Thoughts of Warmer Days Ahead

February has been a good month on the rainy days to make plans for day trips this Spring and Summer to the mountains.  The sunny days this month (in between the rainstorms) have been a good time to walk out in the winter garden to make plans for the vegetable and flower garden this coming planting season.  Even with the rains that we have had this month, our Bird of Paradise bush has been blooming abundantly.  It has been great to look out the kitchen window and see all the orange and purple blooms.  A little tropical in the midst of winter. 

This month I have been working on an image (sketches from last fall) of  a warm-looking Sierra meadow which hearkens warmer days ahead.

Wishing you a little warmth in between the rainstorms.

New Beginnings

A new year has started with the beginnings of new intentions, new promises to be made as the year 2011 unfolds.  Because of this, I thought it would be  good to spend some time during this first month of the year to paint the January moon at dawn.  These images are from the first light discovered at the break of day along an early morning walk along the American River in northern California.  The first light of the day spotlights the tops of trees and ground with a glowing rosy shade as the darkness of the night gently and silently gives way to the new day.

As we begin a new season, I would welcome to  hear of your new discoveries and plans for the new year.  Wishing you new wonders and blessings along the way.

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.