time to kill

April 16, 09
4:25 p.m.
McKinley Park
warm - slight breeze
blue sky - a few wispy clouds
time to kill

Funny how I like this park but I have a hard time finding a photograph here -
Alot of different species of trees, several kinds of oak - plenty of London Plane, Redwoods, California fan palms - Lombardy Poplars & Ginkos along H Street, a grove of Zelkova by the tennis courts, where I am now. A couple big Tulip trees by the rose garden, several Ashes of a variety I can't name, a couple Liquid Ambars scattered about and a few Camphors near where I sit. They're the most interesting to me right now, with branches that twist and stretch out in all directions.



Lots of last years' leaves are scattered on the ground - brown old leaves on fresh spring grass. Fresh green leaves in light bright hues cover the trees, having just pushed the old ones off.

A squirrel hops up on the little bleachers where I'm perched, hoping I'll hand him goodies, then wanders off when he sees I'm busy writing. Some smaller darker squirrels play nearby - maybe this year's offspring?

I break out the Crown Graphic and go through the process of making an exposure - it's been a while & fells a little awkward - but the results aren't half bad - already I can see a painting breaking out of the frame.

dry creek

April 7, 2009
Dry Creek, Gibson Ranch
morning
sunny, windy, light clouds, pollen high

(Playing with my little digital Nikon)

Out with Sparky, my latest canine companion: small, sturdy & cute enough to make up for any shortcomings (right now: looking for something smelly to roll in...)

Birds are singing, talking to each other, a jay chides among the songs - then a coast guard four engine prop plane roars overhead on final approach to remind me exactly where I am -

The oaks all have bright green spring leaves bursting out. The grasses all tall green and lush as well. Tiny flowers peek up - big black butterflies flit about in pairs.

Water flows past at a moderate pace, about as deep now as other years it's been in summer - this summer the creek is likely to earn it's Dry name.

Little flowers drop down from the oaks onto the beach I'm sitting on.

Sparky gets restless and wants to move on

ta-daa!

Finished the Sacramento News & Review newsstand today! Just need to put a clear coat on it...

I'm actually pretty pleased with how it all came out - I wasn't really stressing about this, just not really thinking about it at all, which put me in the perfect state of mind for creating.

So often, I find that the worst thing I can do is overthink a piece while I'm working on it. It's best to go in with a general plan, then just let it happen. That's what I did with this, simply because I had been so busy, I just didn't have the time to plan much beyond the basic idea -

turned out to be a pretty good thing.

newsstand news

So - now that my 50 artworks are done & I've shipped off 48 hand-embellished pigment prints for the new Ritz Carlton being built at Northstar, Tahoe, I think I can get back to things like blogging...

So now the deadline I'm working on is to paint a Sacramento News & Review newsstand, I've got until next Wednesday. Not that I haven't had access to the box before now, but I just had paying gigs to get done, so now I'm getting to the community service.

Actually a pretty cool thing, this is - I get to play and participate in another public art project. This is the first stage completed, where I've collaged all the elements onto the box.

And here's the Sparky-girl, the newest addition to our family & my studio. She's a two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier who just loves everybody who comes in to the studio, humans and canines alike.

I'm continuing my "City of Trees" theme here - with images of Sacramento landmarks combined with leaf image transfers & bird sketches.

Sometimes Sparky feels the need to get involved in my creative process...

How can I tell her "no"?

So by the end of the studio day, I've gotten the first couple layers of glazes on, blocking out some painted elements and colors over the image transfers.

The front & top of the box - my web address on top, and the required "SN&R" to identify the box's eventual contents.

So far, so good - and it's nice to break out a bit larger than little wood panels...