destroyed my inventory, I would have a complete record of everything lost.

Another wonderful aid to organization was a Christmas gift from my wife, a Degas pastel carrying case that has straps and will hold 196 whole pastel sticks, or three times that number broken in thirds. I have organized my pastels by color and value in this wonderful case and can close it up and take it with me if I want to go out and paint on a location somewhere. The pastels are packed individually in foam slots, and foam goes over them to keep them from moving when you are ready to close them up. The other nice addition was four separate extra pastel box inserts that fit into the pastel case and I can store a back-up inventory of every pastel I have acquired, so that when I run out of a color in my portable easel box, or my working easel and carrier , I know exactly what color to replace it with.

These little first steps will go a long way to helping me stay organized with my art. My next goal is to gradually reorganize my home studio so that everything in it is functional, useful and easy to find. One of my first goals is to build a new easel that will be so much more functional and practical than the old aluminum one I am using currently. I hope this behavior on my part motivates you to think about organizing your studio, inventory or reference library. If you have some great tips you use, or some other ideas, please share them. We all get better when we share our passion our techniques, and those little things that help make it all come together.

Painting an Evening Beyond Compare

2011-01-19T23:39:00.000-08:00

I joined the Pastel Society of the West Coast (PSWC), a very prestigious and talented group of successful artists last August. Unfortunately, I joined just after the deadline and missed the opportunity to enter a painting in their summer show at our own Placer Arts Gallery on Lincoln Way in uptown Auburn. I was very impressed with the talent and quality of art that was displayed at the show. Some of the paintings in the show were quite large and very beautiful. The PSWC show is going to be in Stockton this year at the Haggin Museum. The call for entries has already gone out and the deadline is February 18^th.

This show will be my first opportunity to enter paintings in the PSWC show and so I made a decision to paint Southwest paintings of various sizes for my entries. While one can submit three or five paintings in the show depending upon the fee of $40.00 or $55.00, each member will only have two maximum in the show. Since this is to be a juried show, and an important opportunity I thought three paintings of various sizes would be an excellent way to show my artistic ability. The jurors will examine the digital images we submit and select two from those submitted and notify members of their selection choices.

In my previous blog, I displayed the other two paintings I have painted for this show, and the pencil sketch of the third one, a scene of the Mittens in Monument Valley. As I mentioned, I visited Monument Valley in early June 1964 as a young man, with my younger brother and have been enthralled with the beauty and wonderful colors of the buttes in and around the Navajo Tribal Parklands ever since. The particular scene I have chosen to paint has thunderheads rolling across the valley above the Mittens. That first night we had pitched our camp at the campground and were treated to the rolling and crashing of thunder bouncing off the buttes and canyon walls surrounding us. At times we would be in the middle of a heavy rain shower that managed to soak everything down in a matter of minutes as the storm clouds swept overhead. The rain made the valley sparkle with bright color because it deepened the hues. The sun was hidden behind the canyons to the west, but its light was illuminating the clouds and beginning to make them turn shades of pink and lavender. My challenge was going to be to capture the magic of that incredible evening I had experienced.

The Kitty Wallis paper I was using for the painting was the Belgian shade, almost the color of red violet so it is a help to have that shade. When pastel painters are painting a picture as in other mediums, it is necessary to put in some under darker colors first in some of the major areas of the painting, those will be overlain with medium and lighter colors as the painting progresses. Here is an example of the first stage of adding under colors of darker pastel to my painting.

When I began this painting, the first priority was to work on the sky and the clouds so that I could make sure that I could capture the intensity of the thunderstorms and also the beautiful soft tints that the clouds picked up from the setting sun. One of the very fortunate things for me with this painting is there were no visible shadows since the sun was hidden. The rain had made it so bright and colorful, even though the sun was going down. One could see for miles, and there was no haze to obscure the distant canyons or valleys. Getting the clouds right was going to take layering of colors, and also some blending. It took quite a while to get the right feel of the billowing cloud formations, and the various shades. Darker underneath where it was raining, lighter where the sun was highlighting them, and softer where the tints were reflected. Eventually I accomplished the right feel by adding the rain showers and then it was time to work on the buttes themselves.

The three buttes or Mittens in this painting are north of the old Trading Post established by Harry Goulding and his wife Mike in 1923. While it is called Monument Valley, it really isn’t a valley at all, it is a vast plain with large buttes and mesas that have been eroded over thousands of years by wind and water. It is a very dry area at the 5400 foot elevation with very few trees and a lot of the famous purple sage. Some of the land is rough, jumbled with rocks from collapsing buttes, but much of it is sandy soil with washes that cut it up by water seeking a lower elevation. The tough part was to make the buttes look much like they do with all of the layers and weathering, and also to portray the uneven and irregular landscape with all of its colors in a realistic way. There is not a lot of vegetation in this beautiful arid area because of sandy soil and low amount of rainfall.

I had done one version of the landscape under the Mittens with a purple area to the left because it seemed more shaded by the clouds, but it just did not look natural even though it was a very pretty contrast. I went over the purple with various shades and values of Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber, and a little Quinacridone Magenta in Rembrandt and Winsor Newton pastels to get the right mix of color. The I spent several more days paying attention to various areas on the buttes and landscape to tweak it until I was satisfied.

An Evening Beyond Compare

I found that while I am a detail person, a painting this large could drive one crazy with detail, and I realized that I could get away with less, and it would look just fine. I put my signature on the piece and decided it was time to be done. All that was left was to photographed it and frame it. As large as this piece is, I will frame it without mats and use a spacer to give it some space from the glass. I am pleased with the results and hope you enjoy my efforts. I believe you will understand my selection of the title now that you understand the background.

Painting a Series

2011-01-14T23:06:00.000-08:00

Over the last year I have painted a lot of paintings and it dawned on me that I was painting things all over the map. I know I have painted some of these paintings just because they were subjects I liked and wanted to challenge myself to paint. I do have a several paintings of the ocean, done at different times, and of mountains, or rivers, but I really didn't have a series of paintings from any one place, or with any one theme. I had entered three very different pieces in a Masterpiece Medley Show at the Blue Line Gallery. I was very fortunate to have secured a spot as one of ten artists to show their works in the Vista Gallery next month. Perhaps for this show it will be good to show very different kinds of scenes, but perhaps for the next show, I will enter several with the same theme.

Flash Flood!

The Pastel Society of the West Coast is calling for entries for a show in May June of this year at the Haggin Museum in Stockton. I thought for this years show that I would go with entries from one locale, and I chose a series of paintings on the Southwest. I have been enjoying a number of artists paintings in Southwest Magazine and perhaps that is what sparked my desire to do a series on the Southwest. I finished one a couple of months ago, a 12" X 16" pastel of a flash flood in the desert that would be a good entry. It was a scene I witnessed when I was 21 years old and driving across the desert in north eastern Arizona, on my way to Monument Valley. The skies in the distance were a dark purplish black, and one could see the lightning flash and hear the thunder rumbling even though it was a long way away. As I was crossing a wash, I saw water coming down in a big wave, so I pulled over to get a picture. I missed the initial wall of water, but did get a shot shortly after that I used as a reference for this painting.

Morning Sun on Monument Valley

Last month I completed a second painting that was a larger format, 18" X 24" I have called "Morning Sun in Monument Valley" that should also be a good entry for the PSWC show. This painting is from reference photos I took when my brother and I were exploring Monument Valley Tribal Park in my brothers old Triumph convertible sports car. We had camped there under the stars, and got to drive far into the interior of the valley on the dirt roads. Today tourists must take a tour on one of the Tribal touring buses to venture into the park. That takes away the ability to stop whenever one wants to to take photographs. I am fortunate to have over 100 that I took on slide film that still have their bright colors.

I feel good about these paintings, and thought I would also paint one of the beautiful buttes one can see from the old Trading Post, near the park entrance. These buttes are magnificent, and one feels awed by their size and colors. For this painting I thought I would do my first large format pastel, a 24" X 36" painting on a sheet of Wallis Belgium Mist that I had purchased. I recently tried the Wallis paper, and really like this texture to work on with pastels because it has a lot of tooth. I drew the scene I wanted to paint on the paper in charcoal so I would have a guide to follow for laying my under painting colors. I used a lot of purple for this one because it will work so well with the reds and browns one sees everywhere.

I have included the initial sketch so you can see the scene that I wanted to paint. I can tell you right now, it is very daunting to paint a pastel painting this large for the first time, but it is also very exciting. I have to tell you about the scene, and why I wan to paint it. While the memory is from over forty years ago, the moment comes back to me like magic when I look at some of my slides that I took that evening. The scene I want to capture is at sundown, when the sun has dropped below the canyon rim but is still lighting the clouds in the sky with soft pastel colors of pink and mauve. There are big thunderheads everywhere, and the thunder is rolling and echoing through the valley and bouncing off the canyon walls and the buttes. Periodically there have been torrential rains and so the colors in the valley are so bright and vibrant. The sweet smell of fresh rain and wet earth is in the air. The colors are overwhelmingly bright now in the soft evening air. There are no shadows because the sun is hidden behind the canyon, but its light is shining brightly in the clouds and reflecting down on the land below. One can see for miles, there is no haze only more thunderheads many miles away. The landscape looks like a painters palette of colors all running together. I hope that you can visualize this scene. On my next blog, you will see be able to view the completed painting and learn all about my journey to capture this marvelous homeland of the Navajo Indians.

Gaining Confidence as an Artist

2011-01-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

We all seem to have insecurities of one kind or another. Some of them are passed on by our parents anxiety, but most of them are a result of our own inability to throw ourselves into the world with abandon and make our mark. If we were to share how terribly insecure we felt at moments in our lives when we wanted to try something new, and just didn't have the moxie to take that step, some people would be incredulous. That is only because they have a self confidence that some of us lack. Some folks are paralyzed by insecurity and let it rule their very lives, too afraid to take little steps that would help them grow. Overcoming those anxieties is all about growing up and gaining confidence through our trials and good experiences. We all deal with it in a different way.

I have had a good life and although I started out somewhat timidly, I gained confidence gradually through some successes in employment that gave me responsibilities. The event that changed my confidence tremendously and level of maturity was being inducted into the U. S. Army and going through intensive training to prepare me for combat in Vietnam. The training helped mature me, and let me know how to behave in a combat situation. However; until I was actually faced with that life and death struggle, I had no idea of how I would actually respond. When my platoon was confronted with a major ambush that felled some of our ranks and wounded others, I found myself performing confidently and almost methodically the way I had been trained. Yes, it was a frightening, horrible time, but I lived to fight another day, and each day thereafter I got stronger inside. That is true for every journey if you keep going.

After the Vietnam war I chose law enforcement as a career and successfully went up the ranks through my career, retiring as a lieutenant 25 years later. I had a second career with another State agency that oversees law enforcement training and retired from that also. I resolved to do something different when I retired, and while I did some consulting for awhile, it was not the direction I wanted to pursue really and the economy was not cooperating.

My wife had a brilliant idea, and one I will always be grateful for. She gave me the gift of pastel lessons with a local award winning artist and I realized when I went to classes that I really wanted to get back into art. It had been my first love as a teenager, and I felt on fire with the desire to paint again. Getting over those first jitters was the hard part. Going into a field where one has had no formal training and knows very little about color, or design makes one gulp with in trepidation. Having our own cheering section to boost our confidence is a necessary and a very critical part to assuring a modicum of success.

My second encourager after my wife (She was first) was my pastel teacher and mentor, Reif Erickson. He is an exceptional painter, a natural teacher and the author of a number of books on pastel painting techniques. He guided me, taught me and I watched him, listened and learned so much from him about various techniques that would make me a better painter. Each week we would assemble in his studio, only four or five students at a time, to watch in awe as he would demonstrate the painting of the day. He would begin by sketching it and then painting the entire landscape scene in about 45 minutes explaining what he was doing and why he was using a particular dark color as an under painting. Once he was satisfied with his painting, he would set his pastels down, stand back and look for a moment and then say, "There, now its your turn." With that he would take a sheaf of photos and pass one out to each student to use for "their" painting.

Those weekly challenges in his studio helped me gain confidence. While I would get a pretty good rendition done in class, I would always take them home to work on them until they met my personal level of satisfaction for being finished. Cindy was very complimentary as was my daughter Amber who was living with us at the time. Early on it was just personally satisfying to create a pretty landscape. Then the bug bit me deeper and I began going out looking for scenes I wanted to paint, so that I had something that was original and all my own. For a while, I was painting two scenes a week, one in class and one on my time that I would take in to have Reif give me feedback on. As my confidence grew, I got better. I gave a landscape painting to my brother for his birthday of Half Dome, because the two of us had gone to Yosemite for a weekend photo shoot like we used to do when we were young and single.

My son Colin a successful Graphic Designer encouraged me to get a Flickr site on the web and put my paintings on it. He sent me the link and I enrolled in their free program and began uploading my paintings to an artists pastel site. The feedback from other artists on my paintings helped my confidence tremendously. Eventually I chatted with some of those that became friends, just like the Face Book Network allows people all over the world to connect. It was another source of knowledge, learning and most importantly, peer support. It has also given me the opportunity to encourage other artists to keep creating beautiful things for others to enjoy.

I began getting different kinds of paper to experiment with different surfaces, and also added to my pastel collection. I had started with the list Reif had wanted us each to have in class, but was now expanding my color spectrum so I had more greens, blue and browns to use in my landscapes. I tackled more difficult subjects to push myself. A good friend who liked my painting style came to me and asked me if he could commission me to paint four paintings of places that he and his wife loved. I jumped at the chance and threw myself into the challenge, determined that they would get paintings that would indeed remind them of their favorite places. I found that painting scenes that others liked was very difficult. The scenes were not ones I would necessarily have chosen to paint, but since I wanted to make sure they were pleased, it pushed me further and I gained more confidence as I finished each one.

By this time, I was buying frames and cutting my own mats with a professional C&H mat cutter I had purchased from a shop that was down sizing their framing section. Once I had matted and framed all four of these paintings in two foot square custom frames, they were all ready to hang. I went to my friends home, and we carefully measured and hung the grouping on a wall of their newly decorated living room and they looked wonderful. My clients were delighted, and I was beaming with satisfaction that I had accomplished a major hurdle in my newest career as a fledgling artist. I joined our local Placer Arts Council and also the Blue Line Gallery in Roseville to meet other artists, and to open other art opportunities.

As my technique and knowledge increased, so did my desire to paint bigger and better paintings. I finally began entering national contests with some of my paintings that I felt confident about. While I have not won any, it has not dissuaded me from continuing to try. I have been reading many books by different successful pastel artists, Richard McKinley, Barbara Secor, Maggie Price, Margot Schulzke and others including my mentor Reif Erickson's, to learn more of other techniques and wisdom. I also began some self promotion attempts with my art with some local places taking my portfolio around to show merchants. I was successful in having a meeting with a local restaurant owner and will have an opportunity to hang some of my paintings in her business establishment next month. I was also contacted by a local doctor who asked me if I would be interested in hanging some of my paintings in her remodeled offices beginning in March. I entered a juried show at the Roseville's Blue Line Gallery where I am a member, and received a huge break. I was notified I was one of ten finalists invited to show their paintings on a Masterpiece Medley Show at the Vista Gallery in February.

This has been over a year's journey and the ride is wonderful. It has filled me with a desire to succeed in a completely different field. It has also given me a wonderful sense of fulfillment and satisfaction at this time in my life. The best part is that it has fueled my creative side and given me new confidence as well as new goals to work toward. Whatever your journey is, it is up to you to strive, and struggle to get there. Reach for that goal, work for that confidence and satisfaction that comes from the journey. Nothing is impossible if you keep going and want it badly enough.

Renewal

2010-11-29T18:07:00.000-08:00

The eagle is soaring, or is at least in my mind. After a near disaster with the Krylon fixative applied at too low a temperature, I was able to save my three weeks of work on this painting. I let a night pass and started rebuilding the color that was so dulled by the fixative. I had to completely redo the sky and clouds. I was not sure if it was going to work because it was very difficult to get the blue to cover evenly. I also decided to blend in a lighter Winsor & Newton, Cerulean Blue Hue at the bottom at the skyline, and a slightly darker Cerulean Blue at the top of the painting to give a more realistic color change in the sky. I gradually reworked the clouds and added a white edge to the final clouds that one sees when the sun highlights them.

Next on my rework list was the Bald Eagle since he is the focal point of this piece. I needed to completely rework the head, eyes and beak to bring it back into the correct intensity with the proper shading. Then I tackled the feathers beginning at the top and gradually working down to the tail feathers. I was fresh with a good night's sleep and so this phase went well. By afternoon, I was starting to relax and realize that my painting was recoverable, and if I was patient, I could make it even better. God works in mysterious ways, he stretches us and teaches us with each challenge if we just use the gifts He has given us with patience.

Once the Eagle looked regal and alive, it was time to begin work on the background. The whole mountain section and forest from the skyline to the bottom had been dulled, and much of the original shading I had painted in the piece was gone, and some parts even appeared to show the surface underneath as if the pastel had been pulled off and clumped. I worked each section slowly and carefully, from the mountain peaks to each valley, and gradually highlighted trees, and brought the piece back to life. The fall colors in the Black Oaks had been dulled, but once I finished touching up the color and adding additional shading, they looked more natural than before. When I was finally finished I stood back and re-examined my painting and realized that this was a good lesson, and definitely worthwhile one. The piece looked better than it had originally. Perhaps in my haste to get done, I had overlooked some details that make a difference. The need to carefully examine the damage to the various parts and restoration had made me more attentive. More sensitive to the effect of light and shadow.

Once I had carefully resigned my piece, I set my camera up in a well lighted room (Natural light from a skylight helped) and took several shots. I cropped it to size in PhotoShop and voila, the finished piece was ready for posting. I hope you enjoy the finished piece I have entitled, "Where Eagles Soar."

An Artists Meltdown Over Use of Fixative!

2010-11-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

There is nothing more frustrating after spending weeks of work on something really special to ruin it oneself through not thinking. I have been working on my largest pastel painting to date and have spent several weeks of intensive work on it to paint something very different and very special.

My younger brother Martin in Canada sent me a beautiful closeup picture of a Bald Eagle up in a tree some weeks ago. He was a regal looking creature, and one could understand the strength that flows from his eyes. They are gorgeous birds in flight, and an intelligent predator. I thought it would make a wonderful subject for a painting, but the photo was just the eagle on an old dead tree branch and a lot of sky around it. It needed a suitable background.

Three weeks ago Cindy and I went up in the mountains on one of our exploratory photo trips to see what we could find. We were having great fun exploring old stage coach roads, driving over old suspension bridges and roaming around on the back roads in the Sierras between Colfax and Forest Hill. We were near the end of our journey when we turned off the highway that leads to Forest Hill to explore a dirt road that looked interesting. It had an interesting name also, "Chicken Hawk Road", and was probably given that namesake during the gold rush. The road took us right up to the top of the ridge over looking miles of forest land to the east. It was late in the day so I stopped a number of times and took photographs from several vantage points that looked promising, and they offered marvelous see forever views. Unfortunately there were no clouds at all in the sky to break up the beautiful blue.

Once we got home and I had time to transfer my shots to the computer, I found one that would be a perfect backdrop for my eagle painting. I printed out an 8 X 10 as a reference photo and sketched out the scene I wanted. Then I sketched the eagle in the middle of the picture, making adjustments until I felt it was the right place. Once my rough sketch was in I could begin my painting.

I began by doing the background and filled in a rough of the eagle. I gradually worked through the process over the weeks and redesigned the eagle because the perspective was off. Once he looked right, I continued with finishing the background. It was a long and tedious process with so many trees, and so much fall color on the mountains and valleys. The foreground presented a challenge, because it was going to be in the shade, and getting the right values was perplexing. I finally did the whole color scheme on the lower painting completely over until I was satisfied with the result. Now my painting was almost complete, but it lacked something.

I consulted with a knowledgeable artist friend, Toni Callahan and she gave me some good honest input as to what was missing. Feather detail, it needed more. My picture didn't show much detail so I went surfing on the web until I could find a good eagle photo in the same stance as the one I had. I found several and did find one with excellent feather detail. Once that detail was added, my painting came alive. I was so pleased to get it to this point and kept working the painting areas to see what needed tweaking a little more.

I finished the painting this morning. I had one more thing to do, and that was add a light blue haze over a portion of the mountains. Before I could do that however; I needed to protect the existing pastel. with a fixative. Once the fixative dried, I could add a blue on a portion of the mountains to give them a hazy look and push them farther away. This had been a terrific challenge, I was so pleased with the end result.

I signed it, and took it out to the garage to spray. Once I had some covering over my bench I took out the Krylon fixative and sprayed the pastel with a back and forth motion giving no thought to how cold the can of Krylon was or how cold it was in the garage. Obviously the cold made the Krylon finish thicker, because the whole painting darkened considerably, and it appeared that it pulled pastel away from several areas.

I stopped the fixative but it was already too late. I quickly took the painting back into the warmer house in hopes that the fixative would dry and everything would be fine. After several hours I went back to the easel and was horrified with what I saw. The painting was much darker and blander than before. I would have to redo the entire painting and re-shade the eagle because all of the highlights were muted and indistinguishable from the rest of the body. The sky was mottled and a darker blue. I could have screamed, but what good would that do? Fortunately we were going out for Thanksgiving dinner and I would not have to look at it for a while. Maybe when I cooled down and gave it some time, I could get back to it.

We arrived home this evening and I surveyed the painting. It is as bad as I feared and will take a lot of work to fix, but I know I can do it. I have attached a picture of the painting that I took before the fixative was applied in the paragraphs above, and the second one is after the fixative darkened the painting, and flattened all the detail to the right of this paragraph. If you look closely, you can see the sky color I have tried to fix that is the lighter blue, and how much darker the fixative has made the sky and rest of the painting. Wish me patience, I have my work cut out for me!

Awakening to the Pitter Patter of Rain Drops

2010-08-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

We have had nicer weather this past week in the high eighties, such a relief from the high nineties of the week before. Yesterday was so cool when I woke up, it was mid fifties which is such a temperature drop for this time of year. A very welcome change when one could actually snuggle in the blankets to stay warm. Today was an even bigger surprise, for when I awakened, I could hear the pitter patter of raindrops. Who would believe here in the foothills of northern California that it was raining in August?

What a wonderful soft soothing sound the rain brings as the rain drops plink off anything metal, and patter on the deck and patio cover. One can hear the water shushing through the gutters and running down the down spouts. The rain drops gently swish through the trees falling from leaf to leaf, and gathering in bigger more random drops with a splat. The air is fresh and clean... that wonderful washed by God smell one has after a rain that brings the scent of wet grass, and damp ground. It is like a prescription for the senses that soothes every pore in ones body. Ah....breathe deeply, smell it through you nose as you take it in.

Everything seems cleaner and brighter when it rains, and every green lawn and tree displays a brighter green. Perhaps because the layer of dust on the leaves was just washed away. Perhaps because our sense are so awakened to this wonderful marvel we call rain. It is so nice to walk in when it is just a gentle light shower. To feel the rain drops on one's hair, and skin. One just feels like the air is flavored with all the scents of the garden. To see those beautiful water droplets bead on the colorful flowers and to be able to drink in the perfume and bright color of the fragrant roses. A perfume no cosmetic lab can match. God's special blend to remind us of his creativity.

The birds sing more gaily, even they seem to have their spirits lifted. They flit from tree to tree, fluttering from branch to branch as if to celebrate this heaven sent shower. Calling to one another, across the meadows. The squirrels chatter, and run up and down the trees playing like the little scamps that they are. They can fly through the trees and leap from branch to branch like acrobats.

Our hearing seems enhanced when it rains, but traffic noises seem muffled and far away. Listen to the rain, that wonderful pitter patter, the gentle sound of dripping water and for just a moment let it wash your troubles away. Listen to the rain, do you hear it?

Damage Estimates

2010-07-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

Well its been weeks since my last blog. The damage estimates are in, all of the wet and mouldy stuff has been removed and the wet wood dried out and cleaned. The removal by Servepro was a slow process and cost a thousand dollars. They were neat, efficient and very good at what they do. I have no complaints with their response and their diligence in removing any harmful mold and sanitizing everything.

Estimates to repair the drywall, replace the carpeting, repaint, and repair the roof are in. Cost is well over $4,000. The insurance company said the roof was improperly designed so they will not pay to repair it, the furniture that was damaged is not covered either because the leak was not caused by wind damage to the roof. Oh well, the insurance company did give me a settlement that will allow me to repair the damage to the dry wall, repaint and recarpet less the 1,000 deductible.

I made a decision to buy the materials at Home Depot and replace the drywall, insulation and moldings myself. I will pay a tradesman to mud and texture the wall, but I will paint it. Fortunately I know how to do this work, and the drywall is all done as of yesterday and the guy will come Monday to mud and texture the drywall. Boy I was tired after all that work! I will have to get some paint mixed and will have to buy a couple of gallons since there are two different colored walls in the bedroom to repaint, and one in the garage. That is the easy part.

There should be enough money hopefully to pay a professional to fix and repair the roof so it does not leak again. I had a good estimate from Haas Maintenance and remodeling so just have to get on their repair schedule. So that is the saga of the big leak.

Can anything else go wrong?

2010-06-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

I know owning a home gives one satisfaction. Owning a home is also or can be having your own personal money pit. Two years ago it was the deck that needed replacing. Tearing it all out, getting down to just the support beams and rebuilding it completely inclusing adding a patio cover over our bedroom to block the sun. The old deck was a maintenance monster with redwood that needed resealing every year because of temperature extremes. The new deck is for the most part maintenance free. I rebuilt the deck with treated support joists on 16" centers and used two colors of TREX, a wonderful sawdust and plastic bags combination that even has wood grain. It requires no staining, just washing down. I replaced all the wood railing with trex covered treated posts with wrought iron in between. No more painting to worry about, yea! One difficult job that looks very nice was screwing all of the decking from underneath with special hardware so no screws show anywhere. Just masterials cost for the replacement deck was over $11,800, but I saved thousands of dollars on labor by doing it myself. I was fortunate to get some help from my son-in-law when he could, and also from my brother for the final touches.

Last year it was the central heating and air that went out right toward the end of summer. We struggled through a few warm months but fortunately have ceiling fans that kept the air moving and only few days of triple digit heat. Replacing the HVAC was a big job, and required a third of the ducting to also be replaced because it was leaking and the duct material was breaking down. We managed to get it done by Thanksgiving, and that cost us another $4,600.00. We now have a more efficient unit that has actually lowered our heating and cooling bills. Some definite good came from that fix!

Well this year it is a water leak from our roof. Cindy and Amber were gone last week to visit her Mom and Dad in Pico Rivera. Amber wasn't too sure when she would get to see her grand parents again because she and Eric are bound for Germany when his training is done in July and he has a few weeks off to ship their household goods over to Manheim.

While they were in southern California we had a big rainstorm for several days and it dumped an inch and a half of rain. Unbeknownst to me, the roof was leaking due to a faulty design in one of the valleys between the house and garage. Amber's bedroom toook the brunt of the water down a wall behind a bookcase computer desk combo. The carpet got soaked, and the furniture wicked up the water in the legs. The wall in the garage also suffered similar damage but of course there was no carpet to get wet there, and the leak was hidden by a cabinet on that wall that is floor to ceiling. Amber discovered the damage after she got home. She said, "Uh Dad, come to my room, we have a major problem." Major problem was an understatement!

The evidence was her weights that were stacked on a piece of carboard were rusty and the carpet was soaked along with the furniture's legs. The following morning I emptied all the books from the book shelves, pulled all the furniture out and saw the mold on the floor and wall. I cleaned all the furniture with bleach to kill any mold on the wooden support legs. I let it dry in the sun on the deck. I pulled the carpet back and it was like a huge wet sponge as was all of the padding. I cut an eight foot by 6 1/2 foot piece of carpet out in order to get all the wet stuff outside. The wood floor under the carpet was soaked as were the baseboards and tack strips. I washed the ceiling, walls and floor with bleach once the carpet was out and set a fan in there to help dry things out. I filed a claim with my insurance because the damage is covered, although I have a thousand dollar deductable. Gee terrible timing, I just raised it last year from $500 to 1000 to save money on premiums! Ha, I didn't save anything, it cost me a bunch more.

I took phtos of all the damage with my digital camera. Then I emailed the photos to my insurance person and they called me back and sent an adjuster out to survey the damage. He recommended Servpro, a special mold and water damge company to come out and remove all of the affected wet drywall and insulation and mold. I asked him to get them rolling and they started yesterday. I still have not seen a damage estimate for the cost of removal of everything but they are very thorough and very efficient. They do an excellent job of keeping one informed of each step and thorughly clean up everything and remove all of the nasty affected materials. They finished taking out the ceiling drywall and a wall in the garage today, as well as removing the 4X8' storage cabinet after I unloaded all the stuff in it. The heat fans and dehumidifier are running round the clock to dry the walls 2X4's and flooring.

I am hoping to get a contractor in soon to get the walls replaced, the roof repaired, and the room repainted and recarpeted. I know it will cost me $1,000 for the deductiable but won't know for a few days what the total cost for the project will be. Owning a home is nice, especially when nothing goes wrong. When it begins to get older and expensive repairs occur it becomes a bit of a money pit! Thank good ness my garden doesn't break down, just the dang sprinklers!

Mother's Day Garden Tour

2010-05-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, who would know that we are going to be receiving rain showers today? The sun is shining, there are beautiful clouds in the sky and it is wonderfully cool and breezy. The birds are chirping happily, and the garden is like a lush park. Even the Koi in the pond seem to be enjoying the day flashing their bright colors as they swim around, and around in our little pond Perhaps they are looking for the exit sign to a bigger pond.

Well it has been weeks since I wrote a blog, and several weeks since the garden tour. I don't know when I have felt more exhausted preparing for something. Because I am anal in my desire to have everything neat and tidy, and look beautiful, and have everything neatly pruned, trimmed, weeded, and to have fresh blooms, I just about wore myself out.

A big thanks to my older brother Michael, a master gardener himself, who traveled up here from Fresno to work with me for two days. He helped me finish pulling all of the old bark (12 years worth) from around all of the roses in the upper rose garden, redistribute it to other locals with no bark, and then recover the area with a finer looser fresh ruby red bark material that makes the roses pop. Michael also spent quite a few hours dressing up the roses and cutting any deadwood or spent blooms so they looked super.

I had to go down to Robinson's Sand and Gravel and get a load of decomposed granite so I could top up all my paths and make them look fresh and neat. That is the heavier stuff and rather than have Michael help with that I asked him to neat up the flower beds. Unfortunately I have the remains of thousands of daffodils that bloomed a few months ago messing up my flower beds and it is still too early to cut off the greenery since that is what replenishes the bulbs for next years bloom. Mike did some trimming, and rearranging and made it all look a lot neater.

The actual tour on Mother's Day started at 10:00 Am in the morning, and I was surprised to see folks here right on the starting dot. Fortunately Placer County Master Gardeners were here staffing the garden to answer questions for people about our plants trees or flowers. I had spent a number of hours the night before tagging all the roses and a lot of less common plants to make it easier. Yes, that was me with the flashlight in the rose garden at 10:30 PM!

The tour was a rocking success. Although it rained a little off and on, droves of people continued to come through the garden. Some carried cameras in addition to their umbrellas and were busy taking pictures of various areas that interested them. At days end when the tour shut down at 4:00 PM, 437 people had come through the garden.

I was amazed at the number but very pleased that it was a success and there were so many nice comments about the garden. You can look at my photos and see for yourself.

Almost there!

2010-05-06T22:46:00.001-07:00

The garden tour is this Sunday and I am satisfied that I will be ready. My brother Michael drove up from Fresno to help work with me on some of the major make overs. He spent two days cutting, dead heading, cleaning up rose bushes, and helping me replace all the bark I was pulling out from around the roses. They really look great. We also added decomposed granite to all the pathways and also redid all of the flagstone patio by the garden shed. Flowers are blooming in a number of places and the roses are starting their first bloom of the season. It should be really pretty.

Gardener's Gathering

2010-04-17T08:22:00.001-07:00

Well today Cindy and I are off to the Master Gardeners gathering at the Blue Goose Fruit Sheds in Loomis. Since we are on the tour next month, they compted two tickets for us. It should be an interesting day. I'll let you know later. Have a good one.

Gee what was I thinking?

2010-04-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

When the Placer County Master Gardeners showed up at my home and asked if I would like to put our garden on the tour, I willingly said yes. A week later I looked at the garden and saw all the mess from the afterbloom of thousands of daffodils, I wondered what I could do to make it look better and make sure I had color in the garden. The daffodil leaves cannot be cut off until they turn yellow, because they require the sun and nutrients to replenish the bulb for next season.

Since that time I have been working feverishly to clean up ever inch of our property to make sure it looks well cared for, neat and pretty. Weeds seem to know this and I whenever I clear a flowerbed and move on to another area, during the night they send up new shoots to make me think I didn't weed the bed. I know some of it is due to the frequent rain showers that are helping the weed seeds in the soil to germinate, but wow, there must be centuries of accumulation! Either that or the neigbors trolls are spreading new seeds in the dark of night.

I have been systematically cleaning out leaves, weeds, dead branches, old growth in all the flower beds and rearranging and planting new flower varieties that should be in bloom in May. Unfortunately, whenever I distrurb the soil, new weeds sprout because I gave their seeds the right conditions to germinate. I should mulch the beds when I finish, and that would slow down the weeds and also capture the moisture for my new plantings.

One of the biggest jobs was finishing a 130 foot drainage line from the front of the house to the back, inorder to divert all the water that pours into our property from the street. This project took a week, but it did work well when everything was put back and the pipe was in. A good torrential rain was a good test for it. Another huge job was digging out the stumps of an 18 year old Oleander and a Lelandia Cypress that I had to cut down. Relandscaping and cleaning everything up took several days. The new look is a lot more pleasing, but I was sore for several days after.

I still have to finish taking all the bark out of the rose garden and reusing it in other parts of the garden, and then putting out new redwood mulch that is finer and more appropriate to dress it all back up. Fortunately I stopped the spread of Blackspot, and hopefully I can keep the aphids at bay until they begin to bloom in a few weeks. Lets hope the weather holds and I can stay on track to assure that the garden is pristine for Mother's Day. Oh well, so much for the break, time to get back to work!

When is a Painting Finished?

2010-04-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I struggle with when to stop adding to my paintings. It is a question of when is enough detail or color enough? I have learned so much about the values of colors and how important it is to have differences and graduations between the darks and the lights in a painting. But I still struggle at times with areas in a painting to make them look believeably real. I am a realist in my style of painting, and so am a stickler for detail and accuracy. My mentor however, does not waste a lot of time on detail, he paints beautifully and lets the viewer fill in the details he has not bothered to paint.

My instructor, Reif Erickson, of Auburn is a master pastelist. He has written four books on the subject of painting and he has been a very successful pastel artist for many years. He is amazing to watch as he uses an photo as our object lesson of the day. He begins his sketch and then begins to apply the darker undertonesof color in various areas of the painting.

It is a treat to watch him start a painting from its early sketch with a darker pastel to its completion. He studies the photo and decides what he will include, and what he will leave out. Sometimes he will take a portion of a landscape photo and turn it into a portrait style of painting. He takes time to sketch the details and scale of the painting. He can complete a 9" X 13" landscape pastel painting in about 30 minutes. He takes a drab photo, with washed out colors and within a short time creates a beautiful painting that has all of the undertones and colors lacking in the photo. What had been and unremarkable photo, becomes a painting that stimulates our eyes because the scene is so alive. He is a master in the use of color. When one stands six feet away, the painting looks so complete and beautiful, however, when one gets close, it is amazing how little detail is really there. Our eyes fill any voids, and blend colors to complete the painting.

I paint detail because I want to be able to show my viewer the beauty of something I see. I want them to experience every nuance and color that I found so interesting. I love to look paintings done by fellow artists who are as obsessed with detail as I am. I enjoy seeing their ability to show the grain of wood on a barn, the detail they have recreated in the bark of a tree, or the sheen of a horses coat from the sunlight. I marvel at their ability to paint life truly as they see it. Looking at their paintings is like looking at a window of life for me. Perhaps that is why I am mired in detail, and not able to just splash color on a canvas and stop when I have a likeness. My goal is to recreate what I have seen so I can share what drove me to replicate it, not have you the viewer, fill in what I didn't paint and try and interpret what I was trying to communicate. I know my art may fascinate and please some who are wired like me. I also know that for those who think in the abstract, it will have no interest at all. That is okay too for there are other artists out there to please them. I on the other hand will continue to paint until it has reached my personal standard.

The attached beach scene of a northern California Beach was one that I fussed over. I wanted to make sure that the surf looked real, so that the viewer could recall the way it breaks and spreads out on the sand and then recedes leaving a streamming of water as it flows back. I hope you enjoy my painting, and it brings back a memory for you.

Walking Two Large Male Dogs

2010-03-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

Yeesh, I just got back from a frog marched walk/run with Amber and Eric's dogs. Ceasar, where are you, I could use a little help here! With these two, it does not help to whisper though. The minute you put the leashes on them, if they will sit still long enough for you to even get them hooked up they are ready to blast off into neverland. If I do not brace myself before I open the gate, I will be dragged through the flowers and across the lawn immediately. Hence the need to be very thorough about planting ones feet solidly, and leaning back as you flip the latch to open. While I have not lost it, I have left some skid marks in the grass and some scuff marks on the cement just trying to get up to the street.

These two, Murray a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix, and Jake a White Lab/Pitbull cross are typical male dogs. They want to sniff every bush and tree, lampost and telephone pole, realestate sign and fence, and anything else high enough to pee on. Several times tonight I felt like I was tied to a rack when the dogs chose different trees or bushes on either side of the sidewalk. It is necessary to walk holding the leashed like I am about to do curls, because if I don't, I won't have the ability to stop their plunge or rush in a different direction.

Anyone who sees me fast walking these two down the street takes on elook at Jake and recognizes the pitbull head and immediately crosses to the other side of the street. Really a shame. because if Jake had his way, he would lick them to death. He is fortunate to be heavy with Lab genes, and he just wants to be your friend. Has his own mind, but is a loveable affectionate dog. Murray on the other hand is schizophrenic when it comes to meeting new people along the way, unless they have a dog of their own. If they don't, he puts his head down, and bares his teeth and growls and barks. A nasty habit I am trying to gently break by quickly pulling up on his leash and saying stop, firmly. He seems to think that everyone but dog owners is going to hurt him or me. Dog owners are automatically accepted as good people because, well, in his mind they have a dog, and that makes them okay. They are safe because they are dog broke and he will sniff and let them pet him while he gets personal with their pet.

I try to be a good dog owner/care person and pick up after these two. They can crap like a 1000 pound steer without effort. One has to be ready with plastic bags to pick up their leavings quickly and carefully. Again, one must brace oneself, make the dogs sit keeping one eye on the dogs and one eye on the hand that is trying to pick up their excrement with a doggie bag. One does not want to be dragged over their leavings at that point. Yes I know, too much detail, but at least you were spared the smell! Fortunately they both seem to know that they must hold their bowels until we get down to the park. They can pee to their hearts content on the way there, but they dare not lay any turds along the way. I try to keep them on a short leash until they get to the park for this very reason.

I have to be ever on the look-out for cats or squirrels as we walk. If I am day dreaming, I will be snapped awake as they suddenly veer in the direction of some snotty taunting pussy cat who just loves to watch dog owners get dragged around. We have had several close calls, and some of these cats have no idea what they are playing with when it comes to these two died in the wool cat haters. I think they must have been teased by cats when in their back yard in Lincoln, because they just detest cats. The same goes for squirrels of course, and we have several in residence here that like to climb up a tree and scold them.

I made it down to the pond in Deer Ridge in record time tonight. The way back was just as exciting, and I certainly got my walk/run for the day. Stay tuned for more doggy tales.

Busy Day, Workin Away

2010-03-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today was another beautiful day in Auburn. We are enjoying this rain free period with bright sun and warm temperatures in the low seventies. I bought all the materials on Monday to be able to install some drains to collect the water that flows down from the improperly graded street, into our front yard and then pools by the North side of the house, and then flows under the house to exit on the South East side. That much water under the house is too much even though I installed a drain. It makes too much dampness beneath the house and I do not want mold to take over.

Monday after coming back from Home depot and unloading 130 feet of 4 inch corex drain piping I began digging a trench along the sidewalk that goes around the front of the house to the small deck. The first twenty feet were not too bad, the ground was pretty soft and saturated with moisture. The next twenty feet were murder because I hit granite lava cap at 25 feet and so for the next 15 feet I had to use a pick to break the rock up. That really slowed me down, and I am sore tonight, and probably will take a day off of it tomorrow.

This afternoon after a shower and lunch, I thought I would try out my new (used) C&H mat cutter. I had finished another pastel painting of "No Hands Bridge", that crosses the American River just below Auburn. The bridge was built for the Quarry Mountain Railroad line to haul gypsum from the mine further up the river. The old bridge was well built and has stood through many flood surges when newer bridges have been inundated and collapsed.

I decided to double mat the picture, and used a reddish brown inside mat to compliment the painting and a antique white matting on the outside. Before I could do that, I had to mount the pastel picture on some acid free foam core and then take exact measurements so that my mats would look decent. I cut the reddish brown one without any problems, but messed up the antique white one. The second try produced an acceptable mat and I was able to frame the picture in one of the 14X18 frames I purchased yesterday at Aaron Brothers art marts. The picture is now sitting on a wall scounce shelf that I put up in my office today.

I also reframed and matted a picture Cindy had bought me of the Old Auburn Courthouse, and the color will now look a lot better when it is hung in the hallway. A busy day, but one in which I accomplished a lot.

Unusual Weather Day

2010-03-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

Today was cool overcast and damp to start out. Such a huge change from Sunday when it felt like spring and flowers and trees were opening their blooms to the sunshine. Since it was so nice Saturday without rain, and not a cloud in the sky. I had decided to tackle felling a Lelandia Cypress tree that had been blown at a 40 degree angle into our flowering Japanes Plum tree during one of the recent storms. It looked like the plum tree was actually holding it up, since the root ball was rising and the ground was cracked open several feet back from the trunk of the cypress.

I lopped off a few large branches that were in amongst the plum tree branches so it wouldn't get too badly damaged when I dropped the cypress. I began cutting a notch in the trunk of the tree on the south side just back of the direction it was leaning. Unfortunately the wood there was very hard and my saw started smoking. I had put a new handle on my Pulaski and decided I would use it to cut the notch the rest of the way. After a few good whacks, I managed to cut a pretty decent notch in the tree and so I could begin sawing a new cut on the opposite side, just a little higher up. It didn't take too long before the tree started to crack and begin its fall. For a minute I thought it was going to stay hung up in the plum tree, but it pulled free thanks to gravity and thumped to the ground across a sprawl of juniper bushes on the bank below right where I planned it. The plum tree branches just sprange back, I didn't lose a one.

Well needless to say, cutting up a 35 foot tree and loping all the branches took a considerable number of hours. Once I had cut everything from the top I stacked it up by the road, off my neigbors peoperty and then raked up the loose needles and small branches. I had quite a stack of firewood and several loads of slash branches to haul down to the bottom of the garden to burn. I also cut down an Oleander and trimmed all the sucker branches out of the plum tree before I quit. I was plum tuckered out by then, and decided that I would clean the rest up the following day.

Well yesterday I managed to get my recalcitrant garden tractor going, and hitched the wagon behind it and drove it up to the front yard after cutting the backyard grass. I had loaded the wagon behind the tractor from a huge pile I'd stacked in our driveway. When it was time to go unload, I couldn't get the tractor going again. I hooked up my battery charger to the tractor battery and left it all night. I would tackle the rest tomorrow.

Well wouldn't you know, tomorrow is today and it was cool 45 degrees. My tractor still wouldn't start and it took some time to find I had a little water in the carbuerator bowl, and the battery terminals were probably too corroded to take a charge. After disasembling the connections and cleaning them, installing new bolts and tightening them up I was able to jump the battery and get the old tractor going. It took two full loads to carry all the slash to the bottom of our property. I also had a lot of firewood cut up and it made full wagon load to hall around to stack for next seasons firewood.

I finished at 11:30 and came in the house after parking and covering up the tractor, as it seemed colder and was dark and threatening. Cindy made me a sandwich for lunch and then she looked outside and said its hailing! The hail didn't last long, but was soon followed by rain. The rest of the day went from blustery to dark and stormy with sudden downpours. We made a Costco run down the hill to Roseville and ran into more hail just as we got to the store. After getting theessentials we needed we decided to have dinner out and had a wonderful Mexican food dinner in Lincoln at Casa Ramos. As we ate our dinner we were treated to a gloriously beuatiful sunset with pinks, mauves and orange tinges in the clouds. A nice close to a blustery day. Then it was time to go back home and unload the groceries and relax. Sorry if I bored you to death!

Pastel of Sedona

2010-03-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

I decided to do a second pastel of Sedona Arizona, especially since my brother Michael sent me a really great shot that had an interesting view and lots of color. It seemed perfect to paint a pastel picture. I began with one of my standard 9X13" LaCarte pastel cards and sketched out a few details that would guide me, and make me stay in perspective. I went through the routine of putting in darker colors so I could overlay the lighter ones. It was for some reason a lot more difficult than I had expected. The mountains or buttes had a lot of detail. Not only that, there were all these trees and bushes and prickly pear cactus that lined the pathway. I was not sure if I had enough different greens to show both shading and different bushes. The other element was the late afternoon suns rays that dappled the trees and bushes and left sunlight patches and shadow on the pathway.

It took some work, and a lot of detail to get the picture the way I wanted it. Once I was finished I was pleased with the end result. I posted it on my Flickr account and immediately started getting a lot of feedback from fellow artists. They sure help to give one confidence. When I took the painting to class, my teacher really liked it, as did my peer students. I hope you like it.

The UPS Delivery is Finally Here!

2010-03-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

I had been hoping I would see the UPS truck stopping at my home this week. My C&H Deluxe, used professional mat cutter finally arrived from the framing store store I bought it from in Minnesota. Wow, it was a heavy package and rather ungainly to carry. It was four feet long, and almost two feet wide and weighed fifty pounds. I carried the big wrapped box into the house along with a smaller package that came for Cindy. It was a challenge getting through the door sideways holding the box and not bumping into anything on the way through.

Once I had given Cindy her package, I took my coveted box into my office and quickly saw that with all the heavy tape, that I would need a box knife to cut through the nylon stands in the tape. I retrieved one from the garage and then carefully cut the tape that was securing the ends and then slit open the box at each end. Sliding out the mat cutter was awkward mainly because it is heavy and doesn't slide well. I saw that it was wrapped with bubllewrap in several places to protect more sensitive parts. Way to go Ginny Ward, and thank you. Once I got all of the taped bubble wrap off, I could see I had a heavy duty mat cutting piece of equipment that was almost all in one piece. United Parcel had managed to bang up the box in transit and the top of one adjustment knob broke off, but I glued it back on with super glue. I will probably end up sending for a new one since it is not likely to hold for long.

I cleared off my big 4'X8'drafting table that is set up in the garage and set the mat cutter up perpendicular to the table so that one end rested on a half inch stop to hold it in place. It was easy enough to attach the squaring arm and the stops that came with the cutter. It was also great to get almost a full box of mat cutter blades and also some long scraps of mat that Ginny sent for me to practice on. Before I could get started it was important to secure the cutter to the table and then read the instruction book that came with it so that I can minimize material waste and mistakes. This is really neat stuff, because now I can begin matting my paintings professionally to properly preserve them and get them ready for framing.

Stay tuned for my mat cutter trials as I begin experimenting with my new toy!

He's Off to the Army

2010-03-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

The days virtually flew by since Eric announced that he had enlisted in the US Army. When he broke the news to us, we were apprehensive for him, but also understood the decision he was making. He enlisted for a four year hitch as an MP. He is hoping that his four years military service and comprehensive training will help him land a job as a police officer when he gets out. Right now that field is seeing layoffs and any openings that occur are being filled by experienced officers.

These are tough times for folks with the high jobless rate, and the slowdown in our economy. They are even tougher for a newly wed couple starting out and trying to establish a home, and be comfortable. We are proud of Eric, and we know he will do well in the service. He has a good work ethic, and good bearing, and will work hard, and that will mean a lot in that environment. He and Amber have a good relationship, and we know she supports him and would have gone in the Army as well if she could.

As Sunday progressed and we had that great meal that Cindy made of Enchiladas, it was soon time for Eric to leave. He had packed his small army issue knapsack of toiletries, phone, stationary, stamps and a bag of great chocolate chip cookies that Amber made for him. It was time to meet the recruiter at the US Army recruiting station in Citrus Heights. As Eric and Amber walked out I snapped a picture for them to remember this day. Eric quipped, oh, oh, the paparazzi!

As we dropped them off and he was told that he will spend the night at the Radisson hotel and fly out Monday to Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. They call it Ft lost in the woods, and it is very cold there right now! He and Amber had that last embrace for a long while and he rode off with the recruiter. Amber will certainly be missing him over the next months. Since Eric was gojng to be staying at the Radisson, we drove Amber down so they could have a little more time together before he leaves. When we got there, we learned that he is already under orders as to what to do, and where to go or not go since there will be other recruits arriving at the hotel. So off we went for home, and perhaps Amber will get to say one more goodbye today before he leaves.

In the next months Amber will live with us while she continues on with her college and the job she recently landed as a personal trainer at a fitness center in Lincoln, while Eric goes through his basic and advanced training. She won't see him until July, and that is a long time to wait.

It makes me remember how I felt when I was drafted and reported to the US Army induction center in Los Angeles in 1966. Before I knew it I was whisked through the lines, proddded, examined, and interviewed and on a plane to Ft. Bliss Texas for basic training. Then I was off to Ft Ord for advanced training and then Kansas as the Ninth Division was formed up and trained so we could all be shipped to Viet Nam.

I'm hoping Eric receives a good assignment so that he and Amber can be in the US for awhile before he is deployed to some far off place. Keep him in your prayers will you, he will appreciate that very much and so will we!.

A Beautiful Sunny Day to Garden!

2010-02-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

How nice to wake up to blue skys and sunshine! We had a hard frost last night after yesterday's rain so everything is white and frozen. My daffodils don't seem to mind and they are brightly turning their faces to the sun and showing off their finery. There are mostly all yellow or white daffodils with frilly white centers out at the moment, but we are still about a week to two weeks away from full bloom. By then we will have a golden carpet of yellow flowering through the yard and many of the other varities will begin blooming.

Whyen I went to get the morning paper the thermometer said 32 degrees. My pickip was bathed in a coating of ice and frost. All of the water droplets from yesterdays rain were frozen on the body of the truck like little pebbles. Thank goodness I did not need to go anywhere early today, I would need a scraper to clear the windows!

It should be a good day to finish pruning the nectarine tree and the three apple trees. Then I will respray since I have a day or so before the next rain comes through. I had an unexpected surprise on Saturday morning. Two ladies came knocking on the front door, and no they weren't from Watchtower (phew), they were Placer County Master Gardeners. They asked if they could tour our garden, we had been recommended to be a part of their May 9th tour and they wanted to have a look.

I gladly took them on a tour of the garden to show them the various features we have landscaped. There are many flower beds filled with different varities of flowering bushes or flowers and crushed granite pathways take one to different places through the garden and under a couple of rose pergolas. We have 54 different rose varities, which are just beginning to sprout new growth, many different Day Lilys, a variety of Peonies and our little pond with prety goldfish and a waterfall.

The ladies were very pleased with what they saw, and said they would like to put us on the tour along with our next door neighbors Al and Kay. They said it would be great to have two houses side by side that people could wander from one to the other to enjoy the gardens. They asked if I would participate and I said yes, thinking about the work I must do to make sure that the garden is worthy of people's time to visit. Since it is May, I have several months to whip it into shape. Guess I had better get started!

The Neccessity of a Mat Cutter

2010-02-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

Since I began pastel painting in ernest I have completed 24 paintings. I have framed three of them, one for my brother Michael, one for my daughter Amber and one is hanging in our entryway. That leaves twenty-one paintings that are sitting in my portfolio case that Amber and Eric bought me for Christmas. Just the cost of matting 21 paintings is mind boggling. After spending $50,00 just to frame one of my paintings before Christmas I found how expensive it is to have mats cut at retail or cutom outfits. Just having mats cut at Arron Brothers or Michaels is pricey, there is no such thing as a deal. Most pictures today have an inner and outer mat and a 9X13" picture fits in a 14X18 stock frame. I have had a couple of mats cut for me at Michaels and they cost $26.00. If I were to mat all of my pictures with two mats I would be looking at an out of pocket expense of $546.00! The cost of frames would run at least another $500.00 or more. Needless to say, I will not likely mat and frame a couple of my early pictures, but the bulk of them will be matted and then I will have to choose which ones to frame for a show.

I began looking on the Internet for mat cutters and found that a reasonably priced better quality cheap mat cutter was going to run my $349.00 so that is no small investment. Then I began looking at chat sessions on mat cutters and found that most people that had purchased the one I was thinking of buying were having fits with it and some said it was a piece of junk. Oops, this required some closer scrutiny and more research and more visits to discussions by artists and photographers about mat cutters. I found several good sessions and the two mat cutters that received the most praise were the C&H brand and the Fletcher brand mat cutters. Of course I began checking prices on this equipment and found that the Fletcher cutters ran in the thousands of dollars, and the C&H mat cutters were in the $850.00 to $1600 range!

Wow, it is obvious I do not want a troublesome piece of equipment, and I can't afford a cadillac either. With that in mind, I began looking for used mat cutters and found a company back east that sold mat cutters from frame shops that went out of business. Those expensive cutters were still very pricey and close to $1,000 used but after checking week after week, I found a used C&H cutter that originally sold for over $1300.00 for $395.00. I quickly bid on the cutter and found out the next day that I had won the cutter for the $395.00 bid. Well that was exciting, and they asked me to deal directly with the seller, a lady in Minnesota who was selling some of her framing equipment to make room for things that sold more readily. We chatted on the phone and closed the deal and the mat cutter will be shipped this week. I received an email from the lady saying she had found the original instruction book and also the stops for the cutter and extra baldes. I was pleased to hear that, and asked if it was possible to get some matting material thrown in with the deal. She and I spoke on the phone again and she said she will send some matting material and foam core to mount the pictures on. She will use the materials to pack the cutter in a box. It will be great to get some supplies, but even better to get the cutter. That will be something to look forward to setting up in my workshop.

When it arrives and I will install it on my 4'X8' drafting table, thenI can begin cutting mats for my paintings. That will be the first phase, and the next phase will be to search the web for deals onframes!

Pt Arena Lighthouse.

2010-02-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to Pt Arena Lighthouse? It is a really beautiful spot on the Pt Arena headland of the Mendocino coast. It is a windy fresh air filled spot on one of the most beautiful coasts of north America. Rugged coastline, pounding surf, barking seals, sea gulls crying and whirling with the wind and California Brown Pelicans diving into the sea to catch their breakfast lunch or dinner. I am sure that 100 years ago these were treacherous waters for the ships that would sail to the town of Mendocino to load up logs and lumber.

The lighhouse was first built in the 1870's but was damaged by the 1906 earthquake and susbequently rebuilt out of concrete and steel. The lighthouse is 115 feet tall, so it is a good climb up a lot of steps for a great view. The windswept headland provides tremendous views of rocky steep cliffs and off shore rocks that are constantly battered by the sea.

When Cindy and I visited this beautiful spot, it was a beautiful clear day with no clouds at all. We were able to take a number of photos of the lighthouse and the coastline while we were there sightseeing. Theis lighthouse is maintained by the Friends of the Lighthouse and has a museum packed with old photos and history of this site. There is also a gift shop with many interesting gifts.

I decided that this lighthouse would be a great subject for a pastel painting and so I began searching through our photographs for the pictures we took. I finally found a series of photos and found one that would be a good reference for me. I was not daunted by the difficult rock formations and busy sea scape that provided a great challenge for me to paint. I did note that the photos were devoid of clouds but this grand lighthouse needed clouds to set it off. Ever the artist, I added some great cumulous clouds to frame it. Hope you enjoy the finished painting. Hopefully it will inspire you to visit theis gorgeous coast to see it for yourself.

Good Grief its Saturday!

2010-02-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't written anything since Tuesday. I have tried to play catch up this week, getting chores done around our acre yard. The constant rain has put me way behind schedule in the garden department. The weeds are growing rampantly everywhere, sucking up as much mositure as they can. Wherever they have managed to poke through mulch, they are four times as big as those on bare ground. Did you catch that? Yep mulch, the garden's natural fertilizer made of grass clippings and decomposing leaves makes things grow really well especially when you compost it and break it down further. Well I had best not digress from my ramblings and keep going with what must be done.

I managed to round-up my decomposed granite paths throughout the garden, and all of the gravel areas out front. Had I waited any longer they would have been covered by weeds. I still have to clear a lot of broken limbs on trees that were weighted down by snow last December, or have blown down in the high winds. I have large piles of trimming gowing in several places in the bottom of the yard.

There are over fifty five roses to be sprayed in our yard. Yep really that many, and while I managed to get the bush roses pruned there were still three climbing roses to prune back on Trellises. I love roses and am a sucker for some of the new beautiful roses with wonderful scents. They just light up a garden from early spring on. I love the fact that they flower all summer and into the fall until the heavy frost. There are always many different blooms to chose from to make a bouquet for my wife. Three years ago our roses and flowering garden featured in the Auburn Journal. Rose care is a big issue when you have that many to feed, water and prune.

Yep, I'm a flower nut, and another one of my loves is Daffodils. I have naturalized many different varities all over our yard in various flower beds, under trees, in the orchard, just wherever I can find a spot that needs brightening. As a result, the daffodil bloom is stunning once it really gets under way. It has already started, and within a few weeks should be really showy. Two years ago our Daffodil bloom was also featured in the Auburn Journal, since we have thousnads of the littler beauties of many different varities growing everywhere.

Geesh I'm digressing horribly, I still have trees to prune in the orchard. Okay so its a small orchard, I did manage to prune the Pluot, the Santa Rosa Plum, Bartlett Pear, Peach and start on the Nectarine tree this week in between rain showers. I still have two apple trees to go. I also managed to spray the Pluot, Peach and Nectarine against Peach leaf curl which would eventually weaken and kill the tree if not treated.

I have been weeding like crazy, trying to get the little blighters out before their seed heads mature and scatter the next generation of nasties all over my garden. That is a chore since I have so many flower beds. While they are a lot of work, they are a labor of love, and there is no more satisfying feeling than strolling through a flowering garden on a warm day, smelling the many fragrances, viewing the many colors and listening to the chatter of birds everywhere.

So there you have it, my lame excuse for not blogging. Oh, I was also distratced by painting. No not the house, new paintings, I'll talk more about those later or tomorrow. See ya.

We Are a Household Again

2010-02-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

Amber and Eric got here late last night after another round of moving and cleaning. It appeared when I was there yesterday that most everything had been packed, and the furniture was gone. We had a warm clean furnished room for them to sleep in last night, and had put most of Amber's stuff away so she didn't have to unpack when she got here. They both were tired, and hit the sack early.

It is chaos with three dogs, we have our own big dog, Chica a Shepherd, Golden Retriever cross and she is fifteen years old. We had taken Murray ambers three-year old rambunctious male Australian Sheherd, Border Collie, and Lab cross several weeks ago and have spent weeks just loving him and getting him to settle down into a routine of walks, playtime and rest time. He is adapting well and minds me, as well as follows me everywhere. Wherever I decide to sit, he lays down at my feet, if I move, he moves. Sometimes I move because he has fouled the air with his gas, but he is completely oblivious.

Well last night, Jake a three year old rambunctious male Labrador and Pit Bull cross came with Ercic and Amber. They have been trying to find a home for him, but have had no luck so far. Three big dogs is three too many, and while Jake is loveable and friendly. (He'll lick you to death.) he being male, wants to run and play with Murray. Add the fact that this is Chica's domain, and she is the alpha female, and we have to make sure we separate them in different rooms so as not to have a clash. This is Chica's house and she is used to being the loving protector and no one, no matter how young and strong, is going to usurp that.

Chica sleeps in our bedroom on her own dog bed, and we put Jake and Murray in the Laundry room for the night. Murray had been sleeping in the laundry room for the past few weeks and is quite happy with that space. Walking three dogs is more than I can handle, two is a challenge I have mastered and Murray and Chica with no problems. They are both fine on leash. Jake is fine on a leash, he just has not had the discipline so it will take a while to work with him until we can find him a home. I cannot put up with three dogs in the house, especially when two of them want to run and play from room to room. They both shed white hair wherever they go and that is giving Cindy and the vaacuum fits. It has already plugged up with hair once this week.

Well as we get used to having Eric and Amber in the house it will be a fun change. It is much quieter with just Cindy and I so the disruption will be a good change for awhile. Eric's stay is actually much shorter because he leaves for his training in lesss than three weeks. Stay tuned!

Well its Moving Day

2010-02-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry my blog has been a little spotty this week. In anticipation of our daughter Amber and her husband moving in with us, we have been doing our own moving and cleaning to make room for them. Our son's old bedroom had been converted to a guest room, but the closet was stuffed with Cindy's craft supplies and large boxes of pictures taken through our life. Which means, we have to go through them and organize them someday!

Cindy worked hard and cleaned out the hall closet so that she could move most of her craft supplies and the photographs there. Old games, puzzles with missing pieces, and other unneccessary items from many years accumulation began to emerge and get placed in the save pile or tossed in the discard pile.

While Cindy was feverishly working in the house, I was trying to bring some order to our packed and messy garage. Two years ago, Amber lugged many bags and boxes of her brother and her toys down form the attic. She planned to have a big garage sale to make some money, but it never materialized. As a result one of the parking stalls in my garage became a heap of miscellaneous dusty saw dust covered junk. The sawdust came from my work on rebuilding our back deck, since my chop saw was used outside the garage, but a lot of sawdust drifted in.

All of the boxes of our sons' things that were cleaned out of his room some months back by Amber had also found refuge in the garage. I began going through garbage bags of toys of every description and age era. Anything damaged, broken or badly soiled or worn was tossed, and any toys that looked new or relatively so were packed in boxes with similar items. I tried also to separate things by age appropriateness. I managed to fill our large trash can pretty full with discarded items from the hall closet and also the garage. However; there were a number of "saved" items from the hall closet that also had to find refuge in the garage.

I also managed to clean out everything from one area and began stacking labeled boxes one on top of another to organize the former chaos into a tolerable heap. I did make some good progress, and did clear some space, but there is still more work to do. I even have a whole room of Amber's former wicker furniture stacked and cleaned in the agarage. Obviously when the weather improves, we have to have a big garage sale. It would be so nice to be able to see the floor again!

Well now I have to be off to Lincoln to get another load of Amber and Eric's things that are coming to our home. Tonight we will be a family of four again. In three weeks, Eric goes off to his Army basic and MP training at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. My littlepick up is coming in handy already. Fortunately most of their furniture and belongings are going into storage in Lincoln because there just isn't room in the garage. I'll let you know how the day pans out, wish me luck!

A Trial for My Pastel Painting Experience

2010-02-07T23:21:00.000-08:00

This has been a fulfilling week of pastel painting. I had started a pastel of Sedona, Arizona on Tuesday evening and then worked on it some more on Wednesday evening. While I didn't finsih, I had a comfortable start to a very difficult piece.

Thursday in class Reif Erickson had a new challenge for us to paint, a solitary grizzeled old pine growing right out of rocks on a mountain peak. Watching Reif paint the picture was really fascinating because he is so deliberate and so steady with everything he does. I guess if I had been doing it for twenty five years I might have the same steadiness, but since I am a newbie, I take my time. Reif finished his painting and said okay, now its your turn. We were all marveling at what he had started and finished in about twenty five minutes.

I carefully sketched my pastel painting outlines using a light blue pastel so that I would not have any dark colors to worry about. I have gotten in the habit of starting at the top and working down so that I don't smudge my painting. I put the sky in first and then began painting in the trunk of the tree, the branches. Then I roughed in the rocks on either side and on the bottom. I got a pretty good start in class during the hour plus we worked and got it roughed in with foundation color. On Friday since it was raining off and on, I worked on the pastel later in the day and finished it that evening. I usually use a fixative on my pastels so that they don't smudge easily. For some reason, I didn't use the Krylon fixative I usually us and decided to use the Sennelier, fixative which I have used as a final fix. I sprayed it on the pastel in the garage, because the stuff has a pretty strong odor, and then left it to dry. I came back about a half hour later and to my shock, the fixative had separated the pastel in the sky and really made a mess of the painting. Ye gads, I was shocked and hoped I could fix the painting. This is the second time Ihave had trouble with the Sennelier brand of fixative.

Once it was dry, I repainted the entire sky carefully working around the tree and its branches. In some places I had to go back in and touch up the trunk or branches because I had overpainted them with blue. The I began putting the clouds back in and got the sky back to where it should be with a little darker blue at the corners. I added some shading and color to the rocks and finally had it done. This time I used the Krylon Fixative on the pastel and everything worked out just fine. I photographed it and posted it on Flickr with my other pastels and called this painting, "The Sentinel.".

The following morning when I logged on, I was surprised to see that I had been invited to add several of my pastels to an invitation only painting art and photography group. I filled out the application on line, it was approved and I moved the paintings they had requested I submit. To my surprise, one of the paintings was soon listed as a favorite with a Florida artist. When I added this painting to the new group it was immediately commented on and listed as a favorite by another artist. So as you can see, this has been a good week for me and pastel painting. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the Sedona painting.

Well I am Definitely Hooked!

2010-02-04T18:41:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have ever been as passionate about anything in my life as pastel painting. Okay, well lets recast that, I haven't been as passionate since I began courting Cindy, and wouldn't quit hounding her until she said yes. Yes, I know, a different kind of passion, but we won't go into that! That kind of passion turns you inside out and upside down in a wonderful way. The great part is we have been married thrity years and this year makes thirty-one.

Thanks to my sweetie, who jump started me in this passion for pastels and continues to encourage me as I continue to find new subjects to paint. It is very relaxing to be able to sit down and sketch out a subject that will become another painting. It isn't work, and when the creative juices are charged and a painting begins to come to life with each new additional color or line, it provides the artist, moi, with a great deal of satisfaction. To date I have painted 21 paintings and am going strong thinking of new subjects and challenegs I want to try.

I started a new pastel last night that will be a recreation of a beautiful photograph that my brother sent me. He took the photo on his recent trip to Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona, Arizona. The buttes in the photo are an orange, red, and mauve color, with many other colors thrown in as well. There is a weathered barn in the photo and a lot of bright green trees, that look a lot like cottonwoods. It should make a beautiful painting if I can get the colors just right. The only flat part was the sky, but a few days ago I was out taking pictures of the beautiful clouds that filled the air in every direction, and I found a much more intense sky to use with this painting. It is so much fun to play withy nature, and make eye pleasing adjustments in a painting that will bring everything together. Often when we take pictures, or begin a sketch of something, not all the elements are quite perfect. The fun part is making them perfect by adjusting colors, removing detracting objects or adding a point of interest. Professional photographers use this techinque by using Photoshop to enhance colors or remove offending obects.

Since pastel painting has become such a passion I decided to join the Placer Arts Group here in Auburn. My goal is to be able to participate in the art walk this coming April. If you have never participated, tickets are $10.00 per person. Ticket holders can walk or drive to the various restaurant and coffee house venues to look at the paintings on display and also get a glass of wine at the various stops.

I already have sufficient paintings to be a participant in the artwalk, but I need to decide on the best ones and get them matted and framed for the show. That will be a costly endeavor and I am already thinking about ways to reduce the costs of both the matting and framing process. Stay tuned for my solutions to this dilema.

Firey Sky

2010-02-01T23:18:00.000-08:00

Today was a beautiful cool day with some sun and a lot of clouds. Several times it looked as if it would rain. It was one of those days that allowed me some time to work in the garden. Later in the day after Cindy and I had gone shopping down the hill to Trader Joe's and Costco to replenish our groceries. We drove home in dark overcast skies. It seemed as if rain was surely going to fall at any minute.

The dogs could care less if it poured, so I decided to take them on their walk. Just in case I put on a hat and coat, because I don't care to get wetter than necessary. Fortunately the rain held off, while I was excercising the dogs. As we started back home I was amazed at the rich orange colors in the sky. Of all days not to have my camera with me! I hurried along hoping to get past the homes that were blocking the view and came out next too the woods. The sky was fantastic, and almost looked as if it were on fire. Bright yellow at the horizon, giving way to orange and the red. The clouds above this first band wer dark grey to black on the bottom and lighter grey on top. Then there was another band of almost reddish orange sky, and above that more intense clouds that looked like thunderheads. Those clouds gave way to a grey layer above that was tinged with greys and pinks. I got home too late to phtograph it, but I had studied the colors because I wanted to paint what I had just seen.

Dinner was ready when I got home, and so I had time to relax and eat with Cindy. After dinner and clean-up, I went over to my pastels and grabbed a piece of paper and began to sketch the clouds. My neigborhood would not have added anything to this sunset I had seen with its intense clouds so I drew in far distant mountains. The colors seemed to flow, and I had no reference other than my memory to produce them. I looked at some pictures of New Mexico and thought that some of the elemnts would make a believable foreground. I especially liked on that had a dry river bed and abandoned run down corral like ones I have seen on the open range. The finished pastel painting is the one accompanying this blog tonight. Hope you enjoy it.

The Garden is Awakening from Winter's Slumber

2010-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-29T23:13:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-28T22:37:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-18T15:12:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

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!