Herons, and more herons

Why paint herons? This started with an old photocopy of herons of my aunt's that drifted to the top of a pile of papers I was going to throw away. What better reason? Here are two variations.

More paintings

Having fun with the paints, these are two new creations. The first one is titled Resurrection. The second is untitled, I think if I turn it to the left, I see a seated figure in a cave. I may need to explore this wabi. There may be a second figure staning to the right of the seated one. I hadn't seen it in this lower light before and had not noticed either figure prior to scanning it. This is why I seldom plan my work. I enjoy the surprises.

Here are the pics.

One more try.

New paintings.

I had the good fortune to spend several uninterrupted hours in the studio today. First I worked on a bird journal. Then I put away a bunch of stuff, cleared the painting space and pulled out a watercolor pad to paint on. I just really needed to start some backgrounds to use later. But when my muse, Lolly, saw what fun I was having, she decided to come out and take over.

It is Easter week, so the first one turned into a religious painting. The Crucifixion. Mourners. In this I used my new favorite technique (the one I think I invented). I painted the mourners quickly on deli wrap and then pressed them onto the surface. Much like you would use a stamp, if you had the patience to carve one. I like the spontaneity of this technique. You can change sizes as quickly as you can draw them, or you can reuse the first one by painting over it. Also, it's easy to reverse it as you just paint on the back of your other design. My friend Jackie makes fabulous stamps and uses them very effectively. But, this suits my style of work better and I think it is brilliant. You just have to work really fast because acrylics dry almost immediately.

The second painting used a picture out of "The West". I just tore it out and glued it down and started painting around it. The cactus are done with that same technique described above. The bottom of the painting was getting too busy, so I went back with a light coat of the colors mixed, and then pressed deli wrap into it to lift it back a bit. Some of the background shows through. Then I glazed the top with a blue glaze and the bottom with gold. I rather like it.

old friends

What's happening? I am running into library friends. Is this hint from on high that I need to check in there and see what's up? I ran into Linda B'x husband Dave. Then Marina T., and a couple days later, Sylvia. Gosh is was wonderful to see all of them. Haven't seen them in ages, or at least a couple years. Then I got a call from Roberta M., associated with library research. Hmmm...... What's going on?

New painting

I painted today. The floor, the deck railing - and surprise! A painting. Lots of layers used. And this time I was brave enough to go over it all with a colored glaze. Here it is.

Spring things

I have a few things to share this a.m. First of all, I'm thinking about that fish challenge for Art and Soul. I have the crown I made that I plan to redo, but then looking at it again, it seems like it would be a good home for the A&S fish. So, I put it there and it fits. Now, to decorate the fish and fine-tune the piece.

The flowers are from a pot on my deck. Every spring, I treat myself to one fabulous pot of flowers from the nursery. I just can't wait.

The bird is sitting on the table in front of my sofa. It's a big one and is bound for my place in the country when I go up again. I hear they are expecting snow again this weekend, but I can't imagine it will be more than a light dusting this time - at least I hope that's all it will be. I'm very ready for some days there. Here are the pics.

Bird Leg

Here is a picture of one leg of a pair of jeans that I just finished. I bought these $80 jeans for $8.00 from an online catalog, wondering why they were reduced so drastically. The stenciled paint job on the leg (only one leg is embellished) was lousy. I could either return it or play with it. The fit is just right, and you know how you hate to give up a good fitting jean - so I decided to paint over the original stencil (which looked like mud). Then I decided it needed just one more thing and I had some fabric with bird prints, so I cut one out and used fabric glue to hold it, and then stitched around the piece. I also went in and did a little extra paint on the bird and branch. Hope you like it.

Angry Man

While temporarily separated from my friends in a dense moving crowd of people making our way toward Pier 39, I was picking a path through the crowd when I met The Angry Man face to face.
I didn't see him coming. Don't get in my way Bitch! was all he said before I quickly stepped aside to let him pass.

Later as my friends and I were watching street dancers, I saw him off to the side ranting to himself. Everyone stood way back away from him. What kind of life is he living? Where is the help he needs?

My friends are all quackers!

The SICL program put on a Duck Tour in San Francisco yesterday. We boarded the bus around 8 a.m. and headed off for SF. Upon arrival, we transferred to the DUCKS. Amphibious crafts that we rode around on for a quick SF tour, and then we slid down onto the bay for a nice ride. Our driver was great, had interesting sound effects on tape, and with our quacking - it was all a lot of fun. Nancy and I got to drive the DUCK while we were on the water. It wasn't a warm day, but it was so much fun we hardly noticed. Lunched at Scoma's after that - probably some of the best food I've eaten, with a price tag to match. Then we walked back to Pier 39 watching street dancers along the way - to catch the bus for home. All in all, a very nice day to spend with friends. Here are the pics.

Where I've been, what I've been doing.

Spring Clean Up days in Stockton. We can put anything out on the curb once a year, and the city trucks come and haul it all away. So, out with the old bedroom carpet, cut into strips, and the padding also. So, I have been moving furniture, and throwing away stuff. That pretty much says it all.

Class at SICL was fun. We were all in high spirits. I worked on the Food Poisoning Altered Book. I'll soon be ready to share some of the pages. Got car smog checked, it passed! And relicensed. What a bore! That's about it!

Who is this?

Spring cleaning this year meant tearing up the bedroom carpet and moving things about. I came across this old photo which was sealed in a frame. I've been carting it around for decades and never got around to removing the frame - which I did by whacking it over and over with a hammer. So, here's the pic of some young thing working at the fire department back in early 1970's. Hmmmm...... could it be me?

Michael DeMeng's class

Lucky for the West Coast artists, Michael DeMeng stopped off in Northern California on his way back from Australia homebound for Montana. He taught classes in Berkeley and in Danville.
Sally, Nancy and I went to the Danville class where we ran into fellow artists Peggy G, Sherre, Susan, and Claudette. Some of them had already had some of his workshops before - this was a first for me. It was really fun and I absorbed a lot of energy and techniques from Michael. Here are some pics.