What's Up?

 Song - Working for a Living by Huey Lewis And The News

My grandson Henry has been reading to his YaYa......

 

 

 

He has been helping me water my garden, especially the potted plants.....

 

 

and he has been painting all of our outdoor furniture too!

 

 

 

Before you think I am working him too hard.......

don't worry as he also gets to relax in the warm spa with his daddy Andy.

ME?

I decorated for Halloween.....

....and spent some much needed time in my studio to finish this painting of a white Dahlia....

Unfurling  30 x 30

RBG

 

i have no words..........

Summertime

Song - Working for a Living by Huey Lewis & The News

"Summer Dozers & Posers"

Ten years ago I painted this painting of my son Andy (far left)

and his friends - Jeff, Brett & Jordan working in our backyard for some spending money.

They were actually digging out the hillside above

the pool so we could add a hot tub spa.

But this painting turned out quite large - 5 feet wide.

What was I thinking?  How would I transport it to shows and events?

 I found a way....

"We can't hire out our own inner work,

but we can do the manual labor with delight and decency."

--Sakyong Mipham

Tanguy

Song -  Stary, Stary Night by Don McLean

Vincent Van Gogh painted three portraits of Père Tanguy a valued friend who ran a small paint shop in Paris. Tanguy would occasionally accept artwork for payment of art supplies. This one was painted in 1887 and is hanging at the Musee Rodin in Paris.

"Painting is a faith, 

and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion."

--Vincent Van Gogh

Paris Painting Returns to Paris (Kind of)

Song - Little French Song by Carla Bruni

I had a happy surprise several months ago when a woman named Isabelle contacted me through my painting website.  She was wondering about purchasing a painting that I did a number of years ago.  Unfortunately that specific painting had sold several years ago so besides making sure she was legit and not some hacker, I did my research and put on my thinking cap.  Isabelle has a French language business in Paris and she is a tutor.  She wanted my painting for her website. 

Here was my solution.....anything sent to Paris would be incredibly expensive to send and since she only needed an image of this painting (which I still own the copyright on) I offered to send her a high resolution copy for a nominal fee while the money transaction would go through PayPal.  She was very happy with that idea and the most charming thing is that we still email each other every few weeks wondering how each of us is dealing in this time of craziness!

If you would like to take a French language class in Paris or on Skype her contact is here:

https://french-in-paris.com/

'Tis A Gift

Song - Take Me Home by Phil Collins

Happy to be at home and painting again!  Above is a painting that I started yesterday of a bouquet of peonies.  The photo reference was taken this spring in Paris. (see below)

Can you believe this beautiful and massive bouquet taken through a shop window?

"Just living is not enough....

one must have sunshine, freedom, 

and a little flower."

--Hans Christian Anderson

Rain Drops Keep Falling

What to do on a hot, humid, rainy day in Nantucket? (it was 98% humidity)

Paint! Knit! Make some beautiful jewelry!

This is from a reference photo I took yesterday in Hyannis Port. Still need to do a few final corrections but I was pretty happy to be able to paint today while Sydney knitted and Jackie designed some bracelets.

This morning as soon as we got up we headed into town to do our grocery shopping. It was muggy out but felt like it wouldn’t be quite as warm as yesterday.  We brought our groceries home & fixed a yummy lunch of tomatoes, carrots, broccoli slaw, various cheeses, deli meats, olives & sliced baguette.

Then we headed to the art store to get me some Turp (can’t fly with turp) and to a bead shop for Jackie to buy some supplies. Then over to Sayles Seafood Market & Cafe to buy something for dinner as we did not want to turn on the oven!

Everything outside has moss and lichen growing on it

A little wren looking in my bedroom window

I decided to sit outside in the fresh air to paint but by the time I had gotten everything set up some big rain drops began to fall so I came inside & set up in the huge mud room.  Just as I had begun to paint, the girls talked me into painting in the dining room with them where there was a nice cross breeze. We all enjoyed our creative pursuits until dinner when we had fresh prawns with a delicious cocktail sauce & creamy clam chowder & salad.

A storm approached and we had some thunder & lightening while we had chocolate chip cookies & discussed restaurant ideas for tomorrow.

Tomorrow we head to the beach!

Here We Go Again!

Song - Sloop John B by Fisherman's Friends


Remember my two amazing girlfriends who are sisters?

And do you remember how we decided  to go to Paris at the last minute this Spring?

Well we are doing it again but this time we are heading for Nantucket!

Yikes!  This Friday we will fly into Boston, drive to Hyannis and then we have reservations on a ferry that will take us to Nantucket!

Jackie's husbands family has owned a summer cottage on the island for many generations.  There is even a painting studio on the property where his grandmother used to paint.

You know where you will find me!  I have been dusting off my plein air supplies and my swim suit!

I have never been to Nantucket before so I am excited to explore.  We hope to go on a house & garden tour on Wednesday in Sconset and several people have recommended restaurants all over the island.

Hopefully my iPad and blog will get along this trip so I will get to share some of the island with you!

"Sometimes you just have to go with the waves."  

--Unknown

Bear With Me

Song - The Camping Song by Smith & Smith


I have been home for two whole weeks now from our recent trip to France. But due to a bad cough, lack of sleep due to coughing, jet lag, laundry and a multitude of other things, I had to put my blogging on the back burner for awhile. Now I'm back and ready to rock & roll!

My garden has been in full bloom and I am enjoying the cut flowers as well as doing some much needed work in the yard.....like putting in my vegetable garden.

Several days after returning we had a double header birthday party for my daughter-in-law Ashley and son Tyler. He always wanted to have a Bob Ross paint-along party so we dug up some of my previously used but not-ready-for-prime-time canvas's to be painted over.

Grandma Betty & Tyler

Above are just some of the birthday painters.  

Pretty great beginners here with their Bob Ross wigs on!

We painted along with his show - "Valley View".

 The very next day Mr. B flew to Washington DC for the week for work. 

I can't imagine what that did to his jetlag????

And with this last weekend being Mother's Day, my kiddo's invited me up to Boonville where they lease a little spot of beautiful land for camping and hunting.  This weekend they took me on a shooting spree........a "cameras only" shooting spree!

They have installed a humongous tent with a pot bellied stove and a queen bed. 

Their plans are to build a raised deck to put the tent on.

There is running water, electricity & a real flush toilet on site!

However, Mr. B and I stayed in the nearby Boonville Hotel which was delightful!

They have beautiful grounds with lots going on, like a Saturday morning farmers market, music,  oyster shucking Sundays and in the summer it's paella Sundays!

There is wine tasting nearby, hikes in the redwoods, a little shopping but mostly peace & quiet.

Andy helping Jon & Jacque set up camp

All of my loveys were there to celebrate & relax (except one - Tyler's SO was in Texas.....we missed you Monica!)

Andy showing Mr. B where things are

Chewy, Jon & Jacque hiking

 Even my grand-dog Chewy was there!

and dear Ashley who is always fun to be with!

Everyone worked so happily making delicious meals.  We even had a picnic lunch by the river while several of the guys went swimming.

We spotted some wildlife.....

 Lot's of  wildflowers......

And even some wild horses! (Unfortunately my camera is having focus problems and probably needs a good cleaning. It's nothing to do with the operator!!!)

On Sunday we had breakfast and a leisurely drive home and then cooked dinner for my sweet mama!

Thank you all for making it a memorable Mother's Day!  

I couldn't have dreamed up anything this special.

"Cherish your children...for they are the footprints 

that you will leave behind." 

--Taylor Evan Fulks

Where Have You Been?

Song - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan

Where have you been my darling young one?

I'm a bad, bad blogger.....I forgot November and December!

Well I didn't really forget them.  It was more like they bowled me over!!!

 I babysat my son's sweet pup Chewy. What a cutie!

We had 22 guests for Turkey Day!

I completed two commissions and started a new painting.

This was from our Spring trip to Scotland - a piper greeted us in the Highlands near Glencoe.

My mom and I had some downtime at Lake Tahoe.

We had a great cousin's reunion which I did a lot of family tree work for.

David, Timmy & myself

And then Christmas just blew by......

And I was sick the entire time (3 months) with some kind of 

flu-bronchitis-pneumonia-cold-cough thingy! UGGG!

And being stubborn - I never went to the doctors.

Lucky for me, my husband and my boys all cook as well do their loveys, so I had plenty of help.

I hope you will forgive my absence for the last two months.

I'm still here!

As a treat I am going to share two special yummy recipes 

Pumpkin Bread a la Monica

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

1 ½ c. flour

½ tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. pumpkin puree

½ c. vegetable oil (I sometimes use ¼ c. water and ¼ c. oil)

2 eggs, beaten

¼ c. water

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. cloves

½ c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, salt, sugar, & baking soda together. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, & spices. Pour into bowl with dry ingredients & mix until all are combined. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3-in. loaf pan, bake 50-60 minutes until done in the middle. Remove from pan, cool on a rack.

 

Jacque's Delicious Cranberry Honey Butter

 1/4 c. honey
1 c. butter
1/4 - 1/2 c. chopped dried cranberries
& orange zest to taste

Jacque placed the butter in small canning jars with handmade labels. 

“And now let us welcome the New Year —full of things that have never been.”

—RAINER MARIA RILKE

The Paint Grinder

Song - Honshirable by Miyata Kohachiro

This is a "Portrait of Père Tanguy" by Vincent van Gogh and is hanging at Musée Rodin in Paris.  It was painted in 1887 and is one of three paintings of Julien Tanguy by van Gogh.  Tanguy was a paint grinder, he sold art supplies and was an art dealer.  Personally I think he became an art dealer by default because the artists who came to him for supplies, couldn't pay him so he accepted their artwork as a form of payment.  The Japanese prints in the background of this painting were also sold in Tanguy's shop and they greatly influenced Vincent van Gogh's painting style.

"I would rather die of passion than of boredom" 

- Vincent van Gogh

Oscar

Song - The Painter by Neil Young

Friday a friend and I went to an exhibit at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.  The exhibit was "Monet - The Early Years" and encompassed his paintings from 1858 - 1872.

He put in the work to find his style.  

Would you ever think that these two paintings were painted by Claude Monet?

 

 The card for the above painting read "the still life was the rainy day activity for plein air painters"

This painting is a detail from the two huge canvases that depicts an outdoor luncheon.  The dappled light just brings you eye around and around the paintings.

His snow scene's were brilliant.  My very favorite painting of his (the one directly about) brought tears to my eyes - The Magpie.  Even though it looks like a pretty basic snow scene, there is so much soft color in this painting.

And his depiction of water during these early years shows where he was style was heading.

 A

 B

 C

D

Can you match the water details in the paintings above with the paintings below?

B

D

C

A

And check out a close up of the "people" in the above painting.

Two are headless and one mans pants are not attached to his upper half!

And does this even matter when you look at the entire painting?  Not to me as I enjoyed the energy of the painting, the movement in the water, the colors, the brushstrokes and the feeling that it evokes.

 "The Beach at Trouville"

His people in these scenes are just "suggestions"!

Another favorite of mine was borrowed from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC for this show and is titled "Argenteuil". 

I loved the show and I loved seeing so many paintings of Claude Monet that I have never seen before!

Now you are probably wondering .....

"Why did she name this post - Oscar?"

I never knew.....now we both do!

And I still say that Brandon Crawford looks a lot like Oscar!!!

"Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things.  

It's enough to drive one mad.

I have such a desire to do everything,

my head is bursting with it."

--Claude Monet