Plein Air Camping

I love plein air camping! Our valley painting group traveled to Central Oregon Tues. & Wed. this week and painted at Smith Rocks one day and on the Metolius River the next. What a treat! Took the Hub and daughter along and they had epic hiking around Smith Rocks while I painted in the shade of a scrubby tree on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Crooked River. I had 4 visitors while working---another artist friend, a couple checking out the view and a cute little chipmunk! It was a real challange painting the rocks---the shadows changed so much from the noon start to my quitting time of 2:30---the photo shown is from the 2:30 time---much more interesting than the flat light at noon---I plan to add some of those great shadows eventually.





Below shows a lot of the great work the other artists did while there that day---my pastel is the 4th from the right on the black easel with two others below on the ground.



That night we camped on the Metolius River, and I expected the next day to go out in the car in search of the perfect painting site before realizing I was already there! This view was right next to our campsite looking south. It was so great to just set up and go to work without having to waste time hunting for something else + I then was able to hang with my camping pals who were happy to sit around the campfire sipping coffee, feeding bread bits to the chipmunks, and cooking & sharing hot dog bites!



I'm real pleased with my painting---it came together so easily, and the lighting was fabulous. The sun did move behind my trees eventually, changing the foreground shadows completely so I'm hoping to finish that part still. I also plan to add the fly fisherman that showed up as I was beginning my painting---I took several digital photos of him as he cast his line, but he left before I got to painting the river so wasn't able to add him while there.





Later that day we hiked in to see this amazing springs just roaring out of the opposite bank on the Metolius River---the Hub shot 4 panorama pics which I was able to merge in Adobe Photo Elements---All in all a terrific experience with the family!

Unfinished painting

Here's the painting of the Calapooia river in the park at Brownsville---unfinished, but almost. The photo I took of this area doesn't show all the color that real-life contained---the reason painting plein air is such a joy---however I did get constant moving shadows while working---one of the plein air hazards!

Brownsville

Another painting day---we visited Brownsville yesterday---the third oldest town in Oregon. An elderly gentleman buzzing around town on his red scooter informed me of this fact. Rode there with 3 other painters, somewhat reluctant since I'd painted there before and wasn't in the mood to do buildings. I wandered the town dragging all my supplies up and down neighborhoods and downtown looking for that ideal spot & ended up in a park I'd never seen before. Leaving my stuff I went to explore hoping to find a vista or view that inspired me. Quick look showed me just ball fields, play grounds and picnic shelters until I headed for what I was hoping would be a stream. I discovered 2 of my carpool pals happily painting away on the banks of the Calapooia river---car parked nearby! Yay! I was thrilled to find a marvelous view and that I'd not need to haul all my crap back up the hill I'd just descended! We worked a couple of hours before heading back to our meeting site where we enjoyed everyone elses paintings, then as we took off for home, Tom our driver offered to take Ross to see where we'd been painting. Ross had worked on a terrific ink drawing of one of the downtown buildings. As we pulled up to "our" spot in the park, we noticed a straw cowboy hat, tackle box and bucket near the picnic table where Tom had been working---yep, it was his stuff! Dee & I had headed to the bathroom before we'd left, and Tom graciously picked us up there, so I hadn't been able to do my quick once over of where we'd been working before Tom left. I knew my stuff had been packed up, but never realized Tom was leaving a bunch of his stuff there! He was pleased it was still there, and we hung out chatting with other painters that had come over after our lunch gathering to see where we'd been working.

Here's the southern river view that I painted:



And my pal Tom, working away in watercolor---looking north---note the straw hat on the picnic table---and a glimpse of the open tackle box full of paint...:



And lastly, here's a cool house in Brownsville---we had our "show & tell" outside---you can see Tom's painting and mine in the lower left corner:



I'll try to get a shot of my painting later today and post it---I'm real pleased with it!

Dancing Oaks part III

Well I said I'd post some favorite photos from Dancing Oaks Nursery of my daughter---and here they are---starting with a "before" shot---can you believe this little imp has become this grown up girl? I sure can't---even tho I hang out with her daily!



Now some of the after pics----where did my baby go? (ok, I know, she's in the other room waiting for her turn on this computer....ok, ok, I'll hurry up!)







next on the agenda, beach pics---but first I need to get my living-away-from-home daughter to make me a cd of her pics & get my film developed. I'll shoot some of my garden today---toodles!

Dancing Oaks part II

We did return on Friday and I quickly finished up the painting a couple of hours before we left---shot some photos, then grabbed 2 more rolls of film "just in case" as we headed back to Dancing Oaks nursery for my daughters senior photo shoot. She hauled a suitcase full of clothes to try different outfits while there! Senior photos aren't what they used to be!! I remember going to a photo studio and getting a few shots taken with my one outfit. Now-a-days kids have all sorts of photos taken---still only one used in the yearbook, but different outfits, settings etc. for a portfolio of photos.

We shot our oldest daughter's senior photo (whole roll of 24, two outfits in our back yard---#23 was the winner!) and the one we picked was truly a great photo. She's pretty laid back, but also impatient at times, so getting those 24 pics was not a picnic! Youngest daughter is miss model... She was totally into posing, changing clothes, wanting us to give her suggestions, and very patient. Interesting difference---but that's kids for you---they are very different in many ways (always wondered if I'd had a third if it would be like oldest, youngest, or a whole new version!) Anyway, we ended up using all the film I brought---we're talking 48 + 1/2 the roll in the first camera---and she's not through yet she thinks! She'd like beach photos, pics from this great park that has a terrific wild grassy meadow, and keeps coming up with different settings---we only need ONE photo! Oh well, it's fun---she likes playing model, and I enjoy playing photographer! Brad wandered the nursery in awe of the gorgeous plants, hauled my backpack, making me have to find him when I needed another roll...but also helping make Miss E laugh! We're hoping to get the pics back tomorrow afternoon---yes they're real film photos!

The other cool news is the nursery owner bought my painting! Yay! It's been a while since I've sold a painting---never this quick tho! Seemed a bit odd to sell it unframed, but that wasn't a problem for him---he just slid it into a shallow drawer until they could get it framed. He didn't even flinch at the price, and even remembered what I'd quoted two days prior. His memory is really fabulous---he said he remembers when Miss E & I had been there 6 years ago and where we'd sat to paint & what that painting looked like!! It's probably sitting in my file drawer unfinished still....should pull it out & finish it & email it to him---see if he wants it too!

So, here's the unfinished painting:




and now the finished, sold painting (kinda curious to see the differences myself):



When we get back the senior photos, I'll post some if they're any good!

Dancing Oaks Nursery

Today the Vista Vineyard plein air painting group met & painted at the coolest nursery---Dancing Oaks is located southwest of Monmouth Oregon---out in the boonies! You drive through farmers fields, into the heart of the valley, then make couple of turns onto a gravel road & up a steep hill and come out on this amazing oasis! It's the third time I've been there, and each time it's magical. They carry a lot of different plants you don't see at other nurseries, and they have these gorgeous planted beds with tons of well established perennials. It's also the third time my daughter has joined me out there---when a teenager likes to go it must be a pretty special place! She was scouting it out as a possible site to have us take her senior photos. While I painted she sat nearby reading and loving the sweet greyhound that kept appearing for more kisses!

After our noon sharing time when we gathered to munch lunch and admire each others' paintings/drawings, the owner asked me if I'd sell my painting! Cool Beans! I told him sure, but I wasn't finished yet, then asked if it would be ok to come back soon for a photo shoot & I'd then bring the hopefully finished painting and we could work out a deal :). We exchanged numbers, and now I have to finish it! I'm real happy with my tree and sky, but think the plants in front are a bit scattered and unsettled---sort of a sneeze effect---I'll work on them some more & try to make them seem more "planted" (pun intended...).

Here's the images from today starting first with the rough drawing---it's on black sanded paper



The next image is about an hour later:



This is a close-up of the tree and sky:



Here's miss E with Dale the greyhound :) Aren't they a cute pair?



This is the "sold" image---the unfinished painting that the nursery owner was ready to purchase---but I'm not ready to sell yet!



I shot some photos of what I was painting so I could finish at home---here's my reference photo:



And lastly, I love cannas! Some of the gorgeous plants we saw today :).

It's too HOT!

This is Oregon, we're not supposed to get this hot.... 3 days of 100º+ just stinks! Not many have air conditioning since it's so rare to get above 95º, so when it happens we all just wilt! My main method of cooling off our house in the summer is keeping it closed during the day & opening it when it's cooler outside than in---sadly these last couple of days we've barely dipped below 80º at night which means it doesn't get cooler than that inside. We've moved downstairs since the upper level is about 10º warmer than the main floor---our air bed is set up in the living room and our futon in the dining room. Yesterday we had breakfast outside on our picnic table since there was a slight breeze compared to inside for an hour or so before it got too hot... feels like camping but w/out the fun! We do have a kiddie pool set up outside but if it's in the sun it's too hot to use! I think today's supposed to be the last above 100º day, so as long as I can drag my little fan from room to room, I'll survive... Just glad I don't live in Arizona... end of whining....

Here's a cute pal that was watching the art camp I helped teach 2 weeks ago,



and here's where I'd like to be today!

My first baby has moved out!

She did it---received the key to her new home on Thursday, started packing once she was home from work, and with a bit of help from her parents (us) & uncle was moved into her new house Sat. night! She hung out with us Sunday for part of the day finishing off some things here, then took us out for the best pizza we've ever had that evening. We dropped her off at her house again & she's now at work, all on her own, all grown up, and it's such a nice feeling for us and I'm hoping for her too.

True she's 22 (a week ago) and graduated from college, but this is a big step for all of us---our first child moving out. She lived at home during college which allowed her to save $$ big time. We'd been looking at really slummy apartments for the past month and were somewhat discouraged at what was available in the price range she was considering. Then a coworker called last weekend & said she had just moved into a 3 bedroom duplex and needed one more roommate---was Miss M interested? She checked out the place on Wed. after work, then we went back with her later that evening and we all were sold almost immediately! It was nice! Nice neighborhood, close to shopping and only a 15 minute bike ride to work, sweet roommate, hardwood floors, over $100 less than the slums we'd been looking at, just terrific!

Her roommates both work at the same place as she does, but one is in Portland for the summer---we haven't met her yet. They all have their own bedroom, and the other girls have been living away from home a year or more now so most of the duplex is furnished with what they've accumulated---means Miss M doesn't have to purchase much at this point. It might be a bit awkward at first for her---she might not feel like the other rooms are "hers" quite yet, but I'm sure once she and her roommate have spent some time together it'll start feeling like the house is all hers not just her bedroom. This past weekend her roommate was in Portland too---sounds like she goes there often to see her boyfriend---so they haven't experienced living together yet. Not sure if she arrived last night or not---my youngest daughter was out with friends last night and went to her sisters new house to hang out 'til 11:30 or so & the roommate hadn't returned before she left.

New stuff! New adventures! Can't wait to hear how her night went and if her roommate is home and how that will all play out :)! (yes, I do have a life of my own---gallery board meeting today, taste test after, new studio to refurbish... :) ... this is just so exciting and new for all of us tho!)

I'll shoot some photos later of her new place---haven't yet---

Daily musings...

Ok, so this wasn't her birthday cake---it was actually her sisters 6 months ago, but I don't have photos back from her birthday yet, so I'm just using this photo as an illustration, since I like pictures! My oldest turned 22 on Saturday, a quiet affair considering how her sister was out of town, and other family members had partied with us for her big graduation bash 2 weeks ago, so the out-of-towners weren't so hip on showing up twice in one month! My crew made it tho---at least the local uncle and grandparents always happy for a good free meal ;)! We had a nice evening celebration, and during the day miss M played downtown with a good friend so she had fun!

Our 4th was also a quiet celebration---we're known for boring 4th of Julys since we used to be in recovery mode from having to celebrate 3 days earlier, often with a pack of wild birthday party kids! Again, youngest was still out of town, so oldest daughter decided to take matters into her own hands and took off to celebrate the 4th with a pack of fireworks at a friends house! My sweetie and I spent the evening sipping wine and cooking a fabulous meal of which we get to enjoy again tonight since we made enough for leftovers :). My favorite meal of all times---home fried chicken, homemade gravy, garlic-basil mashed red potatoes, and home grown sugar snap peas---steamed with butter and Trocomare! Ah, heaven! We watched the local firework show thru our youngest daughters upstairs window---the perfect distance for me after having fireworks explode over my head one July 4th, singeing my hair making me paranoid ever since!

Time to go fix the peas---they need to be unzipped---what I call pulling the strings out of their edges... It's worth it tho!

OSU BEAVERS COLLEGE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

Yay Beavers!! They did it! After 3 games they've beaten North Carolina, and come out on top to take home the college world series championship!! Watched the game downtown in the air conditioned comfort of "Tommy's" with a pack of fans, and though it was not that exciting of a game mostly, it was a nail biter the last few innings, as OSU finally pulled ahead again from a 2-2 tie most of the game---then NC tried to catch up & pass the 3-2 lead OSU was barely hanging on to, but they never did and Tommy's exploded with relief and delight as the Beavers managed to win the game! They were pretty evenly matched as teams, but OSU played a terrific game, and we were so happy for them!

It's been a fun season, starting with free tickets from our daughter, to one of their last games, which helped them become the Pac-10 winners. We listened to most of their games after that (no cable tv, so unless we go out, we're left with radio reception of the games, which we didn't mind since we like to multi-task anyway!), spending the last two nights out in our backyard listening to the first two games against NC in our kiddie pool, floating on lounge rafts, sipping margaritas! We decided for the last game we had to see these terrific players, & that's how we ended up at Tommy's (besides the pool was beginning to get to that scummy stage---we cleaned it out this morning & it's filling up as I write!) We'll have to venture over to campus this afternoon for the big 3:00 festival planned for the returning team---hopefully it won't be too hot today!

berries and flowers

Ah, berry season is here! We picked the last of the strawberries last night (boy were they hard to find!), then moved to the raspberries---and all the ripe ones had been picked that day! Kinda a bust picking-wise, but we have a few, and we'll go again to get more raspberries earlier in the day when they're not all picked out... Kinda sad we missed the strawberries---might order a flat pre-picked from a place that still advertises they have some---then we can put up some freezer jam. I'm wanting a year of strawberries where each one is an exclaimable treat ("Wow, look at this one!!") like I remember once or twice in years past... maybe next year!



On the walk home from the farmer's market today I discovered this crazy flower in a neighbors yard---he said it was some kind of lily (looks like a mutant Calla lily to me!)---luckily my sweetie was packing his camera so we captured these shots---pretty wild! If you check out the little California poppy in the first photo you can see the size of that lily---much larger than a calla! Happy Saturday!

Pony farm

This week we painted at a pony farm just west of town---tremendous bounty of possible painting choices---multiple tractors surrounded by daisys, out-buildings in various states of disrepair, old cars half buried in vegetation, and ponies and cats scattered all around. My third time there in the past 4 or so years. I came upon this magical scene and decided it was IT for me---spent my morning painting this wonderful model---she was standing near the tree initially & as I set up, she decided to curl up and take a nap! How lucky was I?!



I shot multiple digital pics of her shifting one way or another, then did a few quick sketches on the back of the canvas board I used as my drawing/painting board in case I made it to the point of being able to slip her into the painting before noon.



I was able to do just that, and though I still have more to work on the painting, I'm pretty satisfied with the tree & pony at this time. It was also the first mostly sunny day we've been out this year, which made for some great back-lighting and shadows for a change!





Semi-quiet weekend ahead of us after all the graduation hoop-la last weekend. Hoping to get out strawberry picking one of the days, walk to the Farmer's market, putter around the house, maybe play with art stuff :). Hope you have a nice one too!

Self-portrait day

Ok, I know a while back I said I'd post some photos of my latest haircut---it was pretty dramatic, and to illustrate I've decided to share several "before" photos---the one on the beach is with the wind at my back, so what you see is not really what it usually looked like, but does give an example of how much hair I once had!

Second "before" photo shows how it usually looked---I can't stand having my hair flop in my face so as it grows I tend to tuck it behind my ears, so this is how I usually wore it.

Third "before" photo shows my hair sneaking out from behind my ears---and is probably the lastest photo before I got it chopped off!


This photo was taken 6 days after the haircut---so it's almost a week old. Shortest I've ever had my hair I think!

And lastly, here's an example that's 2 weeks after the haircut (what I thought was a pretty good hair day ;))


I've been blessed with quick growing hair, so I like to play around with styles every now and then---have always loved guys hair when it's thick and brushy on top, so have wondered what my hair would do if it was cut extra short---now I know! My inspiration came from a Vogue cover photo of Natalie Portman (http://www.tias.com/cgi-bin/google.fcgi/itemKey=1922881871) which I made a copy of & gave to my terrific hair-cutter Jo Anna. I know I don't come close to looking like Ms. Portman, but the hairstyle is very cute, and I think Jo Anna did a pretty good translation upon my head :)! She suggested using a lot of product to get the chunky "messy" look and avoid the fuzzy look---kinda fun to play with! So, there ya go, will I keep it for a few years like this or let it grow out? Only time will tell.....................

I Made It!!

Oh, by the way, forgot to mention I was accepted into the juried art show I applied for written about previously....! I'm excited all that effort paid off!! Now I need to work on framing---oh boy...!

Happy Father's Day, and Happy Graduation!

Just a quick post to show I'm still alive and kickin'---spent a lot of last week dealing with the last days of school---jr. year at high school, & college + graduation, along with an opportunity to paint out 2 days instead of the usual 1 + planning a graduation party---my oldest is now a college grad---she's working as a preschool teacher and dreaming of MOVING OUT! A lot of her grad gifts were aimed at that new goal of hers---now that final's week is over, and graduation, she's going to spend some free time apt. hunting. After 22 years, it's about time---we're excited for her, and ready for this change in all of our lives!

Father's Day has taken a bit of a backseat to everything else this week, but we're going to my folks for dinner, and I'm hoping to throw a little something together so my sweetie doesn't feel too neglected!

Hope to catch-up a bit this week---I'll post some photos of one of my paintings showing the work in progress while painting plein aire this week (battling rain showers...) along with the graduate!

Yay Miss M!!

Crazy Day!

Ok, so I knew I was a flake, and took in the slides a touch pushing the deadline last Sat., with the knowledge they'd be available Tuesday noonish, but then to forget about them until too late Tuesday! Flake-O! Yes, the slides needed to be in today, but I didn't panic and knew I could pick them up this morning at 10:00 when the camera store opened, select the best 2 slides of my paintings of choice, and hand deliver them, still making the June 1st art show jurying deadline.

So, it's raining, my initial plan to walk & pick up the slides slipped away with the drizzle, so I hopped in the Subaru & arrived 5 min. later, no problem, slides were in. Paid happily & headed home, arriving 5 min. later---all's good, or so I thought.....

The slides of multiple paintings (it was a roll of 36, so probably at least 15 or more paintings represented on the roll) were all real weird looking....they were not positives, they were negatives!!! What the ????? I began to doubt my film---it was slide film wasn't it? Ok, maybe it was old film?? Debated about just calling it quits, then remembered a local photo shop used to develop slide film in a day, so called to verify-YES, so hopped back into the trusty Soobie & arrived at previous camera store to show them slide film and ask questions.

She called their developer & discovered they'd probably run the film thru the wrong machine (great, my luck...!!) She said they'd give me a free roll of slide film & offered to develop it for free. I said fine to the film, but mentioned I'd have to take to a competetor's photo shop to get it developed in one day. That was the processor they send their film to!! Oh, great... She said to let them know of my issue and that they'd not charge me & would reimburse her for the film she gave to me. I zipped home, took a roll of film of several different paintings on the front porch with the rain pouring down, finished in 45 minutes then zipped the film to be developed, explaining my issue & getting the cost credited, all before their noon deadline.

Ok, deep breath... After a quick lunch, I headed to my hair cut appointment, not realizing Jo Anna was running late (guess she'd called, but in my rush in & out of the house, never noticed...). As I sat there for 10 minutes w/out anyone talking to me I was beginning to doubt my schedule---was my haircut today??? (notice a pattern here---why am I always doubting myself?!) The hair salon is in an old house, so the waiting area is a small living room area separate from each hair cutting station---Jo Anna finally came out & apologized to me for running late & mentioned she had called. I was supposed to be at the gallery to work in an hour, and had hoped to take a quick shower after the hair cut to wash away the pokey neck hairs... She loved the photo I'd brought in for an example & quickly went to work, washing my hair, then chopping it off. Probably removed about 4-5 inches, bringing it down to 1-2 inches long! Shortest I've ever had it---will put in a photo as soon as I get one :).

Well, had just enough time to fly home, take a quick shower & fly to the gallery where I relaxed an hour or 2 before having my daughter come baby sit the gallery while I ran to pick up the slides at 4:00. It was just 2 blocks away. Returned with the slides, selected the two I needed for the show then remembered I'd not gotten that cool aluminum tape you can use to cover parts of a slide you don't want to show in a projector...Dang! Sent daughter back to photo shop to buy some, while I filled out the jurying forms, & she returned saying they have it, but don't sell it--I needed to bring in the slide & they'd let me use some of theirs!! Augh! The art center where I needed to deliver these closes at 5:00, and I needed to have my envelope there before they closed---it was pushing 4:30 so I zipped quickly back to the photo shop, borrowed their tape and light box, (cool---I've never used this tape stuff before...!), zipped back to our gallery, checked in w/daughter then drove to the art center to drop off the envelope---barely 20 minutes 'til closing. *Phew!!! I'm happy to report, as I got back into my car, another woman was walking in w/her little envelope of slides in her hand, so I wasn't the last to turn in mine!! (We've only had these notices of the jurying date for 2-3 months...) I am probably the only one with the date "May 31, 2006" on my slides though....

So whether I get in the show or not, I feel like a winner already for not giving up! Looking forward to a less hectic day tomorrow....

25 years strong

Here's the fella that's put up with me for over 25 years---Tuesday is our 25th anniversary, and life together is better now than ever! He's the person I'm most comfortable with, he knows me, gets me, and we connect in so many great ways---it's so terrific to be married to my best friend! He played too much this past week so is spending most of the weekend working and catching up. I'm trying to figure how to honor our 25 years...what to give him that's not just a token gift but something that shows the love we've shared for so long. With him out in the shop working I can try and create something that would be easy to tuck away when I hear him come inside (which he does a lot, heating water for tea, getting a snack, needing some connectivity...). Toying with a small mini album, but being a procrastinator, not sure I can pull it off in less than 3 days. I'll see what photos I can find---wonder if we have a shot from each anniversary...time to start my research. Happy Memorial weekend!