2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE HERE. For the first many years (how many??) of my art career, I only worked in pencil, with occasional forays into colored pencil. The detail, the precision, the accuracy, the requirement of strong contrast and composition—all of these things held my attention. Plus, pencils are easy to transport, use, clean up—simple minimal […]
Complaining and Painting
Because this post is full of complaints, I will intersperse the verbal bummerations with nice photos. We had a week when the internet went out 2 or 3 times a day on 4 days, and one of those days it was down all day long. This meant that neither the cell phone nor the landline […]
Honor the Veterans
Learned in September
Because I ran off to Fall Color Week on September 29 – October 6, there was no Learned in September list. After spending an intensive week learning about plein air painting, I couldn’t remember a thing about September. Fortunately, I had already started a list. September A few repeat photos of Mineral King in September […]
Friday: Three Rivers, Not Mineral King
Normally you get to read about Mineral King on Fridays, but I have nothing to show or tell you. Maybe you only look at the pictures anyway. Maybe I am just talking to myself. . . We went for a bikeride, curious about the firecamp at the Lions’ Roping Arena and the former Three Rivers […]
Various and Sundry Thoughts on Stuff (both personal and professional)
I’m in a bit of a holding pattern, waiting for several things: the Mineral King road to open, a week-long plein air painting trip to Monterey, the indexer to finish repairing the index on the TB book, and my show, Simply Home, to open. What’s a person to do while waiting? Stuff, both personal and […]
Final Thoughts on a Trip to Oregon
My sister and brother-in-law hold a big yard sale once every year or two. We work well together “playing store”, and many other people bring their items. It is a tremendous amount of work to make sure all items are in top shape, priced with the seller’s initials, setting up tables (which often get brought […]
More Thoughts on an Oregon Road Trip
People think that Oregon is green, and you may have heard it said that in Oregon, people don’t tan—they rust. In August, Oregon is golden. There are barns, lots of trees, and golden fields, hills, countryside. There are many rolling hills, some steep grades and curves with lots of warning signs about excessive speeds, and […]
Thoughts on an Oregon Road Trip
Once a year I visit my mom, my sister and her family in Oregon. Flying is an expensive and hasslesome way to travel, so I choose to drive the 750 miles. I can haul stuff in my our pick-’em-up truck, not stand in lines, have transportation when I arrive, AND set my own schedule. (We […]
This, That, and Another Thing, Again
This: This painting is inching forward. It wants wildflowers (fiddleneck) next, maybe some distant shrubs. That: The book about TB got sent to the publisher/printer and then put on hold because it needed “hyperlinks” in order to be an e-book. Hunh?? I learned how to do this, then after 2 hours, I remembered that the […]