Jun 03

Big Subjects in Small Sizes

By Administrator Painting, Photography, Events and Adventures No Comments »

On Mother’s Day we added a new member to our Family, a mini-Dachshund.  She had a very large and loving personality packed into a tiny 3 pound body when she came home.  She’s grown a bit and so has her personality in the 3 weeks we’ve had her.  Here she is within days of coming home with me.  She was getting ready to nap in my art room.  

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Learning to navigate the stairs and finding a view in the wall.

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On Thursday, May 31, we dropped off our artwork at the Yosemite Western Artists Tri-County Exhibit then continued up Highway 41 toward Yosemite to the Lewis Creek trail.  At this point in little Lulu’s life she’s accompanying us everywhere since she isn’t house broke and there isn’t anywhere safe to leave her alone at home.  David wanted to photograph a certain waterfall so I sat in the car with Lulu.  I wasn’t in the mood for mosquitoes and I wasn’t sure how Lulu would do on that hike.  Luckily for me, Lulu slept almost the entire time we were parked at the trailhead.  That gave me a chance to make 2 small tree studies with ink and watercolor.  The first drawing is 2.5 x 3.75 inches.  The second is 4 x 5.5 inches.

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We returned to Lewis Creek at an earlier time the following day but Lulu didn’t sleep as long so I only made one ink and watercolor study.  This one is 4.5 x 5 inches.

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That evening I painted this little pastel of Yosemite Falls on Wallis sanded pastel paper.  The image is 1.75 x 2.75 inches.  The frame is 4.5 x 5.5 inches.

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Big subject, small size…..smiles.    People ask if I sharpen my pastels to get the tiny detail.  No, I’ve never sharpened a pastel for any painting.  I am thinking it would be fun to purchase some good pastel pencils….hmmmm…..time to shop!

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Apr 25

Yosemite Spring Day – Monday April 23 2012

By Administrator Painting, Photography, Events and Adventures 5 Comments »

 David and I drove to Yosemite so he could take a specific photograph, of a specific rock, at 6:30 pm, I don’t ask questions.  We left the house early afternoon to have plenty of time to revisit the Yosemite Renaissance XXVII Exhibit.  (David has a photograph in the exhibit) The reception, a couple months ago,  had been too crowded to fully enjoy the exhibit and it’ll be traveling on to a new location soon. 

The redbud are past their blooming peak and the poppy bloom has migrated up the mountain sides towards their crests.  The canyon is still a beautiful drive with the orange patches, greens of grasses, various oaks and shrubs leafing out, lupine and the lingering redbud.  The river is swollen with the melt of last weeks heat wave.

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While driving the canyon we noticed large clouds over Yosemite.   The clouds were wonderful all afternoon so I photographed the iconic places – with clouds.  The heat wave has revived the valley’s waterfalls.  The bears are definitely active, we saw a large one off South Drive.

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Bridalveil Falls

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El Capitan

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Saturday when we were in the park for Jeff Grandy’s reception at the Ansel Adams Gallery,  we didn’t notice the dogwood flowering.  Monday, two days later,  they were noticeably beginning to bloom.  Stop by the gallery and see Jeff’s beautiful photographs from his ‘Unfiltered’ series.  Michael Frye wrote about Jeff’s exhibit here.

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David photographed his specific rock then we went up to Tunnel View to wait for the sunset.  We were hoping for color but the clouds in the west blocked the sun too much.  It was still a beautiful sunset.

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The clouds over the tunnel were dark and threatening.  The air was perfumed with a very heavy odor of rain.

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For a brief moment the cloud above lit up with color giving an added little bonus to the evening.

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The Grand color over Half Dome.  This was it, two little clouds turned pink.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect day for the two of us.

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Jun 02

Yosemite in June

By Administrator Painting, Photography, Events and Adventures No Comments »

‘June’, the word conjures ‘summer vacation’, summer in general, warmth, sunshine, shorts.  Yesterday was June first and there wasn’t anything about it that suggested the season of summer or near summer or late spring.  We awoke to 34 degrees socked in by low threatening clouds.  David suggested we go to Yosemite after the UPS delivery.  We left the house at 2 in the afternoon with sunshine streaming down between the huge puffy clouds.  It had managed to reach 61 degrees.  In Oakhurst we quickly stopped at Williams Gallery West  then hit the road.  At 3pm we reached the 5000 ft elevation with the temperature dropping to 51 degrees.  The Dogwood trees are beautiful right now.  These were blooming a few miles before the park entrance. 

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Wawona had lupine blooming along the road.

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We were headed for Glacier Point.  The clouds were getting thicker and more threatening.  I noticed Snow Plants along the road so we stopped to photograph them.  I had never seen so many in one area.  By now, with the rise in elevation and stormy clouds, it was 48 degrees.  As we were photographing it began to snow, then hail, then snow again.

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At 4:40 we stopped near Dogwood trees that were flowering. It was 41 degrees.

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Then we came to the winter snow pack.  At 4:45, 40 degrees, we turned onto Glacier Point Road.  It snowed lightly the entire way to Glacier Point.

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Glacier Point was 32 degrees……At Glacier Point this little bird was catching the snow and eating it.  The snow was tiny round pills that bounced when they hit the ground.  It was quite comical to watch this little bird catching the bouncing snow.

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We watched the clouds form around Half Dome and out over Yosemite for 2 hours.  I was fine until about the last half hour when I began to feel the cold in my fingers and toes.  The views were dramatic with the constant change of clouds, sunlight breaking through and a few snow showers.  The snow didn’t stick to the wet ground but the conifers looked pretty with a light dusting on their branches.

Yosemite Falls and the Valley.

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This was the most visible Half Dome was in the 2 hours of watching.  We finally headed for the car at 7pm, frozen and fantasizing about heat.

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A meadow as a bog on Glacier Point Road.

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