Sunday Art Show

Getting ready to tear down the "store". So, so sales wise. Guess I
better stick to the murals and faux finishes. But it is fun, hanging
out and complaining about the economy with the other folks. And about
the customers and their characteristics.

My Shop on the Grass

Saturday's Art Show

Saturday was a good day for art sales. Great weather.

Art Show Friday

Here is today's picture; a view of Emerald Bay on Tahoe's south west
shore.

Art Show

Doing an art show in Tahoe this weekend. Going to paint or draw a
picture each day of the show. Here is a Tuscan scene from Thursday's
show.

Creeping Charlie

Ever think about something from your past, then become obsessed with
wanting to re-create it? Such is the case with my new Creeping
Charlie, a plant I fondly remember from the '70's. Use to feed it cold
coffee (pre-microwave days). Decided I wanted another one recently,
only to find out they are not as popular anymore, and difficult to buy.

I was in a home recently that was still living the '70's, and I knew
there was probably a Charlie somewhere. Sure enough, one was in the
bathroom along with a few other vintage friends. The owner gave me a
clipping after hearing my quest, and it appears to becoming along nicely.
I was ready to order one from eBay, which would have been shipped
directly to me. Since my studio is only a block from the Calif.
Agricultural Inspection station, I would have felt like a criminal had
I done that. This makes it all legal, and I can sleep soundly.

Interestingly, most of the online sites regarding Creeping Charlie's
is on how to kill them. They are actually a ground cover, and will
quickly take over if you let them. Mine will stay in a pot(s).

More Garden Animals

Great day here in Tahoe on Saturday.

Just heard from my wandering oldest son who is heading for Charlotte, NC to begin a new life. He is at Mt. Rushmore today. He had been living in Washington. You can follow along by checking www.rollingwaveproject.blogspot.com

Here are some more of the graden animals. If anyone has travelled through Spain, you will recognize the bull. A much larger (maybe 30') version is seen along the national highways, usually up on top of a high hill. It use to advertise brandy, but billboards were eliminated
along the highways. The populace wanted to keep the bulls as a symbol of national pride, but without any brand names on them. This is a small version I made several years ago. At times he has been buried up to his ears in snow.

Going to do some en plein aire pastels tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Purple Holstein

Not exactly a mural or work of art, but I like my previously black and
white cow with her new do. More original this way. Could have used DayGlo colors, but it would probably attract the bears. Nice up here in Tahoe this weekend, though there is still some smoke from the fires in Big Sur. Going to a Sierra Club function this afternoon up at Berkeley Camp near Echo Lake. Should be fun; it involves food and wine.

End of Weekend

Way too many M & M's this holiday. That would be Mojitos and
Margaritas. Had a great fireworks display down on the lake. Traffic
leaving town this morning was horrendous, as Tahoe was filled to the
max. Tried to stay away from the tourists as best I could.

Here is a shot of some iris growing in the backyard. I know, yards are
for trucks and buses, people have gardens. Just a habit, I guess.
Behind it is the mint for the mojitos. Nice to be prepared. If the
iris is still alive later in the week when I return, might try drawing
them.

Stairwells

Painting murals in stairwells is a bit of a challenge. First, access is difficult. Over the years I have come up with various devices to make using ladders practical in a stairwell, and in this case I had to use two different ladders. One was equipped with levelers; the other was supported on one of my homemade devices that spans three steps with a platform on top so the ladder will sit level. This device is made of wood, and always makes me a little nervous. Think I will modify it soon.

The next difficulty is perspective. Since stairs are at various heights from the ground floor, finding a vanishing point is the problem, as you want the scene viewable from all possible locations. Putting the brick wall (they have brick on the house) below helped to level out the view, but the perspective is still higher up than what I would have preferred. However, since the viewer travels up and down the stairs, the actual perspective and the viewers perspective is adjusted by the brain automatically (I hope).

This mural took four days, finishing Thursday (7/3/08). If it had been on a regular wall, three days would have been possible. For the first three days, it had a road leading off to the right, but after seeing a movie Wednesday night about Monet, I switched (with the client's blessing) to a garden path instead.

Phoenix in Tahoe

Found myself in a small neighborhood parade this morning. We were parading through part of the burn area from last year's Angora Fire here in Tahoe. Nearly every house you see in the photos is new, built or being built within the past year. It was very moving, as most the people in the parade lost their homes to the fire. As wildfires continue to rage throughout the state, it is inspiring to see beauty come from the ashes. Things were lost, lives were spared and hopes realized. We toured the new home of a friend and marveled how happy they were to be back in the neighborhood, now with a better view of the nearby mountains. A year ago, they had only a few minutes to get out of way of the approaching fire, being driven by high winds. Like the mythical Greek bird Phoenix, the area is once again alive and doing quite well.