Late August in Los Angeles and a windy promise of a real honest-to-goodness thunderstorm. The sky darkened, clouds rolled in from the west, a gust of wind blew open the french windows in my art room! I almost screamed in delight and clapped my hands together. Almost. Oh LA, I’m wise to your climate tricks, there’s no fooling me. You don’t deliver soaking wet late summer days, do you? But those lovely clouds did persuade a few teaspoonfuls of water to dribble down.
Even my trusty steed looked out the window and prayed for rain. The cat posse all stood in the front yard with their paws firmly planted on the ground and stuck their tongues out to catch a few drops.
In between dreams of summer showers I started a new book and worked in my visual journal.
When the sun dipped behind the wall of trees, we lay down and the white night swallowed us.
No I’m not reciting poetry again, that’s the first line of my new book Astrid & Veronika. I can’t take a proper nap without reading first. I deeply regret my recommendation of The Swallows of Kabul and I urge you not to read it if you are a sensitive type. If you’re teetering on the edge of depression heed my warning. It really is Very Dark. I couldn’t stop reading it, but I didn’t enjoy it one bit. If you’re a callous brute like me it will make you want to find the main character and sock him in the jaw.
My sister recommended Astrid & Veronika and she is extremely sensitive and cries at the drop of a hat. I think she would have mentioned if she had felt morose while reading it. So far I’m enjoying it very much.
You don’t know Vynnie do you? I do because he and his cute wife, Robin send me fabulous mailart. He is in this month’s Popular Mechanic. How cool is that? An artist AND a master gardener. I’m pretty sure the sight of my wild, overgrown perrenials would wipe the smile right off that sweet face of his.
Let’s go see what the dear and delightful JUDY is up to in her lush Oregon studio. Oh look she’s making stencils. I love the way she underpainted then stenciled. I’m going to try that.
I so love your journal pages 🙂
16″ defecit here in our temperate rain forest in the mountains of West Virginia.
Barry
http://www.sunfarm.com
Doing the rain dance here too. I live just up the road from Stephanie, companion of Maxine. We’re having coffee next month if we can manage to wait.
By the way, I usually have a hard time loving graphic novels, but FUN HOME by Alison Bechdel is a different story. In every way.
Sending you Colorado Love….
Lisa
Hey, I bought that book at Costco, I liked the cover, I haven;t started reading it yet.
I just finished The Road, by Cormac Mccarthy. It was very sad but I could not stop reading it either.
If you want some rain, I’ll send you some. We have a-plenty and it’s getting mighty annoying. I think a flood’s comin’, better go out and build my ark.
I’m diggin’ the stencil work in that first picture. The shapes are too cool and who can’t appreciate some sequins? Bravo, dahling.
We too have had little rain, BUT, last week at midnight…wow! lightening, THUNDEROUS thunder, pounding rain….it was wonderful!
Our bedroom is up in the trees, open windows, felt like I was right in it!
Thank you for visiting (AND leading other fun folks to) Maxine. This is SO much FUN!!
I loved Astrid & Veronika so much. So much that I bought my own copy (gasp!) so that I could mark it up and read it again and again. I read it slowly, slowly, slowly because I couldn’t bear for it to end. I think you’ll love it too.
My first thought when I read the title of your entry today was that you’d inhaled too much back spray from stencilling to imagine rain in LA in August. But like you mentioned we did get a faint misting after all.
Joy and happiness; a new post from the muse. New links to follow (and float away on) and new subjects to dream about. Like Italy, sequins-on-the-stencil art, writing on the shirt part, the crown and halo on top of the curly cues, the desert smell of a thunderstorm. You’ll never know how I miss that smell. And then the dreamy dream about the horse and the book recommends. Ahhhhh…. don’t ever stop.
Really like Sister Roma and her crown.