Art Along I-35

The very first time we came to Rockport, Texas was a very hot July and we were in time for the Rockport Art Festival, which is a juried exhibition of original art, by many local and not so local artists.  This year, ten years later, we again were in Rockport in time for the art festival but this time we volunteered to help.  We ended up manning the cold drink booth and it was a lot of fun.  

We had a big surprise while walking through the booths, to see Anna Lisa Leal, who had exhibited in our first Arizona Pastel Artist's national show.  Anna Lisa knew who we were right away and had already been having a great day with 5 sales so far.  (top photo).  Another pastel artist was Mark Schultz who painted large coastal scenes with lots of empty space but with exceptional beauty.  

The third pastel artist, James Offeman, had been painting BIRDS IN PASTEL for over 30 years and had done much of his work for Audubon.  His work was also large but very sensitive portraits of many kinds of birds.  He was almost sold out of his paintings by the end of the first day.  What you see behind him was all he had left.  

On one of our last days in Rockport, we drove over to Corpus Christi to see the Art Museum.  They were having a retrospective of Robert Julian Onderdonk's paintings.  Onderdonk is considered to be the greatest painter from Texas... an impressionist around the turn of the century, trained in the east, but painted around San Antonio for the remainder of his short life.

Also there was a traveling portrait exhibition that had been juried by the Smithsonian and had some very interesting interpretations of people from around the country.   The museum is small and is located in a beautiful spot right on the gulf where you can sit out on a patio and eat lunch while watching the boats come and go.  But the area surrounding the museum is a downtown in serious need of renewal... with weedy vacant lots and shabby buildings.  I am afraid that Corpus Christi has not improved since the last time we saw it.

Leaving Rockport, we headed up to San Antonio where we first visited the San Antonio Museum of Art which turned out to be in the process of remodeling and upgrading over half of the buildings, which did not stop them from charging us full price for only half of the galleries.  One artist who was represented was Diego Rivera and this painting to the right was done by him when he was 18 and was submitting a work to get a 2 year scholarship to Europe.  Another student got the award and Rivera had to wait until 2 years later before he then received the award.

We also visited the McNay Museum of Art, which is the former home of Marion McNay.  Her home had many examples of Impressionists and Post Impressionists, including several Picasso's.  She had 4 husbands but the museum is named after husband number one, who was the love of her life, and who died young.  This is an exceptional museum and includes a small theatre where they give free concerts on Sundays.  We were there in time to hear a jazz trio.  

Further north on I-35, we stopped in Fort Worth to see the art museum which was hosting the Phillips Collection of Impressionist art from D.C.  We had already seen many of these paintings while in Washington and it was like seeing old friends again.  We were not allowed to take photos of the individual paintings.  

Traveling still further north to Oklahoma City, we went to their museum of art and found the Kehinde Wiley exhibition which we had not had a chance to see while in Phoenix.  

They also had an exhibition of Dale Chihuly Glass works which included the usual lighted ceiling, boats filled with glass balls of many sizes, glass forests, and sculptures of glass.  This is just one of many beautiful pieces that we saw.   We also had a wonderful lunch in their cafe which was right on the main square of government and office buildings, so they were very busy.  Our sandwiches were really good, but the flourless chocolate dessert was awesome.  
Here in Oklahoma City, we turned to the West and headed for Santa Fe where we hoped to have cooler weather.  Up to this point, the heat was intense every day.  

We chose to stay a little north of Santa Fe and finally some cool evenings and fresh breezes.  We returned from the grocery store on the very first day to find blood all over the white leather of the passengers seat.  Murray had somehow pulled out a toenail from his back foot and was trying to stop the bleeding by licking the blood away.  We got him stabilized and the seat cleaned up, but never did figure out how he managed to get injured.  

Now for all of you who like to see and hear about what we eat while on the road, I have to say that one of the best meals that we have had was in the shopping plaza near Trader Joes in San Antonio.  It was called Tarka and was similar in style to Pei Wei, where you read the menu along the wall and then say which sauce, which meat, and so on.  Turns out this is a small chain here in Texas... wish they would come to Arizona.    Absolutely some of the best Indian food we have had in a long while.  Chicken Korma below, Aloo Gobi at 11 o'clock, Garlic Naan at the top, and Chicken Tikka Masala at 2 o'clock.  Mango Lassi Lemonade to drink.  And Samosa's to start.   YUM.

BACK HOME AND BUSY....

We arrived home in Arizona just in time to get ready for our Fall Show in the Scottsdale Artists School.  Allan got two paintings accepted....

Little Yachts

Mt. Shuksan

I also got two paintings juried into the show....

Eucalyptus Morning

Blue Iris

And I also found out that two of my paintings were juried into the New Mexico Pastel Society's National Show in Albuquerque.  Luckily I did not need to ship the paintings because another of our members also got two paintings into the show and she volunteered to take them all there, if we would then pick them up at the end of the show.  So we will be going to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving.  Then later on I found out that Cypress Gardens received an award. 

Lembert Dome

Cypress Gardens

These two paintings have been in several shows now....  As a matter of fact, we just picked up Lembert Dome from the Northwest Pastel Society International Show in Tacoma this summer.  
And just this week, I heard that I had a painting juried into the Best and Brightest Show in Scottsdale.  This painting has also been making the rounds.....

The Palms

Since we have returned home, I have been trying to start painting again..... it is always hard to do a proper studio painting when on the road and my plein air paintings leave a lot to be desired.  I now consider them to be nothing more than color studies, but even that is being generous.

However.... I did finish a painting that I started in the Spring.  It was from a photo that I took in Tecopa, CA while we were staying at Tecopa Hot Springs.  We always get up very early to go soak... and I took this photo as the sun was just coming up.

Tecopa Sunrise

Also I finished a painting that I had started in Yellowstone National Park....  no bison in this one, but I think I am going to try a bison painting this winter.

Yellowstone Evening

And I also finished another painting that was from a photo taken at dusk in Tecopa.  Tecopa is such a photogenic place in the morning or in the evening.  During the day... it just looks dry and washed out.  

Sunset in Tecopa

So I have been pretty busy with helping with the pastel show and also helping to set up a new web site for our pastel group.... check it out at Arizona Pastel Artists Assn.   And our show chair and I have been working on the upcoming spring show in Sedona which is going to be open to all pastel artists in Arizona.  This is a new step for our group and everyone is pretty excited about it.  Allan and I will be taking the rv up to Cottonwood next week where we will be meeting with eight members who live up in that area and have volunteered to help with the Sedona Show.  
Unfortunately for Allan, he has had quite a few home projects he has been working on ..... so not so many new paintings for him, but he is almost ready to get back to the easel.  
And some of the most exciting news of all.... we read the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories".... which is a compilation of all the research done over the last 100 years on fat.... and what causes it.  It is without a doubt a process driven by eating carbohydrates, specifically sugar and floury starches.  So in the middle of September, we both stopped eating anything that falls in those categories, i.e. no pasta, bread, potatoes, soda, rice, flour, etc.  We eat meat, dairy, vegetables (including those like carrots), fruits (but no bananas).  Allan has dropped from 185 to 174.... and I have dropped from 180 to 164.  Both of us have more energy, we feel more alert, we feel 20 years younger, well ok, maybe 5 years younger.  And we don't feel like we are missing a thing.  We eat dark chocolate, we have strawberries and cream for dessert at night, we are creating some fabulous salads and sides.  And we just had a medical checkup and all of our numbers are way down.  My cholesterol dropped from 176 to 123.  And our blood test was taken when we had only been on the diet for 3 weeks.  And in spite of eating all kinds of saturated fats from meat and butter and cream, our HDL numbers are up and the LDL numbers are down. 
So Life Is Good as the T-shirts say.....   
I will keep you all posted..... and thanks for reading about our achievements.  Have a great Thanksgiving.   

SEDONA TO LAS VEGAS

CYPRESS GARDENS

Our trip from home to Sedona last Sunday did not start off well, as we got distracted with something and then forgot to take the last items out of the fridge and left all of the oils and vinegars on the sink counter.  So our first day in Sedona was purchasing all new olive oils, balsamic, A-1, cholula, sesame oil, etc at Whole Foods and Bashas..... and calling Carolyn, our next door neighbor to see if she could clean out the perishables in our fridge so we would not have to come home to "the fridge that was eaten by monster bacteria".   [Thank you very much Carolyn].
But we had a good day on Tuesday, show sitting at our annual APAA Spring Pastel Show.  Linda, a pastel nature artist in the show came by early to sit and chat with us, then Peggy and Gary showed up, and then Kendra came early also.  It was fun to have some time to just sit and talk with everyone.  And while we were talking,  a man came in to show his wife a painting that he really liked and wanted to purchase.  She was fine with that... so our final sale made a total of eight paintings sold for the show.   Then on Wednesday, while we were on the road to Las Vegas.... I got an email from Laura (and also a phone call from Peggy) to say that my painting "Cypress Gardens"  (see above) had gotten the Peoples Choice Award.   That almost made me happier than getting the Honorable Mention from the judge for my "Tehachapi Sunrise" painting. 

The Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas is always our go to place to stay when we are on the road from home to the northwest.  Yes, it is a little more money, but the pool and hot tub can't be beat and there are all sorts of stores, restaurants, and sights within a range of 1/2 hour or less. 

 We had never been down to Fremont Street for the Light Show.  And many people had told us to check it out... so this time we made sure that we got down there... well no wonder everyone said to check it out, it is like a lewd extravaganza of flashing lights, flashing skin, and throbbing sound.  The sights range from the ridiculous to the absurd. 

There were girls showing their attributes and there were men showing their own attributes.  All those displaying attributes wanted money.  Hands out when they noticed you were taking a photo, and who wasn't taking a photo.  There were two Muslim ladies taking photos too, I'll bet they will have some great stories when they get home.  

RED ROCK CANYON 

Today we got up at 5 a.m. to head over to Red Rock Canyon.  In spite of the fact that we have been here in LV almost yearly, we had never taken the time to visit this scenic area.  We got some great photos which I am already anxious to turn into paintings.  The yellow rock formation that you see in the photo is actually a very old hardened sand dune.  It was an interesting area with many blooming desert plants on a one-way driving loop.  We are looking forward to coming here again .... however I can't say the same for Fremont Street.

HEADING NORTH

Tehachapi Sunrise

This year we are heading North and this week is the final countdown before we leave on Sunday for Sedona, our first stop on a five month trip.
We will be in Sedona for 3 days to showsit at our annual Spring Show at the Sedona Art Center.  

This year Allan got 3 paintings in the show and I got all four with one of my paintings  (above) getting an honorable mention.  The painting is Tehachapi Sunrise and it is a place we stay frequently in the rv as we travel from Barstow over the Tehachapi Summit to Bakersfield.  From Sedona we will be in Las Vegas for a few days and then we are spending a week in Bishop where we intend to explore the southeastern side of the sierras.  Then on to Brookings, Oregon for two whole weeks at the beach.

 We will then go up to Portland for a week and then to Gig Harbor for a week while we check out the International Open Juried Show of the Northwest Pastel Society.  This year I have one painting juried into that show and we purchased an airfloat box to ship it up to Tecoma, Washington.  The show will run until June 23rd so we will be there to pick up my painting at the end of the show.  

We will be going back to the gardens at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.  Check out Allan's painting of a photo we took on a previous visit......     After that we will be staying in Anacortes for about 10 days before we travel up to Vancouver where we intend to visit some favorite places we have been in past visits and also to check out some new places.  We will come back to the US to head east to Coeur d'Alene and then North to Radium Hot Springs which is located on the western side of the Rockies about an hour from Banff.  This is the furthest north we will go and on our return we will travel down through Glacier NP, a place we have never been.... Yellowstone NP, a favorite place..... Grand Tetons... a new spot for us... and we will finish up at the Plein Air Festival in the Grand Canyon.

 So this week is packing and more packing.... and also finishing up a painting I have been working on for the last week or so.  It is pretty close to done.  The painting is from a photo of Convict Lake, which is extremely picturesque... I just hope I have done it justice.

Buzzing Around

Eel River Farm

We are back on the road again after a very hectic week with an africanized bee swarm that established residency in one of our trees.  The hive that they made was longer than my arm and about as thick as a toaster.  There wasn't much honey which is how the bee men knew they were africanized.  They apparently remove about seven hives a day in the spring and several a day in the fall.  But for us it involved a lot of clean up and pruning as they tried to reform even after the hive was removed and the bee people had to return and give them a second shot.  The worst part was that our dog Elsie got several bee stings and now is afraid to go into the backyard.  No photos, sorry.... we just could not get close enough to take a photo.  

Canadian Goose

While all of this was going on, I was getting some paintings prepared to enter the 6" Squared show in Costa Mesa.  I submitted four and was happy to hear that two of the paintings had been juried into the show.  So I got those ready and sent them off the day before we left for Lake Havasu.  We are headed towards Morro Bay where we will pick up my paintings from the PSWC Show.  

Havasu Falls RV Park

We usually stop off in Needles as our halfway point but it is such a desolate hole with the highest fuel prices in California, so this time we decided to try out a park in Lake Havasu, Arizona.  We stayed at Havasu Falls RV and it was mainly cement pads but it did have pull thrus which are perfect for an overnight stay.  

Mountain Valley RV Park, Tehachapi

Yesterday we drove on to Tehachapi where we will stay for three nights.  The rv park is situated right next to the glider airport and from our back window we can watch them take off and land.  The hills are golden brown now and the trees are turning up here on the mountain where the nights are down in the low 40's already.   Tomorrow we make the long drive to Morro Bay to pick up the paintings.  We are just taking the truck and making it an all day trip.  Then on to Tecopa Hot Springs where we hope to stay about a week soaking and relaxing (and maybe plein air painting).  

SHOW TO SHOW

Dotty Hawthorne Studio

It seems longer than a week ago when we were in San Luis Obispo County sitting by the seashore and breathing in clean ocean air.  But a week ago last Saturday we were traveling through out the SLO county visiting artist's studios for their yearly studio tour.  Whenever we go on some kind of tour like this, we always manage to visit areas that we would never go to ordinarily and it is a special bonus to be able to see another artist's work space, especially when they are pastel artists.   Our favorite painting studio that we visited was the home of pastel artist Dotty Hawthorne, who also had a couple of paintings in the West Coast Pastel Society Show in Morro Bay.  She was superb at capturing the quintessential California landscape with many of her paintings showing golden hills and California Oaks.  www.dottyhawthorne.com   

The Palms

We also stopped by the Morro Bay Art Center and Gallery a couple of times to study the other entries in the show and made some notes on different artists styles and techniques which we followed up back home at the computer by going to each of their websites.  It was a definite thrill to be a part of a national show.  And, as it turned out, we were not able to attend the reception.  Saturday night we went out to eat at what seemed to be a very expensive fish restaurant and I had a prawn cocktail which came back to haunt me in the night and all the next day, which was the day of the reception.

Doug Dawson speaking to the APAA Reception

 On Monday morning we headed off in the rv, arriving in Tehachapi for the evening, then on Tuesday we made it as far as Needles, arriving home on Wednesday afternoon.  We spent the rest of that day and some of Thursday unpacking the rv and returning it to storage.  Then I framed five paintings for Drop Off  at the Scottsdale Artists School to be in our Arizona Pastel Artists Assn Fall Show on Friday.  We also stayed on Friday to help hang the show and then went shopping for wine and water for the reception.  Saturday was the reception which was fabulous.

Lembert Dome Honorable Mention

 What a turnout and Doug Dawson spoke at length about what makes a good painting, how paintings are juried, and then he elaborated on each painting that won an award.  I was completely surprised to find out that one of my paintings had won an Honorable Mention as there were so many really outstanding paintings in the show.  Dawson said that what he really liked about my painting was my handling of the edges, especially around the clouds, the pine tree needles on the left of the painting, and the grasses in the foreground.    But as Carsten so eloquently said "just keep painting".  So back to work, except it can't be work when it is so enjoyable.  

DROP OFF DAY AT THE MORRO BAY ART GALLERY

Last Saturday, Allan and I drove over to Morro Bay to drop off my paintings at the Morro Bay Art Gallery.  It was similar to dropping off paintings at our own shows, with artists coming in and checking their names off, setting out the paintings along the walls and saying hi to old friends.  We didn't have any old friends, as this was a new venture for me, but we were happy to meet Jerry, the show chair and he chatted with us for quite a while and made us feel welcome.  One thing that was different at the drop off, was that a numbered sticker was placed over the signature on the painting so that when the judge came by on the following day, they would not be able to see who painted any of the paintings.  But I am pretty darn sure that the painting next to mine was a Terry Ford, with her characteristic deeper, darker, and richer colors.  We will see tomorrow when the gallery opens the show to the public.  We did notice that every single one of the paintings was great.  It did not matter whether they were portraits, landscape, or still life.... each one was beautifully executed.  If you are in the area, the reception is on October 12th.  

On Tuesday, we headed up to Paso Robles to purchase Italian Sparkling Grape Juice for myself and also for our own show reception at the Scottsdale Artists School on October 18th.  I would have loved to purchase the wine there also, but it is a little out of our budget.  
Last night, we headed into San Luis Obispo to the downtown evening farmers market and it was well worth the visit.  There were no arts and crafts at all, just produce and food stalls, but it covered about four blocks and there were plenty of folks out for the event.  

Almost immediately, Allan spotted a pasty stall and his Australian heritage called out to him.  He got a steak and rutabaga pasty, I got one with chicken pie ingredients.  Both were delicious.  
At the produce stalls, we purchased bunches of tiny carrots, beets, beautiful Spanish onions, a whole box of shallots for two dollars, tomatoes, pluots, strawberries, blackberries, assorted lettuces, garnet yams, and a cucumber.  

We walked back along the street, listening to all of the various street musicians, ranging from a Scotsman playing some sort of long necked fiddle to a classical violinist to the usual folk guitar and finally a teenage boys rock and roll band (which was quite good with sounds of the 70's filling the night).   At the other end of the market were all the food stalls and there must have been at least ten different rib stalls, with the vendors doing everything they could to attract the customers to their own ribs.   It was definitely a fun evening and we came home with plenty of produce for the week to come.

BACK IN THE HEAT!

We are home.  

Last night in Indio, California, I got some emails from the Pastel Society of the West Coast.  TWO OF MY PAINTINGS HAD MADE IT INTO THEIR SHOW.... PASTELS USA 28th Annual International Open Exhibition 2014.  I am over the moon.  
Allan and I will be staying in Grover Beach for the length of the entire show so that we can hand deliver/pick up both paintings and be there for the reception.  

Therefore.... we jumped in the truck at 6 a.m. this morning to return home.  There is a lot to do, including getting the paintings framed and also preparing for our own APAA show which is coming up in October as well.  

MALIBU AND LACMA

We are now staying in Malibu at the Malibu Beach RV Park which is very expensive but right across the street from the ocean.  We can see why it is so expensive as everything in Malibu is costly from the gasoline to the groceries and of course eating out is a bit pricey too.  But we had decided early on that this last week was to be our treat and so here we are, and having a good time too.  

We are parked up on a bluff and our neighbors are mostly foreign in rented RVs.  As a matter of fact, almost everywhere we have been on this trip, we have been surrounded by foreign visitors in RVs.    When you are an artist, you are always prepared for the beach.  Notice Allan sitting underneath the plein air umbrellas.  This photo is taken right across the street from where we are staying.  

Because it was a week day, we had the beach to ourselves for a couple of hours but the drawback was there were no dogs allowed on any L.A County Beach.  So we had to drive north about 10 miles to cross the county line into Ventura County to take the dogs on another day.  Elsie especially loves the beach and she dug a huge hole in the sand, heading for China and then got down into the hole and laid on her back with her legs sticking up.  By the time Allan got the camera out and stood up to get her photo, she was out of her hole and ready for a walk.

On Saturday we went to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) to their special exhibition of EXPRESSIONISM:  VAN GOGH TO KADINSKY.

Restaurant of the Siren at Asnieres, 1887    Vincent Van Gogh

 It was exceptional, and we did not think that any exhibit would top the Norton Simon museum, but we were wrong.  There were 70 paintings and almost as many prints or sketches.  They had been borrowed from museums around the world and also from private collections.  Some of the paintings we were allowed to photograph and others not.  It was held in the Kessler Hall which was huge and arranged by art movements, beginning with Van Gogh, then into the post impressionists such as Gaugin, then into the Fauvists...like Matisse, and so on until we reached cubism.  

The House of Pan-Du, 1890    Paul Gauguin

There were many paintings by German artists, many of whom we had never heard of and the exhibition was arranged to show the effects of post impressionism upon the art of Germany at that time. 
There were many artists who were trying to find an alternative to impressionism with its emphasis on accidental natural impressions of light.

Paul Signac - Color Lithograph of the Chromatic Circle  1888

 Neo Impressionism was a next step which is based on the scientific theory of juxtaposing separate dots or patches of colors to the paintings surface, usually following the new chromatic theory of allowing the viewers eye to mix the colors.   Charles Henry created a chromatic circle in 1888 to explain his theory and Paul Signac did a color lithograph using the chromatic circle as his inspiration.  
Although Van Gogh was dead for 15 years when his paintings were in a show in Germany, his vivacious brushstrokes were instrumental in sending the German artists in search of a new way to express their art.  

Henri Matisse, Studio Interior, 1904

They also found it in Matisse, who was quoted in an essay called "Notes of a Painter", that "What I am after, above all, is expression".  Matisse was considered to be a Fauvist, mainly because his new way of painting was considered "wild" at the time.  Although Impressionism was esteemed because it had liberated art from the Academy, the Fauves wanted to create pictures that reflected their own emotions not just to break up objects in light.  They wanted to free themselves of common conventions of color and form.  They wanted to EXPRESS something, not just depict something.  Hence the word, Expressionism.  

Murvau, Burggrabenstrasse 1, 1908    Wassily Kadinsky

Flat or highly simplified forms and symbolic colors were appealing to the German artists who did not take naturally to the inspirational daubing of light, but were more mathematical in mindset and could use expressionism to arrange flat spaces and forms.  Wassily Kadinsky was one artist who took naturally to the new direction and spent several summers in Murvau village where he underwent the evolution towards abstraction with more flattened forms.

Still Life with Apples, 1894   Paul Cezanne

And, of course, Paul Cezanne was well represented with many paintings in this exhibition as he had begun experimenting with abstraction in the early 1890's.  He was painting still lifes from different angles and experimenting with vision, by setting up curves and countercurves which can be seen in this painting of the green jar with the opening enlarged.  This greatly appealed to the Expressionists and also the Cubists later on. 
Although we have been reading about art for years and knowing the artists we favored, it was a real revelation to see this exhibit which closely examines the transition from Impressionism to Cubism.  As I said earlier, it was exceptional.  Many of the paintings that I would have liked to photograph for you to see here in the blog, had the No Photograph Symbol next to the painting.  But if you are interested in seeing all of the paintings in the exhibit and cannot get to Los Angeles, they have printed a book of the exhibition called Expressionism in Germany and France.   This book has colorplates of all the paintings and prints in the exhibit, plus other smaller color plates which are used as examples of their thesis.