Beach escape

Here are a couple of fun photos from our beach escape yesterday afternoon---relaxation for one, work for the other ;)---got a chance to paint proposal rock in Neskowin---then some play time.

Unofficial Studio Friday

Ok I'm not registered, or anything like that, but heard it was about the outside of your studio--so here's what I saw today through my studio window. Signs of fall!

Painting last week

About 25 miles east of Newport is Burnt Woods. If you turn south there and drive in about 8 miles you come to Harlan---a few houses, a cemetery, a church, and not much else besides a lot of farmland. One of its highlights is the view of Mary’s Peak, the largest mountain in the Coast Range. Normally one sees Miss Mary from her east side, considering that’s where most of the population lives. A few lucky people get to see her from her west side---including many in the community of Harlan. Last week, our plein aire group had the pleasure of painting in Harlan. One of our members is a retired vet & he received permission from some of the land owners to drive onto their cattle field to paint. Others parked themselves near the church and painted scenes from there. Another favorite site was the local cemetery. Here are some images of Harlan and what I chose to paint. I’m especially happy with the colors I played around with in the foreground field.

amazing sunset

While driving home the other evening, my daughter and I experienced the most amazing sunset of my life---it's a wonder I didn't drive off the road --- I couldn't stop watching it! The changing colors, the mix of yellows, oranges, cerulean blue, magenta & violet evolved each second---the cloud shapes went from looking like the pattern of sand as the waves wash over it to candy cane striping. It truly was phenomenal... here are just a few of the digital photos we shot...just a taste of how inspiring they were...

Clicking on a photo will enlarge it a bit if you want more impact!

Sledding in the summer!

Wish I'd had my camera....

My daughter was babysitting yesterday, and called to invite me to go to a park with her and the little boys. We had fun watching them play on the swings, run in the grass and climb on the dinosaur "bones". The little guys are 5 years old and 18 months, and when we walked over to see the train we noticed people sliding down a small grassy hill sledding in the 80º heat!! They were riding blocks of ice with a folded towel on top!!

Totally new to me, but my daughter said they did a similar thing with blocks of ice at camp last year---only they hung onto the blocks of ice while laying face down with a partner holding their legs wheel-barrow-style---then they were hustled forward, spun around an end point & slid back to the starting point!

At the park, this group was sitting on their ice blocks, leaning back, holding up their legs & balancing with their arms out to get momentum for sliding down the hill. The little 5 year old with us watched a while, which prompted a nice teen fella to invite him to try out the ice. The little guy said no thanks, then climbed around on the train a while with his brother & the two of us. At one point he was watching the "sledding" again so I offered to ask if he could try. He then said he was "too shy". After some more climbing, he asked if I would go see if he could have a turn---it was too tempting for this "shy" guy! The nice teen saw he was interested again & offered his block and soggy towel. That was it, little N could have spent the whole rest of the day slipping down the hill! He had difficulty perching his little self on top of the ice---often the block took off while he plunked down with just the soggy towel, but he'd determinedly push the block back up the hill and try again! Luckily the group had lots of ice blocks, so they didn't mind in the least he'd taken over one. A young teenage girl even helped my daughter hold the leg & hands of little B the 18 month old so he could slide down a couple of times... Sweet memories :)!

Space Aliens?

Nope, just the promised photos of the bronze pour. First photo shows our friend adding more ingots of bronze to the crucible which is being heated inside that cylindrical hot pot.

Next we have my husband in the shorts & the artist (friend) lifting out the crucible full of molten bronze to start pouring into the molds. Nothing like a little gear to wear on a hot day in a very hot room!

Here they are pouring, and a close up shot below.


These molds were different from the previous set---more open, like he was pouring bars of some sort...

Good to the last drop...

Of course, one can't help but get a bit goofy...sure it's only a sauna in that room, but hey, wouldn't this be a great Halloween costume?

Red hot molten bronze

A friend invited us over to watch him pour bronze today---he especially wanted my husband to be his number one helper (I think the term was dead-guy for some reason!) The actual pour and process was quite interesting, but the standing around waiting part was a bit of a drag... I could see this process being much more desirable during a cold winter day, but a hot summer day with the heat involved in melting metal makes for quite the sauna! I was lucky being assigned to be the digital photographer I didn't have to suit up like my husband did. He put on a leather apron that extended to his ankles and strapped around his legs like chaps. Next he had heat proof gaiters he wrapped around his ankles & over his heavy leather boots. The upper body was enclosed in this reflective silver jacket, fastened tight over the chest & he then wore a pull-down mirrored face shield. Oh, sure, lets put this on while it's almost 90º out and lift heavy red hot crucibles of molten bronze!!

We were there almost 3 hours---waiting for the bronze to melt, everything to heat correctly, and finally 2 different pouring events. The artist was making plaques to be placed on a bench as a memorial for a friend. The couple that commissioned these plaques were there to watch the process, and oddly enough the friend that is being memorialized was there too---a gentle kind musician that's fighting lung cancer. He'd just recently found out he had another year added onto his life expectancy. I guess he wasn't supposed to still be alive today, but is fighting a good battle. Unfortunately the noise of the foundry made conversation difficult, so it wasn't easy to chat.

The camera I was running wasn't ours, so hopefully they'll send us some photos I can share.

Saturdays

I love our summer Saturdays and today is another good one! Love sleeping in while my sweetie is out conquering the hills on his mt. bike, returning charged and amped from the adrenaline rush while I'm calmly sipping coffee reading the paper. We then get ready and ride bikes to the Farmer's Market downtown where a riot of color, people, dogs, kids, & music awaits. We wander, perusing the veggies and flowers, picking out our favorites of the week. We wave to people we recognize, chat, bake in the sun, then stop at Great Harvest for a cookie and a slice, taking both back to the market where we find a bench in the shade. There we listen to Ramblin' Rex sing the blues while munching our goodies, and watching people, bikers, life go by. It's such an inspiration for me. I love the small town feel, the connectedness with the community and the earth, the rich bounty of the valley, the lush green grass of the river front park, the rush of wind as we ride along the bike path home. Life is good :).

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!