more fruits of my nightly labor! i am so so so so so so so to-the-hundredth-power glad that i started making small pictures in my small sketchbook. i am 3/4 of the way back on the saddle. it’s very relaxing to sit at my work bench on my old vinyl stool, that used to be a chair, and roll my brush around in the thick pats of gouache.
i’m watching less vanlife/rvlife videos on youtube and spending less time over on redfin looking for houses in faraway locales.
could it be some of my wanderlust is dissipating? nah, i wouldn’t go that far. but i will take this moment to insert the most banal of descriptions right here… to say, i am having f-u-n.
so far i’m just painting whatever is on my desk, but today i went for a neighborhood walk and collected this small piece of pyracantha to bring home in my pocket to paint.
now you know what these previously unrelated photos are doing in this post. now you know the rest of the story.
i thought i had a neighborhood walking category here on DFLA, but apparently i do not. it’s just called LA STORIES. seems i haven’t posted to that category in a while.
there used to be a public stairway that led from a hill behind my house down to a street on the other side of the hill. now there’s a pretty door blocking access to the stairs. they’ve been closed and abandoned for at least 15 years. i took this pic from the bottom of the stairs on the other street.
since i’m relatively close to the arroyo there’s lots of river rock used in old walls around here.
quiet morning. the sun was warm, but the air was cool. perfect conditions for a ramble.
if you’re up to something good i’m pretty sure you’ll tell me won’t you?
i’m going to crack open my jumbo sized sketchbook. paint some cats or somethin’.
over and out from moss cottage where all the women are smart, the cats are good lookin’, and the ideas are above average. been awhile since i closed a post with that one!
Lovely to see glimpses of your neighbourhood Mary Ann, What is it about those tiny house, vanlife images and you tubes? They suck me in too. Your gouache studies have inspired me this morning, I think I need to cut up some nice paper into small pieces and play with gouache in it’s thick creamy format. I’ve been using it a bit thin on thin paper later which is ok, but not as delicious!
hello emily,
nice to hear from you. enjoy making your little paintings!
One of the things about living with true winter is that we go through a period, every single year, when the number of interesting things to look at in the outside environment drops precipitously. Every single year my interest in taking pics also drops, in concert with the death/dormancy of all the plants outside.
One of the good things about this huge seasonal shift is it’s easier to observe the yearly rhythm of my lack of interest, and easier to associate my lack of interest with “all the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray”…………. Having been through this so many times (and so many times since I realized what was happening), I know that for me it’s not “missing mojo,” but missing inspiration.
I didn’t mention this before (as you said you didn’t want to hear it 🙂 ) but maybe it’s ok now? I hope so.
For me — if I get out and go somewhere I haven’t been in a while (or have never been), I suddenly find I *am* interesting in taking pics again.
I don’t WANT to get out and go, but if I do, I am refreshed, at least for a while……. (Thank goodness for the conservatory at the botanical garden — green, and flowers, any time of year.)
So glad you are enjoying your rambles, and — WOW — your paintings!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love them all, and esp the pyracantha……………………….. So nice.
i imagine the benefit of your winter is the wonder of spring!
it’s nice here too, but not as dramatic.
Did you say river rock? I want a whole house of that stuff! A stone cottage. Overlooking the beach!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful little gouache studies. Always a delight!
I actually managed a whole, albeit kinda small watercolor landscape of a dramatic sky. And I actually liked it. Except I realized I might need some lessons in composition. You know…to draw the eye in and places for the eye to rest and all that stuff. But for a person who doesn’t know what the heck I am doing it turned out okay🤓
stone cottage? by the water? sounds like heaven
Looks like it was a beautiful day for a walk in your charming neighborhood. My husband and I went for a walk today, at a local park. It was 46 degrees and sunny, but windy. Felt nice. Later, He worked on his new puzzle and I did a little painting. Last night we were at the Fox Theatre in Detroit with our grandson and his parents to see Sesame Street. It was really loud and intense and thank goodness it only lasted a little over an hour. I was happy I see downtown Detroit very busy. There were some newer clothing stores, coffee shops and restaurants. And quite a bit of activity going on down there when just 8 years ago it would have been pretty desolate.
right on detroit!
46 and sunny…mmmm i like that kind of weather – like on the mendocino coast. brisk!
This has gotten my day off to a very good start! So glad you’re back to painting in the little sketchbook. Waving hello from a smoggy Bangkok!
Such nice little sketches. Be sure to show us what you do in the jumbo sketchbook, please. 🙂
if that idea moves from my mind to the actual sketchbook I WILL SHOW!
I’m also so glad you’re making little pictures in your little sketchbook. I especially love the one of the gouache tube. It’s radiant! And I’d very much like to ramble around your neighborhood. If you were with me, you’d have to leave me lag behind because I’d be holding up the works taking photos. But that’s what I do, and you probably wouldn’t mind. The Ebenezer one looks like a 1950s Polaroid. Love it!
while i walk i think, ‘can i hear traffic?’ ‘can i still hear traffic?’ ‘i can’t hear traffic!’ that’s when i feel happy. but i am going to make myself relearn to love living in a city.
i guess.
Your little Gouaches are very good, especially when you have been away from them for a while.
Tomorrow is a day for a trip to daughter’s house for her birthday-the cake awaits icing even now – but if this weather holds Monday will be a rambling day.
why thank you mizzzus berk! enjoy that pawty. and the icing.
LoveLoveLove the little gouache studies! 🙂
hi judith!
That is a good close , and so very true, I’m sure.
I am in the bread making mood in this cottage , since you asked.
ha ha ha ha ha i just realized it’s supposed to be “where all the women are strong,” not smart. but i haven’t used in awhile. so i forgot. hee!
warm bread in a cottage. i can see the smoke rising from your chimney.
Oh! I love your end statement!! May I adapt it for closing my mailart gouache postcards to my family? It has flair🤓 I’m pleased to read things are better-and your neighborhhod looks lovely!
I wish there was a place to give you a thumbs up for your posts. I enjoy them so much, such a breath of fresh air when we need it most. So much inspiration and positivity! Donna A Canadian reader
oh donna thanks for stopping by to read and leaving me a little note.