ArchivesAugust, 2012

I can’t get over how fast things grow here. There is so much to do inside the house, but, this morning the air temp. was cool, so, I thought, “Heck with it. Outside I go.” There was much pulling of overgrown grass and cutting back of vines and new growth that is trying to garden crash as I call it. I collected two baby spider plants that were just poking through the fence from the neighbor’s house. Strange how I’ve always thought of them as house plants. They found a place on my window sill in a cup of water. Let’s see how fast they sprout new roots with the increase of TLC.

T O D A Y ‘ S     H A R V E S T

beets: tops and bottoms | lemon cherry tomatoes | plum tomatoes | traditional cherry tomatoes | heirloom variety of big boy tomatoes | green beans | black cherry tomatoes

A few years back we went to Custer State Park to see Mr. Rushmore. At Scott’s Rock Shop, I found these beautiful glass fragments which were originally from a factory in Pennsylvania. I couldn’t pass them up and now they have a permanent home in my garden… no matter where we live. The blue one reminds me of the blue ice in Alaska that I have seen photos of. To see the ice in person — that’s on my bucket list.

no. 97 | 4 x 6 inches | 140 lb. canson watercolor block cold press

Coming into the house, I almost stepped on this little gem of a twig with it’s dried berries and blossoms.

3.75 x 5 inches | watercolor on arches 300 lb. cold press

I’ve often admired images of octopus that aren’t too cute or too scary, so, I thought I might try one of my own. I think this fellow enjoys a gentle hug from time to time. He’s certainly equipped for it, isn’t he?

no. 99 | 3.5 x 4.75 inches | watercolor on 300 lb. arches hot press

no. 98 | 4 x 6 inches | watercolor on 140 lb. canson cold press watercolor

I’m looking for clarity.

With children, I have found that there is always a distraction — another something always there, making it hard to focus and stay the course to a neat and tidy end point. Welcome to 99 observations, a new series of small works which explore patterns… spacial relationships, and of course color. Meet No. 99 and 98.

As promised, here are some of my life drawing sketches while at the beach. I love that they are so fluid and spontaneous.

School starts on Monday, so my plan is to ramp up the art… well, maybe after I unpack the rest of the studio. It’s so hard to transition again into a new space.

Hope you are having a great weekend. Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next week.

P.S. Yes this is a wordpress site and thanks to the folks at hostmonster, I’m able to hobble along most of the time where formatting and programming are concerned.

C buried himself in the sand from the waist down. Looks so odd, doesn’t it?

I love the color of the chairs these people had.
What could be more relaxing than sitting on the beach reading?

Since we didn’t get a proper vacation this summer, I thought it would be a good idea to make several trips to the beach so we could all recharge. Zuma Beach in Malibu is one of our favorites since it’s clean and very family oriented. The other thing I like is the lack of retail surrounding the area. The kids aren’t lured away by the possibility of new sunglasses or some other unnecessary want. What do I do? Read, take naps, swim — a little (the water is usually too cold for me) and take the opportunity to do some life drawing sketches. More on that tomorrow.

Kumquats, baby grapefruit and peaches. Lots of the first two, only about a dozen of the fuzzy beauties.

So, we have moved yet again and the previous owners of our new house were diligent urban farmers. One of the crops we (and the birds) have been enjoying are these sweet little grapes, which grow out of a 2 ft x 2 ft planter (no joke). It’s on a watering system so maintenance is a breeze. The vine grows up two stories and it’s been trained to grow over the top of this slatted arbor which extends 20 ft alongside the house. We have double french doors which lead to the deck under it, and when the temps aren’t too blistering, we enjoy our meals and quiet time on the deck under the arbor. There are giant pine trees on the edge of the yard too, which the birds pirch in, giving us a unique perspective on all our winged visitors. It’s one of our favorite things about the house. More images on the house to come later this week.