COLOR DROP FLOWERS

I just took the online class COLOR DROP FLOWERS, taught by Martha Lever, and I love the way these have turned out. They are just fun, light, airy, and colorful. I'm thinking of doing some stamping on them, mounting them to greeting cards to sell.

 This last one is my favorite.

Goodbye dear DAISY

Sad to say, I had to say goodbye to my dear soul mate, DAISY. I had 9 1/5 fabulous years with her sleeping at the side of my bed, her resting her huge English Mastiff head on my knee, and her sweet prancing greeting me every time I returned home.

Rest in PEACE my darling Daisy.

My Original ART JOURNALS now on Etsy!

Hooray.... I finally did it. I've been making my own art journals for a while now... and I've wanted to create some to sell on Etsy... (you can see them with descriptions here) I used really great quality 140lb watercolor and 100lb sketching papers.
This what they look like.

 This next one is really neat! I took apart a vintage art history book to make a larger journal.

 Inside the front cover is a pocket with five prints, but anything could be put in there.

 And I spiral bound the contents because it's still great information and could be used also for altered journal pages.

 And who doesn't remember the Bobbsey Twins! I love this little art journal... perfect for field work or visual journals.

My Aviary Mural

We scored a beautiful aviary off Craig's List, FREE!! Painted a dull grey, I'm excited to liven it up a bit.
Here's what I've got so far.....

Art Classes at Yosemite

So... here is a listing of the art classes for the rest of the year. They only ask $5 donation and, as you can see, there are some fabulous artists scheduled. I try to get up for four or five a year. Enjoy.See you there!

May 10th-May14th	Fealing Lin	Watercolor: Fresh and Loose
May 17th-May 21rst	Sonja Hamilton	Watercolor: Waterfalls and Dogwoods
May24th- May 28th	Janice Powell Shedd	Watercolor Workshop
May 31rst-June 4th	Roger Folk	Watercolor
June 7th- June 11th	Geri Medway NWS	Experiencing Yosemite in Watercolor
June 14th- June 18th	Tom Fong	Watercolor: Bold and Free
June 21rst-June 25th	Robert Dvorak	Watercolor
June 28th- July 2nd	Margaret Mohr	Capture the Beauty: Watercolor
July5th-July 9th	Ann Raglan Bowns	Silk Painting
July 12th- July 16th	Byron Spicer	Abstract Fun With Landscape: Acrylic
July 19th- July 23rd	Linda Mitchell	Enjoying Watercolor
July 26th- July 30th	Dana Childs	The Many Faces of Half Dome: Watercolor
August2nd- August 6th	Mariko Lofink	Watercolor Views of Yosemite
August 9th-August 13th	David Deyell	Watercolor
August16th-August 20th	Carol Earle	Pastel
August 23rd- August 27th	Kirah VanSickle	Dynamic Acrylic, Color and Composition
August 30th-September 3rd	Osamu Saito	Experience Yosemite with Watercolor
September 6th-Sept, 10th	Doug Castleman	Watercolor
Sept 13th-Sept 17th	James Weil/	Painting Yosemite in Color, Acrylic
Sept. 20th- September 24th	Linda Nadel	Watercolor Basics
Sept. 27t- October 1rst	B. Beaudreau PSWA	Yosemite in Pastel
October 4th- October 8th	Robert Duvall	Yosemite using opaque watercolor, gouache
October 11th- Octobe15th	Marcy Wheeler	Impressive, Expressive Yosemite: acrylic
October 18th-October 22nd	John Hewitt	Watercolor Landscape
October 24th- October 29th	Pam Pederson	Pen and Ink sketching with Watercolor

Yosemite in May

Spend another amazing five days in the Valley.... Lower Pines Campsite #39, right on the river. Here are some shots of my "studio", and several of the paintings I did last week.

I had to wait until the shadows covered my table about three in the afternoon. So inspirational having the river right there!

 This is Fern Springs... gallons and gallons of water coming up from the ground to create Yosemite's smallest waterfall!

 Here, I tried something different... used Copic pens. I think the Yosemite part of the picture gets lost in her too bright colors.

 Here is where I painted in the morning and early afternoon.

 I'd get lost in thought... or maybe not even thinking, just breathing and staring at the roots of this amazing tree... clinging to the washed out bank, it's top roots are searching for soil. The Merced River is quite high because the warm weather is melting the snow. I watched it rise almost 12" during one early evening. Yes, I sat there for over two hours, just mediating on the flow of water and the amazing light show on the North Face granite wall.

 So, I had to paint it.

 Tried a new style (Obata) of the falls.

 And another abstract of the valley. Mixing the colors, wet into wet, right on the paper was fun.

 

New Water Color Journal I'm Designing

Oh my.... I love, love, love creating Water Color Journals! Been working on a project using antique Art History Books, removing the pages and using the covers for the front and backs of some really big Water Color Journals. I want to use the best, so I'm using 140 pound professional paper.... really, really nice. I'm not going to show those here, yet. Not wanting to waste a pinch of paper, so I'm using the 3" and 4" scraps,by also creating some really small journals to carry in a purse or art bag. These will be about 3x6 inches or so. Landscape style, perfect for Visual Journals. Of course, the 140lb paper is a delight to draw, paint, or collage on.

So, here are the covers I just created digitally in Photoshop. I'm loving the vintage card. Any comments would be so greatly appreciated!

Sweet Blessings, Chris 

My Watercolor Sketch Visual Journal for Yosemite

Just felt like sharing a bit this morning. Actually, I'm making a sketch journal for a dear friend based on the one I created for myself. So here are a few pics from my watercolor sketch journal designed primarily for Yosemite....

I love the look and feel of the pages of watercolor paper. I included both 140 and 300 pound papers. Makes for a thick, luxurious journal to paint in.

 This better shows the cover... I did a collage of an acrylic painting I did last year. Photoshop is great... can you see me peeking over the top?

 Just some sketches. First I did a more realistic watercolor sketch, then tried to do something abstract.

 I'm including birds, flowers (not shown) and rocks of Yosemite. It's so amazing, with all the magnificent granite beauty, to just focus down on the small stuff. It pauses time for a moment.

 This is the back cover showing more collaged elements. Note the pinecone... that was from a class last year, again, focusing down on the little elements.

Home again, working in bed, beautiful Redwoods just before the sun comes up. Trixie is taking a stretch.

Great Reading

For my occasional reader: I want to share this fabulous site with you. 

 http://www.pixelofink.com/

I've been enjoying reading Kindle editions on my little Droid phone. It's amazing to be able to pull it out, especially when I'm caught unexpectedly having to wait for something, too early for an appointment, dining alone, etc. I've read a number of great books lately: Unbroken: A WWII Story of Survival, The Woman Warrior (Maxine Hong Kingston); The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls); The Florist's Daughter, (Patricia Hampl), and Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese) REALLY EXCELLENT, and my favorite read of these past few months. I'm also reading Dicken's Great Expectations.

Another thing I love about my Droid/Kindle is that I can change the size of type for easy reading with tired eyes, and I don't need any light since the little screen is lit up. And it's so easy to turn the pages with just touching the right side of the screen.

Anyway... I'm excited to have come upon this site recommending free and cheap Kindle books!

Enjoy! and Sweet Blessings for a Beautiful Spring Sunday!

Namaste.

More Yosemite.....

Finally! the snow stopped falling. It's still quite cold, but at least I can find some sun to warm up in! I'm in the dense Pines campground, so I drive to a sunny meadow first thing in the morning, to watch the sun rise on the granite! It's about 7:30am here.

On Sunday, I settle in for a few hours in an amazing spot overlooking the Sentinel Bridge meadow, right onto both the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. I was here for about three hours, all the time cars would stop, people would pause and snap a picture or two, then move on, maybe spending five minutes at the most. What they missed, was the changing shadows on the ridges, the sight and the SOUND of the ice breaking away and falling into the cascades below. Many didn't even notice the perfect mirror reflection of the falls in the melting snow waters below (right in front of me). I've painted from this spot during the summer and it's all green grass and wildflowers. Here, the snow has just begun to melt.

 Here's a closeup of the chunks of ice that break free to loudly crash below.

 This is a tiny field sketch of the falls. I actually took an artist liberty and moved the lower falls a little closer center to the upper falls, all to fit into a linear painting that I'll do in my studio at home. (Where it's warm!) A field sketch is a tiny vision of a proposed painting, where you try to catch the shadows, colors, etc. I love having that personal, close relationship with every rock, as I individual paint it. It seems much more intimate than snapping a pic and moving on. (Maybe I'm weird.)

 Later that day, I moved to the meadow across from Camp Curry and I try to capture the late afternoon light on North Dome.

 

 Here is what I was actually looking at. Again, this is a small field study, only about 4x5 inches.

YOSEMITE!!!

Yosemite, Day 1 (MondayApril 4)

7am: Off to my beloved Yosemite!  California is so green and beautiful. I’m here in short time, four and one half hours… but time flew because the scenery was so lush and green. My GPS had me come through the southern route, through Wawona and the Tunnel View…. The snow capped mountains and granite monoliths were fantastic.

Funny memory:

Then: 1955, in our huge black Pontiac, on our way home after 14 days camping in Yosemite Valley’s Camp 7, mom said to us all “This vacation cost us almost $100!” We felt so rich!

Now: I put $98 just to fill the gas tank to get there! (The good news, financially speaking, is with my Senior Pass I get into the park for free, and campsites are only $10 per night.  It pays to get old!)

Then: No need to pack a box of electronics for MacBook, Digital Camera, Droid.

Today: Didn’t pack my ironing board!
This is Yosemite Falls running very full, on the day I arrived.

Here is Yosemite Falls today, Saturday.... note the Frazzle Ice on the sides, it piles up at the base of the falls then begins to flow down the river.

Yosemeite, Day 2 (Tuesday April 5)

There’s snow on the ground, melting fast. The weather feels comfortable, like about 60. Art class was wonderful. I finish the day sitting meadow side, watching the snow melt and run down a little stream past my chair. Across the Valley I see Yosemite Falls on the far left, straight across are three springtime only waterfalls.  I missed seeing Yosemite in the winter, but I’ve never seen the falls so full! Walked up to the base of lower Yosemite Falls… so much water! The mist is everywhere. Soooo beautiful!

Art class was great… mostly kids! But the instructor, Steve Coral, was great. Here’s what I did.

Yosemite, Day 3  (Wednesday April 6)

Another wonderful art class, mostly kids again. But the instructor is patient with them, and gives me extra attention on the painting I did yesterday. This afternoon, the weather is beautiful, almost warm, even in the shade. I walk in (can’t really call it hiking, darn it) to the base of Bridal Veil Falls. Breathtaking! I watched a photographer take photos with an antique box camera. He is a “student of a student” of Ansel Adams.

Art class was great again today too. Again, mostly families and children. But the instructor is very good with all levels.

Yosemite, Day 4 (Thursday, April 7)

Got to see Yosemite in the winter after all! We were blanketed with 4-6 inches of snow! Can’t even see Half Dome, Glacier Point, or any of the falls, the snow is coming down so heavy. Cold, but lovely. Cold! Then, the heavy, snow laden branches began to bend, engulfing what ever, camper, tent, or people, beneath with a blanket of snow. Still, beautiful. Still cold!

Gonna do my own thing today… just reading! Love it!

Day 5, Friday, April 8^th

I’m so snowed in! Couldn’t even get my driver-side door open, frozen shut. Driving in the snow, 4-6 inches.  I like what I did today in class!

Day 6^th, New campsite, right on the river. Watching Frazzle Ice right from my camper. It is sooo cold. I ran out of my third canister of propane. Today is the last day of Art class. All adults this time! Met some wonderful people. Here’s what I painted today. It’s not complete yet, needs more blue in the far granite wall and more sunlight on the left side of the trees.

One more day left. I hope the sun comes out. I’m glad I got to see Yosemite in the snow… but I’ve done that now. Where is the warm spring weather?
Here's my little home.....

 Here's the view from my campsite. You can see the Frazzle Ice floating down the Merced River.