Raccoon Straits 3

Raccoon Straits
Oil on Canvas
24"X24"

Racoon Straits 2

Raccoon Straits 2
Oil on Wood
10"X10"

It rained all weekend, often obscuring the view of Angel Island and Belvedere altogether. An interesting challenge, to paint what is and isn't there. The possibilities are endless.

Raccoon Straits

Raccoon Straits
Oil on Wood
8"X8"
I'm not a morning person, so it was just luck that I awoke in time to see this magnificent fog and light show right outside our bedroom window earlier this week. Years ago I thought I should make a daily painting of this view for a year. I should. Maybe I shall.

California Cows 4

California Cows 4
Oil on Wood
6"X6"
The California Cows, all three paintings (see previous posts), are headed for the Bolinas Museum's 22nd Annual Mini Show.

Jury Duty

Jury Duty
Pen Sketch
It's never convenient to be called for Jury Duty. But once there, it is all there is until you are set free. I brought a sketch book and spent the time drawing. It was good for me to do just that. Who knows, maybe a day of drawing figures in a court room will influence the next paintings. Our courts are housed in a remarkably friendly building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is pink. Built around an atrium. Light and airy, furnishings are rounded, beautifully refinished woods, well maintained and lovely. It rained yesterday so buckets were placed here and there to catch the leaks. So human. Just like home. A thoroughly pleasant place to the spend the day. But I am glad that in the end, my name was not called for the final jury. Just sitting through the jury selection process and seeing the defendant and lawyer, a nervous young prosecutor trying to win, whole families in turmoil milling through the halls, the understated drama of it all, was sad and now I am exhausted. Even good architecture can't counteract the grim reality of wrecked lives. Tomorrow I will paint again and try to refill the optimism coffers.

Egret for Garcias

Egret for Garcias
Oil on Wood
8"X8"
This is for my dentist, Richard Garcia. Like the bird, he is wise, patient, and has good judgment. He is also skilled and has a sense of humor, welcome traits in any doctor. His practice is a family affair. His wife and daughter work with him. Patients are treated like friends of the family, for whom they care in every sense of the word. That's what goes on inside, while just outside the windows egrets go about the business of living which is said to be a good omen and in any case is soothing to the patient in the chair.
I owe more than I have been charged. Thus. This painting is for the Garcias.

10-10-10

10-10-10
Oil on Canvas
14"X18"

10-10-10
Oil on Wood Panel
10"X10"

Awash in weddings. New York never looked so aglow as it did this weekend. The sun shined. Inside and out. Trees blushed barely red. And we bathed in the presence of our children and our dearest friends. To love. And be loved. Everything else pales in comparison.

Memorial Bowl

Memorial Bowl
Oil on Canvas
12"X12"
Just inside our front door, I keep a glass bowl full of water in which I float flowers in memory of my mother and father. The mere act of taking a moment to find something blooming in the garden, picking it, and placing it in the bowl brings them back to me. Today the bowl holds gardenias from the garden of our friends, Peter and Dyan. All day the house has been filled with the sweet fragrance of summer, memories of my parents, and the generosity of enduring friendship.

City Shore

City Shore
Oil on Wood Panel
8"X8"

Inspiration is everywhere you are. Yesterday on the spur of the moment, my neighbor Mary and I darted into The City to see the Fisher Collection at MOMA which had been held over, seemingly just for us. Large paintings, sparingly placed in big open spaces, with only occasional museum goers passing through the galleries like dancers choreographed to augment the art. Dreamy. Soothing. Satisfying. The last 50 years of amazing art. Afterward, I couldn't wait to get home and start painting.
As if that wasn't enough, in the evening we went to see the Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay at the De Young. Whiplash. From Modern mostly American Masters to the older, European ones. Seeing Van Gogh's "Starry Night" in real life was to see it for the very first time. Rich, dark blues, luscious paint oozing from the surface. I came home thinking. Paint. Just paint.
Then this morning. The fog was in, the City was shrouded in a vast array of grays with occasional warm rays of sun shining on the water. I walked along the shore with my generous friend and fine painter, Kristen, sharing ideas about art and life while taking in the grandeur of the scene and exercising our dogs all at the same time. Like the song says, "is that not the way...to start out the day?"