December Blessings

As I was painting an image of a coastal redwood that grows in our semi-urban/rural garden; I thought about the gifts that this tree offers.  This redwood filters light, is a shelter for birds and  neighbor animals.   A  pine that I discovered on a Sierra mountain trip this year  offers these same gifts of filtered light to those who dwell under the tree (plants, insects and an occasional animal who finds shelter underneath its limbs or boughs).

Cruz, who is our first rescue dog, entered our family's life this last April.  We found him at a local Golden Retriever rescue, Homeward Bound Goldens.   He was originally found near Palmdale, a southern California high desert area right after Christmas last year.  We do not know how long he had been homeless.  Through a series of rescue shelters and devoted caregivers, he found his new home with us here in northern California.  I often think that he may have found shelter under a tree like the trees described above. 

May you find warm shelter, light and friends to share your year's stories this December. 

Wishing you a little quiet and stillness amidst the winter storms and the packed holiday calendars.  Peace.

Season of November Autumn

As I am going about my weekly errands this month, I'm reminded in the greeting card displays and in the offerings at the grocery store that this is the week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving here in America, and here in California.  I am reminded during this annual November season how much there is to be thankful for.  We have had special blessings in the Sacramento Valley this year.  The weather has been a little warmer this November to allow the roses to bloom a little longer and to allow the trees to turn a more brilliant autumn color for a longer period of time this year.  As I worked on a couple of autumn watercolors this past month, I thought about the brilliant crimsons, orange vermillions, the mahogany maroons and the golden yellows I saw in the leaves as I travelled around town.

My husband and I were able to return to Hope Valley in the Sierras in mid October just before the rains came to the area.  We were able to witness the annual show of the Hope Valley golden aspen glowing so bright against the deep green of the pines in the background.  Attached to this blog are two paintings of the Hope Valley aspens.  I enjoyed studying the shadows on the aspen bark, enjoyed hearing the wrestling sound of the aspen leaves created by the wind and remembering the clear blue autumn sky and glorious passages of yellow and orange.

Wishing you a warm Thanksgiving.

"Autumn in California is a mild and anonymous season, hills and  alleys are colorless then, only the sooty green Eucalyptus, the conifers and oaks sink deep in the haze; the fields are plowed, bare, waiting; The steep pastures are tracked deep by the cattle; There are no flowers, the herbage is brittle.  All night along the coast and the mountain crest birds go by, murmurous, high in the warm air.  Only in the mountain meadows the aspens glitter like goldfish moving up swift water; Only in the desert villages the leaves of the cottonwoods descend in smoky air."  Kenneth Rexroth, Autumn in California, 1940

Autumn Tropical skies

In the latter part of September, my husband and I traveled to Kauai.  One day we explored a road and came upon this landscape and later discovered that a scene of the movie, Jurassic Park, was filmed in this area.  This was the area where the dinosaurs were in a large meadow area.  As we explored the bright light and felt the trade winds in this area, we suddenly heard a large crashing sound and realized a tree had just fallen in the near distance. 

 

Nature's power and strength (as depicted in the movie) and in real life shows itself so quickly.

We noticed this year, that the sugar cane (as seen here surrounding the cocanut trees) fields are giving way to new crops.  Since the last sugar cane plant has closed, coffee plantations and cattle ranches are appearing.  It is good to see there is new hope  since the sugar cane industry has left the island.    There were new ideas of sustainability heard both in these new ways to farm the land and in the restaurants we discovered.  We learned that the Hawaiian culture from long ago also sustained the land.  These old ways are being taught and incorporated into today's renewed interest in sustainability.  While we were in Kauai, we went to a traditional hula competition which was part of the annual Mokihana festival.
I will be drawing inspiration from the light, images, smells, and sounds that we experienced on our September visit to Kauai for a long time.

 As I finished this painting, I thought of the golds, vermillions and burgundy colors that will soon be seen on trees here in the Sacramento valley.  The trees are turning colors later this year in our area.

Wishing you new discoveries this autumn.

Hope Valley

This summer I had the opportunity to paint outdoors in the Hope Valley area.  This valley is located in the Sierra mountains, southwest of Lake Tahoe.

As I was painting, I thought about how ancient this place is and how many people, men and women,  had discovered this place so long ago.  This was long before I discovered this rugged and magnificent area. 

In other years, I have come here in the autumn when the aspen leaves have turned to brilliant golds and yellows; however, I had never been here in the summer.  The blue and green color tones are cleaner and brighter.  The mosquitos are also present here in the summer to my chagrin.  Fortunately, my friend and fellow painter had insect repellent with her.  She saved me and allowed me to paint.  Every once in a while a cool breeze would stir.  This was a gift because as the breeze swept by,  the flies and insects rode the air currents away from me if for only a few moments.  The mosquito stings and sounds forced me to concentrate ever so much more on the shape of the mountains and the deepness of the forest.  This was truly a gift because for some time I have wanted to paint faster and quicker outdoors to capture the fleeting light changes that occur.  Gifts come in surprising ways, don't they?

September is upon us now.  Soon the leaves will begin turning and we will have cooler evenings.  The aspens will be calling me back to Hope Valley later this fall.  In the meantime, we all have memories of our summer activites and sharings as we ease into autumn.

"In the garden,  Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of  thought and care and toil.  And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November," Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn garden, 1905.

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August Stillness

Thoughts of new discoveries made or to be made on vacation destinations enter the mind as it stops for a minute, to be still.  Whether it be new food recipes to be tried, or new beauty and strength to discover in the environment,  or new/old acquaintenances to discover or rediscover.  In the early morning or in the evening as the sun sets, one can feel nature's stillness before the harvest time begins.  Squirrels in our area will be busy soon gathering for the autumn and winter months.  The dragonflies will also be leaving our summer pond soon.  Stillness to reflect what has been and what is yet to be.  There is a garden in Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento, that has a very large lotus pond.  The lotus flower emerges from the muddy depths of the pond  to show its strong and striking petals to the sunlight.  As I visited and gazed for a moment at the pond this summer, a full lotus flower dropped a petal and then in graceful, quick procession all the petals fell. So quickly,  the lotus transformed from a flower to a simple pod.   And so it is with me!  To be still for a moment here and there is one of my summer goals so that I thoughtfully stay on track to complete or least get a good start on my late summer plans before summer quickly transforms into autumn.

Summer in the City

Summer. Summer is in full swing now. As in New Years' intentions, many of us have summer activity intentions, as well.  For instance, there is the summer reading list.   I am always on the look out for a good read.  My summer reading list may turn into my winter reading list.  I keep adding to it.  To complement my summer reading on the French Impressionist movement of the late 1800's, I had the good fortune to see the Impressionist Exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco two weeks ago.  The exhibit includes many of the French Impressionist painters including Monet, Degas, Manet and Cezanne.  These paintings are on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, while the Musee galleries are closed and being renovated.  The DeYoung was one of the museums worldwide that was fortunate to have this exhibit.

So my summer travel plans became more likely and affordable.  I did not have to fly to France to see these wonderful artworks, I only had to travel to the bay area to see them.  The exhibit is on through 9/6/10 in case you would like to travel to Paris via San Francisco this summer.  http://deyoung.famsf.org/  There is a wonderful companion show at the Legion of Honor, "Impressionist Paris, City of Light."

For another summer trip here in northern California, the Sierra Nevada mountains are not too far away either.  Attached is a watercolor of a sugar pine that I discovered on a trip into the Sierras near Mammoth Lakes area.  These pines are such a study in strength to paint and the day that this pine was discovered, the sun was in full gear and the sky was a brilliant cerulean blue that contrasted beautifully with the dark green of the sugar pines.

I would love to hear about your summer reading list and travel adventures far and near.

Spring Painting in Winters

On March 26th and March 27th, I spent two wonderful Spring days with my husband and our  good friend, Betty,  photographing and painting Spring in the Winter's area.

Briggs and Company, an  art gallery in Winters, CA, is the home of the annual "Paint The Town" plein-air art painting festival.  For a week, March 26th through April 3rd, artists painted within a fifteen mile radius of the town of Winters.  There was much to paint, including the interesting architecture of the town center that dates back to the late 1880's; the agricultural land that surrounds the town of Winters; reflections of the water at Putah Creek; the beautiful deep blue Lake Berryessa surrounded by mauve pink hills, and interesting vintage farm equipment and cars.

Winters is situated in an agricultural area west of Sacramento and Davis.

Attached are two paintings that I painted during the plein air festival and that are being shown at the Briggs & Company gallery for the months of April and part of May. 

As I painted, there was great enjoyment in experiencing the cool breezes, the changing bird formations in the sky, the changing light and a horse was naying occasionally  in the background.  I realized that morning of painting that only when spending time in nature, can one experience these elements fully. 

Wishing everyone special moments and new discoveries this Spring.

Spring

Winter is giving way to Spring.  Last weekend as I was out running weekend errands driving east on a major road near our home, I could see the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains set agains a bright cerulean blue sky.  The previous Friday's rain had cleared the air so that the sunlight hitting the snowcapped mountains was spectacular.  All around town the trees are beginning to bloom.  Spring is coming.  I spotted the first rose of the season on my noon time walk.   This particular rose is one of my seasonal favorites because of its subtle hues of soft orange peach color.  This was another reminder of the upcoming change of season.

The roses shown here are watercolor and color pencil study sketches that I did of the roses in our garden.  I love to study the subtle shapes, patterns and colors of the roses.  As I study and sketch the garden roses, I am reminded of a quote from one of my favorite artists, Georgia O'Keefe, "Nobody sees a Flower-really.  It is so small.  We haven't time-and to see takes time.  Like to have a friend takes time."  That is why I like to sketch and draw.  It helps to slow contemporary life down briefly for me so that I do not miss the subtle beauty and strength in nature.

Wishing everyone who reads this a little happiness and beauty as
spring unfolds.

American River

The American River, a hidden jewel in northern California, meanders through the Sacramento region.  The American River begins high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, just west of Lake Tahoe in the Tahoe and El Dorado National Forets.  The River runs through the Sacramento region and then enters into the Sacramento River which then flows through the farm-rich delta and then out to the San Francisco Bay and into the Pacific Ocean.

There are wonderful trails in and around the American River as it makes it way through the Sacramento region.  Two of the three watercolor images are scenes discovered during early morning on walks along the American.  In painting these images, I was captivated by the early morning and mid-morning light reflected on the shrubs and river paths.

The third scene is of a pond discovered near the American River in full sunlight.  The deep blue of the pond beckoned to be studied and painted.

 The American River was called the Rio de los Americanos before 1846 during the time that Mexico ruled what we now call California.  The American River has been the site of Sutter's Mill, where gold was discovered in 1848, which lead to the California Gold Rush and the beginnings of the state that we now call California.

Avatar

This last week, we went to see the director James Cameron's new movie, Avatar.  The animation and special effects alone in this movie were something to experience.  The images of the forest and plant life were very realistic.  The story line, which was part science fiction and part commentary on how we are taking care of each other and the environment, was beautifully and strongly  told through the characters performance and animation created.  The design of the 3-D glasses that were given to view this movie also was far improved over the old 3-D glasses of old.

Art in the New Year

My husband, Gary, and I along with our friend, Betty, visited the Haggin Museum (Stockton, CA) yesterday to see the stellar plein air exhibit, "American Legacy; Our National Parks."  The beautiful paintings were created by artists who are members of the national artist group, Plein-Air Painters of America.

The 36 artists in this exhibit painted their unique vision of the national park that they visited.  During 2008-2009, these artists were given the opportunity to paint in a national park of their choosing.  The exhibit will be showing at the Haggin Museum through January 10, 2010 (http://www.hagginmuseum.org/).  The website also has links to the artists' individual websites.