Category Archives: Journaling

Jan23

The Demolition Begins….

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Early Monday morning the team was at the front door ready to demo the living room. Wow I was in the middle of brushing my teeth, and hardly ready for workers. But they were here and we had waited a long time for our floors to be replaced, so the show must go on!

Favio, Daniel, and Javier all were so nice, they knew their business, moved large furniture through small spaces without any problems, and had the living room cleared out in a very short time.  No scratches, dings, or dents!!!   There is something to be said about hiring the right people for the right jobs.

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Sadly, I have to say goodby to my beautiful Bamboo floors.  For us it was an environmental issue, and we wanted to have floors that were sustainable.  But, in looking for floors that were engineered bamboo, we just were not able to locate them.  So we had to choose engineered hardwood, and that has been difficult to digest.  But it is what it is, and I guess I’ll just have to get over myself!  This time.

Jan22

Thursday Time Out For Art

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While the crows are calling me from outside the studio window, inside the easel stands with two canvases ready to start the first steps of a new painting.

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One of my studio  walls has a couple of paintings  started,  and I’m waiting for them to speak to me, and give me inspiration.

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Inside the rest of our home is in disarray  due to the replacement of our floors.  It leaves little time or space for me to be creative and  I feel I have to be on site just to make sure nothing goes wong.  Am I crazy?  Would they really  need me for anything if something went wrong, and would they actually come to me for answers?  Probably not!  Maybe that’s the mother in me, needing to be needed.  Something that is rarely done these days since all my kids are all grown up with families of their own.

While all this is in process, my sketching supplies will be set aside so I’m able to sit and sketch…..if I’m not needed that is.  If there is time for  sketching, I’ll be calling on Zebra Designs & Destinations for inspiration…..

Stay tuned for more of the way we handle our house being torn up before our very eyes!

Jan20

Breathe…..

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Sometime life leaves us looking, and feeling like one more step, and that’s it!

This week is one of those times, with our house being  torn up to replace our two-year old bamboo floors that have warped and splintered, I feel a bit run over by a truck.  The demolition has begun, and the floors will be entirely stripped of bamboo, and the glue sanded off.  I’m trying to stay calm, and not stress, but it’s a big mess, and many of the smaller things had to be boxed and removed from the site……..by us.  The larger furniture the workmen will handle.     All my artwork….. down and in a box, all drapes….the same.  The bamboo will be replaced with a manufactured hickory, and even though I didn’t get the bamboo I was hoping for, I’m counting on it not splintering or warping, and giving us many good years of beautiful floors.

Breathe is the name of the game, I tell myself it’s a journey, one of adventure, and excitement!

What will tomorrow bring?  More chaos, but one more day closer to putting it all back together, and restoring calm.

Jan15

Thursdays Time Out For Art…

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A Beautiful January morning.

A Beautiful January morning.

Part of our morning walks is over several blocks of our neighborhood. The half way point of our walk is the center of our neighborhood, and a lovely median with large pine trees, and even some magnolia trees.  I always let Daisy stop, and sniff around so she knows who has been out that day, and who is missing their morning walk.  One morning when we had the lastcold snap,  Daisy and I walked the hood when it was 41 degrees out.   I don’t have to tell you, I was all bundled up with a scarf, gloves, and a warm coat.  It worked, I was warm, and after a few minutes, I realized the beauty of a cold, crisp morning, and started to see beauty everywhere.

I love the shadows, and remember when watercolor was my medium to, and was learning how to make shadows fun, and interesting.   I have painted many shadows, many colors, but what I finally realized was that I loved abstract shadows.

What color would you make these shadows if you were painting them?   Would they be gray, blue, or something else?  Since  everything  that is in green, I’d paint in red, I think the shadows need to be violet.

What are your thoughts, ideas, or comments?

Jan9

Inspiration Comes From…..

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These roots look like a mask to me.

These roots look like a mask to me.

Everywhere!

I’ve been walking Daisy in the morning lately, and it seems everything I look at gives me ideas to paint.  It seem a little crazy since some of the things that have inspired creativity have been roots from the trees along the walk.

For some reason the first photo looks like a mask or maybe the eyes of an owl.

Just plain old roots sticking up...they look like a rachet!

Just plain old roots sticking up…they look like a ratchet!

Looking at them this way, it looks like a ratchet, or a club.  Who knows what goes on in an artists brain, we are a little crazy you know!

I’m really not going to paint roots, but just the thought of finding shapes that inspire is going in the right direction.

 

Jan8

Thursdays Time Out For Art!

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A Big Pot of Vegetable Stew!

A Big Pot of Vegetable Stew!

With the colder weather Southern California has had lately, I decided to make something that would stick to the ribs. It turned out to be a vegetable stew!
Warming and yummy, this is what we had for dinner a couple of nights ago. Since I made the stew, we have now had a warming trend…..Go Figure!

It’s a good thing I froze the remainder in containers, and stored it in the freezer.

Don’t you think this is a work of art?  Just look at the color, & how well they blend. The stew was my Thursdays Time Out For Art, and of course my inspiration came from Zebra Designs & Destinations.