Tag: trees

And the Show Goes On

July is nearly over, and it has been a rather lumpy month.  I spent about a week in Reno with one of my favorite people in the world – Stef, an old room mate from college – and came home with a stomach bug that got better and then didn’t.  She got the same thing and got better, but I’ve been malingering.  It’s really damned dull to not have loads of zip and then hellishly hot weather to add into the mix.  So wah, wah, wah.

Let’s move on to other things!

We had a tie-dye birthday party (and used the bbq sauce from the last entry on the meat, which was quite tasty, I will say) and made a bunch of old hippy type stuff.  I’ll post about that at another time when I get some photos together.  As a group, we’re pretty talented.

And I’ve been doing some watercolors, too; I haven’t done anything pretty much since returning from Reno 3 weeks ago.  Today I just put it on my agenda and decided to do simple representations of trees.  A few weeks earlier I did windows.  And since I am not especially sure what else to say, here ya go, I then I am off for a walk with the esposo and the dogs.

 

Olive Orchard

Living in a “Mediterranean” climate means living in a dry, temperate climate.  Locally, we have a number of olive orchards which produce local oils that are tasty and delicious.  Here is a tribute to them.

Besides commercial uses, olive trees are often used as decorative trees in one’s yard as they do require a lot of upkeep in terms of water – but the downside is a messy yard as the olives drop.  Most people never consider using the olive fruit for anything at all.

I tried to simplify everything in this painting – trunks, field, crown of trees.  At the same time, I tried to work on contrast and failed overall.  It’s really a talent to get something dark enough on the first take!  The trees on the left look like one in the foreground in overlapped by the leaves of the one further distant.  And so on.  However, getting out the paints every day is the goal, and practice, not making a “completed” painting is the whole point.

Time Rolling By

I don’t know if you experience this, but it seems to be a common theme.  Once you know that you have vacation ahead, you realize just how tired you are!  Tired of work, tired of the people you work with, and just plain tired!  With retirement coming up, I am even more frustrated by my job and its hours, some of the silly things that occur.  I am also tired of some of the people and looking forward to not being around them.  That’s life, and change is good, as are the constants in daily life.  Look for your blessings every day – I really believe this, and try to do it, without losing perspective, either.

Last weekend 11 trees were trimmed and pruned; 5 were completely removed.  For the first time in years, the back half of the house has daylight, not artificial, as a main light source.  I bought a plant to see how it will do, between the dogs and the poor soil.  (Poor plant!)  It’s a penstemon, which is drought-tolerant.  It’s a lovely, cheerful flower.  I put it under the dogs’ noses to let them smell it, and then told them “bad”.  Let’s see how it survives!

In addition to dealing with tree removal and pruning, I have been in a real funk about my painting.  After a disastrous series of watercolors, I just put everything aside for about a week.  Still, I did other things, like go for walks and continue to recover from the house renovation by moving things here and there and unpacking more boxes.  All this upheaval!  It’s a slow process, but it’s getting done.  Of course, there are still a million other things I could delude myself into doing as “necessary” – which really are, but not vital to my existence!

So, after a week of blithering and dithering and feeling like a lost soul, I sat down, once more, in the studio.  I took out a large palette of colors (the key to which is still missing), and decided to do some flowers in vases.  I like flowers, so it seemed a perfect subject.  I worked in the main color areas first – after doing a line drawing, but no value study (a habit I need to establish) – top to bottom.  After that, I looked some more.  And some more.  Then I began to add details, all the while working very hard to think ahead and in the present at the same time.  I produced two paintings I liked.

And finally, I had a Friday afternoon.  Watercolor class or just do what I wanted?  I chose the latter.  Doing what I wanted was more interesting and more challenging and more needed than anything else.  Into the car, down to an art store, down to the nursery, and finally the bookstore.  I bought 4 paint brushes, 1 penstemon, 2 watercolor magazines and 3 books.  I drank a cup of coffee.  Finally, some time of my own, some time to think, and some time to recover from this sense of ennui that has been my companion for many days.  Yay!

Two Color Studies: Trail in the Snow

Another two-color study, this time using Burnt Sienna instead of Burnt Umber, along with the Ultramarine Blue.  As an aside, looking up lists of “warm” and “cool” colors, the umber and ultramarine are considered “warm” by some.  Beats me, as they sure look icy together.  Here, the Burnt Sienna alone or diluted is warm in cast, but moves to dark and cold (in my eye) when combined with the Ultramarine Blue.

Trees & Fog

Another picture from my excursion into a damp and foggy world (a rarity of late here in SoCal where temperatures have been heinously high).  This time, a panorama of about 9 images, cropped and edited a bit.  I used the Df and 24-85 lens.

That morning, the fog was very thick, and even around 9:30 a.m. when I took this, the fog was dense.  Only later did the sun break through.  It was rather eerie to wander alone . . . just a few days from Halloween!