Who's your friend?

Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else. -Eleanor Roosevelt

We hope this has been a happy week for you and that you, your family and friends enjoyed a grand Thanksgiving holiday. Having all this special food always makes us feel better. We had excellent weather here also.

In note of having the mind on food I had to this one.... watermelon and grapes have slipped out of season... I will miss them ... this painting will remind me that they will be coming back ... and I will be waiting :-)

Best to you all

 

Oil on Canvas pad about 8x10

“A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.”

“When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.”
both quotes from William Arthur Ward

A light dusting of snow the past couple days turns our world into a sparkling, glowing gem .... it is so nice ..... I can say that because I am cozy warm inside ... I suspect those who must work outside right now my have a slightly different take on things :-)

Painting still life is always fun... especially when it's food. I like painting food.... there is something so personal about it.

You smile and make this a good day for you and yours.

Oil on canvas 8x10

The way things turn out

Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. -Anon

Practicing painting and drawing sometimes works out best when we practice on ourselves.... then no one is offended.... so I practiced on my own mug from fotos taken at the Reno Portrait Society yesterday. they all got to paint and draw yesterday.  Maybe tomorrow I will paint it in oils.

So for today, make the best of the way things turn out :-)

Charcoal on smooth newsprint 14x18

One Ol Geezer had a Farm - E - I - E - I -O

:-)
Ok
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else. -Charles Dickens

So today I made life better for a group of artists ... even tho I would rather have been painting :-)
Don't I really look like an Ol' farmer sitting there?

Years ago one of my daughters went to modeling school and was a model ... I might as well follow in her footsteps. Who wudda thot.

Sometimes good things happen

Long-range studies imply that doing something with other people, especially something for them, is the most powerful of all stimuli to longevity and health.-Jon Poppy

Sharing what you have is more important than what you have. -Albert M. Wells, Jr.

... and I believe that .... so in light of sharing I put together a series of art classes... once a week for four weeks... to share some of the info that has been shared with me.

The first class was attended by four ladies ... there is one more who intends to be there for class 2. The ones in attendance for the first class were a fine group of very educated and talented artists. The class was well received and generated  some very fine compliments for which I am very grateful.... best of all, I was able to share with them some information and techniques which, on the most part, was entirely new to them. We all had a terrific time.
Even if all the information presented was not new, going back to the basics is still a very worthwhile endeavor. We can not review the basics too much.
Of course I worked very hard preparing for  the class ... many hours of study... many hours of internet research and documentation .... many hours drawing and preparing demos and examples. It is my great pleasure to be able to share. I want to be sure to have something worthwhile for everyone. Personally I feel their level of artistic skills is far ahead of mine which makes them able to take this information and run with it ... this information and technique will certainly help them produce even better art. .. it is something they will never forget.
The class was a definite success.

Generally my artwork is something that only mom and I enjoy ....  however..... occasionally someone else actually likes it.

The piece below was entered in the Nevada Artists Association (NAA)  Fall show which is running as we speak. The artists' reception will be on 12 November 2011. Evidently the judge liked my piece well enough to award it first place ... the blue ribbon ... and cash !! .... and yesterday someone walked in and viewed the Fall Show and bought my piece. I really appreciate the vote of confidence. They are so kind to me. Thanks folks.

Meanwhile I am busy drawing and painting ... who knows... perhaps something else worthwhile may come off the easel.... nevertheless .. I am having fun painting and drawing.

Yeh, you saw this before on the blog but now it's gone  :-) .... Janet, we hope you will enjoy this for a long time.

Fire in the hills

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only be deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. -Douglas MacArthur

The protestors are still out there so I had to sketch one of those happy souls... didn't bother with the message though ... who cares ... I don't think it's going to change things for the better this time

Fall has come and almost gone .... the Aspen trees were yellow for only a few days... hard to believe... they normally stay yellow a lot longer.

The Forest Service is up there burning  debris again ... last year I think they let it get out of control and had to call in air support to bomb the fire ... let's hope they do a little better this year.

I get out for a walk every day ... especially during this fine weather ... to day it was a bike ride up the Franktown hill. Never an end to the beauty around here. Following is the picture tour including smoke from the fire ... and a little haze elsewhere that they created.
Enjoy.

First snow this Fall

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes ... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. ... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. ... They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." Steve Jobs

So Winter is coming early this year... check it out. We may still get an indian summer but there it is... great views.. snow capped mountains while we still have green grass and green trees... wonderful.

One of the things I like best about this area is that a storm may come but it usually is just passing thru.... the same day the sun may shine.. or the next day .. then it is bright and cheery again ... what is better than that? ... and it all produces such magnificent scenery

Enjoy the view.

What you didn't see in Nevada

Who wadda thot?

Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person. -David M. Burns

Out for another late afternoon bike ride ... I knew someone who rode her bike to school every day... up and down a steep hill .... not sure I can do that good but I'm workin' at it.

Today's shots are a few things that you normally would not see in Nevada if you were a visitor ... and you might not think of Nevada like this if you were never here and just heard of Nevada on the tube or from someone talking..... Some think of Nevada as a place where Las Vegas is, not realizing it is about 450 miles  by 250 miles wide +/- and is a lot more than LV ... it's not all barren waste land either We have lots of ranches, fields, crops and flowers ... birds love us.. animals love us... see for yourself ... and as time goes by I will post additional gorgeous shots of Nevada

Biker's Dream

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree
Well we have to think great thoughts like that when we head down the highway on the bike .... the weather has been great! .... sky is clear.. temperature just right .... mountains standing tall, heads held high ... it's good to get outside . I love living in the country at the foot of the High Sierras

Here are a few shots from today's ride .... I rode yesterday too just in case you are wondering.

A ride in the country side... notice the heavy traffic :-)

Colors are starting to turn up .... Fall will be here soon

Thought you might like the reflections

Lots of fields, horses and cattle

Someone's long driveway... but not mine :-)

Tripping out

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more important than the outcome.... a good thing to keep in mind in order to get the proper perspective on life.

So we left on a journey .... not as early as anticipated but ok. ... made 3 stops for fuel and a short delay for repairs and still made good time ... the mp service says it was about 520 miles and should take just over 9 hours .... We arrived in Gardnerville at 8pm even with the 3 stops and the delay for repairs... I think that is OK.

Following you will find a few pictures I snapped along the way...... this was from the drivers side not the passenger side as some may think ... heh heh .... I was careful, generally there was no other traffic or we had a divided highway

Finally we get to the high desert in the Victorville area... warm, sunny and dry ... ahhhh ... I love it ..... after all those days on the coast with it's fog, overcast skies and gray ..... to get here we had to travel thru the Riverside-San Bernardino area, one of the worst smog area's of California... I did not know they still had that much smog...UGH

Traveling along the Eastern side of the High Sierras is one of the most magnificent journies in the USA ... I love it ... so many times I have wanted to stop and paint instead of rushing back to do the pile of paperwork waiting .... I'm still hoping for a painting trip

... and here is the Death Valley turn off .... Baron and I took that trip last year... I want to do it again

some of the most beautiful parts of the trip are included in the reservation areas

Most of the Eastern Slopes have trees, sage or grass... but there is an occasional sand pile adding to the beauty of it all

the sun is now beginning to dip into the Western skies ... this will give us some dramatic shadows and sparkling clouds

Now heading into the pass which is over 7000 ft .... the trip takes us over several high passes

I had to show you this one... notice the snow still lingering after the entire summer..... this is good... we needed the water

 

Finally the sun sets over the High Sierras and another lovely day closes only to expose a star studded night that can only be seen in the darkness of the high country on the Eastern slopes of the High Sierras ..... a beautiful day, a beautiful night... a great trip

I am thankful for it all

Those wonderful friends

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." -- Bernard Meltzer

Heh heh ... thanks everyone !

And a big thanks to Sissy for giving me her personally sculptured head!!! I love it!.... and I made it safely back to Nevada with it placed snugly between 2 pillows and even tho my truck was overloaded and jammed full.
Check it out... isn't it great!

Lunch with the gang

Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.  ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Life's Little Instruction Book


One of those small pleasures which was a BIG delight was our Wednesday lunch with our friends ... the semester is over ... the students have gone everywhere for a break.... Wednesday lunch is now stored as a fond and forever memory .... best to you all.

Laguna Beach

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly.  You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.  ~Roald Dahl




Today I went to Laguna beach ... this is an artist mecca.... I think it all started when Laguna was small and no one wanted to come here... now it is a very upscale neighborhood where you probably can not afford to live... there are lots of art galleries with fine paintings, tho ..... and there really is a beach which, of course, I visited.


It was a very good 1/2 day venture.

Painting and filming an ol' geezer

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world. Someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. -Tom Bodett

Thanks, Tom ..... we'll keep the light on for you

Well, we always keep trying to have more exciting things to do.... today it was posing for Jeff Watts while he painted a gesture painting... actually 2 gesture paintings .... all the while it was being filmed for his new instructional DVD ... ok, now I'm in the movies.. well, sorta :-)
It was fun and I was happy to help him.