About My Cover Painting

High Desert Seduction II

18 x 24

Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes Paper

When I first moved to a place called Palmdale, California in the high desert about 65 miles north of Los Angeles I said " The day has come when snowballs fall in hell". I said that because up to that time I said " What a god forsaken place this is, this ugly, ugly desert . The day it rains snowballs in hell is when I would move to this place. Who would want to live there." Well folks, the day happened in 1990 when my husband's job took him there . But what happened was that over time I came to love this high desert with its fabulous sun rises and sun sets. I became familiar with the beauty brought on by the different seasons. I specially loved the spring bloom. It inspired me to paint, paint and paint some more. I felt an intimacy with the land that I never felt before.

Here are a couple more high desert paintings.

Blue Barn and Poppies   Sold

18 x 24

Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes Paper

Here's another one

Poppyhill

Pastel on Suade Mat Board   Sold

8 x 10





Sierra Art Trails Weekend is Over - The Aftermath

       Heron Lake photo taken this morning.

Sales were definitely not brisk for me this year at Sierra Art Trails but the attendance was good and my upcoming class appears to be full. The people had many wonderful things to say abut my works and I enjoyed speaking with my visitors.. Enough said about that because as an artist, I have learned to take something good out of every showing I have. Yes, I go into my corner for a little while and lick my chops but I come out very soon knowing it's time to get over it and go on, and it's time to get back to my easel and paint with more enthusiasm the ever before.

We had an amazing thunder storm throughout the early am hours Sun with over 1,000 yes 1,000 lightning strikes . People living here a long time are saying they never experienced anything like this before.. The lightning strikes lasted for span of several hours. It poured at times and we had hail to boot. Very exciting indeed . Today is Tuesday and for the first time in a long time my husband and I hiked around Heron Lake this morning in the misty light rain. Steam was coming off the lake. It was very beautiful. I took some photos that I'm sharing with you today. Here are some more.



Sierra Art Tails Home Studio Open House

Foothill Spring Rhythm

28 x 19

Pastel on Canson Mi Tientes Paper

Heron Lake Winter Glow

17 x 24

Pastel on Sabertooth Paper

The Grand View

21 x 29

Pastel on Suade Mat Board

Busy getting ready for Sierra Art Trail coming this weekend. Lots to do. At least my home is getting a well deserved cleaning. Here's a glimpse of the home part of my home and studio gallery.

Stay tuned more to come.....



A Pastel and an Oil

Confetti

8 x 10

Pastel on Canson Mi-tientes Paper

Packman's Lillies

24 x 38

Oil

Two more paintings that will be featured at my studio on Sierra Art Trails Weekend.  

Oct 2nd and 3rd for more information click on http://www.sierraarttrails.org/

Redux of Some of My Works

Sienna's Path

27 x 21

Pastels on Linen Mat Board

I am looking forward to Sierra Art Trails this year. For more information click on  http://www.sierraarttrails.org/ . The event takes place Oct 2nd and 3rd. For the time being over the next couple of weeks my posts will be showing some of the works that will be on display at my studio.  Here are a couple more:

Lily Pond and Gardens

18 x 24

Pastel on Canson Mi-tientes Paper

Morning Rays II

18 x 24

Pastel on Sabertooth Paper

A crop of apples on my oak tree?

Close up of oak tree in my backyard.

Another view

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what was growing on one of our oaks in the back of our property a few days ago. Was the oak really a peach or apple tree?. How could I think that could be but there they were and they looked almost ready for plucking. I walked closer to touch them. They were hard and smooth. What the heck I thought to myself. They were absolutely beautiful. I had to leave to go to an appointment and so could not stick around to do some investigation. When I got home , I went to my computer as soon as I could. Oak Apple Galls!!! It seems several species of  gall wasps are the cause. They insert their eggs into a vegetatve bud on the tree. A protective surrounding forms around it. When the galls mature females emerge from some of the galls and males from the others. They mate and the gall shrinks and blackens. I felt let down because I wanted so badly for it to be a fruit tree. It was so lovely and I wanted to eat the fruit. Yet, in all in all the beauty remains no matter what caused it. Sort of like finding beauty in high desert thorny wild thickets or green algae on a lake surface.

High Desert Seduction

Pastel on Canson- Mi Tientes Paper

19 x 25

              Tree Shadows        Sold

19 x 25

Pastel on Colorfix Pastel Paper

A Walk in the Woods

Lewis Creek

It's good to be back after a summer break of vacations, swimming, reading and just taking it nice and easy. It has been a mild ( not too many days over 100deg) summer yet it was quite warm but very bearable. My husband and I took a hike today at Lewis Creek because it was the first day in the 70s since last spring. Lewis Creek is a few miles short of Yosemite National Park. I took photos but apparently deleted them from my cell phone before downloading into the computer. Don't know what I did but oh well I did something wrong, so I substited a photo from last spring instead. The creek is wonderful no matter what season we hike it. There's something about being on a trail that sends wonderful messages from the ground to my boots and  through my body that makes me feel so good and connected to a sense of awe and inspiration.

Many if not all of my works eminate from some wonderful place in the outdoors on the trail. I love painting what I see and how I feel when out there.  Here's a few paintings done from trail inspirations. 

The Grand Sunrise Study

8 x 10

Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper

Study for Morning Rays II

6 x 8

Pastel on velour pastel paper

The Old Cabin Site

18 x 24

Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper