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Uncategorized — Comments Off on Ancient and New
20
May 10

Ancient and New

Invitations

I’m currently exhibiting my work at the East Boulder Rec Center.  My watercolors will be on display along the ramp behind the reception desk through the end of May.

I will also be taking part in a group show this weekend, May 22 and 23.  The event is both a luxury home open house and a fine art exhibit and sale.  The location is 6721 Niwot Hills Drive, Niwot, Colorado.  The home will be open 10-6 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday.  Artists taking part include Quang Ho, Scott Fraser, Daniel Sprick, and many others.  I hope you can stop by!

Brushes:  Last year about this time, my daughter and I visited Mesa Verde.  My previous visits to the park had been in the summer; it was wonderful to be able to enjoy the park with smaller crowds.  We had a few of the sites all to ourselves!  The park felt much more mysterious and ancient without huge crowds everywhere.  Unfortunately, some areas of the park aren’t open until after Memorial Day, so there are tradeoffs.

Lost City

Lost City

Lost City was painted about a month ago.  The colors and the rock textures were fun!

Books: In contrast to the ancient world of Mesa Verde, I have some new technology in my life.  I recently got a Kindle–and I love it!  I find the screen to be very readable and that it reduces strain on my middle-aged eyes.  As a result, I’ve been spending more time reading.

I recently finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, and I highly recommend it.  This is the true story of a woman whose cells were taken without her knowledge; the cells became the first ‘immortal’ cell line (HeLa).  As interesting as the scientific information is, even more interesting is the story of how the author got to know the family and her quest to learn the facts about Henrietta’s life.

Uncategorized — Comments Off on Too Much Travel?
16
Feb 10

Too Much Travel?

Another Invitation:  I have a painting in the Colorado Watercolor Society’s 19th Annual Watermedia show that opens next week at the Colorado History Museum in Denver.  I hope you’ll join me at the opening reception, Friday Evening, March 5th, from 5:00 – 8:00pm.  If you can’t attend the reception, the show runs from March 5 through March 14.

Bass Head Light

Bass Head Light

Brushes: This week’s painting, Bass Head Light, is a studio piece inspired by our trip to Maine last September.  We watched the sunset here, and I knew that the moment would become a painting someday.  However, I’ve been traveling a lot, and not finding as much time to paint as I would like.  My travels inspire me, but I think they also hold me back.  Painting every day is, I think, the key to growth.

That said, I’m home for five days between trips.  Last week we were in Florida for the launch of the SDO satellite.  (Tom is the principal investigator of the EVE instrument.)  The launch was exciting, and seeing the last night shuttle launch was a bonus.  Despite some of the coldest weather Florida has had in years, I added to my vast collection of “must-paint” photo references!  Some highlights were a boat tour of Winter Park, a visit to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum (primarily works by Tiffany), several visits to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Blue Springs State Park, where we saw more than 200 manatees.  Stay tuned for some Florida paintings!

Books: I’m always eager to read engaging non-fiction and recently picked up a copy of Gabriel Thompson’s Working in the Shadows: A Year Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won’t Do.  I was initially drawn to it because it sounded similar to Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed.  While there are some similarities, Working in the Shadows isn’t a clone.  Thompson spent  a year working in jobs that are primarily done by immigrants–picking lettuce, working in a poultry packing plant, and delivering restaurant food in New York City.  Let’s just say that I’ll never look at my salad greens in the same way again, and I’m glad I gave up eating poultry several years ago!  And I have a new appreciation for my job and working conditions!

Uncategorized — Comments Off on Colorful Cubism
06
Dec 09

Colorful Cubism

Brushes:  Here’s a painting that was just fun to do–Colorful Cubism.  I found these great plastic boxes at The Container Store and immediately knew that painting them would brighten up a dark December day.  I hope these bright colors will brighten your day, too!

Colorful Cubism

Colorful Cubism

Books:  I re-read Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose for our couples’ book group group.  I first read Angle of Repose at least 15 years ago, and although I liked it then, I found that my understanding of this book has improved with age.  We had a great discussion with the other couples in our group, but we never  reached a consensus about what Stegner believed about the angle of repose in a marriage.  I would highly recommend this as a book for book groups–there are so many topics for discussion.  In addition to marriage, another one of the most intriguing is whether or not Stegner’s use of Mary Foote’s correspondence constitutes plagarism.

My favorite of Stegner’s books is still Crossing to Safety, but Angle of Repose is moving up the list!