working

things are stacking up!

Working out some new ideas in the studio.When I am in a working phase, I don't spent any time deciphering what is strong and what is not. I just go from piece to piece and paint. It doesn't take long before the pieces start to stack up.

I just had the piano tuned and I've been at work there, too. A friend urged me to start writing down my original pieces and put lyrics to them. A good idea comes when you are almost ready for it. So, I'm at the piano, too. Working. Getting a few things to stack up there, too.

It won't be too long before I'm able to share some finished work. In the meantime, I hope that you'll "Stand By Me."

settling back in at home

After a long trip, it takes a while for me to get settled in at home again. With all of the spring rains we've had (a record breaking wet March in Portland!), the wetlands at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge were ... wet!

Red Wing Blackbirds were trying to outdo one another in the vocal part of the contest to win the females.

The geese were paired up, mostly in sets of two but every so often I saw a group of three and had to wonder about those guys. Wouldn't you?

Baby animals are always cute, even this little baby nutria. He was munching on the tender shoots that were just up after a few sunny days. Cute, yes, but destructive as all get out!

It seems that everywhere I look, beautiful abstract compositions call out to me. No wonder I love this place so much.

Even though I've been home now for a couple of weeks, I feel more settled now that I have been to the refuge. Ahh.

elegant

10 x 8, oil on gessoboard

Whether a shell or a Bach Prelude, some days are perfect for admiring what is elegant.

still strove

sunshine today put me on a scouting mission for painting subjects in my yard

brighter and with more refined shapes, I'm calling it good

Sometimes just living a good life takes courage. Don't you think? Jennifer Hudson "The Impossible Dream."

developing an idea

24 x 24, oil on birch panel

looking at watercolor sketch as I paint with oils

15 x 15, watercolor sketch on Arches 140# cold press

it all started with an ink sketch, 1.5" x 1.5"

You might remember seeing some of my tiny thumbnail sketches as I tried to work out my feelings about my father's dementia. It seemed to me that Dad had lost his memories and that he might look for them like you would if you lost something else that was precious to you.

Is it behind the couch?

Under the bed?

Maybe I threw it away.

The little thumbnail sketch, done in waterproof ink, became the basis for a watercolor sketch. I liked it well enough to develop it into an oil painting. Some of the bones of this painting are right, but it needs something and I that what it needs will be clear to me tomorrow when I look at it with fresh eyes.

Lucky for me, as my father has lost his memories (short and long term) and has become more confused, he has become even more polite and agreeable. Several of his caregivers took me aside to tell me, "Your father is such a nice man!" And, he is!

Eva Cassidy gets it right, too. "You've Changed."

I still like this one

After a long trip I have the opportunity to look at my previous paintings in a fresh and new way. My friends give me grief for being overly harsh in my judgments, but I think that distance plus time equals an open mind. Travel has allowed me to become detached from the feeling I sometimes have that I MUST to love my work and allows me the freedom to see them as if they weren't mine at all. I think you understand what I mean.

All of that to say: I still like this one.

It fits in with my recent sketchbook sensibility of the long road and could fold nicely into a new series of pieces I am contemplating about roads and where they lead.

Slowly but surely I have made my way through the transition of traveling to being home. I've done loads of laundry, filled my empty refrigerator and pantry with good food, and put away my art supplies. Today, I even painted!

Do you like Keith Jarrett? I do. And I still like this piece, too. Hope you do.

home: the end of the road

84 days

10,091 miles

28 states

America is truly beautiful!

 

it's good to be home!

Colorado mountain high

After miles and miles of prairie, it was a thrill to enter Colorado and see the beautiful Rocky Mountains! We spent a joyful, sunny day with friends in and around Longmont and up to Estes Park, which I totally loved.

As a BONUS to this particular stop, I got to meet the one and only blogger Sam Hannaway of "SamArtDog"! When bloggers meet, it's as if you already know one another, but then the virtual relationship has a chance to become a face-to-face relationship. Sam is just as witty and smart in person as she is in writing. Our interesting dinner conversation made the time speed by and we ended up closing the restaurant down. As Sam said, it's a good sign of friendship. I am lobbying for a visit from Sam to the Pacific Northwest!! Check out her blog HERE.

This time in the Denver area was truly a "Rocky Mountain High." 

Finally, here's another (about my) Dad sketch.

thumnail thoughts

My father has dementia.

I know that. And I know that it is a progressive condition.

All of that knowledge did me no good when I saw him earlier this trip. And saw him struggling (and failing) with my name. And forgetting where we were or what he liked to eat. I still felt like the air had been knocked out of me.

Since that visit, I have been filling my sketchbook with thumbnails about Dad and my feelings about his dementia.

It ain't easy!

filling the tank