Art At Last

Even though we have not been on the road for the last two months, we have been moving along through the days, some of them in a blur of activity. Some of the highlights have been taking the open studio tour of artists in Hidden Hills with our friends Rose and Mike. We all picked studios we wanted to visit and managed to see paintings, sculpture, metalwork, photography, and more. All of the homes are in desert settings and it was fun to see some of the outdoor garden art in various locations. We had lunch at the golf club and it was delicious. All in all, a great day.

Also we have been painting almost every morning and some creative juices are flowing again finally. To the left is a painting that Allan is working on. The photo is a scene from Trinidad, CA taken this last summer. I have been working on several and have even taken out some old paintings that needed reworking. We are trying to get several paintings finished to have some entries for the Winter Pastel Art Show.

The painting to the right is Cypress Gardens in South Carolina and is being reworked now that I know a little more about values. Also I finally finished my Tea Towel Challenge painting for the January meeting and I am starting on two new paintings as is Allan. Sometimes it is hard to tear yourself away and hours go by before you know it.

In addition to everything else that we are doing, we have also been trying to establish new Doctors for our yearly checkups and prescriptions, which means new blood tests (ouch) and adjusting to new routines. Good thing we made the time, as both of us had diminished kidney function which meant (for us) that we were both dehydrated so we are now drinking half our body weight in ounces of water. And since our new doctor adjusted my thyroid meds, I am feeling more energized. So good news all around.

Here in Rancho Mirage, everyone is decorating the outside of their homes with Christmas decorations and there is a contest on to see who has the best show. Well of course we had zero decorations but since all of the neighbors were putting something up, we headed off to get some of our own. Gotta keep up with the Joneses. So this last photo is of the front of our house now that we are ready for Santa.