GONE DIGITAL! I have a six - eight full time week work engagement...will continue to work on this (almost finished, actually) but won't get a lot of time to explore these days..Started as I do with the traditional paints, with warms and cools within the shadow shapes. Taking everything I learned about color from my acrylic exercises, from Sean Cheatham's color class, Ron Velasque's support, to digital.

What the heck is it? This is the glass lens that belongs to the old lighthouse I drew down below. In fact, I could not get a good shot of that tower, so sometimes it's just best to sketch it. But I loved the design of the enormous lens which looked like an art deco beehive; made from pieces of glass that just are not made that way anymore. I did not take this shot.

On the way back from the coast, yours truly forgot her drawing sketchbook (left on the scanner!) so I had to use my small one that I carry in my backpack. These are thumbnails specifically targeting shadow shapes in landscape. By studying these, it will set me up for really nice plein aire paintings in the future. Got my eye on the shadow shapes, the silohuettes and abstract composition. I have been such a stickler for form, but this year will have my eye on laying down the abstract shapes, colors first, then adding in the form~should have been working this way from the beginning~Doh!

Ok...one for the road...these were made mostly while WAITING AND WAITING on the phone to try to find out where my direct deposit checks went to (which, by the way, despite all the time spent on the phone, WAS NOT RESOLVED). To break a creative block or slump, I do these exercises to keep the mind open and active. Now~ on my way to Berkeley for my Dad's Memorial!

Hello. This has been the longest time I have not posted..ever. My apologies...There has been a reason...I have filed for a divorce after 12 years of marriage. So I've been packing and moving stuff out, hunting down all the companies I owe payments to, to switch to my name only and let them know where the new bank account is; which has taken hours and hours and hours as I wait on hold for each dept., (I'll post some of the pencil sketches later), and at the same time was blessedly given a deluge of freelance which has ended. So, between handling all the financial changes, the scary workload and fighting late into the night, I took this afternoon off to go back home~to the place that has not been turned upside down~the mighty creativity that I have stayed with, fought for and which gives me some of my super powers back~my paints. Not my best; I had actually started this one before all this happened and lost my footing somewhat; but there are some nice moments here. This may be one of the last in this series, as I've been giving it a lot of thought since this earthquake and have my eye on digital painting and also bringing what I have been studying to canvas. So, thanks for your patience; I will post when I can since the storm is not yet over.