Art Soup, Boots and Just Hangin'

So!  I absolutely love hanging with other artists.  I traveled to Patris' Studio and Gallery for "Pop Up Friday and Art Soup Luncheon" recently and it was a wonderful, artful day of sketching, meeting new people, getting together with some past friends and having a great conversation about the art of marketing ourselves as artists to eventual sales of our creations.

That's me in the white coat.  Our model was a young girl, Beth, in blue jeans and boots.  She fidgeted a little but was fun to sketch in that her skin is wrinkle free, she still has that rounded jaw of a  youngster with eyelashes to match.  Here's a couple of examples of what I did:

 Patris has a fulll kitchen in the gallery, so she put on a big pot of broth in the morning.  Sherm brought chicken, somebody brought corn, we had some lemon grass and garlic for spices, I brought yellow squash and zuchinni and a feast was had with breads and some garlic toast that were also contributed.  Mmmmm, such a nice day:   to enjoy the aroma of soup cooking, the sound of Tony Bennett singing in the background, doing what we love to do without the disturbances of everyday life for just a moment in time.

I end with a view of our model, Beth so you can compare it with what I did.  In critiquing each others work, we painters agreed that our work may not end up looking like the person modeling, but surely somewhere in the world there is a person that looks like our work.

Goodbye Bee and Fox News

Since Kauai I have been doing a small sketch everyday.  This is one I did of Christmas balls in a glass apothecary jar.  It's dated December 20 so it was probably raining; otherwise I would have sketched something outside of my kitchen window.  This is part of my plan for a change in 2013.

For years my day has begun with coffee and the Bee.  I would read it each morning front to back and then and only then be able to begin a constructive, positive day.  A few months ago, Jack expressed his desire to cancel the Bee,  all the pre-recorded Fox News programs and limit our worldly knowledge to what is reported on the 1/2 hour local news program at 5pm each evening.  I must admit it took me a few months to warm to the idea but we eventually agreed and weaned ourselves while in Kauai.

My new ritual in the a.m. is to sketch at my window while enjoying my coffee.  I still keep updated with my ipad news stories, Facebook and communications with friends and family.  I've got more time to write and be creative and I've even started another blog which is a compilation of my thoughts while sitting at my window.

I feel more calm and at ease with this new way of being, or letting it be.  And it's way easier to just breathe...

Koloa Town Gallery Hopping and Kim Starr

So!  We've returned from a lovely time away to Kauai.  This is me just enjoying the property at the Hyatt, our home for a week.  It was pretty hard to take having people cook all of our meals, make the bed every day, clean the toilet as needed, etc. etc.

We drove to Old Koloa Town one afternoon.  It's a very quaint street of shops and restaurants and was actually the site of the first sugar plantation in the 1800's.

As I was enjoying paintings in a gallery there, I was drawn to a piece done of a woman strolling on the beach.  The movement of the woman along the shore was so calming, and I immediately recognized the pallet and style of the artist.  The owner had just explained that most of the art in his gallery was his, and ALL of the art was done by local Kauai artists.

I think I squealed a little, quickly turned around and asked in an excited voice "did this artist do a series of ocean scenes with a beach ball years ago" to which he replied yes.  All of a sudden I recalled Jack and I day-tripping around the isle years ago and happening upon an artist's gallery which was located all alone in an isolated area farther up the coast.  I really admired the art and the artist's husband explained that his wife had just done the series that I was seeing of a colorful beach ball at the shore.  Her pallet was what drew me initially; then each piece had a little different focus from the beach ball, to the shadow of the beach ball, to the ocean, to the sky, then to a differently colored beach ball.  Her husband shared that Kim had tied the ball to a pole and he held it while she painted, or photoed or she held it and he photoed, can't remember specifics except that there was a very specific plan for this series of paintings.  He gave me a brochure of her art and I kept it, admiring it for many years.

Back to present time and Mr. Riso is telling me he has one of those beach ball paintings in the window at the side of his shop.  At first I can't find the side window and am embarrassed to bother Mr. Riso again as I think I have insulted him by being so interested in the beach ball artist and not his art.  Finally around the corner, in an inside alley-like corridor I find the painting by KIM STARR, Kim Starr is the signature on the piece.  It's a beach ball dancing lightly in the air at the shoreline with the waves coming down behind and around it and there is the wonderful shadow on the sand below it!  This beach ball is in different colors than I remember so apparently I didn't see the whole series back 10 years ago, or the series continues.

Back at the hotel, I google Kim Starr and find all kinds of sites that she is a party to, though I haven't found a blog or any kind of words from her which would make me sooo complete.

The Universe has spoken though and my pallet of color will be changing in 2013.  I also began sketching every day while away and will continue that here at home from my window.  I may even begin another blog...At My Window...stories that are about life and not necessarily art stories which I will still be sharing here.

BFF's

This is my BFF, Margot, and there I am toasting you for holidays filled with joy.  Margot and me get into great adventures together.  We travel to Downtown Sac a lot for tests she has to have at U.C. Davis and in that process stop at different restaurants, art galleries, art stores, etc. etc.  Etcetera, etcetera is what Margot says all the time.  I think it's because her husband used that phraseology when he was alive but that's just a guess.  She's Belgian and so meticulous with our language that it's very obvious she is proud to be an American.  I love her accent however she hates it and is shy about it and herself, though just get her started on conversation and One cannot stop her.  Anyhoo, I love this woman very much and am proud and grateful to the Universe for bringing her into my life.

Happy Christmas!

Magazine Ads, Christmas and Love

A memory of a romantic Christmas moment comes to mind today.

It was about 20 years ago that I was flipping through a magazine and came across an ad for some rings done by Bvlgari.  They were very different and colorful and I casually said out loud to my boyfriend at the time that I was very much impressed.  He wasn't overly attentive to my comment but did give the page a quick look.

At work about a week later I was at lunch with a friend and mentioned the ring that I admired so and she was interested in seeing it so I promised I would bring the magazine to work for her.  For a few days I looked and looked through all the magazines in my home trying to find the ad so that I could bring the proper magazine to work.  I thought I had dreamed the whole thing as I could not find the ad anywhere.

I had looked in one particular magazine several times as I was sure it was in that one, to no avail.   As a last attempt to prove to myself the ad was in that book (and that I wasn't insane), I carefully pulled apart each page at the middle binding to see if it had been torn out.  I did not find it had been torn out but the page had been carefully cut out of the thick bunch of pages so perfectly that it was difficult to really find that a page was ever there at all.

I still have the ring that Jack "surprised" me with that Christmas.  We still laugh about the fact that once I found the page missing, I would have been very disappointed had he not purchased it for me.

I also selfishly keep in my heart the memory of such a romantic gesture.  The ring size is very small as I guess my fingers were so much smaller than they are now.  I couldn't wear it for a time since it only fits on my left, ring finger but this Christmas I am wearing it instead of my wedding rings...and every time I glance down at my left hand I feel the thrill of that Christmas all over again.

Missipoo, Maddie and Flowers

Missipoo and her little one, Maddie, Crab Shack

I'm 40-something supervising others in the handling of insurance claims, claims by workers that have been hurt on the job in some way.  Nothing sexy about claims work.  I'm alone now, kids have moved away, husbands long gone, thank you.  I pull the car into the garage closing the door behind me; I am now in my happy sanctuary til 6am the following morning when I leave again for the office.  I leave the car, go through the garden patio and on into the kitchen of the condo.  It's dusty and stale from being closed up all day, I kick off my shoes and get comfortable, opening windows and the front door to let the breeze in through the screen door.  I enjoy my view of green grass, flowers and trees, then my eyes glance the welcome mat on the porch and there I find a carefully gathered bunch of colorful flowers.  I push the screen door slightly open and pick up the bouquet that I realize has been picked from neighbors yards and left as an obvious message for me.  I suspect Missipoo...later she says yes she left flowers for me again, just to let me know she came by to say hi.

Flash forward to now, Missipoo is a 30 something mom.  She's still visiting, via airplane though, since we don't live in the same neighborhood anymore.  And now she brings Maddie and Gustavo along.

What an honor it is to be this woman's aunt, to witness her growth from a little girl to the beautiful, bright and successful woman she has become.  And she's not only beautiful on the outside but inside as well.

Thank you Universe!  I am so grateful for all of my blessings.

Christmas Memories

So here's the clock Jack got at an antique store about 15 years ago.  It reminds him of one in his home as he was growing up.  The statue is one I purchased in Taos a few years ago.  The artist is Ned Archuleta and it is entitled "Wind" I believe. The lamp and mirror we bought when we moved to Roseville, a temporary move for me that ended in the most wonderful love adventure of my life.

The statue  brings to me memories of the open-ness of Taos, the chiles on the front doors, the food that we experienced which is very much in the style of my mom's cooking which she learned from her mom who came to SoCal from El Paso.  She was the manager of a restaurant in Los Angeles for a time.  Oh, but I digress...Taos, a wonderful experience with artist friends.  The lighted box in the center is of glass and is a lighted Christmas present, just beautiful, made by a friend and purchased at our annual Boutique this year so it's a memory I made this year for the future!

So on to pick up Missipoo, Gustavo and little Maddie at the airport.  I am so looking forward to hugs and smiles and to creating some more Christmas memories!