We went to Dave and Nora's for Thanksgiving and had a great time. It was a cloudy day, a bit windy and cold, but perfect for a walk before dinner. We walked to the port and back along the city streets to the house. The last photo was the delicious sangria that Nora made for a before dinner drink.
Finished the winter Whatcom Falls scene today with some final touch-ups and the signature. Started the summer one. It's the last of the four 4 x 6 inch paintings I'm doing of the falls. They'll be on display on January 8th at Studio UFO in Bay Street Village during the January Art Walk in Bellingham. Trish Harding is presenting miniatures by all of us who paint with her during Open Studio. All the pieces will be for sale. It's a great opportunity to get some beautiful art pieces at a reasonable price. The formula is width + height in inches times 5. So these little paintings will cost $70 each. Not bad for an original oil painting.
It's been raining and windy every since I got my new lens. So last night I just had to goof around with it before going to bed. That's me in the bathroom mirror.
My new Panasonic 7-14mm lens arrived yesterday. Since the GH1 and G1 have a multiplication factor of 2, that's the same as a 14-28 in 35mm terms. This was taken at the equivalent of 14mm. Can't wait to do some more photos with the new lens. Such fun.
The bark of a tree, wet from the rain, lit by an overcast and rainy glow. Had to stop and take a photo.
We had a marvelous Italian dinner at the home of Louisa (aka Judy Louise) and Rico (aka Rick) on Friday night. We traveled with them to Italy spring of 2008 on one of the Blue Horse Gallery tours. My brother Dave and his wife Nora were also on the trip. (So was Steve but he wasn't able to come to the dinner.) They also invited Cory and Ian who traveled with us as well. We had a delicious multi-course dinner and talked and laughed all evening. It was great. In the top picture is Judy lighting the candles. The bottom is from left to right Judy, Rick, Arvin, Cory, Ian, Dave and Nora.
Yesterday the sun was shining and the cats were taking advantage of the warm rays coming in the window. I took one look at Mehitabel and all the stripes and had to grab my camera. Duma's golden eye caught my fancy too.
My sister-in-law Nora and I went to the Silver Reef spa for a day of relaxation and fun. We both had hot rock massages, facials and manicures. Thanks to Butterfly Life's contest earlier this year I had certificates for the facial and massage. I invited Nora along and we had a great day together. I took this picture in the mirror after our facials and massages. We were both feeling very mellow and relaxed. We dressed and had our manicures next. The gals who took care of us at the spa were all wonderful. Nora and I had a great day together.
I'm working on a series of miniatures for a show in January. Trish Harding is going to have walls full of small paintings during the January Art Walk in Bellingham. The date is not the first Friday because that's New Years. It's a week later. Anyhow all of the Studio UFO painters are at work creating little gems. I'm painting tiny 6 x 8 inch canvas panels in my pochade box. I like to do series so I decided to do four miniatures of Whatcom Falls, one for each season. Yesterday I finished Spring and began and completed Fall. Today I started on Winter. It feels great to be doing so much painting. I've been so busy that it's been awhile since I could emerse myself in painting. I'm loving it.
We went into Costco this afternoon to pick up some prints and do a bit of shopping. It was raining hard and we got wet. When we came out a rainbow greeted us. We could see the whole thing and as we watched the skies cleared. We drove to Haggens and by the time we parked we saw blue skies and gorgeous fall leaves in the sun.
Took these on Thursday after open studio. When I see a sky like this I just have to grab my camera and go.
Thought I was finished with my "Canals of Venice" series but another one sneaked in while I wasn't watching. Had to paint one more oil of the moving water and reflections seen from a bridge as a gondola went by. I call it "Moving Through Water."
The neighbors called to ask if the tree service could park in our driveway while they took out a really big fir tree that has been worrying us all for some time. It was way too close to both their house and ours. Every time a big wind came through we held our breath. Along came Dean and with amazing skill and strength he neatly removed the tree. I like trees and was sad that this one had to come down. Makes me realize that you have to think many years ahead when you plant a tree. The neighbor's son planted this tree on Arbor Day over 20 years ago. It was tiny at the time.
On Sunday we took a walk along Cranberry Lake with my brother Dave. It was a beautiful late afternoon and the fall colors were enhancing the sight of the reflections in the lake. We met some new friends while we were there and had a great time.
