A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Today at noon, I was honored with a belated birthday party hosted by my friend, JoAnn, at the Gustavus Inn.... a garden party on the patio overlooking their beautiful garden. Another friend, Nadine, from Seattle,whose birthday is one year later than mine, came to town yesterday and we shared the honors. Wonderful food and friends. I am so lucky. This morning was overcast and wet, but soon after noon some blue sky started appearing. By the time I left the inn, there were no clouds at all.


JoAnn invited us all to pick flowers, but I choose to paint the garden instead. This is only a small section of it. The garden is full of vegetables which are served to guests as well as a glorious array of flowers.


Afterwards, I went to Kathy's house. She wants me to do a painting of her garden shed which I went to look at and did this quick sketch. I'll go back tomorrow and start something larger, as the weather is suppose to hold.

SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO SOMEONE ELSE

Today was wet and rather dreary. I worked a couple of hours at the Community Chest and did some house cleaning and a few other things to avoid doing anything artistic including a lot of time on the computer and looked on Everyday Matters which posts a challenge to draw something specific every week. This weeks subject is to draw something that belongs to someone else.
Plenty of Van's things around, but a little pile of things have been gathering at the bottom of the stairs that my grand daughter Alyssa left when she went back to Juneau a couple of weeks ago.... little things that remind me of her every time I walk by the pile or find another thing to put in it...wish she was still here.

BIRTHDAY

For a change of scene on my birthday today, I went out to Bartlett Cove for lunch with my friends Annie, Kim and Aimee. After a delicious burger and sweet potatoes fries at the lodge, Aimee and I walked out the beach trail where I set on a rock and sketched and painted this. Then we walked back along the forest loop trail. Overcast and a little bit of rain.

Yesterday was warm and sunny, perfect weather. And busy. We had a gallery walk in the afternoon here..... 8 artists and crafters opened their studios and galleries. Lots of visitors and happily some sales.

MORNING AT THE BEACH

I rode my bike to the beach this morning. Low tide, windy and cool. The work is progressing on the new dock. Walked over to the trees out of the wind and looked north to paint this. It started raining a bit just as I was finishing, but I made it home without getting too wet.

RANDY'S HOUSE

I went over to Kim's and picked about 2 quarts of strawberries this afternoon. Nice view of Randy's house from where I parked the car. Lots of memories from years ago. This sketch needs some work.

ICELANDIC POPPY

I had very good intentions to paint outside this afternoon between rain showers. I rode to the PO on my bike, but didn't make it home before it rained. A few poppies are popping up in the garden. I use to have lots of them, then hardly any last year. I'm making an effort to let them volunteer wherever this year, a couple are in the carrot row. They are probably my favorite flower.... at least today.

CITY HALL

Another postcard that I started a couple of weeks ago. This is our city hall. Before incorporation, it was the Community Association building, and before that, the library. The building was originally a cabin a a church camp and moved to this location at the Salmon River Park.

THE SCHOOL

I did the drawing for this a couple of weeks ago while Alyssa played at the playground. It was yet another day without rain and after taking care of some things at the library, I sat down to finish it off in watercolor, but when the water hit the lines it was pretty much over..... I had forgotten I'd drawn with the bleeding brown ink... no way to get the right color of the building. 40% chance of rain tomorrow.... may be my last outside painting for a while.

VISIT WITH KIM

It's still not raining, though there was a little bit of dampness in the garden this morning. Today, I stopped and visited Kim Ney, a friend and potter, on my bike ride to the PO. I couldn't help but buy a couple of her beautiful little bowls. She sells her pottery in a little gazebo next to her home.


This is a sketch I did earlier this summer for her brochure.

Had a nice visit and enjoyed a bowl of strawberries from her garden and went out on her porch and painted a couple of postcards of her inspiring view.

A cruise ship passed by surprisingly fast while I painted.



Started this second one of the same view waiting for the other to dry.... neither dried very fast and neither what I had in mind.

BACK AGAIN

I can hardly believe the summer is half over! What a summer its been weather wise..... hardly any rain. Despite a very bad cold and laryngitis that lasted most of the last 2 weeks, I did have a wonderful time with my grand daughter, Alyssa, who stayed with me for 3 weeks and left on the llth. Hardly any painting or exercise for over 3 weeks...


but today I finally went out for a longer than usual bike ride and stopped at Laurie's, had a nice visit and painted a postcard of her house.

I painted this on July 6, a hot day at the beach with Alyssa. I left out all the kids wading in the water.... none tough enough to go in chilly Icy Strait.

ANOTHER BREAK

My 7 year old grand daughter came to visit a few days ago and will be here 3 weeks and my daily paintings just aren't happening. I'll do what I can, but now my painting and postings will be on the back burner.


I was cleaning up my folder of scans and found this that I did on a dentist trip to Juneau last month and hadn't posted.... on a walk with friends on the wetlands trail near the airport.

LATE AGAIN

I'll probably never get the habit of posting everyday. I do try though. My postcards drawn on Wednesday and Thursday didn't get painted until this morning.
YeeGads! I didn't rotate the scan.... I'll fix it later.
Petunias on the sunporch Wednesday evening.



No, I wasn't in Sitka. Thanks to effort by local music lovers (Thanks especially to Sandy and George) our little town is so lucky to have some of the musicians come here most every summer for a concert. They are always fabulous. You can read about the festival here.


Yesterday I stopped at the golf coarse on my way back from walking to the end of the dock from 4-corners with Annie and JoAnn. This is one of several old farm relics on the coarse.

And speaking of the dock.... yesterday ground breaking took place for the building of the new one. Rumor had it that Sarah Palin was coming.

ANOTHER MORNING AT THE BEACH

Down to the beach on my bike this morning and set on the nice new bench and just gazed at the calm waters of Icy Strait for a while before getting out my paper, as there were a few drops of rain. I watched a lone kayaker come from the river and cross my view. It surely must had been my neighbor Bonnie who was to begin a 3 week solo trip this morning down the coast to Sitka. She came over last night to put things in my freezer (she lives without electricity) and though she is a very experienced paddler and camper I became a bit worried when she said she didn't have any bear spray, so I gave her mine.... she will be camping in major brown bear country.



The rain stopped and I painted the view across Icy Strait..... the little speck between the 2 other boats (a fish charter boat and a zodiac) is Bonnie.


West towards the passes was a hugh cruise ship.... a few pass by every day in the summer on their way in and out of Glacier Bay..... little cities on the horizons.

A sunny afternoon.... unexpected.

PETUNIAS AND LOBELIA

The rain has begun... a steady drizzle all day. I worked at the Community Chest in the morning and on a woodblock print in the afternoon. Almost forgot to paint a postcard. It was warm on my sun porch at 8pm and I went out and did this quick sketch of petunias and lobelia.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY POSTCARDS AND SCETCHERCISE

Yesterday, I opened my gallery for the first time this year .... also mowed the lawn and worked in the garden a little..... there had finally been some rain Friday night. I was planning to go out and paint yesterday evening, started out a couple of times and it started sprinkling before I got to my bike both times, but it never did much. I painted these nasturtiums that need to be put in the garden but are still on the sun porch on a piece of hemp watercolor paper.... I don't recommend the paper.



I painted this at the beach this morning. There are 2 large clumps of these Northern Lady's slipper plants near the Yellow one that I sketched on Friday. Another overcast day, but no more rain.

I'm making an effort to combine my walking and biking with my daily paintings.. I read about the Sketchercise internet group on Katherine Tyrrell's blog Making a Mark, and applied to join it, as it seemed to be a small group where I could share what I love to do. I was very disappointed when I was not accepted to the group and also a bit perplexed.... acceptance was decided by what appeared on this blog and mine "missed the exercise element." Granted, I haven't been combining the 2 very much in the last month or so, but I have been walking and riding my bike for many miles every week as I always do when weather permits, and while in Cedar Key for most of 2 months, I walked practically every day for at least an hour, and on many of those days walked to where I painted and brought home plants which I painted.... not every thing I've sketched is on this blog. I've taken my sketchbook and used it walking, hiking, biking, and kayaking for years.

Anyway, Katherine started another Sketchercise group on Flickr for wannabees which I joined. I don't know how Flickr groups work and have to put in some time to figure out how to post pictures. I do often get lazy and don't want to walk or ride my bike, especially when its raining or snowing, so hopefully this group will help me get out there and exercise more often.

3 NEW PAINTINGS

I'm back to daily painting! At least for 3 days.


Wednesday, I rode my bike to the beach and sat in the bench that appeared this spring west of the dock. About a dozen eagles were hanging out on the tide flats as well as some crows, at least 2 of which were in the trees behind me, squalking while I sketched. This is one of 2 little postcards.... the other had birds but they didn't look much like birds, so you only get to see this one. It was overcast, but the sun came out later in the day.

Yesterday, after a busy day working on my gallery and some studio painting, I had about an hour before I had to start getting ready to go to a dinner party and biked to the beach again, thinking I'd do another painting of the same as Wednesday, but in the sun and with the tide in. But the wind was blowing too hard to sit on the bench and I decided to walk over to see if the lady slipper was open and it was..... earlier than usual this year, I think.
I didn't count the blossoms, but there were a lot more than what I had time to draw and paint in 20 minutes. Could have painted a little longer as I got home faster than I did getting there with the wind on my back.

Overcast today, finally a little rain last night, the first in almost 2 weeks. I decided to put some time in on the garden. I've been putting off transplanting my cabbages and brocolli from the A-frame until it started raining. The ground is still dry as a bone, but did it anyway. It will probably get seriously wet tomorrow..... just in time for the farmers market and rhubarb festival tomorrow.

I worked in the studio this afternoon on this rhubarb..... had thought I might do some little rhubarb paintings and take to sell tomorrow at the market, but couldn't do anything fast.



This took most of the afternoon having started it yesterday, and its still not done. I tried to do a quick sketch yesterday, but the leaves wilt so fast. I took some photos, one of which I did this from. Its about 14 inches wide, too big for the scanner and cropped some..... should be on my other blog, and maybe will be when it's finished.

NEW RESOLVES

Time keeps passing and I haven't posted here for almost a month. And as you might have guessed, I haven't been doing my daily paintings either. Other things took priority for a while and then inertia set in.... enough said. I'm ready to start anew.

We've had gorgeous weather for most of the time since coming home from Florida. This is a larger picture that I painted last month down at the beach..... I paint this view just about every year.

TREES

Spruce trees in the woods North of our house. I painted with gouache, but wetter than usual.

ORCHID

Today I drew and painted the orchid that I intended to paint yesterday. This is one of 2 orchids that I bought in Costco while in Juneau..... at only $10 each, I couldn't pass them up

SENORITA

I set my orchid on the table with intentions to paint it, but the senorita that my potter friend Olga Locher gave me years ago was on the table and it got priority. Maybe tomorrow for the blossoms.

A SHELL AND A BOAT

Yesterday's postcard.... a quick painting of a shell with sample paints from Daniel Smith.
And today, our boat, the F/V Apex. Van left to go fishing today and I did this just before he left. Lots of snow still on the mountains. Some people still have lots in their yards.

WHITE CHRISTMAS CACTUS

I bought this little cactus right before Christmas, all full of buds that fell off within days after bringing it home. When I got home from Florida and went to get it at the school where Annie was taking care of it, it was blooming. I wasn't sure it was mine, but Annie was sure it was the same one.

BACK IN ALASKA AND SOME FLORIDA POSTCARDS

I'm so glad to be home! And now that I've kind of caught up with things, I'd better get back to my painting and blogging. I must admit to not painting everyday during the last month, but now that I am back home and the internet connection seems to be working better these days, I'm vowing to get back with daily posting of daily paintings. I did do more than a few paintings, I may have even averaged one little painting a day before leaving Florida, and here are a few of them.

The wisteria at Martha and John's house. It was a stick plant at the beginning of March. Soon after painting this, the flowers were all gone after a winding night.

This is one of several attempts to paint mangroves from photos I took while kayaking near Palmetto. This is the best one.

One of the houses seen from our porch
I did this page while sitting in the rowboat while Van fished. He didn't even get a bite.


One of a couple of paintings from this vantage point of our residence in Cedar Key.


Several hibiscus were blooming in our yard.


This and several other of the paintings were done in my new sketch book, one that I started using after taking the Journey Daybook class taught by Peggy Herrick. I can't remember the kind of paper, but I like it.... sort of like Arches hot press. This page was done on the back porch of Peggy's home.... you can read about Journey Daybooks by clicking here.



Another view of the bayou from the porch, and a couple of doves out there too. The marshes became green in April.
Our last week in Florida was spent at my brother's home in Lake Wales. I did a few things while there and this is my favorite.

A few days in Juneau on the way home. I did these while on our boat there
The first few days in Alaska and back home were beautiful, warm and sunny. On Saturday, May 2, I kayaked to P. Island on the annual rowing/paddling trip. About a dozen boats went across and enjoyed a picnic in the sun. So good to paint outside in Alaska again. This is one of the rowboat.

TAKING A BREAK

I have been painting a bit, but just haven't gotten any photos taken. I'll scan some when I get home at the end of the month and get back on schedule. We left Cedar Key on Sunday, are now in Lake Wales with my brother and will be home about the 30th of April.... and I'm looking forward to it.

SIX MORE POSTCARDS

The papayas are across the fence from my cousin's in Palmetto. This is the 3rd year I've done a little painting of them.


Atsena Otie Key as seen from the dock in Cedar Key.

This old piece of a dock sits off the beach in Cedar key. It is locally called the Honeymoon Cabin.

A couple of guys fishing off the dock in Cedar Key.

The bayou from the boardwalk next to the cemetery in Cedar Key.
This beautiful house is in Melrose, near Gainesville. Peggy and I went there to look around and paint. Managed to get a good start before it started raining so had to finish this one from a photo.