Savannah's Old Shoe

Some times we paint just the ordinary things of life.... for instance the grand daughter's old shoe.

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. -Michelangelo

Faith in oneself is the best and safest course. -Michelangelo

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. -Pablo Picasso

 

 

Oil on gessoed canvas 6x8  $50

Sedona Workshop

“I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.” Vincent van Gogh

There is something about seeking with all my heart that gets me lost in my work  ... Hey Vinny.... I'm doing it too.

So where ever you are put your all into it ... you won't be sorry.

Last week was spent with Abbey Ryan at Sedona Az watching demos and painting all week.

It was a great week. Learned a few things with much effort expended. Overall the weather was great... had to put on warmer clothes tho  ....... but we had some beautiful clouds and some bright sun.
A fine bunch of people attended the workshop and turned out some fabulous work. I'm not sure mine can be categorized like that but here is what I did

I was thinking of those ingenious folks who balance rocks in the river when I put this together. I think they are so cool ... and the energy is so focused.

 Ahhhhhhh, the raspberries. This took more time and effort than I had anticipated.  The painting is

much larger than the actual berries .... maybe 10 times or more ...... so I painted them several times before I had something reasonable  This painting is 6x8

 

 After the raspberries I went for the strawberries.... kinda on a roll .... not perfect and I see some things I want to change... but here it is

After I arrived back at Zabrina's house I saw a little bear that Savanah got from one of here Cinderella pageants so I painted it. Just a fun little painting about 6x8

That's it for now folks

Stay well ... work hard ..... keep smiling

Old Mining Building Eureka Nv

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when

You can share it with someone special.

Time did not wait for this old building. Mining dried up, the people left, the old building sits waiting 

Oil on canvas  6x8  50.00

2 Limes & a Small Lemon

Enough already!
We have enough. Make due with what you have.
Peace

Chinese philosopher Lin Yu-tang,  wrote...

The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.

                   He who knows he has enough is rich. 

The American Dream .... get more... get more ..... get more.... get more .... grow ... expand ....
no mater how big.

2 Limes & a Small Lemon   oil on canvas   6x8  50.00

Make a glass of lemonade
Squeeze a lime into your chili or your stew.
Put some lemon or lime in your glass of fresh filtered water.
Just eat them straight.  

Sierra Peak in the Late Morning

A while ago I went up to Truckee on a painting trip. I hiked around the hills and took lots of pictures. I can never get enough of those hills. The snow is back and the cold winds blow but we can still enjoy the sights from inside. I still love it here. Every day the sun is out it heats my place to somewhere between 79 & 82 ... a very comfortable temp. Stay healthy, stay comfortable and

Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life, 
Because life is short and a journey to be savored.

Oil on canvas  6x8  50.00

A Burst of Afternoon Sun at Rocky Point

Rocky Point is right outside a fine restaurant I told you about the other day. Almost sat on their porch to paint this. The California Coast is a beautiful part of the world. There were seals down there barking and playing .... and gulls of course. I can still hear them and the waves crashing against the rocks.

Oil on 11x14 panel  $90

Breakfast for One

Almost every day I have organic eggs for breakfast. On the other days I have a bowl of oats and blueberries. I love both days. There was always this thing about painting egg shells ... so I did it. I will try again later but this is it for now.

oil on canvas  5x5    $ 50

By the River

There are not many rivers around here so we make do with what we've got. I thot this was interesting. Done in the studio, of course and we dream of water here on the desert.

oil on canvas  6x8

Bartlets

It must be pear season this time of year .... at least it's pear season somewhere because they keep showing up in the stores.... all kinds of them... Bosc, Asian, Bartlets, Chrimson, Royal Riviera. So I painted some Bartlets this time. Good pear.

oil on canvas  6x8

Morning Shadows

While we were at Cave Rock we painted all day... got there in the morning and painted then painted again after our lunch break. Ate at a restaurant that actually served grass fed organic beef... yummy. Here's the Morning Shadows.........

oil on canvas 6x8

Crashing Waves

Still at the beach... at least in my mind... and still going thru all those pictures I took down there. Pictures are great... paintings are greater no matter what they look like  :-)

Here I am watching the waves crash on the rocks on a cloudy, overcast day ...... it was still lovely.

oil on canvas  6x8

Coast near Big Sur

 More from the Monterey-Carmel-Rocky Point-Big Sur painting trip. The paintings always bring back good memories of the trip. I love the coast with it's special sounds and smells. It will probably be quite some time before I get back over there... if ever. We just never know. I took lots of fotos. Bill Davidson does the same.

oil on canvas  6x8

3 Pears

I had to paint these pears before I ate them. They made good props and good eating. Waiting is a box of organic pears sent from Harry & David's ... can't wait to dig into those. Maybe I'll paint one while it's still green.

Oil on canvas 6x8

Knife Painting At the Base of the Mountain

The painting goes on ... the posts to the Paint Spot are not ... not because I wanted to miss them but because I have not taken the time .
At the base of the High Sierras in Gardnerville. We went there on day on a Pleine Air painting trip.

Probably an 8x8 on canvas.... a knife painting

Herb and Tomato Garden

So this winter I am trying out growing herbs and tomatoes in my kitchen on the counter ..... we'll see if it works or not

Lilacs & Grapes

Leaving on a work vacation in a couple days .... right after my annual checkup :-). Now we'll see if I have been living up to all those things I know I;m supposed to be doing.

Eat right; get fresh air; exercise and die anyway  :-)

"Most people work hard and spend their health trying to achieve wealth. Then they retire and spend their wealth trying to get back their health."

 

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

 John Lubbock - What we see depends mainly on what we look for.


Bernard M. Baruch -Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind

nuf good quotes for the day .... now to my painting. Just a quick sketch on a piece of 9x9 canvas. I gessoed it with very thick gesso.... notice the marks.

Oil on canvas 9x9

Erueka

We took a trip to Eureka for painting, fotos and fun. The outcome is going to a show near the end of October. All of mine are small paintings. Some are brush, some are knife paintings. There are no prizes so is some are not so good it's ok. Not looking for any sales either. Someone wanted to see my entries so here they are:

T

Oil on canvas  6x8 (mostly)

Lemon-aid Jar

oil on canvas 6x8

Summer is still here... time for fresh lemon-aid. Actually mine is always just lemon juice and filtered water ... forget the sugary stuff.

The greatest wealth is health.  ~Virgil


Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.  ~Doug Larson

A sad soul can kill you quicker than a germ.  ~John Steinbeck



Red meat is not bad for you.  Now blue-green meat, that's bad for you!  ~Tommy Smothers

 Be careful about reading health books.  You may die of a misprint.  ~Mark Twain ... wow! they even had health nuts back in those days.

 Eat right, exercise regularly, die anyway.  ~Author Unknown  Ask my mother. She's 103.


Sunshine, water, rest, and air exercise and diet... just pay attention to these... the only variable is the diet, the food we eat, that's the challange, especially in this age of GMO's, PCB's , flourides, pesticides, x-rays, emt's and all the other word substances out there.
Eat well. Stay healthy. Live long. Enjoy what you have now.

Cherries & a Wine Bottle

Oil on canvas 6x8

The wine is gone... the cherries are gone ... I'm happy :-)

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

Do more, Spend less..... enjoy life to the fullest.

Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad. ~Norm Papernick

 Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open. ~John Barrymore

It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed. ~Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard

So with that in mind look around you .... see the good... be happy. 

Portrait of a "Saint"

Santos oil on canvas 6x8

Santos is a local character who comes to pose for us occasionally.  Yes, Santos is his real name. Always in costume..... always refreshing and always funny. 6x8 portraits are always a challenge and may or may not look like the person.... but we have fun painting them.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. ~Albert Einstein

How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg. ~Abraham Lincoln

There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes, and values. ~David G. Myers, Social Psychology

 There are no facts, only interpretations. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

 What is a face, really? Its own photo? Its make-up? Or is it a face as painted by such or such painter? That which is in front? Inside? Behind? And the rest? Doesn't everyone look at himself in his own particular way? Deformations simply do not exist. ~Pablo Picasso

 Reality leaves a lot to the imagination. ~John Lennon

 It must be hard to be a model, because you'd want to be like the photograph of you, and you can't ever look that way. ~Andy Warhol

 Everything you can imagine is real. ~Pablo Picasso

'nuf said