This isn’t all of them (there are 4 more…and counting), but it’s a good sample! We’re having a BBQ here to celebrate visit from New Zealand by Matt, Lisa, Rangi, and Manu. Hooray! Adding to the zest, Ben, Kim, and Ava made it over from Tracy! We had the jumpie house, the tables with umbrellas, the kegs…. Count was 35 adults and 18 kids! Not all my descendants, mind you. Friends.
A Father's Vocation...
I always love it when one of my kids — or even someone else’s! — wishes me Happy Father’s Day. I don’t suppose any dad is holding his breath about it, or thinks less of the kids who don’t pass him the wish that year. It’s optional. Hey, I’m happy waking up to have another day!
Challenge
Lots of sappy stuff is written on Father’s Day, though mercifully not so much as on Mother’s Day! Nobody quite manages to define a dad in spite of all the forced trying. Yet it’s simple: Dads fix stuff.
Today was my day to fix the toilet seat. It was loose and wiggly. The seat is held onto the giant porcelain bowl by a 5/16th inch bolt. On the underside of the porcelain shoulder that the bolt goes through there had been a fat plastic washer and then a nut to snug the washer up against the porcelain. The washer broke and fell off. The nut could not be tightened sufficiently to hold the seat steady. Looks like a job for a dad!
The good dad prepares his equipment. I needed a new washer to replace the broken one. More than that, I had developed an ardent desire not to have to do this repair often — in fact, ever again. You see, I already had to get down on the floor on my back and creep in between the cupboard and the giant porcelain bowl even to see what was going on. It may look roomy in my not-to-scale drawing, but don’t believe it! First I got down to see the scene. Then I got up, got a needed tool for turning the nut, got back down, wormed my way again into the available crevice with both arms close to breaking off, turned the nut, discovered that it would never in the wide world get tight no matter what, and wiggled out again.
It’s what we do. We fix stuff. It’s because we love you.
Solution
So, yesterday or a few days before, I had gone to the hardware store to buy a few urgently needed supplies. Oh, you may not know about this. There is always at least one more trip back to the hardware store. In this case, i had estimated the bolt size at 5/16, let the helpful clerk show me a similar toilet connection and prove it was 1/4 inch, and so brought home the 1/4 inch gear — the wrong size. Hence the second trip. No hard feelings.
The plastic washer that used to snug against the underside of the porcelain shoulder of the bowl was broken and had to be replaced. I got a big rubber washer to do that job. But that wasn’t enough to ensure that I would never ever ever have to do this particular repair again. I also selected a lock washer to go on the bolt between the rubber washer and the nut. Are you following this?
The nut squishes the lock washer against the washer, which in turn is snugged (I love that word!) against the porcelain. The lock washer locks, meaning that the $#%%##$^@ nut won’t come loose!
Ah, but that isn’t enough for the doughty dad who, by dint of vast experience, knows full well that things which cannot happen often do happen!
Hence, the overkill. You simply must overbuild anything you build so it will stay built, and by the same token you must exercise extreme caution to assure that other stuff will stay put the way you want it. This is a dad’s credo. We live by it or we die by it.
In this case, the credo of overdoing requires not only the lock washer but also the second nut. Yes, the second nut. That’s the nut that gets tightened up against the first nut constantly reminding the first nut that it’s job is to stay tight and not to come slippy-sliding back down the thread of the bolt getting all loose and wiggly.
Then of course the good dad does the same thing on the other side of the bowl, because if one side goes bad, the other side can’t be far behind! Indeed, in this case, the fat plastic washer was already well on the way to shattering and cascading merrily down onto the floor, to be unknowingly swept out with other trash.
Were it not for the good offices of a good dad, that toilet seat would be wiggly right now! But now, oh yes, now it is as solid as a rock!
Happy Father’s Day!
Carroll and i alternate weeks cooking & shopping & cleaning up for dinners, the whole kitchen thing. Works fine: week on, i do it, and i enjoy it. week off, she does it, and i get to coast, which i like a lot too! Often, for my week, i work out a week’s menu which i post in the K, a) to remind me what i’m doing, and b) to let C know. Not this week, tho. I’m shopping, getting a bunch of stuff, then each day figuring out something for dinner.
MONDAY: baked halibut, new corn on the cob, tossed green salad. Simple, eh?
BTW, here’s how to bake halibut to perfection: Get halibut filet, ⅓ to ½ pound (½ lb is a lot) per person. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Rinse and dry the halibut, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper, pop it into a glass baking dish (pie pan etc). When oven is fully heated, bake for 20 minutes per inch of thickness of the halibut. That most often means 20 – 22 minutes, because halibut filets are usually not much over an inch in thickness before baking (they puff up a bit in the oven). if your filet were 2 inches thick (never happens), you would NOT bake it 40 minutes. The add-ons after the first inch are small and gradual.
As for the person who says, “Oh I like mine a little better done,” give ‘em the less thick half of the filet; there’s always a difference. (You can also do the whole thing at 375 instead of 350, to boost it. But do not, PLEASE, overcook it in response to that person’s fears. Halibut should be wonderfully moist and flakey, also white; at that point, it’s done right.)
So you’re wondering, does this work for all fish? Answer: most fish. Salmon wants less time in oven. It so easily gets overcooked and dry. Cut it back to, say, 18 minutes at most for an inch. It should be pink, moist, and flakey — not crumbly, for God’s sake!
TUESDAY (tonight): I got home at 5:45, so to eat by 6:30 I did a quick and yummy beef stir-fry.
First i set the table to get that out of the way, then got the rice ready to turn on. I carved off a chunk of tri-tip, maybe ½ – ⅔ pound, sliced it into pieces 1 – 2 inches long, ½ inch wide, ¼ inch thick, and set it aside.
At 6:00 I turned on heat for the rice water (once water boils and rice is added, it cooks 20 minutes, sits and breathes 5 minutes, and hangs out ready).
2 cloves garlic minced; 4 or 5 tiny yukon potatoes, ½ white onion, 10 or so green beans, ⅓ large red pepper, all of them cut up and ready to add. Heat 5 – 6 tablespoons olive oil on high. When it almost smokes, toss in the garlic, stir 15 seconds and add the other veggies. (You can hold back onions or red peppers and especially green beans for less cook time to your taste.) Stir fry enthusiastically. Add salt, pepper, ginger, a tad of ground cardamom seed for gravitas and, eventually, a thimble of sake for the steam and, oh yes, the taste. When near being cooked but not quite, remove all that and set aside.
Add oil again to the wok and, when hot, toss in the meat slices to brown, tossing frequently enough to let them know you care. Season with salt, ground cumin, that ground cardamom seed again, and cayenne (yes, cayenne: don’t be afraid!). When meat is happy, return veggies to wok, toss on a bit of tamari sauce, stir-toss for a mere instant, and you can thicken the brew with a teaspoon of corn starch and a dash of water mixed in – quickly, just a minute.
Serve immediately over rice. Goes extraordinarily well with a River Road Petit Syrah, a recent addition to that vintner’s list.
Oh yeah!
The Sandbox Oasis
Carroll’s b-day was May 1; i just didn’t get around to taking pics till today. For weeks before May 1, i badgered C. to say what she’d like for her birthday; no results. Finally a week before the event i said, “Tell me something, or i’ll get you some horrible thing that i like and you’ll wish you’d never seen!” Threats work for me; some people find crying is better.
She said she wanted a sandbox like the one she had as a little girl and described it in detail. I drew up plans, she approved. She also said, “I know it’s late in the game to have it by my birthday. Mainly, I want it before the kids arrive from New Zealand [June 21] so they can play in it with Eli.”
I got all the materials cut to size at Home Depot, jammed them into my Artmobile (old Isuzu pickup) and got them home. “OK,” I told her, “I’ve got it designed, so now I’m certain I can get it built before the kids come in June.” I glimpsed a faint flicker of disappointment cross her face before she eclipsed it with a sunny smile and, “Great!” I had to set her up to have any chance of surprising her! It worked….
Yum!
A good way to start the day! Rangi and i created a tradition of the “cereal moment,” in which we shared such a delightful bowl. Eli and I occasionally re-visit it, and it lives on….
Composition: move the spoon up. Yeah yeah, I know.
A niche market...
OK yeah sure i could have chosen SOME OTHER image to come back to my blog with after absolutely nothing, no sign of life, since april 27. it’s spring! there are flowers! would it be so hard to upload a couple of flower pix??
i have flower pix. don’t think i don’t. but this doodle strikes even closer to my heart than pix of lovely roses. red roses. pink roses. white roses. multi-colored roses. we’ve seen ‘em. they’re everywhere. i’ll post some later.
ever since january i’ve been thinking thinking thinking about a bunch of stuff making notes and thinking. maybe eventually it will come into really writing it. or not.
anyway to my surprise just today my train of thought huffed and puffed and chugged into the station at TRANSCENDENTAL, and how was i to know that was even on the way?
so this little doodle came.
i’m OK.
Mountain Cut
Breaking my silence…
Were you wondering? Maybe not. Anyway it’s two months since my surgery, and I feel great! I’ve been like a hermit for eons, not even (gasp!) blogging!
This is my only painting since The Big Incision. I’ve had one pretty good session at Thursday Night Drawing Group.
Is this painting bizarre or what?! It’s just what came – and it was very insistent! Pretty big, it’s 5½ feet tall, a hair under 4 feet wide. I plan to roll thick dowels onto it top and bottom, make a scroll of it, hang it by a thread.
Oh, so MUCH of what I do hangs by a thread!
This mountain theme has been persistent; they’re like parentheses around my surgery. I hate to be obvious, but it truly has been quite a climb; and the view from up here is fab.
Random news items: I’ve been reading a lot – reviews may come soon. And I’ve been thinking, thinking, thinking, and writing a lot. This looks like either nothing or a long term project, so don’t hold your breath for blog chapters!
Carroll had dinner out tonight, so I made a thick juicy porterhouse steak for myself: scrumptious! And a salad including crumbled Bulgarian feta, which is the world’s best feta. Try it, you’ll love it.
Over and out.
Carroll's Stew
it’s five weeks since (get ready:) my abdomen was opened with an 8 inch gash, all the innards rearranged and made all nice again, then sewn up. (ok, you can look now.) i feel really good! i have neither the strength nor energy that i will have once fully recovered, but except for sitting down more often to rest, and the naps (!), i’m in fine fettle! one more week and i can begin driving again. at that point i hope to take on again half the shopping, cooking, and clean-up, start building the fires in the wood stove again, etc. carroll has been carrying more than her share! meanwhile, though, i enjoy her cookery: such as, tonight’s luscious beef stew!
Drawn (and quartered??)
OK, it’s over, I’m back, and I’m feeling good….
I had major abdominal surgery Monday, January 25.
This pic is me just back from hospital, about 12 pounds lighter, looking like death warmed over. I’ve improved since….
I chose to undergo this surgery, because I wanted to be a whole person again. I knew it would be tough: I had the same operation 11 months ago under emergency conditions, which couldn’t quite finish the job (too risky). It took me five months after that one to choose going through it again.
Pre-op
Operation
Guts
I prepared for it a month: physically (diet), but especially mentally and emotionally, projecting myself into my future self newly healed and whole again. Which was the point.
Bigger and Badder!
Carroll suggested visualizing the institution, which has me sprawled on a gurney wired up and I.V.ed to the max, as caring for me, not imprisoning me. Good idea.
I spent a full week in hospital. Sunday, January 31, talking to the surgeon doing rounds about leaving the next day or two, she said, “Well, you could go home today if you want to.”
This pic is after several days at home, a couple of pounds heavier, appetite good, food good, loving care. It says, “I’m back! Bigger and badder!”
Home! I was well cared for in the hospital, but it remained an alien, stressful place especially at night: no one around, huge empty spaces, eerie lights and sounds, a blank canvas for bad dreams and half-waking paranoia.
Home heals. Don’t ever let anyone tell you home doesn’t matter, it’s just a place. Please: it’s home.
Drawing
Today for the first time since the surgery I did some art – these 6 little pics to tell some of the story. (All are done with India Ink on 11” x 7½” 140 lb hot press Fabriano paper. Oh yes. Ink applied using my favorite ½ inch thick stick, found in my yard.)
That art imagination and energy are visiting me so early in my recovery is amazing! Last time, it was MONTHS before any sign of artistic imagination re-appeared, much less the energy to DO something!
It took a lot of energy. It tired me. AND it fulfilled me, it made me feel good, and it was most healing!
Last time, it was not until i went to New Zealand 6 months later that anything really happened for me in art! Then, finally, a lot poured forth.
This time, not only am i up to something art-wise after lesss than 3 weeks, just look what’s happened with this little self-portrait: I’m completely absorbed in making the drawings, not thinking of myself at all; and I’m younger and better looking….
You can’t really beat that. I mean, come on! Art! It’s magic!
Climb It!
IT’S A TOUGH MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB, AND THE VIEW FROM THE TOP IS TO DIE FOR!
Looking ahead, less than a day to go, surgery about 9:00 a.m. PST tomorrow. I am calm and confident, looking forward to the event and – most of all – to my future self, whole again in body and wiser in spirit for the task successfully accomplished!
This painting grabbed me by the lapels this morning and demanded that I realize it on paper. The vision of a mountain crag first emerged for me in 2002 on a painting trip I took through Oregon (stopping first at Mt Shasta). It has been haunting me closely these past months, beginning in New Zealand, then in Baja.
Apparently this is a mountain that I need in my life and that, just now, I need to climb.
I’m buckling on my gear, and I’m ready for it. I welcome it! And I will rejoice in the view from the top!
Dread of Surgery
Monday Jan 25th I go in for surgery. Five days in hospital, some weeks to recover. You can read more about it below, if you want. First, the art!
I’ve been preparing for a month in all sorts of ways for this operation. A couple of days ago, two watercolors insisted on becoming visible, and here they are.
Outcome Optimism
The first is “Dread of Surgery.” It’s tiny: 7½” x 5½”. I don’t suppose it needs explanation, and anyway I have no words to add.
The second is “Outcome Optimism.” I need to work on these titles: they are uninspired! But accurate. This one is 11” x 7½”. Again, what you see is what you get.
For your amusement (and mine) I include here also what’s on the BACK of each. It turns out I used paper recycled from a recent culling of my old figure drawings.
The back of “Dread” especially – a Funky Figure – I feel is perfect to accompany the dark “Dread” itself. You surely don’t think it’s an ACCIDENT that it was back there, do you?!?
Funky Figure
The other one, the back of “Optimism,” is totally random.
Medical TMI for the curious/those who love me THAT much:
This is the fix-it follow up to emergency abdominal surgery I had eleven months ago, in late February ‘09. I knew that more remained to be done, but it took me five months to come to the point of being able to imagine CHOOSING to go through that surgery again. Now I’m getting ready to do it (clear liquid diet today and tomorrow).
“Whole person.” You might think this surgery is merely about having a whole body – but believe me, its reach is broader. And on all those levels, I am very stoked to be doing this, anticipating HAVING DONE it and being all fixed up again, the way I was before.
Recovery was slow before – I’m fully back really only the past couple of months in terms of energy; creativity was back in late August, September in New Zealand. Recovery will be faster this time because I’m not going into it sick and near death. Also the anesthesiologist heard my pleas and hit upon ways to keep the various drugs at minimum amounts to do the job. That will help: recovering from the drugs was part of what made it hard before. I’m hoping for fewer (or no!) paranoid hallucinations on the opiates and no cognitive losses once back home, unlike before. I’m an optimist: I think I’ll get all that – and more that I haven’t thought of!
Thanks for listening!
There I was, boyz and girlz…alone on the bone-chill balcony, Creekside 20 at Bear Valley – the best spot in the place – standing still in sub-freezing weather with my hands in water … painting watercolors.
Insane!
BTW, Santa brought me that jacket (carhartt), and it is warm and tough! (Like me!) (haha)
Here, I want to show you seven little watercolors from that moment — on Arches 300 lb cold press.
Three of them are 5½” x 7½”, three 11” x 7½”, and one is 15” x 11”.
They’re sized in proportion (and tagged).
I don’t have titles for them yet.
They’re just scenes of snow and trees, one also has kids and a dog.
There’s always kids and a dog somewhere, if you look around, ain’t they?
I was happy as a clam painting there while the snow fell — or the icicles on the roof eaves dripped melt right past the railing, sometimes splattering my imprudently placed painting — doing what I love.
You’ll notice, i’m floating these paintings on a dark background to let their lovely raggedy edges show, instead of cropping tight to the painted area. That’s the natural tear of the paper.
cold. snow. This was Yosemite country just a couple days before 2010 staggered in to warm its hands by the fire.
A creek ran along the bottom of the little valley i was painting, and on later days the melt let the grass show through a bit in spots — which is hard to see with these small reproductions, except in the largest, the 15 x 11. Makes me kind of wish i’d done click-enlargements for some of them. But I didn’t, did I?
I loosened up a bit on the 6th and 7th paintings. I was warmed up from the others, had a good sense for what i was painting, by then; and there was something about that golden green tree standing in front of the others that demanded something freer.
I had a go at it.
Thus:
There were eight of us: Alli & T-bird & Crack, Dew-dew & E-Guy & Liesel, Shoobs & Pops.
Oh, and Thomàs the mellow yellow dog was with us, also known as Mana until Rangi’s little brother got named Manu, at which point Rangi announced the dog’s new name.
Which i assiduously respect. But some others rudely slide on this.
Which they definitely would not dare do if the Rangman were here in person to exact discipline. [See Dec 6 post for the Grom.]
It’s all there at Bear, the snow-fun: skiing, snowboarding, sledding, cross-country. Snow balls.
Night falls, indoor rec: Wii games and tripoly, poker, rummy or gin. Vodka. Pink Muchachas [4 parts fine rum, 1 part fine vodka, ½ part cranberry juice].
We did have Jimi’s Back-Country Chili, too, by jove! [See Dec 15 post.] And good! Though I did back off on the spices some, out of concern for the ladies, and I kind of regretted that….
Deep snow. More came. Four-wheel drive or cable chains. Or both. 7,000 feet at the condo, 8,000 on the slopes.
High altitude short breath at first.
It was snowing when we left. It’s probably snowing right now. Look outside and see….
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
New sink & storage
This is a story of shiny, bright, and new.
It’s also about BEFORE and AFTER totally grunge-down cleaning and organizing my studio – following ten years of not really sweating it…!
This photo is of the spanking NEW sink and storage area that never ever ever existed before. NOW it is part of my studio!!! (The AFTER picture..)
Ten years ago, I leapt incautiously from the safety of the cave and the thick bushes at the top of the cliff off the edge into … my third career: Artist.
Carroll always has been supportive of my artistic yearnings. For my birthday that year, she gave me $600 cash to start a studio. I did.
Finally, after ten years of using the studio — ten years of punctuated chaos — I could no longer find anything or do anything. Aaaghhhh!!!!!
Survey this mess:
Marilyn was part of the whole BEFORE debris, buried in piles. The north end of the studio has a crucial worktable: buried.
NOW look at it – would you believe??
Worktable end AFTER
First fire! (AFTER)
Finally, AFTER, a usable worktable emerged from the debris, looking out onto the charming rose garden out the sliding door. Also, the wood stove got repaired and re-painted, most rewardingly resulting in delightful relighting….
More BEFORE:
Desk End BEFORE
Books BEFORE
BEFORE, there was the dreadful chaos of the desk end of the studio.
Books AFTER
AFTER
Previously, books were completely out of control. NOW look at how orderly they are, how they all know their places and stay right there! (Until I start carrying them around using them again….) NOW the stairs are so clear, you can walk up and down them!!!
Under droll and commanding leadership of darling Carroll, order is established once again!
Buffalo
We even dug out the marvelous Rampaging Buffalo previously half-hidden behind stuff. He’s my mascot….
AND I have a giant sheet of paper pinned up on the wall ready for me to mark all over it: Arches 300 lb hot press. 7 feet tall and nearly 4 feet wide! Whee!
Now THAT will be fun.
whew! i’m celebrating and recuperating from two hours on the phone with apple tech doing updates to get cyberduck working again – after my new snow leopard ate him – so i can upload pics to this very blog. and yes! it’s fixed! the place pictured above (i was there a scant two weeks ago..) serves for now as my special place to go to and CHILL! i’m happy….
DELICIOUS POTATO BEEF STIR FRY
This stir-fry uses an unusual combination of veggies – including finger potatoes – and spicy seasoning. The amounts will serve three, or two with seconds….
Ingredients:
½ to ¾ lb tri-tip or other beef sliced thin 2” x ½” x ¼”
8 or 10 mushrooms, preferably crimini, sliced
6 or 8 finger potatoes in thick slices
1 small to medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 small to medium carrots, peeled and in thick slices
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1” squares
Seasonings – interpret measures generously: rounded tsp, etc:
1½ cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp chili paste
2 or 3 shakes of tamari soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp water
1 tablespoon water
8 – 10 tablespoons virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper, a pinch
salt to taste
Serve with rice.
Cooking times: rice, 20 minutes plus 5 minutes to dry; stir-fry, 40 minutes preparation, 20 minutes to cook.
Cooking:
The entire cooking process is done over high heat in a wok. Heat 4 – 5 tablespoons oil until just short of smoking. Toss in minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds; add mushrooms, salt and black pepper. Toss frequently for 3 minutes until starting to cook; add potatoes, onions, and carrots. Season with ginger, ½ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp cayenne, and salt. Toss for 4 minutes; add a tablespoon of water and continue tossing 2 or 3 minutes, when aroma of potatoes is released. Remove from heat and set aside.
Again heat 4 – 5 tablespoons oil to the edge of smoking hot. Add meat, toss; season with ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp chili paste (smash it in the hot oil), and salt. Toss frequently 4 minutes or so until ingredients are richly cooking. Add the pre-cooked veggies, tamari, and toss. Pour the cornstarch-water mix around the edges and stir-fry for one minute. Serve.
Millikan meets Pelican
Another pic from cabo found – historic encounter with my near-namesake, a darling big amazing-looking prehistoric kind of bird: a pelican! None of the birds around cabo pulmo seemed paranoid of humans. things are kind of slow and good there.. maybe that’s why. Birds and people too, in cabo everybody’s enjoying the warm ocean and the sun….
Two things. That dark milky-way strewn along the beach is composed of gigillions of flat, rounded, super smooth stones polished through millenia of rolling surf. You can walk on ‘em barefoot with nary a twinge.
Two: please note carefully the two shadows in this photo – mine and the pelican’s. What do you make of the fact that the two shadows POINT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS?!? Mmrheeehahahahaha!!!!!!!!
Anna Maria
In a recent post, i yakked on endlessly about drawing the figure (this past thursday) – skirting ugliness to push boundaries blah blah.
Here’s a different sort of figure drawing from the thursday before. The model is anna maria. I saw her with bright red swirling color (like a red cape). The figure you see here is layered with at least three echoes of her.
This has been a strange post. The whole time, i’ve been on the phone with an apple tech support person (Sarah!) in Ontario talking me through solutions to my problems. Yesterday I installed Snow Leopard on my MacBook laptop. Not much change from Leopard, except: it killed my cyberduck! Meaning i could no longer upload pics to this blog. Waaa! So my lovely assistant talked me through finding and downloading a fix from cyberduck’s website, and hung on while i went through the whole process to test it. This post is the no doubt disorganized and no more than semi-coherent, yet i do hope charming result.
Smile. Or as we say among fb friends, ♥ (I just learned that from Kim Landaverde, my kin in Manteca. She’s 22 and knows cool stuff.)
Golden days. Mexico. Beach. Baja. Bungalows. Cabo Pulmo. ‘Way off the beaten path. Clean air. Quiet. Hot sun, low humidity, bright days, good friends, incredible fish tacos. The food? I can’t begin to describe the variety and deliciosity.
Our Palapa Home
Bungalow interior, thatched roof
Close by: Chili's Bar
Hanging out in Chili's Bar
Baja Bungalows. All palapa construction: upright poles and cross members natural growth stripped of bark, lashed with no nails used. Poured, formed concrete walls. Thatched roofs were really good. Thick, keeping rain and heat out; or, in cold weather, holding heat in. Our snug little bungalow had no kitchen. We were about a hammock’s length (literally) away from the communal Chili’s Bar, a major hangout, with a full kitchen.
Me, painting at the beach
Of course it’s about painting! What, I became a fish?!? Sun, food, drink, and art. Ahhhhhhhh!
Cabo Pulmo Point
Mountain
Two series, 3 watercolor paintings per series. First: Cabo Pulmo Point. Second: Mountain. The two above are the smallest paintings in the series, at 5.5″ x 7.5″.
The “Point” paintings were the first thing i tried. i was loosening up a bit more with the mountains. Here is the 2nd painting in each series:
Cabo Pulmo Point 2
Mountain 2
The 2nd painting in each series is a bit larger, at 7.5″ x 11″. (The 3rd, not shown, in each case is 11″ x 15″.)
I blithely write “1st, 2nd, and 3rd.” Really, i painted them all at the same time, going from one to the other while the one dried. It’s watercolor, after all. “1, 2, 3″ simply reflects size.
I also did a couple of singles.
Shadow House, 11" x 15"
TREE, 7.5" x 5.5"
i was fascinated with the geometry and shadows of this damned house, but i haven’t got it right yet. i may do something more in my studio. The tree is just a little thing i did waiting for something else to dry.
Carroll chillin' at the ole palapa!
Here’s Carroll, chillin’ at the palapa. She may be reading Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout. I think she gulped down 2 or 3 books a day, word!
A great thing about relaxing is getting silly. You should have heard Carroll and the other ladies, yakkin’ and gigglin’! Oh my!
The main thing of it all is…VACATION! We all had a wonderful, relaxed, fun time. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New Zealand Family
Dateline Auckland, NZ, Friday October 2. Piggy-backing on unknown wi-fi in the International Airport waiting for NZ 08 to take us to San Francisco. Flight time: 7:30 p.m., aka 17:30.
Matt picked us up in the van this morning once we were packed and checked out. Got Rangi from surfing, had a really yummy lunch on the outdoor balcony at Tairawhiti Museum in Gizzy. After, I took this pic of the New Zealand Whanau (family) on the museum grounds with the river in the background. Lovely place. That’s Matt, Lisa, Rangi, and Manu.
We will fly out of New Zealand this evening approximately five hours AFTER we arrive in San Francisco. Ahhh, how I love the time-travel aspect of global tripping!
lots of mixed feelings: we’ll terribly miss the people (and the country, too) here, we’ll be glad to be home and glad to see all our family and friends there again; and we have a bit of dread toward that looooooooooooooong 13-hour flight.
