Surrounded by Color

Song - At Last by Etta James


So much has happened in the last few weeks......

It was Mr. B's birthday on Valentines Day and we had several friends over for Paella and laughter! Mr. B cooked the yummy Paella since I had carried this lovely copper pan from Paris as a gift for him 5 years ago and it's never been used!  Until NOW........

My nephew and his wife have been on a trip and my son volunteered to watch their dog for them while they are gone.  But my son and his fiancee both work full time so I volunteered to take Canonball for a few days.  What a sweet, loving doggie!  I remember her as a youngster and she was a bit on the wild side but not any more.  Very mellow.....and just the right height to pet when you pass her in the house!

Did you notice that "special" word that I casually inserted in the above paragraph?

YES!!!  Andy asked Ashley to marry him last weekend and she said YES!!!  I cried for 3 days with tears of joy! Mr. B and I both adore her and we couldn't be happier!  Heck, I'm crying right now just telling you about it............

I think my son has good taste in a wife and a ring......bling!

And on a final note, my momma Mourning Dove is back.  She and her partner built a nest in a day and that evening she was sitting on it.  So sweet.

So you can see how much color has been in my life recently and I'm loving it!!!
 


"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." --Douglas Adams

Before & After

I have a new toy AND I have internet again! You know how it feels to go somewhere without your purse, wallet or cell phone? You feel kind of "naked". Something is wrong but you can't quite put your finger on it. Well that's how it has been around here for the last few weeks without the internet. Something just felt wrong. I couldn't even wash the dishes or do the laundry because I felt "off". No internet. Pull weeds, cook dinner - not tonight dear, we don't have internet.

Well after many calls to the cable company and many hours spent looking at all of my hodge-podge systems by a very patient neighbor-friend-computer guru, he got it up and running today! At lightening speeds too! Well not quite, but it does seem fast after not having any computer for almost two weeks. It just amazes me how attached you can get to technology.....not sure that's a good thing.

My new toy is learning how to create a color palette from my photo's with Photoshop. Which is way fun! You just make these little boxes and using your eyedropper tool, you sample a color in your photo and drop it in the box. It amazes me how intense the colors can be. Check it out....

I still have to work at get my margins even and maybe change them to white but for now, I am pretty excited about being creative with yummy colors!

Color Your World

A class

On

Color

Is

Starting soon

Big Picture Classes

And Tracey Clark

I am

Excited.

To say the least!

Reds and Yellows

Green and blue

Orange and purple

Whites

Browns

And

Colors

Between

Oh my!

They have been my

Love,,,

Since

Painting

Became

My life.

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere 

and don't notice it." --Alice Walker

My Boys

A friend recently sent me some old photos from our family vacations. I came across this one of me and my middle son, Jon. He was the kind of kid that should of been in the movies or at least commercials. Cute as a button, if I do say so myself! He had a "big" personality and thought outside the box. He was always thinking deep thoughts like "Exactly when did that cow lick me?" and after a few minutes of scratching my head, he explained that the girl who had just given him a haircut told him that he had a cowlick. He was about four at the time.
On another occasion when he was deep in thought, he asked "Just when did the world turn into color?" Mmmm....where did that one come from? When I asked him what he was talking about, he responded with "You know how it used to be black & white and now the world is full of color!". After discussing this with his father, Mr. B, we realized that he had seen old photo's and old TV shows (like I Love Lucy) which were in black & white. Makes perfect sense to me now that a smarty pants kid like this would think that the whole world was void of color and suddenly one day turned into full spectrum color just like in "The Wizard of Oz"!

Love you Jon-e-b......hope you're enjoying the challenges of college!

Shop Flowers

This young woman invited me inside to photograph her incredible floral arrangements. Every one of them was just exquisit! Look at the size and color of these Peony's especially with the Snowball Viburnum and I love how she tucked in one oddball color to delight the senses.


"Hold out your hands to feel the luxury of the sunbeams."    Helen Keller

Weight of Spirit

Yesterday my husband and I went to a friends wedding at the San Francisco Presidio.  It was a blend of cultures as the bride was from Napa and the groom is Nigerian.  The guests were a colorful blend of ethnic backgrounds.  What I found most interesting were the grooms' mother and aunts who were dressed in bright tradional clothing and head wraps.  I have found with age & weight, that I personally have begun to wear "black" as a daily routine.  I never would have been courageous enough to stand out in a crowd!  But these women had weight - real weight.  They had weight of spirit.  They were full of smiles, family, love, courage, pride and - oh yeah -FUN!  Gave me something to ponder.....

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." - The Dalai Lama

The Pond Gardener

The Pond Gardener at Giverny

Today I am working on a painting of the pond cleaner at Giverny.  I am working at adding some background atmosphere, as it was a overcast Spring day.  Every morning a gardener goes out in a little green boat and maintains Claude Monet's waterlilies.  I am trying to capture the tranquility of the pond as well as the gardener who is intent on doing  a good job in this beautiful place. This is my photo reference and tomorrow I hope to post the finished painting!

"Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment."  - Claude Monet

Value Studies



"Promises" by Jeanette Le Grue


Yesterday I took a painting class from Jeanette Le Grue at her studio in Tomales, CA.  It's a quaint little town just a few miles inland from the ocean and a beautiful drive from my home in Walnut Creek.  There are farms nearby and we could hear the cows "moo" while we were painting.  Jeanette had us work on a three color value study from a still life set up.  It is interesting how intense that can be when you need to break down all of the colors that you see into only three values.  It is a good lesson as it helps you to see how important it is to simplify your painting and to tie your darks together.  Next week we will move to color.  Jeanette Le Grue is a gifted teacher and wonderful artist.  If you would like to see her work, check out her website or head on over to Tomales Fine Art Gallery.

Jeanette Le Grue's website - http://www.legrue.com/ 

"Still - in a way - nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe