Running through

Wow, the days have gotten so busy, I barely have time to check my email. Please forgive me for running through, I will have time in a few days. Just wanted to make sure I don't become totally forgotten! The old saying " Out of sight, out of mind" is so true. This is another pastel I finished. It is a picture of a friends one eyed dog, Jack.

I loved the retro look of her livingroom! I entered it into a pastel show, I will know if it was excepted in January. But by January I may have forgotten I entered it.

Where does the time go?!

August seems to have flown by, rushing through as though it didn't want to be noticed but as it leaves I think, "there goes summer". September always brings things like school, a breather before the holidays and fall. The start of color, shorter days and cooler weather, hopefully. I have done so much this summer, more than I can remember doing since before Jenn's accident, I feel like my life is slowly evolving again. I haven't had much time to call my own or do what I want since 2000, but this summer seemed to have been filled with pockets of time to call my own. I find that its hard to know how to feel, I know that Jenn both suffers and benefits from my little selfish diversions. I know I need a life too, yet I can't help but feel guilty that because she is totally dependent on me for most things, if I am not there, she has to wait or go without. Its never very serious, just sad. So in that lies the guilty feelings I get at night when I think of the things I didn't do for her today because I was doing something for me. Ohhhh, how did I get off on this, enough, just stop...... someone slap me. OK to move on...

I have been painting pastels and another trip to my moms, so special, that time together. We all had a great time, we picked, canned and ate blackberry jam. Picked and canned pesto, went wine tasting at all the local vineyards, and collected glass from Glass beach! I took hundreds of pictures and have lots of good stuff to paint. I will post soon. My mom is amazing, and although she is in pain she never stops. Jennifer spent afternoons with her in the garden, enjoying all my moms hard work.

I finished my bird pastel I started in class, and finished another one that I entered into a pastel show. LOL Its not good enough to get in but it made me get myself out there. I need the deadlines. I am trying to fit it all in, I want every second of time to be stuffed with life!

Pageant of the Masters

Last night we went to the Pageant of the Masters and the Feastival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. It is a live painting production in an open air theater. We happened to get amazing seats and had an incredible view of the stage and all actors. It was wonderfully fun, we walked through the art show before, sat and listened to the band and then saw the show. If you have never been I highly recommend it. It is hard to believe its been going on 75 years and I have never been, and I grew up here too! Its so funny how we don't do the local things yet we will travel to do other things. There are so many wonderful sites and activities right in my own backyard!

Here are my grandkids a week ago, at Laguna Beach, playing in the water.

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Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

My pastel from class, picture taken with my phone!

Ok, I just got home and checked out the photo and , No Good, so I replaced it with one from my camera. The phone is light sensitive and didn't appreciate the window placement in the room! I finished it and started another one. It was so much fun!! Thanks Marta for the use of your pastels, I used them along with my ten tons too! The one thing about soft pastels is that you cant really blend colors to make new colors so you have to buy the colors you need, it makes for lots of pastels! I want to hang this in my sewing room.

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Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

This is my view as I start my first day of my three days of pastel
classes with Dianna Ponting in San Clemente. The owner of the art
store has graciously allowed us to stay with her in their beautiful
home,thanks Patti!

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Originally uploaded by imararefind

Serious Hubby

I wanted to do a pencil drawing of Randy, and I wanted it to be serious. That was hard because he is usually smiling. Anyway, I have been just playing with my mechanical pencil on sketch paper. I did this but not overly happy with it, I don't know if I caught his essence, I want to do another, maybe smiling next time! He hates it, says he looks old, but he doesn't, just distinguished. He wears this big ole hat when he is in the sun working all day. I love him in it!

Newport Dunes

We just got back from a few days in Newport Beach. The other kids camped at Newport Dunes and we got a handicapped room at the Hyatt across the street. OH MY, life is rough! As they were slaving over a hot stove in their toy haulers, I was ordering hummus and roasted vegetables. As they were playing UNO, I was playing shuffleboard. We spend Thursday night at the pool with them and Friday we all played UNO before we dressed for a wonderful buffet dinner and the jazz festival. It was so great to have that time with all the kids. I took a ton of beautiful pictures but they accidentally got erased since I can't figure out how to protect some and erase others. Ahhhh So unfortunately you are stuck seeing my lack luster sketches. It was a wonderful, relaxing few days that we all needed. We even took time to go to Sterling Art Store and Rogers Gardens. It was great! Since my post is lacking photos I included lots of links!! Oh I sketched another smoking man, his hand is a bit wonky but he was quite an interesting subject.

Earthquake update: Many of you know that we experienced a fairly moderate earthquake last week. We were only about 5 miles from the epicenter when it hit. The whole area rolled for about 30 seconds. It was very unsettling! I was born and raised here and still hate those things. Jenn and I were eating lunch outside of the rehab hospitals cafeteria when it hit. We were sitting next to the fountain which I feared might topple over, instead it just sloshed lots of water over its edges. It was really amazing as we sat there and watched all around us, everything seemed to move and sway, the palm trees, lights, buildings, street signs. Lots of nurses and doctors ran outside to see if there was damage, and everyone lost their cell coverage for awhile. I happened to be talking to Randy when it hit, he didn't feel it until several seconds later since he was in Laguna Beach. We all dread the "Big One" that is supposed to hit so we never know if this could be the one when the shaking starts. There was some damage but noone got hurt, thank God!

Mom Swimming

Back in April when we initially filled the pool and it was a chilly 63 degrees, Randy agreed to heat it a bit so we could swim! My mom braved the water and I got some great photos of her. I posted one of them on WC WDE as one of my sixteen photos. I had lots of people paint her and I ended up with some great interpertations of her. This is my painting, had to be done in less than 2 hours, it took me hour and half. I am somewhat satisfied although I wish I had done her hair a bit softer. I might try again.

Long Beach Quilt Show

Well, as rumors have it, some of you know that Marta and I went to the Quilt Show in Long Beach, CA on Friday. I have classes planned all day Saturday so our plan was to go check in and see the show then I would attend classes Saturday, while Marta went to the Aquarium of the Pacific to sketch and paint.

The show was great, we almost ran through it though since we didn't have a full day and we were starving. Lots of vendors and some cool quilts. I love the art quilts, since that's what I do.

Here are a few of the entries, great stuff!

We stayed at the Hyatt, and had a wonderful room overlooking the harbor! The lights were amazing as was the view, from our window we could see the Queen Mary and the dome for the Spruce Goose.

After the quilt show we changed and decided to walk around a bit before deciding where we would eat. We walked down one of the main restaurant rows where the eatery's lined each side of the street. There was live jazz bands playing and the hustle and bustle of the city hummed around us. It was still a bit early so we walked up and down the street reading the menus that were displayed in front of every restaurant. We originally wanted to eat at this little hole in the wall, cafe, wine bar, art gallery, it sounded perfect. When we got there it was a little lack luster and there sandwich type menu wasn't what we had hoped for so we kept walking. There were plenty of people walking the streets and the police were everywhere. They were on horseback, bicycles, cars, walking, they were all over. Every restaurant had outside seating along the street and I wondered if they appreciated the police on horseback or not, considering that the horses would leave gifts wherever they pleased.

We decided on Sevillas, a familiar place where we found things that sounded good. We ordered Sangrittas (Sangria/Margarita combo) and sat outside so we could enjoy the city. It was interesting to be sitting amongst smokers, most restaurants have banned smoking but I guess outside in Long Beach its still OK. We had our fill and walked along the boardwalk and the pier. Marta was watching moving stars in the sky(she swears they were moving) as I watched the people walking and bands playing. It just proves that you don't have to go far to feel like a vacation! We tried to talk her hubby into coming down to see us but he couldn't so we just waved at all the other firemen that drove by.

My classes were good too, the first was taught by and IQA judge and she was teaching binding finishes. Can I say BORING but I got through it. She was a bit slow and methodical in her approach and she had a hard time explaining herself to the class. I wont do that one again. I loved, loved my second class. It was called Fabric Graffiti and we painted, stamped, drew and colored on both fabric and paper. It was a wonderful creative class, very relaxed and the time flew by. I could of stayed in that class another 3-4 hours easy. These are just backgrounds for either journaling or collaging or whatever. Some I am not done with yet, can't wait to come up with a way to use them.

Keeping everyone afloat!

Today I had all the grandkids over for the day. When school let out I got some crazy idea one day that I could help the two older ones with their poor grades by working with them during the summer. I have had them about 2 days per week now. I don't know what drugs I must have been on the day I decided to do this, like I don't have enough happening! I want to know which fuse in my brain is short circuiting that causes me to not only agree but outright suggest that I take these kinds of projects! After all, I raised my kids already, this is crazy. Then I slap myself and then tell myself ," Be quiet you dork, you already agreed."

I went out and bought some learning DVD's, pencil's, paper. Since I don't have my teaching degree I need to look organized and prepared. I even took them to the library and got them all library cards and we checked out books!

They had never been to a library!

"What's a library card, Nana?"

"It's a card that lets you check out books"

"For what?"

"To read"

"Wow, look at those books over there, they say WORLD BOOKS across all the books"

"Yeah, haven't you ever seen World Books before?"

"NO!" What are they?

"They are encyclopedias!" I used to love to read them and every year we would get a new one.

"Wow, Nana, whats an encyclopedia!?"

Looking totally perplexed and feeling 7000 years old I responded with " It is like the internet in book form"

I have my work cut out for me!

We have cooking lessons, ediquette training, and lots of swimming practice! As hard as it is I have loved every minute with them. I usually take Mikey and Kylie together and then take Nathan, the two year old, on another day. As with most two year olds, life revolves around them and their needs. Today, everyone was here and something amazing happens to kids when they are all together, trouble and chaos! And why is it that when boys get together they are constantly belting out announcements of all the body noises they like to make. Like we all don't know what just happened. I don't know if I can really control chaos, it just happens!

And then, in the middle of the madness, there are moments that speak for themselves, those moments when all is right with the world.

Made in the USA

The dog show was on last night, and Jennifer watches them all. As I came into her room the cutest Boston Terrier was on the screen so I froze the picture for a few minutes and sketched this adorable dog! The lighting was so strong the right side of his face was almost completely blacked out with only the tips of the ears shining. I threw some paint on it today, it was fun, loose and fast. About an hour, 12 x 16, cold press. I think that Boston's are one of our "developed" breeds hence the title.

Peaches in Crystal

Today was really great. Marta got home and came right over so we could play with our new paints and brushes. We had a wonderful visit, she shared all her wonderful sketches, we had lunch and then after painting we swam. It was wonderful. When Randy got home he played cabana boy and made us martini's and served us at pool side, wow, what a day! This is my painting with my new colors, very clean and transparent colors, I like!

Summer Peaches

There are a few things that mean summer is here! One of them is eggplant and fresh tomatoe sandwiches (to die for!) and the other is fresh picked peaches on Bryers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream! Oh yummy.

We moved both my apricot and peach tree during the construction this last year and I was sure that I wouldn't have much fruit. But to all of our surprise the tree, happyin their new location, set tons of fruit. I watched the apricots start to turn a beautiful orange and as I got ready to pick the birds got every last apricot! Oh no! I swore that this wouldn't happen to my peaches! Its amazing how the birds just know when the fruit is ready and they come in and get them right before picking time. I have done everything from nets to CD's hanging off the branches at our old house to try and beat the critters to the fruit. So I was getting ready to cover the tree when I noticed that the fruit was ready, so I ate some just to be sure, perfect! So I picked a bowl of them, we ate them over the next few days and I went back out to see if there were any left and to my amazement, nothing was touched. This repeated itself twice again until now I am down to a few left to pick. The birds for some reason haven't touched them, makes me wonder whats wrong with them?

I took tons of pictures to paint so I can thoroughly enjoy my peach season through out the year. I then bought some new watercolors to help inspire me!

Fishing July 08

Well its that time of year again, deep sea fishing is here. Casa Colina plans about 3 trips a year and Friday was our first. The fishing was amazing, although my thoughts of sitting quietly in the chair relaxing as I wait for a bite never happened. We took the grandkids and Melissa along with Jennifer. Many of the people who signed up to go didn't show up so the boat was fairly empty which left the deckhands with little to do but bait our hooks and untangle our lines. It was heaven. I didn't have to stick one hook through a eye, or mouth or gill the whole trip! We barely were able to get our hooks in the water when our lines were hit and we either caught something or lost our bait. Everyone took lots of fish home, but Jennifer won for the biggest fish again. And whats even more amazing is that as they were helping her reel in her fish another line got tangled up in hers and as they pulled her line up another white sea bass hit the other lines bait and they reeled in two fish! It was like she caught them both! Here she is the ultimate fishing queen!

Two hour challenge

I belong to a watercolor group online and we set challenges up weekly. It is great fun to have such a rich selection of photos to pick from each week. These are meant to challenge us to try things we don't normally do, whether it is a different medium, style or subject. This week I managed to fit in 3 quick paintings. This one was a boating scene from Roger's photo group. I cropped out one boat and focused on it and the surrounding water which I have never painted. It was a great stretch for me, I obviously need more practice at it. This painting was done in about 1 hour. Its really about just making myself try and paint or draw something everyday, another challenge. Have a great Monday everyone!

Happy Fourth of JULY- Independence Day

Well tomorrow is the fourth, a day set aside to basically have a party and end the day with fireworks. Its great, a fun filled day in the middle of summer. Its always incredibly hot but by the time the fireworks happen the sun has gone down and the summer nights are wonderful. The kids still love to drive to the top of the local hills and watch the fireworks happening all around Riverside. Every year, when they were small, we would take them to watch the fireworks show on Mount Rubidoux, while we played the corresponding radio station on the car radio that was broadcasting and playing the music. It was all so patriotic, then right after the grand finale the mountain always caught on fire and the kids loved to watch the firetrucks race up the hill and put out the fires! Not so fun this year with all the fires burning out of control, I wonder if they will even have fireworks on Mt. Rubidoux this year?

We are having the family and some friends over for a barbeque, swimming and just enjoying each others company. I took Jenn and Kylie to the nail salon and we had our nails done, and here is my pedicure, I think it looks great in the pool! This is where I plan on having my feet most of the day, I hope everyone has a great day.

I have so many dear friends in th UK, I will be thinking of you today working. Sorry!

A Day in LA

Back to the doctor at UCLA for Jennifer's throat. With the traffic on the freeways lighter than normal we made good time and arrived early. I had my little sketchbook in my purse but no pencil. I settled for a blue ball point pen in desperation. In the corner of the waiting rooms sits a endtable next to the many chairs. On this table is a giant nose made of marble with a bronze plaque proudly mounted on the top front with the artists information and probably the name of the piece, although I dare not walk over and look too closely at this giant nose. I assume they felt it to be appropriate decor for a top ears, nose and throat doctors waiting room. I suddenly started to wonder about the decor in maybe the proctologist office for example, the urinary doctors offices? This is how my mind began to wander as I sat in the office drawing a giant marble nose. LOL After we got some good news about Jennifer's breathing we felt like celebrating so we decided to go out to dinner and to a play at the Geffen Playhouse which happens to be just across the street from the hospital and the medical center. We sat in the courtyard and drank coffee as we waited for the playhouse doors to open. The courtyard is really lovely with wonderful plants and wrought iron tables and chairs surrounding a fountain. I sat and drew, with my blue ball point pen and happened to capture these masterpieces. LOL just kidding, the sketches lack many things but did give me a few minutes of relaxation as I became absorbed in the details of the buildings, both inside and out. We were one of the first to arrive and I always enjoy watching people and in L.A. there are such colorful people to watch! There were a lot of older people, many who seemed to be regulars and came in greeting everyone. There were those who were dressed to the nines and those who were underdressed. There were several gay couples sipping their wine as they walked around the room. It was great fun, just the energy in the room was exciting. I love when we take this long day and make it an adventure, I can't wait till we come again!

Pool and painting, doesn't get much better than that!!

Today we were being baked alive as the sun heated us into the triple digits. Marta came over and we had lunch, swam and watched my grandkids. It was a much deserved lazy day as we drank sangria and thumbed through magazines. It was so nice to just visit and hang out with a friend. So much is going on in her life, I hope she will start to heal. The pool is staying at about 82 degrees now so its easier to get in and it still feels refreshing. Its funny how much work it is to just lay out by the pool. We have to make sure everything is shaved, pulled up, pulled in and we have to have a cute bathing suit and cover up. Waterproof makeup if you decide to wear it and a cute hat, sunscreen and a recent pedicure. Sunglasses, music, reading material and a towel all just to relax. LOL That calls for a nap! I think Marta headed home to do just that.

I did make myself pull out my much neglected paint brushes and paint and do the Wet Canvas WDE challenge. Here is the girls husband, Duane. He has a great smirk and I loved the picture. Maybe he was checking us out by the pool!! We did look pretty cute.

The Oasis

We went up to visit my mom and hook up her electricity. I hadn't been to "the valley" as it is called for over 4 years. I won't bore you with the reasons, none seem good enough to have stayed away so long. Both my mother and my youngest brother live there. My brother bought a piece of property and created a home and successful business. My mom followed and helped him while she searched for a place of her own. She found a 5 acre parcel that overlooks the valley almost to the ocean. This is where she began building her dream.

My mother is talented in more ways than anyone I have ever known. You might think that I say this only because she is my mother. I am not alone, in fact, most people she meets feel this way about her. She is generous to a fault, and works harder than most people a 1/4 of her age. She never complains and her soul is fed through the satisfaction of her labor. One of the great loves in her life is gardening, flowers, roses, and design. She has worked most of her life in design. Making things beautiful is her greatest gift. She can turn the ugliest things into coveted treasures. She has a Midas touch and all of us consider ourselves golden to have her in our lives.

Our trip would take 12 hours, and the closer we got the more excited we all became. We drove through the central part of California, agricultural land, without much to look at. But as we start getting closer to her neck of the woods the hills start to green, the fauna and flora become richer and denser. The last 45 minutes consist of windy roads covered in oaks and bay laurel trees. The shadows lap over the road to create dark, mottled tunnels and then open up into sun drenched asphalt again. Our eyes struggle to adjust as we make our way around each turn. At dusk we have the added worry of darting deer which have been known to aim for passing cars. Their homes are in between Booneville and Philo. Both are small towns where if you blink you have missed most of it. We slow down as we make our way through the heart of Booneville passing, the senior center, elder center, fairground, general store, hotel, cafe, ice cream parlor, nursery then we can increase our speed as we pass miles of vineyards on each side of the road. Mountains surround us as we make our way through the valley that is being consumed by grapes. I recognize the white picket fence that is the vineyard next to my moms and brothers place. The sun is almost gone yet as we drive in there is just enough light left to see the explosion of color that awaits. It is like visiting a botanical garden, a retreat in all aspects of the word.

No matter how busy my mom is she always is the supreme hostess. The house is spotlessly clean, a fire is roaring in the fireplace and there is music playing. Each of our rooms has been lovingly prepared for us, clean sheets, warm feather down comforters and fresh flowers fill every room. Dinner is still hot and waiting for us even though it is 9:00pm. We can't wait to get out and get our hugs then to explore, see all the changes that have taken place since we were last there. The house is always warm and comfortable with her there. I love just having coffee with her in the mornings or ice cream at night. She loves to feed us well too, we all gain weight when we visit. No wonder I found that I was so tired the whole time I was there, my mom said I was just relaxed! I knew that I had been drugged with the food, wine, summer breeze and a mothers warmth.

The yard was full of flowers and gravel paths that both Jennifer and I spend many mornings exploring with mom. I often was so overwhelmed with things I should paint that I couldn't paint at all. Everywhere I turned there was something else that needed to be painted, an artists dream. I took almost two hundred pictures since they have decided to sell these dream parcels. The truth about living out a dream is it is often better in the dream than in the reality. Although the area is really beautiful it rains much of the year and country living is hard work. Running out of water, losing power, no emergency services, no shopping, no close neighbors makes it hard. My mom is tired and suffers from arthritis so she now wishes to live closer to her doctors and have less to care for. She told me this visit that no matter how hard she tries nature keeps taking back the land. Its so true, we struggle even in the city to keep out the weeds and there is a constant reminder that it is not really ours for long. If anyone was wondering where Randy is during all of this, well, we did have our walks but he worked much of the time. Doing moms electrical for her cottage. He told me to enjoy my time with her and I did! Here are some of my sketches while I was visiting in my moms Shangri-La, I will post the real photos on flickr for anyone interested. Such a wonderful week with my mom and family.

A New Toy!!

I got a new case of pastel pencils so I can do some details that large pieces of chalk won't allow. I was dying to play with them and was looking for something small to sketch when I saw it! Jenn's pill holder. Since her accident she takes a ton of medication, its really sad. When I first brought her home from the hospital my goal was to try and reduce the amount of meds from her system. It seems as though when your in a hospital environment they give you a pill for everything. It took me months to weed through what was necessary and what was not until we arrived at a much reduced number of meds. I also wanted her to be aware of what she was taking and not allow people just to give her meds without her consent and knowledge. I know I can't be there to watch over her forever. While she was still very blind we spent lots of time feeling meds, tasting meds and letting her put her own meds together, with me closely watching. Over the years her vision has gotten better to where she can actually see colors and it helps her sort through her meds. We got these small containers, like the ones they serve condiments in at restaurants for her hold her meds in by her bedside. I know, lots of unnecessary information about this silly sketch. But Jenn now adds vitamins into these little cups and the other day I was talking to her about all the pills she had now added to her daily medications. It was a sea of color, these pill manufacturers are making pills in all colors. This was my sketch for my new pastel pencils, it was fun and challenging due to all the ovals, circles and angles.

Sneaking in a sketch

I am so hungry to draw. Sometimes I feel as though I need to be able to just stop everything and just disappear and get absorbed into a painting or drawing. With all the sewing I have been doing my artwork has been ignored. Luckily for me, I had my little sketch book in my purse while I was sitting at the airport. This secretive drawing at the airport is almost a learned skill. Here is my airport sketching tips for you newbies.

1. First you have to get out the sketch pad and open it without drawing much attention to yourself. Its a slow movement, keeping yours eyes down.




2. Always have your pencil attached to your sketchbook as to not have to re dig in your purse.




3. Slowly open the book, pretending to write something as if you were making a note to self.




4. Glance around the room and see who might be watching you and who is totally absorbed in something where they won't move long enough for you to sketch them.




5. Try to position the sketchbook in a place where the people sitting on your right and left can't see what you are doing.




6. With your head kept down, glance up at your victim, oh sorry, subject. LOL Try to capture the shape and angle of your subjects head and/or body. Once you have the general shape you can now concentrate on one area at a time so you can remember it, draw it. Glance up again, repeat.




7. Every once in awhile you can raise your head and look around the room as if you are just checking out the people in general. Then zero in on your subject again and take in a good long look. Sketch more. I like to make sure I don't have people watching me at this time.




8. I like to draw people that don't know that they are being studied, if this doesn't work try doing some contour drawings as you stare them down. If they ask why you are staring at them show them your rendition of their face and I am sure people will stop asking. Enjoy.

Changes

I am home from the show and trying to get all the orders out along with unpacking. Next I will have to try and get my studio back to some sort of neatness so I can just work in there. Those last few days were just a blur of grab and throw so needless to say the studio is a mess. My sister had scheduled to come down for a visit and arrived on Wendsday. I had told her to come and sit by the pool and relax, well it rained, even hailed while she was here! We are having such weird and unusual weather as is much of the country. We did manange to sneak in a spa night. As most of you know my sister is fighting breast cancer. She is doing a great job too, she looks great and isn't feeling sick or weak from her treatments. I am so thankful for that. She was here for 4 days and we tried to stay busy but it isn't the things we did that are so special. It is the night we laid in bed, all curled up under the blankets waiting for Jennifer to be ready to be put into bed. We layed facing each other, the blankets up to our chins, our heads nestled in our down pillows. We talked and giggled and laughed so hard tears ran down our cheeks. We were just being sisters. Since we were kids everytime we get together at night we would just sit infront of the TV and brush each others hair. We didn't do it this time, but we talked about it. She goes back for her last treatment and I continue to pray that "IT'S" gone!

She fell in love with this painting my brother has over his mantel. It is a portrait of a womans face with a hat on, it looks very 30's and she wanted me to paint her something very similar for her house. When I first saw her in the hat she wears to go outside I knew that she would be the subject for the painting and it would be a portrait of her. I took many photos and I can't wait to start that.

Spring Market

Well we made it back alive and well! The show was great and we had a ton of fun being a part of all the commotion and excitement.  We did something called a "Sample Spree Sale" and sold many patterns to hundreds of crazy women who had waited hours for the opportunity to buy things at a discounted price.  It was only two hours and it was amazing.  I did get a few moments to sketch in the airport, but besides that it was all about the quilts.  Randy was looking pretty good, he was only one of just a handful of men in this sea of women. Watch out.. he's mine. They told him that only a true man could wear that T-shirt! LOL

The trade show

Well, I have been scrambling to get things all wrapped up for my first trade show. I am frantically trying to get all the last minute details finished up along with all the sewing, writing, quilting etc. I had my business cards and post cards arrive today and they turned out great. I ordered them online from a company I had never heard about before so there was so apprehension. I was so pleasantly surprised to see how good they did come out. I even ordered some more today. We leave on the 15th so time is running out. I am also still working out Jennifer's care with our other kids. Now with the pool everyone is happy to stay over!

I have missed visiting everyones blog, please forgive me, its been so long since I have had time to just visit. I am typing this at 2 am in an effort to just post something. I miss France with Ronnel, Arizona with Teri, SC with Lyn, Thailand with Ai, Art class with Marta. I hope I got all that right, my brain is starting to fog just a bit. I will be back in a few weeks with lots to share! I am looking forward to flying to Oregon, even to work, its wonderful to just get away for a few days. I love the thought of traveling anywhere! I did get a wonderful card from Ai, thank you so much, you are too sweet.

I have been working on new patterns and quilts, this is one of them. Its called "Just Ducky"

Its a sewing marathon

I am busy sewing new quilt patterns that I am designing for a trade show we are doing in May. I feel like a production sewer! It will be nice to get back to my art quilts and painting. I have done a few postcards for my postcard exchange. These two are the ones for the fruit series. Not overly exciting but I am glad that I am seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. I have taken a ton of pictures of the grandkids at the park and in the pool that I want to paint. I bought these two giant frames, 8'x4' I am trying to think about what to paint for the picture inside. I thought a giant family portrait might be nice although pretty tough. Still thinking about it, I want it to hang in the office so it need to be the right kind of painting.

Mikes Mural as a slide show!

I have added some captions under each picture, just drag your mouse over the picture to read the caption. The photos have some glare from the reflections as I photographed them but I think they turned out pretty good. I am very happy with this mural. The one thing about painting on Travertine is that due to the cost of the material you don't want to make mistakes!

Modified sketch for mural

Made some final changes on the drawing, I will now enlarge to the proper size and make sure I still like everything before I begin to paint. I added a pear to help balance the left side since it seemed so heavily weighted to the right. I also corrected the perspective on the large pot. Took out the sticks, added a spoon. I think its better now. But you never know, I like having the option to change as I go.

Old world mural

My son and his wife are in the middle of a major remodel on there home. They are adding rooms, redoing their kitchen all new flooring etc. It is a major mess right now. I promised them that I would paint them a mural on the travertine tiles they are using for their backsplash. I have done a sketch that I am happy with and they also like. I will be painting directly onto the tiles in washes so that the beauty of the travertine shows through. I do not want it to have a heavy painted look or resemble a decal stuck onto tile. My goal is for the look to be soft and old looking, almost like it has weathered with age and now is only a hint of a painting. I am happy with mine and I hope they are happy with theirs, the tile layers are waiting for me to paint it so I need to get it done today. I will post it as a WIP or a slide show so you can all see the progression, I will hopefully photograph it up too so we can see the end product all finished. Here is the prelim drawing that was approved. I might make some changes as to spoon placement etc but the composition is there. I am not going to add the "text" on the pot, I was just playing with some ideas. I would love to hide some personal thing in there somewhere, like there name or something special just for them but I don't want it to be too obvious or the next owners will not appreciate it.

Spa Night

I had a spa night, I invited Marta and Rudy and Dawn and Mike over for martini's and tapas. Randy makes a wonderful, summery martini called summer breeze which he made for us and then everyone brought munchies! We had tons of food and lots of fun sitting in the spa and talking about art and art classes and the museum. Great friends, food and fun, what more could we ask for. We did have some uninvited guests this weekend, a swarm of bees have decided they also like the new additions to the backyard and have started a hive in one of the walls of the outdoor barbaque area. The bees are swarming pretty good as of this afternoon, more and more seem to arrive daily. Tuesday we have someone coming to handle the issue, I wonder if I will get any honey out of the deal?

Today the kids wanted to swim so bad, so even though the water was in the 60's as was the outside air they jumped in and swam for hours. I showed them the bees and told them to ignore them and they would ignore us, as they did. I bundled up in a blanket to keep the cold wind off of me as I sat and sketched some of the features in the yard as the kids swam. I bought this giant buddah head, she has a wonderful green and rust looking patina and I loved it as an art piece for the yard. My kids now think I have gone pagan and given up my Christian faith! Wow, amazing that a piece of cement can cause such discussions and distress! So to clear up any doubt, I am not a buddist but I do love this head as an art piece for my yard. My faith remains intact. I have drawn it here as it sits on one of the columns next to the pool.