First LHB of Summer

LHB stands for left-handed blind, which means I literally drew with my left (non-dominant) and and my eyes closed. Painting is done with my eyes open, in this case still with my left hand. Here are more self-portraits drawn with my eyes closed.

The Next Day (Cycle of Life)

Trite but true: yesterday's glory is gone, but new buds will open soon.

Another Late Night in the Studio

Incredible Glory - But Just For One Day

I guess that's why they're called 'Day Lilies'...

Happy to be With My Big Sis (In Color)

Giacojulia

Artist of the month? Alberto Giacometti. This was based on his "Portrait of Madame Marguerite Maeght, 1961", which (gasp) does not seem to be available on the internet for me to link to.

Excavator Operator

I imagined that instead of Pacifc Gas & Electric waking us up at 7:30 AM all month, I was operating the equipment outside the home of the PG & E supervisor or whichever brilliant San Francisco governing board decided construction noise could start that early.

Return of the Handeze

Along with the tingling and pain, when my RSI flares up, it seems like circulation is poor in my arms, and my hands tend to get very cold. Handeze are fingerless gloves made of a stretchy nylon, designed specifically to keep your hands warm while typing. They do come in beige, but I prefer the black.

The View of Tomales Bay From Helen's House

Best Stocking Stuffer

Mini Paint Set! I wanted to try painting with just what was provided - the mini pans, the tiny brush, mixing in the lid. As it turns out, the paints seem OK but the brush is extremely difficult to work with. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow using a better brush... Poor little paint set is no longer so pristine, either.

Green Glasses

Last Day Feeding Minnie... Until Next Time

Yes, it is a self-portrait - that's my hand scratching Minnie's neck.

And here's to Mom... she's been in my thoughts all day on this, the 4th anniversary of her death.

The Whites of my Eyes (2)

The return of 'left hand blind'...

Yes, We Can! Yes, We Did!

Yes, we will continue...!

I Voted on This Historic Day!

And I sure hope that if you're an adult citizen of the USA, you voted, too! (I have four receipts because we have so many state and local initiatives, there are four pages of ballot to fill out!)

Another Day, Another Dirty Dish (Final)

Here's the original drawing from more than a year ago.

I Took a Look at the Muddy Brook

Except it was Sauaal Creek, of course.

With My Right Foot

I always like to try something new on my birthday - this time drawing with my foot (though I realized I was sometimes keeping my foot pretty still and simply moving the paper - with my hands!)

My Inner Librarian was Frazzled

I was frazzled because although Rawlston has been better about his music, he doesn't seem to have the general idea: don't make so much noise partying at 3 AM that you wake your neighbors. And last night he was at it again. *sigh*. We'll keep trying to work with him...

I Used to Have Big Hair

As for the rest - I think the last couple days shows that drawing with both hands together and eyes closed leads to some creepy self-portraits!

Miss Piggy

Mellow Day

Shucks, No Kiss...

There's no story to this title, it's just what the picture looked like to me.The cerulean blue is behaving better tonight, so it may be that the crystalized chalky stuff needs to be wet into a blob, and then allowed to dry, and then wet again to be used as paint, which is what has now been done to my sample. The first night I just wet the chalky stuff, waited a few minutes for it to dissolve, and tried to paint with it.

Send in the Clowns

Can I Save the Cerulean?

I'm finally going through all the old tubes of watercolors I've collected over the years, including many inherited from my mother, and seeing what I have and what condition it's in. The chemical data sheets for cerulean state that it ' tends to granulate or become chalky in watercolors' and indeed what's in the tube is not the usual sticky mass of dried paint but rather a crumbly powder. It is a fabulous color, and a tube runs about $12 so I'm trying to figure out if I can reconstitute it. I used it here for the 'sky' but it did not apply evenly nor in a proper watercolory manner.

Cap of Blue Hair

If Nothing Else is Cooking, There's Always Blind Contour

Right-handed this time...

Tennessee Valley Beach

My friend, painter Anne Longo, and I hiked through Tennessee Valley and sat on the beach painting. I can't remember the last time I tried to paint 'en plein air' but it was easier to deal with now that I've had so much more experience with watercolors. I put myself in at the far end of the cove in my red hat and pants but I decided to leave out the dead beached seal.

Black Dog, Green Garden, Red Pants

Marble in Color

Ocean Beach

Landscape is not my natural subject but it's always an inspiration. A week or so back printmaker Ruth Paesch and I bailed on waiting for the museum to regain power so we could see the Frida Kahlo show, and headed out to the beach instead.

Not Topical

Maybe tomorrow...

Big Plumbing Emergency

It's not just a metaphor - shoveling sh!t really is unpleasant!

Too Tired To Draw (But I did Anyway)

Not surprisingly, I'm still tired from being woken up periodically Wednesday night by our neighbor Rawlston Masaniai (Masaniani) of the San Francisco Seals, Unlike Rawlston, I don't get to sleep all day the next day.

Early Night Cap

I'm tired after a day with three meetings following a night of our neighbor Rawlston Masaniai (Masaniani) of the San Francisco Seals waking us up periodically with his booming loud party music. So I've got my night cap on early and I'm heading to bed - so far it's quiet over there tonight though one never knows when he's going to come home and crank up the volume.

Green Sweatshirt

Strangely, I no longer look like my eyes are quite so rolled up. I didn't fix those weird nostrils, though - they're still weird!

Rolling My Eyes to Heaven, Day 2

Worrying About My Friends

There's something High School angst-y about this, which seems appropriate to wondering about my High School friend Chris Lombardi's big move from NYC to Philly today.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I cut up an old landscape watercolor painting, planning to draw portraits on the back. However, I was drawn to the front and drew right over the old attempt at trees.

Noisy Neighbors

Worst Allergy Day Ever!

Wooden Duck

Grounded!

This is the 'Point Reyes', an old, abandoned fishing boat grounded on a grassy sandbar in Tomales Bay at Inverness. I'm not the only one to have photographed or painted this scene!

The Land is Large, and I am Tiny

I am in there... lower center, a compositional no-no!

Crocs on Carpet Sit

I need a good Seuss-ian rhyme... anyone? Click on comments to leave your suggestions...

Sadly, the carpets were rolled up and put into storage as it was The Alexander Educational Center's last day at beautiful St. John's. When class starts up again in the fall, we'll be at our new digs on 6th Street in Berkeley.

Last Day Of School (Before Summer Break)

Two months until my feet rest on this carpet again.

Bad Air

The smokey, hazy air from the distant wildfires has really been irritating my allergies.Therefore, I opted for full protection when it came time to mow the lawn - and I actually did breathe better inside that thing than I had in days. :Look, Ma, no sneeze!

Mmmmm, Soon We'll Have Pumpkin Bread!

The Backlit Morning was Beautiful at Sausal Creek, But I Didn't Think I'd be Able to do it Justice

Thank-you to Tom & Linda for introducing me to this oasis in Oakland; it makes a real difference in my life to be able to come here, even if it's not as often as I'd like. I arrive tired and cranky; I leave refreshed.

I Wasn't Eating All of the Library's Chocolates While Working Late; It Was The Goddess: She Insisted!

This one's for Marlene and Brenda, by whose grace the goddess currently has a home at the library at work. We both thank you for the chocolate!

Waiting for Dr. Dentnor

More Fun in the Law Library Locker Room

Horrors, Was it High School All Over Again?

The Other Half a Smile & The Sum of the Parts

Half A Smile

Still Tired in the Morning

Too Tired to Proceed in the Usual Fashion

Hallucinatory Hallways

Arrival at West Coast Airport (Take 2 - Almost Literal)