“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” — Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire On Sunday, I was one of the 23,000 dots pictured below. I “ran” the 2011 Capitol 10,000, a race I first tackled in 1989 and last took on somewhere around 2000. That would be pre-kids. Or as The Big M and I call it, “BC.” As 10K’s go, it’s a pretty easy course. There […]
It was a Weltschmerz — which we used to call “Welshrats” — the world sadness that rises into the soul like a gas and spreads despair so that you probe for the offending event and can find none. –John Steinbeck, East of Eden I’ve got the Welsh rats nipping at my heels today, and I can’t pinpoint why. The sun is shining, the house is clean, the kids are behaving, […]
This morning I was looking back over the list of books I’ve read over the last couple of years, and I didn’t even remember having read some of them. This is why I write them down. My friend Sylvia is very smart; she writes a mini-review of each book after she reads it. That way, when she looks back she not only can remember what the book is about, she […]
Now that I’m working in color, my first project is to paint an apple. This is harder than it sounds. My setup is below. You can see the color wheel I made on the left. The apple is more or less blocked in with three tonal ranges in the red. This is where I started today. What you see above represents the previous lesson’s work. Since I was starting from […]
I’ve reached stage four of my beginning oil painting class: the color course. The following pictures were taken over two successive three-hour classes. I’ve had to slow down as we move into the world of color. The first step was to take a look at the primary colors I had in my tubes of paint, and then to mix their secondary colors. This isn’t a completely faithful image of the […]
I’ve been out of touch for a while. Take that as you will. Before I get back to my regular posting, I’d like to share this amazing photo that my Aunt Carolyn sent from her current journey. She was snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, and happened upon this fish: Isn’t that about the craziest thing you’ve ever seen? It’s called a Hump Headed Maori Wrasse. The locals […]
Happy V-Day, friends. If you haven’t sent your loved one(s) a card yet, it’s not too late. http://www.someecards.com can hook you up. I’m partial to these: There are many more fun ones over at that site. Tomorrow, assuming I have my act together, I will post pictures of the awesome Valentines that my sister made for the kids this year. To say they were a hit is an understatement. Hope […]
While I have some free time today, I’ll post the progression of my latest oil painting. I did this one over the course of two 3-hour classes. A fresh canvas. The charcoal under-drawing. First part of tone painting. Close-up of same. Refining… Refining it with opaque paint. More refinement. And … I’m calling it done. I can see where further refinement would help, but I feel like I’m getting the […]
My parents were in Antarctica last week. At first I thought Dad was reliving the ’60s while Mom waved hello, but then I realized they’re making the number 7, as in seven continents now visited. Check out the penguins behind them! The fuzzy ones are babies. Mom says the weather was sunny, with temperatures hitting the 30’s. It’s summer there. I went outside this morning in Austin, Texas to this: […]
That last post went a completely different way than I had expected. When I found the postcard from WWI, I started thinking about something amusing I had learned about people’s reactions in the U.S. to the war: anything German-sounding had its name changed. Hamburgers (Hamburg) became Liberty Sandwiches. Sauerkraut became Liberty Cabbage. I assume this is also when hot dogs became hot dogs instead of wieners or bratwurst or whatever […]
Flabby Brain 