Lake Pleasant, Arizona

Pleasant is the story here. Nice warm weather. A beautiful lake to gaze at and swim in. A very nice campsite with free showers. It’s also quiet here. What a pleasant place to relax. That’s what I did for the day.I was really excited about the night sky. It was warm with a slight breeze and a full moon. Oh! Pleasant Lake, I wonder who named it?

The saguaros all have these tuffs on their tops. I couldn’t figure it out until I saw a few of the white and yellow blooms. The saguaro Cactus is plentiful around here and so fun to paint.I went swimming in the lake. So nice. I sat on the shore reading and painting, watching the kayaks go by.

The air is so dry here I’m drinking water like crazy. I forgot to bring my towel to the shower and only realized it as I was finishing. No problem, I was practically dry by the time I got back to my campsite

I’m on my way today to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s nice to be on the road again!

Painting with Grandkids and more painting!!

The boys loved doing small paintings.  They looked good and didn’t take as long to paint. The shark and sunflower painting are 5″x5″on canvas.  The  winter and night scene are 3″x3″ paimtimgs. They all fit on small wooden easels.   The 2nd grader, 4th and 5th grader were all pleased with there paintings and so was I.

 

 

I arrived in New York with lots of art supplies in my suitcase.  Between activities, homework, school, scoccer and karate we started a painting marathon.

 

My grand daughter loves painting as much as I do. We painted pumpkins and flowers before school and after school. I had given a watercolor workshop at Sherman Gardens on painting pumpkins and sunflowers. Big round oval pumpkin shapes and small circles and rounded petal shapes for flowers.My painting for watercolor class.

My 4 year old granddaughter did many wonderful paintings!

The fourth grader did this painting of a soccer field!  It’s 3″x3″ . A wonderful painting somewhat abstract.

 

My minature winter paintings are 3″x3″.  I really enjoy painting and being able to share painting ideas and skills is fantastic!

Making Monotypes: Printing and Sketching

Goldenrod Bridge to the beach

looking toward The Wedge, Newport Beach

Watercolor Sketch

I have been working on Monotype Printing.  More of the seaweed saga I started at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine.  Seaweed intrigues by the tangles, squiggles and lines it makes.  It moves under the ocean water.  It covers the sand in various colors of brown, greens and magenta.  I walk to the beach and collect a bag of dried seaweed to put into Monotypes.

 

Seaweed in the water.

Getting ready to print at Shary’s Studio in Laguna Beach

Printing in studio.  I made several small studies with seaweed I had collected.  The first color on the print is yellow.  The small sketches come later.  The Monotype below was a larger print I like.

“Tangled” 

The printing ink was placed on plexiglass plate.  Seaweed placed on top of ink.  Paper covering the inked plate and put through the printing press.

Tangled II

Plenty of ink still on the plexiglass plate above,  so I put another paper on the  plate and ran it through the printing press.  This second print is called a ghost print.  The second print often seems to hold mystery.

Sea World

Ghost Print

Ghost Print

Yellow and Blue Sea

I also used 2 plexiglass plates one yellow and one blue.  Different sized plates go through the printing press 2 times.  Yellow first than blue ink the second time.  The bubbles are rubbing alcohol sprayed into the ink on the plexiglass plate.

I have fun drawing my character with the printing press.  I am adjusting the pressure of the press in this cartoon.

Seaweed Swirl

 

Another trip to the beach.  

Drama at the beach.  The seagulls plan an attack on Target Bag!  How do they  know what’s in it????  I’m painting in my small sketchbook.Meeting my Friend

I am always happy to paint at Sherman Library and Gardens.  It’s a happy peaceful place.

I’m Getting ready to teach a Watercolor class at Sherman Gardens on Sat. October 28.  Teaching watercolor is fun in this ideal setting.

 

Heading West on I-70

 

Leaving Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania I headed west to Ohio.   I love being on the road, in my head I review all that I did this summer from Maine to North Carolina, Connecticut to Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania’s  beautiful farm land starts me singing. “This Land is your land, this land is my land, From California to the New York Island.”   Thank you Woodie Guthrie for writing this song in 1944.

 372 miles on my speedmeter to a KOA at Buckeye Lake in Ohio.  It starts to rain just as I am registering.  I grab my umbrella, bathing suit and head for the swimming pool.  Umbrella and swimming pool, no wonder I am the only one there.  I look across the pool and see cows.  Are they real?  No they are cow sculptures.

Early the next morning and full of energy the next landmark is   Columbus, Ohio and then to Indianapolis, Indiana.   I stop at the Illinois Welcome Center.  They are preparing for the Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21.  The woman tells me there will be an Ozzie Osborne concert.  I’m glad to miss that one.

399 miles to Mulberry Grove, Illinois.  The campground is next to the pavilion.  No events right now so I have my own bathroom, refrigerator, stove and roof.

Mulberry Grove, Illinois

Pavilion at Campground

Morning comes and I’m on my way to St. Louis, Missouri, a coyote crosses Highway 70 as the fog was lifting.

 Endless skyway through Missouri to Kansas.  There was a lot going on in Missouri.  Signs on the highway posted Solar Eclipse, August 21, Expect Delays,  Heavy Traffic.  Highway 70 was also closed at one point.  I started making a list of all the unusual church names.

Element Church, Faith Church Family Church, FCFC,  Liberty Church, Reach Church, Victory Baptist Church and Praise Assembly of God.

398 miles landing in Paxco Kansas!

The man that checked me in at the campground in Paxico, Kansas said he didn’t like any people from California.  I said, “There are all kinds of people in California.”  He had no use for any of them.  BUT, he took my $25. and gave me a nice campsite.  He told me about the storm shelter in case of ??

I’m still trying to figure out what it would be like to live in Kansas.

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling, ,This land was made for you and me.

“Don’t I get tired?” people ask.   I did driving through Kansas!!  I had finished my book on tape “little House in the Big Woods” by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Kansas seemed so big.  I  kept driving.  I pulled into a rest area and listened to my power nap app on my phone.  Drinking lots of water, coffee and tea and stopping often.  I started a new book.

429 miles from Paxico, Kansas to Limon, Colorado.  I wan’t sure what my next step was but I was still in flat eastern Colorado.  I went for a swim at the KOA and decided to head the next morning for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

When the sun came shining and I was strolling.

 253 miles from Limon, Colorado to the KOA in the town of Gunnison, Colorado.  I stopped at a Safeway to load up on groceries.  I had a space in the campground all to myself with a pavilion right beside it.  It had tables, a stove, sink and roof over my head.

79 miles to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  Kansas was straight and flat and now Colorado was curvy and high. Be careful what you wish for,  my sister often says to me.  It was a challenge for Vanna and me around and around the mountain curves.

Mountain sketch

Campground in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  I went to a Ranger Program that night and learned more about the dark skies.  This Park and the Grand Canyon are dark skies National Parks.

Me sketching

Black Canyon

The canyon was dark and deep.  One picture shows the empire state building at the bottom of the canyon.

 208 miles to Mesa Verde National Park.   I find a nice campsite.  4 drives around the campground to pick just the right spot.   Many spots were available.  Why weren’t more people camping here.  I had a tour for  Cliff Palace Dwelling at 3 p.m.  More curvy winding roads to the Cliff Palace.  It was a great tour.  The Park Ranger was full of information and interesting stories.

I’m currently working on paintings of the Cliff Dwellings.  The ancestral Pueblo people is the term used now.  Anasazi name is no longer correct.

Polishing off the best burrito breakfast at 9a.m. sent me on my way to the East entrance of the Grand Canyon past the 4 Corners.

I found a campsite and took a trail to the canyon.  I was happy to return here.  It felt like a good place.  I loved the dark sky at night.  It was wonderful looking up at the milky way.

I love the Grand Canyon

HOME!

This Land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island  (and all that’s in between)

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream water

This land was made for you and me.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle Maine- -part 2

Food, Food, and more Food!

No worry about being hungry.  We were trained to be at dining hall when the bell rang and somehow all 90 plus people were hungry and could even eat desert.  It must have been the ocean air? Or the lack of cell phones and internet?

The cakes are a work of art!  My favorite was the Blueberry Cheesecake.  I didn’t get a picture because I was too busy eating it!

Menus

These are some of the menus that were posted for every meal.

Cookies

Fresh baked cookies were out at every lunch time.  You just had to try one or two to get you through to the next meal.

Cartoon Characters

The Young Woman from Iceland does a weekly cartoon for her newspaper.

Young Woman in Iceland

Young woman in Maine

She arrived in Maine and never did get her luggage but she got so many mosquito bites!

My Cartoon Character

I was inspired me to develop my own cartoon. It’s so much fun.

These are some of my cartoons!

And More fast paintings! At the end of the deck overlooking the ocean.

Another Seaweed Painting! Between Painting I wrote down some thoughts:

The Perfect Moment

Sparkling sun, waves  lapping against the rocks,

Seaweed swaying with the water.

Paint, paper, brush, pens by my side, Paint flows,

The sky has pink,

Shadows of purple, islands distant grayish purple and dark green.

Cobalt, cerulean, ultramarine, and turquoise blend into the sky and sea,

greens and burnt sienna along the shore and island.

The moment you realize,

This is it!

 

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine

WOW!  The whole experience was overwhelming in a good way.  90 creative people gathered together in a beautiful landscape.  The classes were drawing, metals, glass, wood and fabric. I was in the drawing class with a fantastic teacher and artist Claire Sherman.   My roommate was in the glass class.  I loved it all!    This blog will show mostly my art work.  It will take another post or 2 to talk about the food and other things I did.

Some of my work

Small sketch of rock

abstract seaweed

seaweed

I am standing by my work for the showing of  students’ work on Thursday night before we left Friday am.  Claire Sherman the teacher was wonderful.  She does large oil paintings and exhibits at the D.C. Moore Gallery in NYC.   She teaches at Drew University. We started our class with Claire showing slides by artists throughout history working in landscape.  Then we went outside to the rocks.  Painting and drawing everyday using watercolor, pens, crayons, and pencils I quickly worked on my small studies.  “Do 6 sketches before lunch”, Claire would say.  Use good paper and good paint.  What are you saving paper for?

I got quite involved with the idea of seaweed creeping around the rocks and into the sea. Seaweed became a fascinating subject for me.

The small sketches evolved into larger mixed media watercolor paintings.  Claire encouraged us to take leaps pushing our ideas along.  “There should be a difference between a photograph and a painting” she said.  We looked at slides of work by Turner, Charles Birchfield , Hooper and Diog among a few.  We also had reading homework every evening.

Night Painting Cabin 18 and 19

We read about VanGogh before we did a night painting.  I started this night painting outside my cabin but the mosquitos attacked me so I went inside with the lights out to paint some more.  I finished it the next day in the studio.

Painting on the rocks

Beautiful scenery

Lots and lots of painting of Deer Isle. Lots of climbing steps.  Steps to my cabin, steps to the bathroom, steps to the studio, steps to the dining hall and steps to the parking lot.  The 2 weeks spent here was a step into paradise.  The paradise did include ants, mosquitos and laundry that would never quite dry.

Path to the rocks

Deck outside the studio

Foggy days, sunny days and 1 rainy day.

Deer Isle 1 by John Marin

Deer Isle 2 by John Marin

I feel like I learned new things and had a great time.  On my way home I visited an exhibit of watercolors by John Marin.  He painted on Deer Isle, Maine.  These are 2 of his paintings of Deer Isle.

 

North Carolina the Outer Banks

How did I get to North Carolina I asked myself?  I left Pennsyvania and drove through Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.  On the way back from North Carolina through Virginia, then Maryland, over long stretches of bridges and tunnels into Delaware, on to New Jersey and the George Washington bridge to NYC.  Wow!  What a trip.  The Outer Banks is a beautiful wild place.  It was a fun week.

Bodie Lighthouse

Sign at the Lighthouse. Of course people were walking all over the grass. They can’t read.

Wright Brothers launched there first plane at KillDeer Hill

Driving to Cape Hatteras I stopped at Kill Devil Hill to see the site that the Wright Brothers launched their first flight.

Another stop at The Bodie Lighthouse.

My grandson did the Hatteras Lighthouse and I finished the painting.

My son helped all the children cast into the surf.

Arriving at Cape Hatteras and the house my daughter-in-law, son, 3 grandchildren, her parents, her niece, her brother and his child were staying in this week.  A swimming pool was right beside the house.  It was perfect for a week of great times.

 

I forgot to take a picture of the large seasoned shrimp as I couldn’t wait to bite into it.  Grits and pulled pork for lunch at Grill and Grits.  Soft vanilla ice cream swirled with fresh peaches!  Breakfast was made every morning by my son.  Life was good.

The best soft serve vanilla ice cream with fresh peaches swirled together. THE BEST EVER!

Grits and pulled pork. I love this stuff.

My son made me delicious breakfast every morning.

 

Driving through the sand in the 4 wheel SUV that my daughter-in-law and son rented we have fun on the beach.  Rip tides, rough surf, sand castles, fishing, painting on the beach, boogie boards, sand crabs and shells make us all happy.

The Ferry to Ocracoke Island. My oldest grandson’s work.

We take the ferry to Ocracoke Island.  My grandson draws the ferry while crossing the inlet.

I learned to like wheat beer with lemon. It was a local brew.

 

Painting on the ferry.

We cross the channel to the new Shelly Island Beach at low tide and hear about it the next day on National News ABC.  They warn people not to visit the island as they have had a lot of rescues.  We time it just right and get back with loads of awesome shells.

We found so many shells with Hermit Crabs living in them.  It was nice wading through the water on the bay site hunting for shells, fishing, playing with the hermit crab, painting and watching the ferries crossing.

It was a wonderful time!

Drawing on the Edge – the Grand Canyon

Fun sketching all day. The Grand Canyon is a challenge to draw! 

I wish we had this sign at The Overlook by the Ocean in Corona del Mar!

I arrived for my drawing class at the Grand Canyon  once again drawn by the mysteries of the Canyon.

 

Looking at the Colorado River and wishing to be on one of the boats at Hermit Falls.

The instructor Allen Petersen doing a demonstration  on drawing the canyon.

AT Last I have GOOD WIFI.  I’m in Amarillo, Texas.  Sitting under a tree, just went swimming in the pool and now I’m waiting for a shuttle to go to the Big Texan Steak Ranch.  Life is good.  Oh, I also have a glass of vino and a fan by my side. More to come!

Before I left on my trip I saw the beautiful glass sculptures at Sherman Library and Gardens.  Be sure to see them this summer if you live near-by.  I loved them!

Coming on June 17, 2017, Happy Anniversary 50 Wonderful Years! I love you Both and Wish you the Best!

The Best of Southern Arizona

Postcards from South of Tucson.

Over One of several Margaritas on our trip.  We picked the Best of the Best. The Top Ten!  These are the highlights of the trip not the order of the sights.

The Top Ten

1. Sandhill Cranes

What a wonderful sight.  We arrived via dirt roads and strange gps routes to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area in SE Arizona.  20,000 to 30,000 birds flew in as we walked to the water’s edge.  They fly from as far both as Siberia to spend the winter.  It was a spectacular noisy sight to see them.  We thought they might have already gone north to Nebraska as it was March 1 the day we arrived. These are pictures Diane took.  She’s an excellent photographer.

2. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is the only place in the United States where you can see large stands of organ pipe cacti growing naturally.  Diane, Colin and I joined a Road Scholar Hiking Group for the week.  We met 15 people from all over the United States to hike in the Sonoran Desert.  At Organ Pipe we hiked for 3 days.  Drink lots of water, drink more water and then drink some more water.

8 miles to the border of Mexico.  Lots and lots of border patrol!  More on that later.

3. Kartchner Caverns State Park

The Cave Tour at Kartchner Caverns was at the end of our trip but one of the highlights. Ranger Joe gave a wonderful almost 2 hour tour through The Great Room in the cave.  We also learned about the bats that will return to the cave in April.  I took some pictures in the museum.  No pictures allowed in the cave.  It was amazing.  They even found sloth bones.  

The campsite was very nice until the third day . It was still nice but windy.

4.  Saguaro National Park East and West

We hiked  with the Road Scholar hiking group to Bridal Wreath falls in East Saguaro National Park.  It was a huffing and puffing, I think I can, drink more water and then more water hike.  Diane and Colin were in front and I was at the rear.  I made it.

The hiking group hiked in Saguaro Park West the next day.  A nice hike up the wash, no huffing and puffing.  We see rock art and hear bird song.  If you hear the Cactus Wren it means you are in a beautiful spot said out guide.

Saguaro Park West trail we hiked before we met the hiking group.

5.  Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

Wonderful things to see in the Desert Museum.  The Hummingbird garden was amazing. The Ocotillo Cafe had great food too.

 

Tamale and Black Beans

The end of Part One in the Top Ten Best of Southern Arizona.  Next post will be More of the Best starting at #6.  I have so much to tell.

 

Bryce Canyon

Heading for Bryce Canyon.  My first stop was Yuba State Park in Utah.

Bryce Canyon

Yuba Lake

Campsite #2

 I had a wonderful campsite overlooking the Yuba Dam lake.  The workers that built the Dam in 1906 named it. They would say U.B. dammed if you work and U.B. dammed if you don’t work, from this the town was named Yuba.  I enjoyed the campsite so much I stayed another night.

Yuba Lake

Tuesday morning  I headed for Bryce Canyon.  I got a great campsite at North Campground in Bryce Canyon and headed to Inspiration Point to look at the HooDoo’s.  I forgot how BEAUTIFUL Bryce Canyon is. I was in awe of the red rock formations.  The next day I started my hike to the Queen’s Garden.  It’s down into the Canyon to see a HooDoo that looks like Queen Victoria.  I made a booklet of sketches of views along the way.

Hoodoo (hoo” doo) n. 1. A pinnacle or odd shaped force of erosion. 2. To cast a spell. v. 3.Voodoo

A rubbing of a benchmark at the end of the trail.

 

“Silence alone is worthy to be heard.”  Henry David Thoreau, Journal- Jan.21, 1853

Campsite #37 North Campground

Booklet on fireplace

I drove to Rainbow Point the next day and hiked the BristleCone Pine Loop trail.

I wanted to see the Utah BristleCone Pine.  Utah Bristlecone Pines are 1500 years old while the California BristleCone Pines are 5000 years old.  I figured that trees  in Utah are like teenagers compared to the middle-aged trees in California.  It was quite windy at the point and the trees looked almost dead.  I enjoyed the views along the way and made another  booklet of sketches.

“I need solitude.  I have come forth to this hill to see the forms of the mountains on the horizon- to behold and commune with something grander than man.”  Henry ThoreauAugust 14, 1854  I liked this sign posted along the trail.

“I need solitude. I have come forth to this hill….ti see the forms of the mountains on the horizon- to behold and commune with something grander than man” David Thoreau August 14, 1854

 

As I hiked the Queen’s Garden Trail in Bryce Canyon.  I started to work on this poem.

Hoodoo Voodoo

Hoodoo Voodoo

329 feet downward
pinnacles of weathered red rock
Erosion carved heads, torsos, limbs
Red rock crinkled into forms
Stop! Breathe! Voodoo!
A language I try to see!

129 feet closer to the edge
Freezing ice chipping 
Frost wedging Hoodoos
German, Chinese, Italian
Listen! Snap! Voodoo!
A language I try to hear!

Switchbacks lead to hoodoo
A Sandstone Queen Victoria
A crown, a face, majestic cape
Voices whirl in piñon pines
Stop! Snap! Breathe!
A language I try to touch!

Upward on the labyrinth
110 feet to the shade of Juniper tree
Hoodoo shadows shift
Clusters of red rock facing East
Pause! Sip! Breathe!
A Language I try to understand!