Found these fabulous variegated tulips at Bunches the other day and while they’re not the exact striped tulip that is depicted on this Italian demitasse, they do make a lovely compliment. I took a number of shots to make sure I had the right composition when my bird comes along. The variegated tulip signifies “beautiful eyes” in the Victorian language of flowers, I wonder it this will helps me decide on a …
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Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I just finished all my book keeping for my taxes …. I might as well crocheted the entire annual report for as much time as it took me! Now I feel like I need to sink my teeth into a BIG painting (or 4)! Today I primed 4 64 x 64″ canvases…that’s 16,384 square inches of gesso (not including the edges or multiple coats)! I find doing this work …
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I was so happy to hear that a new exhibit of one of my top favorite painters, Pierre Bonnard, was opening up at the Legion of Honor! He’s known as one of the Nabis, a Post-Impressionist movement where the the flattened perspective of Japanese art, the stylization of Art Nouveau, the use of pattern as a decorative element and the exploration of non-local color were early hallmarks. I love this big, …
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I don’t know about you, but The Hunger Games (books and movies) have been a big hit at our house for quite some time! The Hunger Games: The Exhibition has just opened up at the Palace of Fine Arts this past Saturday and since the kids are out of school for February break we went up to see for ourselves the film set recreations, the high-tech interactive installations and games …
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Spring arrived on the mantle of a thousand beating wings. More reliable that a calendar, the migrating robins descended on my berry tree and stripped it bare in a single day (with the help of a few cedar waxwings). When my models show up, unannounced or not, I have to set everything else down and pick up the camera because blurry or sharp, these photographs will make excellent reference material for …
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Finally painting with the LGAA Plein Air Painters and I couldn’t have picked a better day in cute as a button Capitola with it’s easter egg assortment of tiny beach condos from the 1920s. I’ve been wanting to paint these for years! Such a great group of talented painters – I look forward to getting out with them regularly! Sam Pearson on the far side of the river. That’s me …
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A little break in all the great rain we’ve been getting was the perfect chance to get my painter’s body moving! A hike up the Novitiate Trail, though a little muddy, was just the thing – and bringing my camera made it all the more fun. Inspiration can be so fleeting and it’s good to store it up for another rainy day! …
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Careful what you haul into your studio – you just might end up making art out of it! My kids had just outgrown their antique twin beds. Well, truth be told, one just broke and the the other was already damaged when I bought it all those years ago. I’d fallen in love with the pair and had planned on painting them out and reupholstering them but there was always …
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Hiking again without my real camera….here are some iPhone shots of some intense reds and greens (complementary colors) I couldn’t resist even though these shots of berry trees are pretty low res. I love the ground cover and moss growing on those raking diagonals and that up-tilted perspective – one of my favorite things in a scene I would choose to paint.
When I go to Shark’s Tooth Cove, one of my favorite beaches in California, I usually scamper down into the cove and nestle myself between the soaring cliffs and the pounding ocean. I am so in love with the keyhole tunnel and the dramatic sea stacks that I’m quite content, me, the resident ravens, the squads of patrolling pelicans and the occasion nude sunbather. This time I decided to explore …
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Over the holidays I wanted to go tide pooling to see if I could find any of the Hopkins’ Rose Nudibranchs that had been sighted along the coast …. sadly I picked a day when the low tides were both before sunrise and after sunset. Oh well, any day at the shore is a good day! One of my favorite spots is Shark’s Tooth Cove, in Davenport. It’s so secluded and …
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With a little bit of patience on my part, the Townsend’s Warbler felt brave enough to come out of hiding – sweet little bird and well worth the wait.
The Townsend’s warbler is a shy little thing and even with it’s bright yellow markings it can be very hard to see. Still, I was determined to get a few good shots that I could use eventually in my Birds & Teacups series.
While I briefly wore the chrysanthemum crown myself, I really had intended it for my favorite model. It’s SO much better on her! I love photography but I also like to use photos like these as reference for future paintings, when my chrysanthemums are no longer in bloom. Here are some of the ones I like the most from the shoot: I adore how the chrysanthemum petals create a fringe-like …
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The chrysanthemum season has come to a close. I decided to forgo the last of the season bouquet in favor of whipping up a chrysanthemum wreath in the last bits of sun before the oncoming rain. The mums are a long lived cut flower but their life fashioned into a crown brief but glorious! Crowned – Queen Mum!
Of course the reason I began growing chrysanthemums in the first place is so I could put them in a matching teacup! I found several that I loved, one was a Limoges cup and saucer from 1895 with fabulous gold orbs bordered in black, the other (c. 1900) a handpainted Bavarian cup and saucer signed by Helen (HKaub) Grossart. Even if I didn’t have the exact mums on hand I …
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What a tangle of mums I have growing in my pots – quite literally, I had to be very delicate as I separated the spider mums from each other in order to shoot each flower on it’s own to really appreciate it’s individual form. Here are some of my favorites…
This is the first year I’ve tried growing Buddha’s Hands and its just now starting to turn a lovely shade of yellow. If you’re not familiar with this fruit, it’s a citrus that perfectly echos the mudras of the Buddha. Mudras are spiritual gestures in Hinduism and Buddhism that convey or direct specific meaning and energy. The closed position, namaskaramudra imitates prayer. The open hand, or varadamudra symbolizes charity and …
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The thirty year old camellia tree in my neighbor’s front yard may be the only thing blooming this time of year. It’s quite a show stopper and is attracting a lot of birds – even in the rain! I had to go over with my camera and see if I could get lucky – I did get a few shots of some birds but what I found myself enjoying even …
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