Mustard yellow fields & Cabernet Red of Northern California



Cloud shadows!!!

 


??????????????

 

















Somewhere over Pike's Peak, Colorado




Sights along the road in front of J&L's house



This so looks like an eye!!!

 




Cherry blossoms!!!




At the Ferrari-Carrano Winery Gardens

 



At "J" Winery for the Bubble Room



Wine and food pairings





Leonard, me and John





Pasties in a vinatage store?



Quite the bathroom!



Abergine Vintage Store in Sebastopol



Wine & Art = enough said!



Found me a French bakery!










So many honeybees in the rosemary




 


Looks big but only about 1 inch long

 



A Zinfandel vine- very Tim Burton







What every other kind of vine looks like





You'd see palms here and there, but they looked a bit out of place





Redwood trees at another winery

 



Yellow fields of mustard


My goodness - what a silly, a dummy, a scatter brain I am. I forgot that I already posted my California trip. I thought that I was waaay behind on my entries. I am extremely busy, with too much on my plate, obviously. But, there are a couple of different pictures, and since I have now invested an entire Friday evening to posting them, they can stay. Guess I'll go have a glass of wine.....

I'm in the Pink!

Here we are, Pam and I, in our spot at Atlanta Bread Company. I believe this is the 3rd or 4th time that we have gotten together in our endeavors to get my web site constructed. Lots of talking, laughter, gnashing of teeth and pulling out of hair. We were having the most difficult time with one web site, but then Pam got a recommendation from a friend of hers and Waa-laa! Not the colorful, playful background of the first, unfortuantely, but sooooo much easier to use and allowing us (her, she's the computer whiz) to build my site the way we want. I gladly take the trade-off. Pam has written a book, "Harbinger in the Mist" and it's currently taking off as a free download (what new authors do to get a fan base easger for the next novel) and I painted the cover, which got relegated to the back cover (via her new publisher who is fantastic, so I have no resentment to the relocation), which disappointed Pam, so she rewrote some of the book to include the history of the painting to increase its importance and put a link on her web site for my site. I was quite moved when I saw what she had done. We are kinda of on our own little island at work, both being artists and a bit quirky- we're becoming very good friends quickly- I do enjoy sharing the artistic endeavors to leave CMOP with someone like-minded. Anyhoo, now to upload my photos and tweak. Soon, very soon, it will be up and running (fingers crossed!)

Mustard yellow fields, merlot red, verdent green hills

 







yellow fields of mustard

flying to California- I love cloud shadows & somewhere over Pike's Peak

 the Golden Gate Bridge & San Francisco as seen from the bus

Ferrari-Carano winery- goreous gardens plus you get to rub a boar's snout for good luck

one funky vintage store in Sebastopol, California

cherry blossoms, animals & a tree looking at ya on the one lane road leading to the house

the beautiful countryside

i adore bees-these were so hard to photograph because they never lighted for long on the rosemary

the Bubble Room at "J"

my wonderfully dear friends, Leonard and John with me in the middle

March 22-26,2012 = Healdsburg, California. I want to move to the Northern California wine country. It. is. gorgeous.(which makes it hard to choose only a few photos) Plus, my absolutely fantastic friends, John and Leonard, live there. I haven't seen them for about a dozen years, yet it was as though no time had passed from the minute they picked me up at the local airport. I landed in San Francisco and headed out to them via an Express bus- no hassles with traffic! The landscape is magnificent- rolling, lush green hills, dotted with sheep, goats, horses or cows. Fields of yellow mustard and rows upon rows of just budding grape vines of  all varieties. My favorite were the Zinfandel, with their Tim Burton apprearance, all dark, twisted and gnarled, like a grand Halloween candelabra. The guys were the perfect hosts and I was completely spoiled, being waited on hand and foot. We visited breathtaking gardens at one winery, tall redwood trees at another. At the winery, "J", we enjoyed the Bubble Room, where bits of food, exquisitely prepared by the chef, were paired with a corresponding wine so that one could taste the difference that food made on the palate when sipping the wine again. We went hunting in a vintage store for western wear for a future themed party (J & L always throw great parties), but it was a store unlike I had ever seen= a huge covered outdoor spot with pool tables, a bar inside and sooooo much stuff- and so organized! I met their wonderful friends, learned out to play dominoes, and drank wine and gin (not together!), went to wonderful restaurants, both comfy casual and quite divine and had great conversation. I had forgotten what it was like to just sit, relax, have a cocktail, and just talk and laugh. And, it is so quiet where they live. Only a town of 30,000, Healdsburg is only about 15 minutes to Santa Rosa, a small city of 150,000, where you can get everything you need. I so enjoyed seeing my dear, dear friends again. My visit was way overdue, as was my re-learning to relax and enjoy the journey.

Well, I can't believe that it's been 2 weeks already since I went up on the weekend of Feb. 17 (2012) to  see Travis and Emory up in Williamsburg. The Virginia Museum of Fine Art was slammed the day after Thanksgiving last year, and I really, really wanted to see the Mummy Exhibit before it left (even tho' I had seen them whilst in London at the British Museum). Therefore, I made the jaunt up there. Trav had to work a lot for the Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court (his externship), but I actually got to see him more than I had planned : ) Em and I went to Richmond for the aforementioned exhibit- absolutely phenominal- the British Museum is so inundated with the sarcophaguses that I don't recall much else. This time- how amazing to see papyrus 2-4000 yrs old, looking as though it were written only yesterday. Same with the still brilliant paint on the wood boxes (still in great condition) and the mummy cases- and 3 foot tall slabs of limestone covered with lines of 100's, or is it 1000's, of hierglyphics. The lighting was superb, but , alas, I only got one shot off (and of a cat mummy, of all things) before being told that because this museum did not own the exhibit, photos were NOT allowed). I was devastated, but whatcha goin' to do : (  It was still so marvelous to view, though. Then Em took me to the Can Can restaurant where I had a chicken crepe (will definitely order that again) in a most fun, art-deco, can my eyes take everything in? eatery. Then across the street to the Amour Wine Bistro- a teeny, quaint French restaurant- to have my first creme brulee. It has surely spoiled me for any others in my future= dark, creamy chocolate, drizzled with caramel with a sprinkling of sea salt. To die for. Movies, take out, conversation and not to forget, Emory's beef and yorkshire pudding with roasted asparagus.

And, then it snowed Sunday night!!!!!!!! It looked so pretty, tho' in the back of my mind I was hoping my flight would not delayed in the morning. And, it was early morning= a  6:30am departure, bless Trav for taking me so early. The plane was de-iced (and we flew between 2 layers of clouds!) but, instead of an hour layover in Atlanta, I got to my gate just 2 minutes before boarding commenced. Not quite the leisurely pace of the flight going to W'msburg. Then, I was able to enjoy breakfast while watching the sun rise and planes land. I realized that I really enjoy flying. And, the energy of airports. Love airports. And, love spending time with the kids.

Black and White Zebra Stripes With a Pop of Red




a GoodWill find

 

Sanded, primed, pattern drawn

























Arlie helping to paint



Arlie loves this chair





















Gotta love zebra stripes!



And, a pop of red!




















A New Year's Resolution = get those projects done! For one thing, I need to make room in the garage so I can clean and organize it. For another, I'd like to get some stuff on Craig's List to sell. The chairs only cost about $8 apiece at the GoodWill store and they are real comfortable for sitting. Animal prints seem to never go out of style, so, fingers crossed, they will go quickly. I have finished one, and have one more to go for a pair. Then I have only one chair of this particular style and one other kind left. What I shall paint on those is a mystery to me. I can paint ANYTHING! That's the problem! haha I will come up with something. At the same time, I have finished a blue heron commission and have begun the white egret meant to go along with it. I also want to be up on Etsy before the first quarter of the year is over. Here's to resolutions and keeping them!

Christmas - red and green of course!

This was it for Christmas photos!!! Can you believe?!?!?! I had my camera with me the whole time, but perhaps all the pics taken so recently at Thanksgiving made the urgency of getting shots of the kids (as well as everyone else) less so. Thanks to my brother, Jeff, for snapping this one. Or, perhaps it was just being so in the moment of reveling and basking in the joy of BEING with the kids that made everything else simply slip from my mind. I love sharing Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Jack and Page, but savor the time alone I get with the kids at my place opening gifts (a tradition we started when they were dating), then the Christmas movie (Sherlock Holmes 2 this year) followed by the homage to our English/Scottish ancestory of a standing rib roast and Yorkshire pudding. Time is growing short to when I get to make my move to Richmond where the kids plan to roost. I LOVE change and can't wait - received a Richmond Tourist Guide 2011 and the stuff in and around that city is amazing! I told Trav and Em that they would have to make an appointment to see me! haha. Seriously - I am so inspired and enthused about attaining my art goals- I think I work better under stress, for the next 2 to 2 1/2 years are going to fly by if this past year is any indication, so I have to get my butt in gear. Focus, focus, focus - on one project at a time, lest I get overwhelmed. Also, I have a brilliant idea. I have never wanted a store, but this idea has crept (and grown) into my mind. I am going to have a shop (or shoppe) called Calvin Artworks Emporium. Just a little place, with cool things around and my various and sundry art filling up the place.(and, of course, a kitschy painting of Calvin). It can house the items that I'm going to place on Etsy - won't have to come up with a different line for each place. But, right now it would be terribly empty, so painting an inventory is a primary focus. And, on that note, I gotta run work on those chairs I'm revamping to put on Craig's List!