No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.- Aesop

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.-Cicero

Be all that you can be, but don't join the Army.-Paul Guttman

There is no security on earth, there is only opportunity.-General Douglas MacArthur


 so I had to do a self-portrait ... it wasn't fair all those other folks having all the fun :-)

Charcoal on smooth newsprint

An optimist

You have to recognize when the right time and the right place fuse and take advantage of that opportunity. There are plenty of opportunities out there. You can't sit back and wait. -Ellen Metcalf

An optimist is the human personification of spring.-Susan Bissonette

We need men to dream of things that never were.-John F. Kennedy

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.-Cicero

 I was the model today ... much fun
Here are the pix ..... of me and what was produced

It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend

It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.- Madame Dorothee Deluzy

Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.- Buddha

Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.- Richard Bach

 I do the very best I know how-the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. Abraham Lincoln


 Each Wednesday we head for the Portrait Society of Reno and paint from a live model. Today, it was none other than Renate, the longtime host and manager of the Portrait Society. I say "manager" because she has been doing it for forty years ... opening every Wednesday, contacting the model, setting up the model and then closing down.... quite a spell for doing a great job. There would be no Reno Portrait Society without her.

OK.... I painted her with a knife. Painting can be tough with a knife. Anyway, this actually looks like her... at least that's what she said.

Knife Painting Oil on 11x14 canvas board

The best way to cheer yourself up

The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up.- Mark Twain
Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.- Albert Schweitzer
 Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. - Vernon Sanders Law Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.- Oscar Wilde

Thinking of the sea again .... it was nice over there.

Oil on canvas panel  12x16

Happiness walks on busy feet

The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outside conditions. - Robert Louis Stevenson

You cannot be thankful and unhappy at the same time. - Anon.

Happiness walks on busy feet. - Kitte Turmell

You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness change your expectation. - Bette Davis

Today I painted a portrait with my knife .... a little bit trickier than with brushes..... and the results are much different ... but the likeness came out ok.

Knife painting oil on Masonite panel 9x12

The secret of happiness

The secret of happiness is curiosity.-Norman Douglas
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads. -Albert Camus
That all men are equal is a proposition which, at ordinary times, no sane individual has ever given his assent.- Aldous Huxley
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.-George Orwell
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.- Albert Einstein
If you can't look at the other side of the story you are on the wrong side
If your party doesn't want you to see the other side of the story but follow it in blind faith you are trapped in a religion


High in the Sierra Nevada's there is the beginning of a stream, quietly, coolly meandering it's way down to the river below.

Oil on gessoed Masonite  9x12

Happiness is not the absense of problems but the ability to deal with them.-Anon.

 If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.-Katharine Hepburn

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads. -Albert Camus

If an idea's worth having once, it's worth having twice. Tom Stoppard

The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.Matthew Arnold


Today I went out plein aire painting at the Truckee River.

Oil on canvas panel  11x14

7 Pix

Here are my 7 pictures that are up for the show.
I only need 5.
Please vote for your choices of which 5 pictures you would enter in the show.
Let me know right away.


Thanks

To forget oneself is to be happy.-Robert Louis Stevenson

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.-John Gunther

Be happy. It's one way of being wise.-Colette

Happiness is not being pained in body nor troubled in mind.-Thomas Jefferson

The mini's continue

Oil on Panel 5x7

Happy is the man

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads. -Albert Camus

It is in virtue that happiness consists, for virtue is a state of mind which tends to make the whole of life harmonious.-Zeno

Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t'were his own.-Johann von Goethe

 No man is happy unless he believes he is.-Publilius Syrus

Happy is the man who has love

Continuing the paintings for the mini show

Oil on panel 5x7

You can be happy!

Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.-Norman Vincent Peale

 Happiness is not a station to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.-Margaret Lee Runbeck

The really happy man is the one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.-Anon.

 It takes great wit and energy to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish. -Robert Henri

Can you be happy?
You can be happy!

This week I enter the Latimer Club's Mini show ... no paintings larger than 5x7.

Oil on canvas 5x7

To forget oneself is to be happy

To forget oneself is to be happy.- -Robert Louis Stevenson Hope doesn't come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. It's simply a choice to take action.- Anna Lappe Happiness gives us the energy which is the basis of health.- Henri-Frédéric Amiel College isn't the place to go for ideas.- Helen Keller Revisiting old studies and making a few changes makes a big difference

oil on gessoed board 11x14

Nothing’s better

Nothing’s better than the wind to your back, the sun in front of you, and your friends beside you.- Aaron Douglas Trimble

I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.- Buzz Aldrin

The absence of flaw in beauty is itself a flaw.- Havelock Ellis

How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.- Benjamin Disraeli

Behold ... another of the herbs in out herb garden...............

Pen &  Ink with water color pencils 4x10

Mistakes are a part of being human

I am not young enough to know everything. - Oscar Wilde

Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from. -Al Franken

I always admired atheists. I think it takes a lot of faith.- Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance - Oprah Winfrey


and so we have today's oil painting

Oil on Panel 14x18

Our land is more valuable than your money

Happiness is not being pained in body nor troubled in mind.-Thomas Jefferson

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. Alfred Lord Tennyson

Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot. D. H. Lawrence

Our land is more valuable than your money. As long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this land will be here to give life to men and animals; therefore, we cannot sell this land. It was put here for us by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not belong to us. Anonymous, Blackfoot chief (c. 1880)

You probably do not eat kale but really, it is very good... and good for you. Today's sketch is of a young kale we planted.

Young Kale - Pen & Ink and watercolor pencils  6x6

The simple truth is

The simple truth is that happy people generally don't get sick.-Bernie S. Siegel,
M.D.

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast -- you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.-Eddie Cantor

We can not hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.-Ben Sweetland

The entire sum of existence is the magic of being needed by just one person.-Vi Putnam

I am doing a series of botanical sketches for the local food co-op. This is one of them, There may be more coming on this sight... depends if it gets too boring.

 

Ink and watercolor pencil 7x4.5

Liberty and equality

Education is the best provision for old age.- Aristotle

All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.- Joseph Conrad

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.- Franklin D. Roosevelt

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.- Aristotle

Fun at the races ... the Tour de Nez..... heh heh... a big bike race in downtown Reno ... we all went down to see it ... even Stella.... she loved it

Oil on canvas Panel 11x14

Those who live intensely in the present.

At the height of laughter the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.- Jean Houston

The future belongs to those who live intensely in the present.-Anon

If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.- Amy Tan

Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves.- Carl Sagan


Here are 2 pictures that when hung side by side seem to go together.

2 oil on Masonite panels each 9x12

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.- Dale Carnegie

Never explain--your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.- Elbert Hubbard


Today we had a kind old gentleman model for us ... he had been here before in a different hat. I forgot my glasses today so I left early ... heh heh .... maybe a good thing. :-)

Oil on canvas panel 9x12

You must learn from the mistakes of others

Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.- Ingred Bergman

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.- Beverly Sills

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.- Sam Levenson

Sometimes in life you don't always feel like a winner, but that doesn't mean you're not a winner.- Lady Gaga

Today we had a charming young lady pose for us.

Oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

Stupid is forever

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.- Martha Washington

Courage is saying, "Maybe what I'm doing isn't working; maybe I should try something else." - Anna Lappe,

Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.- Don Wood

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.- Dag Hammarskjold

Watching old movies can be very entertaining. You know this guy? I watched an old movie the other day and had to draw the main character.

Charcoal

Now and then it's good to pause

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.- The Cockle Bur

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.- Andy Warhol

The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.- Hasidic Saying

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.- John F. Kennedy

Today we went to Loyalton for a Plien Aire outing. What a great day.... cloudy but bright ... it rained on us, then quit. When we are painting outside it is always a good day no matter what the results.

Oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

Energy and persistence

Humor is the antidote to isolation. - Elizabeth Janeway

Seek to do good and happiness will run after you. - James Freeman Clarke

Energy and persistence conquer all things.- Benjamin Franklin

Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.- Sarah Bernhardt

I painted this the other day with the thought in mind that it should have something in the foreground. I have not yet decided what that should be ... a pile of rocks.... a hill ... some trees.... an animal .... a person .... several of these things .... maybe a stream or river crashing over some rocks. One day I will add something to it.

Oil on canvas board 16x20

An invincible summer.

The man of pleasure, by a vain attempt to be more happy than any man can be, is often more miserable than most men.- Charles Caleb Colton

Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.- Henry Van Dyke

To say the least, a town life makes one more tolerant and liberal in one's judgement of others.- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.- Albert Camus

..... and now that invincible summer is here... I love summer. This summer we had lots of things to do ... all of July was Reno is Art Town month ... there were things going on every day... take your pick.... then in August there is Hot August Nights, a festival of old cars and cars shows every where ... and then bike week ... ahhhh, love those bikers. Also, in August is the Quick Draw painting show and auction. Somehow I was invited. It was a wonderful experience painting with all those talented artists and touring the Bowers Mansion. The auction was for the benefit of the Scenic Nevada group so all the art created that day was donated. It seems that the pieces sold in the range of $100 to $550 With most of the pieces going for about $275. Mine sold for $375 ... which made me happy. Here is my attempt:

Oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

A handful of patience

Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness.- Lao-tzu

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.- Dutch Proverb

Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault.- Dr. David M. Burns

Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.- Eugene Delacroix

So I sketch the race we attended the other day ... it was exciting ... and colorful ... not a work of perfection, just a sketch of what happened

oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

Far better it is to dare mighty things

The bird of Paradise alights only on the hand that does not grasp. -John Berry

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. - James Lane Allen

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.- Mark Twain


Back to the woods and knife painting

Oil on gessoed Masonite knife painting

The test for enjoyment

Happiness is a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

The test for enjoyment is the remembrance which it leaves behind. - Logan Pearsall Smith

Sometimes the mind, for reasons we don't necessarily understand, just decides to go to the store for a quart of milk. - Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

A goal without a plan is just a wish. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Today we gaze upon a dramatic shadow cast by a tree near Bower's Mansion

Oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

Every time I paint a portrait

There are three components to the good life: learning, earning and yearning. - Christopher Morley

Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend.- John Singer Sargent

The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.- Friedrich Nietzsche

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers. - Daniel J. Boorstin

Oil on gessoed Masonite

An unhurried sense of time

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.- Herbert Henry Asquith

An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.- Bonnie Friedman

Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. - Abigail Van Buren

It is not our affluence, or our plumbing, or our clogged freeways that grip the imagination of others. Rather, it is the values upon which our system is built. These values imply our adherence not only to liberty and individual freedom, but also to international peace, law and order, and constructive social purpose. When we depart from these value, we do so at our peril.- J. William Fulbright

A quick sketch today of a young man in his soccer uniform

oil on gessoed Masonite

I'm a great believer in luck

Like swimming, riding, writing, or playing golf, happiness can be learned.- Dr. Boris Sokoloff

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.- Thomas Jefferson

If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old.- Edgar Watson Howe


Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.- Laurence J. Peter



Sometimes working small helps us see the big picture.

Oil on canvas 6x6

When freedom is lost

How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.- Publilius Syrus

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.- Andre Gide

I'm of the mind that even people who have limitations, if they have a curiosity, they will find a way to explore it.- Tish Grier

Don't mistake pleasures for happiness. They are a different breed of dog.- Josh Billings

When freedom is lost so is creative exploration

Still practicing with the out-of-doors stuff.

Oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

Way up there is my new fan ... hanging from 20 feet in the air it is cool, sleek, economical. It runs on 17 watts of electricity and is controlled by a remote device. I am very happy with the new fan.

Eating is always a decision

Have a variety of interests... These interests relax the mind and lessen tension on the nervous system. People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest.
-George Matthew Allen

Eating is always a decision, nobody forces your hand to pick up food and put it into your mouth. - Albert Ellis, Michael Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi

I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there. - Richard Feynman

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. - Abraham Lincoln

Still working on scenes from Bowers Mansion.

Oil on gessoed Masonite 9x12

Some pursue happiness

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Charles Spurgeon

Some pursue happiness while others create it. - Anon

Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it - Confucius

Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. - Aristotle

The Quick Draw donation is coming up ... I must keep practicing. This is a scene from Bowers Mansion... the site of the Quick Draw.... looking South.

Oil on Gesoed Masonite 9x1

Experience

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. - Franklin P. Jones

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.- Vernon Sanders Law

Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a human does.- Bill Nye

I feel like a tiny bird with a big song! - Jerry Van Amerongen

Oil on canvas 6x6