San Juan Bautista

Proof that there is some sun without the nasty pine pollen somewhere in the world!

It's very gloomy, grey and cold so you'd think that the pine pollen would take a break and not shower us with the green stuff! Lunch, in San Juan Bautista, was suggested so off we went for a feast of bratwurst, sauerkraut and fried pototoes, not the usual fare when visiting a town known for its Mexican food. We had discovered the corner restuarant on our last visit when suddenly enchiladas didn't sound as good as they had. The restaurant is celebrating its 25th anniversary next month and is decorated in a combination of German and Mexican styles that somehow don't seem out of place. We can't figure it out but the more I studied it this time the more I realized that it's the color palette that allows two such diverse styles to blend. It doesn't matter whether a German beer stein sits next to a Mexican pinata or not as long as the colors are bland and faded.

After lunch when we stepped out the front door we discovered that the main street, that had been vacant of traffic and pedestrians, had become congested. The entire 3 blocks around the restaurant had been blocked off and people were gathering on the curb and a few older folks setting up folding chairs. For what? It seems that the local high school was having some sort of rally for their basketball team. You never know what you'll see in a very small town that might be spirit lifting especially when the news has been full of gang violence in nearby cities. San Juan Bautista "feels" like it's in a 50's time warp, even though I'm sure it has problems like any other town in 2005 does.

Unencumbered!

Rubber stamped words and watercolor on text from a physics book. This was a quick unplanned page for an Expedition Journal that hopefully will lighten the tone of the book. The work that I've done so far seems heavy and serious and could be a difficult-act-to-follow for the next artist working in the EJ. Much of my work is thought out and slowly executed when what I really want is to be able to not think so much! But I doubt I can change my way of working because it's most likely a part of who I am.

In my dreams I'm svelte and free from the heaviness of body and life. The word that comes to mind is unencumbered.

Door to February!

Mixed media - gesso, water-soluble pastels, and embellishments. The key strips, scanned crooked, seem to imply a sense of being unbalanced and guarded about the second month of the year.

A new month, new possibilities but my spirits are already dashed by the pine pollen that is dusting us with a green film, creating more havoc on our health issues. Allergy migraines, congestion and itchy eyes aren't what I had in mind for my days!

I had hoped to experiment with more techniques last month but life went off in a direction not to my liking. If only I could be content with the projects that are completed . . .

Figurative Series #1

Figurative Series - Silhouettes #1. Watercolors, pastels and metallic wax. I received 3 pots of Twinkling H2O's from a friend and started playing with two of the colors, sunflower and douglas fir.

Shadows and silhouettes have always fascinated me. I would love to do a series based on shapes of the human form rather than exact depictions. I'd like to think that is the beginning of that series!

After two weeks of dry weather it's beginning to look like we're in for a few wet days, always a good time to experiment and I hope to do just that. Over the weekend, though, I was hoping to get out into the garden but I was warding off the virus that Stacy has, so the yard is looking even more neglected. But, sometimes it's a good thing to be "forced" to stay indoors because I was able to create 5 new gesso/pastel backgrounds for Expedition Journal pages. There is always a plus when plans are changed, now if I can just remember that!

Let The Cruising Begin!

This manipulated photo, shot in Salinas on a busy street, reminds me of another era when cruising was a Friday night activity! Cruising - a word I contemplated Wednesday night while sitting in the ER for another fun-packed evening. Stacy had a 3 hour nosebleed and what is a mother to do but head for the ER and hand the problem over to someone else.
Stacy informed the doctor that she wasn't having a very good year. The very wise doctor said, "And I bet you had hoped that 2005 was going to be an improvement over last year. The good news is that anything that happened last year is now in the past. So, the thing to remember about today is that tomorrow this visit to the ER will also be in the past."
Touche!

Cruising might be prohibited on the streets of Salinas but I'd like to try "moving through life smoothly or effortlessly," or even "travel without destination or purpose." Let the cruising begin!!!