While in San Diego, my sister, niece and I went to an unusual restaurant called “Farmer Nate’s” or something like that. It had a nursery and some farm animals on the surprisingly large property located on a canyon in the city.
Tomorrow I’ll show you another trip I took down memory lane in Sandy Eggo.
This country girl had more fun than a human being should be allowed to have in San Diego with family and friends.
I lived in Sandy Eggo for about 4 years in college. (Went to 3 colleges down there – after 5 years I ended up with a 2 year degree from College of the Sequoias in Visalia – sure made my folks proud. Sigh.) I asked my sister if she had ever seen Sunset Cliffs below one of the schools I attended, and she was game for some exploring in her new city, so we headed out to the beach one evening.
Oh wow, I love the ocean and the beach and maybe even Sandy Eggo. (See? I done went to college.)
Still running behind after my road trip.
Where did you go, Central California Artist?
So glad you asked! I went to San Diego to see a dear friend who was there for a class, a dear cousin, another dear cousin, my dear aunt, my dear niece, and mostly, my dear sister. Oh dears.
What did you do in San Diego?
Great question (all interviewees begin their answers with “Great question” or “I’m glad you asked that”, and in a misguided attempt to appear normal, I am parroting that habit.) We had more fun than a human being should be allowed to have!
This cousin and I were so engrossed in conversation and my city education that we forgot to take a photo together. He’s almost as tall as my other cousin, and we have been good friends for most of our lives. (Our dads were very happy about that.)
I went away for 6 days and missed a blogging appointment. While I am sorting out my thoughts and photos of the time away, here is a post from about 2 weeks ago, the last time I went to Mineral King.
When I was new to oil painting, I was bound to photos. That is the best way for me to learn – mix the colors to match the photo. Finally, after many years of painting, I have developed the ability and confidence to just make scenes look as good as I am able.
I grew up with German Shepherds, not little dogs. Little dogs make me want to stand on a chair and scream, and then if I touch them, go wash my hands about 4 times.
A friend of about 35 years asked me to draw her little dog. My love for her is stronger than my aversion to little dogs, and I love to draw, so I said yes.
Meet Oliver.
(Stacy, thank you for trusting me with Oliver, even though you are well aware of my semi-suppressed cat disorder.)
Oliver arrived today and he is SO darling! You did an amazing job of capturing his likeness!
Dear friend and customer Stacy
A friend told me about a new wildflower by Crystal Creek, so Trail Guy, The Farmer, Hiking Buddy, and I went to see.
When she described the flower, I said, “Sounds like Nettleleaf Horsemint”. But she didn’t remember a serrated leave edge, and I can rarely resist the call of a new flower.
I dragged my hiking partners along for a quest that ended in nothing except a good time in a beautiful place on a great day. Well, wah.
In the Art World, people who really like an artist and buy more than one piece of art from her are called “collectors”. In my world, I call them “friends”.
A friend who has several of my paintings (and quite a few drawings too) asked me to help her figure out how to arrange them. Since she lives 250 miles away, I did this via the magic of technology.
She sent me a photo so I could see which 4 pieces she had and how she just put them willy-nilly on existing nails. (I won’t show that photo, because of my strong policies of protecting people’s privacy on the World Wide Web.)
I made up these vignettes for her. (Oops, sorry, “vignette” is Art Speak for little illustration.)
She has a favorite arrangement from these. Do you?
It probably depends on the space to be filled. And there are probably many other options too, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her. That would be rude to any friend, especially one who collects my art.
I set up the easel in the backyard of the cabin and worked on the painting from memory and the “visual notes” I had made the day before. That’s what Marty Weekly did, so I figured it must be a good plan.
Wait! He didn’t set up in my backyard; he took it home to finish in his studio. His plan was 2 sessions, using little examples of colors and textures that he placed on the canvas during his plein air session.
It made me happy to look out the window and see a plein air painting that I liked. Being familiar with the scene, having seen Marty’s way of tackling it, and adding the details I love all made the difference in my confidence and ability.
Of course, if it doesn’t sell in about 15 minutes, I will be questioning my confidence and ability.
And there was a third session to paint the edges.
There will be a fourth session to write the title on the back and add a hanging wire.
A fifth session will be after it is dry: scanning the painting.
But wait! There’s more: it will need varnishing.
After watching Marty Weekly paint, I caught the plein air bug again. I wanted to set up in exactly the same place, same time of day, and attack the same scene, using the methods that Laurel Daniel taught back in April.
I forgot my camera, so after painting for about 1-1/2 hours, I went back to the cabin to get it. What a hoot to walk away from a wet painting on an easel with a full palette just sitting out there in the elements. No worries because it was an extraordinary day.
Enough. Come back tomorrow for finishing the painting.