It’s a late summer evening in September and it’s time at last for a monthly postcard.
On this day In 1989 when I was a little 26-year-old, I climbed into my old chariot, rolled across the great plains of Kansas, and headed west to California. It took me 3 days to make the journey. I searched the archives of this blog and found an entry from 2009 where I wrote about arriving. I was born in California. Solano county 1963 – Travis Air Force base. So in a way, I was returning home.
Flash forward to 2022 and I’m nearly 60, sitting out on the porch of my 96 year-old cottage. The evening air is balmy. Overhead, layers of clouds have knit themselves into bands of soft pastels. If you were here, you would see honeyed light pouring over the hills and hear a small plane rumbling towards us. As the light fades, the air cools. The sun has almost completely fallen below the horizon. I will never get tired of sitting on my porch, not ever. It is the center of my sitting practice. Listen. Hear the birds settling in the branches?
Inside, Otto & Iris are relaxing after a long day of leaping, bounding, chasing flies, catching balls, wrestling, and chewing shoelaces. The monthly art zoom was late this morning and about 20 of us gathered to work in accordion books painting various things. The photo of O & I in the cat basket was after the zoom was over. I was hoping their nap time would correspond with the zoom time, but no such luck. They were just reaching their peak of maximum energy output at 11 a.m. when I clicked, “start meeting.”
Sister came for a visit to meet O & I. She was here last weekend at this time, right in the middle of an extreme heat wave! We did fine in the heat. Early morning walks, a visit to the beach, and lots of time spent inside around the kitchen table in the cool air conditioning.
That’s it for September. Keep me posted on news from your world.
Hi Mary Ann-
I am moving to Los Angeles in December! Daughter and grandchildren.
What beach is that with all the rocks? I would love to go.
Also looking forward to getting out my watercolors and painting the days away.
Will you ever teach another class? Yours were the best.
Thanks for the post.
Becky
first beach in santa barbara county – rincon pt. i can get there in 70 minutes on an early weekend from my home in NELA
welcome to LA, Becky!
Sister!
I adore your painted scenes from the Huntington. Almost as much as I love Otto and Iris. Pencil me in for another visit in January for more cats, walks, porch time, and sketching!
Hey all you fellow OMG Zoom friends – it was marvelous to see you and talk a bit while we sketched on Sunday. It’s fun getting to “know” you better.
you are magic-markered in! weeeeeeeeee i can’t wait xoxoxoxoxoxoxxo
Hey Sisters, I adore your posts! So full and transporting. I had a delightful Sunday morning ‘meeting’ with you and all the others. I hope you got the info I sent via Instagram message regarding the Jane Davenport product names.
I also had a question about the Pentel brush pens. I have them in black, gray and sepia. I ordered a couple of colors but they are called Pentel ART BRUSH. I already have a couple of those but the brush gets shaggy and mysteriously dries out. I took pictures but I’m not allowed to paste it here. The difference is that the COLOR BRUSH has a red arrow in the barrel and the ART BRUSH doesn’t. So I’m wondering if you know whether you are using the colored art brush?(no red arrow) because I looked and looked but could not find any colors in the COLOR BRUSH.
Whew that was a lot!
Thanks again for hosting the monthly sessions.
Yoo Hooooo Irene!
You are indeed correct about the name “Art Brush” I have some of the Color Brush in grey, black, red and now a hot pink and bright blue Art Brush. They seem identical other than the name.
I enjoy our monthly groups and seeing all of you each month. Gladdens my heart and keeps me working in my sketchbook.
OK, I have a follow up on the colored art brushes. I was reluctant and was ready to send them back because of my previous experience of brushes would think that didn’t flow well, dried out and splayed. I played with them a bit and realized I needed to squeeze the barrel to get more ink flowing. Well, I love them. Also I read a long detailed article on Roz Standel’s blog about Pentel brush pens that was encouraging. Just wanted to thank you for introducing me to them.
I like the “bumpy beach” and now, my feet are itching to get into some sea water. I haven’t been “down the shore” as we say around here in more than a decade. That is way too long!
The semester is in full swing here, and I’m happy about my new Takeya water bottle. It’s insulated and I put ice and water in it before leaving for work. And it stays cold all the way through my shift. I’m also tentatively planning a trip to England.
Take care, stay safe!
XOXO
Such beautiful photos. My love of the sea shall never diminish. I get to experience it through your eyes all the way to Minnesota. On that heat wave, you have got this livin in Cali thing down to a science Mary Ann!!! It topped out at 104 in Palm Springs when we visited a few years back and tromped around Joshua Tree for a few hours. We came well prepared, lots of water, and wide brimmed hats that we wore with panache, I must say. We thought that was hot. Not sure we could have managed much hotter. So hats off to your hot weather, tried and true survival tactics. Sounds like you and Carol had a great time. 🙂
The pictures you took of various items on the beach appear to be Mother Nature’s collages. It’s so lovely of you to capture them in a photo and share them with us.
I love your writing….. when will you publish a book??
alas, my books are stacked neatly in my closet and await discovery by some intrepid soul after I am gone. inside can be found page after page of descriptions of life on earth as I know and experience it. should no one discover them, all is not lost for i myself read them over faithfully every few months and discover things i’d forgotten.
It was a delight to just sit and paint this morning. Go see friends and familiar faces. To chat and laugh.
Great pictures of Carol you have here. You have become a constant in my world. I love that you two are so close.
Take care.
painting.
laughing.
visiting.
life’s small pleasures. may you do them for decades to come, Tina!
Hello Tell us more about those sweet bird statuettes, please. I am Mary, 81 years of age (my Great Gram lived (?) until 96, which is hard to imagine) Nice to see you are using your potholders. Family potholders? Thank you for the photos and scratch some ears, for me.
Hello Mary,
The little bird figurines are from various places over the years – one is from my childhood and belonged to mama moss. The crotcheted potholders were thrifted from various places, someone’s family heirlooms just not MY family.
Such devine cats! I love them they are so elegant
Livin the dream, mam. Thanks for taking us along☺☺