Okay, maybe not so colossal, but the subject could be considered colossal. I have, again, painted Half Dome with full moon. This time in acrylic and on a 2.75 inch square canvas. Curiosity made me do it….and it worked.
The lower layer of the sky and blocking in shapes.
The little painting on a table easel…. I held it in my hand while I painted. This is a wrap around canvas with the scene continued on the sides.
The painting leaning against my iPod.
Today I worked on last Saturday’s painting I started at Williams Gallery West during the monthly Art Hop. I worked from a photograph I took on a day trip to the east side last October. Here’s the result so far…… I’m not completely done. This is 13×19, pastel, $800 It will be framed to 20×26
Lundy Canyon Morning
This week has been a busy one. Tuesday I took my daughter home and returned home the same day. I quickly stopped by my older daughters work place to say hi before hitting the road. Wednesday we had our monthly meeting of the Sierra Art Trails Committee. Thursday was our monthly meeting of the Yosemite Western Artists photography group. Friday was the Sierra Foothill Conservancy Plein Air Exhibit reception at the Fresno State Campus Henry Madden Library. Saturday was Art Hop at Williams Gallery West in Oakhurst where I demonstrated with pastels.
I had so much fun at the reception. The paintings are publicly on view in the Madden Library until the Great Central Valley Exhibition on Sunday August 29. Penny Otwell and Claudia Welsh were in the parking lot when we arrived so we all walked to the library together. These two ladies are always fun! Penny is also in the Plein Air Exhibit. This was the first time for us to see everyone’s work in person. We’d seen some images in the field and some emailed but now we got to view the ‘real deal’. The curator did a fantastic job hanging about 100 paintings. Penny and I were very pleased with the way our paintings were displayed.
My daughters, honorary son and his mom, my good friend, all showed up in support of the event. It meant so much to me to share this experience with them. (Much appreciation and love to my peeps.) The Sierra Foothill Conservancy has done an outstanding job creating and managing this event.
Claudia, Penny and moi in front of Penny’s paintings.
Michelle, Me and Heidi…..my girls, in front of my paintings. What’s in the red bag??? Heidi brought me a lilac scented candle which smells heavenly. Michelle brought me clean socks. She’d borrowed them during her visit.
Art Hop was a busy day with guest ceramicist from Clovis (Amy Morgan) and Santa Cruz ( Bob and Sandy Kinzie). Tables were set up for the artists to work and guests to play with the clay. It was a very lively day with lots of talking and laughing and people passing through the gallery.
This is about as far as I got working from 11 – 5pm. I am very happy with the progress this far.
We had the pleasure of a visit from our younger daughter(another artist) and her fiancé last week. They arrived with their 2 little dogs on Friday evening. We immediately drove to town to attend Mariposa’s 2nd ‘First Fridays Art Hop’. We visited the Riversong Gallery, Penny Otwell, and Franka Gabler. The second ‘First Fridays Art Hop’ was hopping with activity. There were a lot of visitors, a couple of places had live music and the restaurants looked full. The event looks like it’s getting a good turn out.
Saturday was a lazy day. Michelle’s favorite meal, our holy trinity, is baked whole chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli. I started the chicken in the morning so we could enjoy a leisurely late lunch. Before lunch we enjoyed fresh picked basil, Monterey Jack cheese slices and tomato slices layered and drizzled with my homemade basil infused olive oil on crackers….and beer…..and the pet chickens who refused to be left out of the party. They kept coming up onto the deck and joining us in the gazebo. Mike had them jumping for bits of crackers….chickens are very good jumpers. Occasionally Weesie, a Plymouth Barred Rock, got into his lap. One of Michelle’s little 5 pound dogs loved chasing/herding the chickens.
Macy, the chicken herder, Lola, Lacey and Weesie all looking at Mike’s hand with a bit of cracker in the palm.
Weesie communing with Mike.
Smiling me….time to take the beer away. After lunch we walked to the river behind the house. Usually the river is dry this time of year but it’s still flowing nicely. I brought home a plant for the pond and lots and lots of stickers all over me. That evening we watched a suspenseful movie.
Sunday morning Weesie laid the biggest egg I have ever seen. It turned out to be a triple yolk. Later Sunday morning we hiked up our driveway, up the neighbor’s driveway and property to the top of the ridge where there’s a grass landing strip that runs parallel to our street. There was lots of knee high tarweed and stinkweed, which I love the smell of both. There’s quite a view from the end of the runway which looks down the East Fork of the Chowchilla River. We opted to trespass through a persons lot and down their driveway rather than walk all the way back through the sticky weeds and stickers. In the process we met some neighbors we hadn’t met before. Of course now I forget their names. We all had sticky legs, arms and stickers everywhere at the end of our walk. Mike went home Sunday afternoon leaving Michelle to visit a couple days longer. Michelle and I started painting Sunday after Mike left.
On Monday Michelle and I painted in my art room. The weather was so nice we had the windows open. Occasionally we’d hear the chickens squawk and we’d yell at her dog to stop chasing the chickens. We were painting, the music was playing, the chickens were squawking, we were yelling at the dog but the chickens kept squawking. I finally looked out the window to see 2 of the chickens at the foot of the deck stairs, no dogs. I kept looking because the chickens were frozen looking back into the yard. I looked down along the fence (I’m in a second story room) and then notice movement, like a log is moving. It wasn’t a log. I yelled that a bob cat had a chicken and went tearing down the stairs. Dave and I both ran into the yard. The bob cat ran to another corner but left the chicken where it was. The bob cat couldn’t figure out how to get out of the 4 foot high chain link fence. We finally opened a gate and move toward the cat to make it go in that direction. He/she was so thin with mangy looking fur. It left the yard but didn’t leave. Dave walked it away a few time but it kept coming back. It seemed to be sick but a few people have suggested it was a really old cat. One interesting aspect of the event was the ravens in the trees surrounding the yard. They kept squawking as if warning about the presence of the bob cat. When Dave walked it off the property the ravens followed and kept squawking.
Every time Michelle comes to visit she frets about her dogs safety, especially about them going out the doggie door at night. I always reassure her that the animals are safe. I no longer feel safe. Lola, the chicken died 2 days later from her injuries. I have 3 remaining chickens and 2 small dogs that I now worry about. In the picture below, Lola is on the step.
We never got into painting after the bobcat incident. Here’s some painting pictures of our 2 sessions.
Dave and I went to McGurk Meadow, which is located off Glacier Point Road, on July 28 and July 30. Our good friend and local photographer, Nancy Robbins, guided us to the trail head. On the second trip Nancy joined us again as well as another wonderful photographer, Franka Gabler . I learned I’m very out of shape. The trail is just under a mile to the meadow, all downhill. On our first visit we arrived early evening catching the last light and then walked out in almost full darkness. The trail is all downhill going to the meadow. I was struggling on the hike out. Perhaps part of my problem was the fact that we were at 7000 feet. When we went back I had shin splints so bad at the start of the hike but by the end of the hike I was feeling much better. This hike is rated as the easiest…at level one… Take the deet, the mosquitos are thick.
There were lots of flowers blooming along the trail. I could identify huge red Indian Paint Brushes, purple Larkspur, a variety of Lupine, Tiger Lily, Columbine, Astor…..
Dave and Franka are standing on a little bridge over the flowing brook. This is the beginning of the meadow. When we arrived there was a bear in the woods behind them. They spotted another bear on our way out.
